Flare is bad, we all know that. Flare left unchecked literally pulls the wall away from the inner structures, and stretches and weakens -- sometimes even tears -- the laminae. It is critical to keep any portion of the wall that is flaring very strongly beveled, in order for the wall to grow down from the coronary band with a healthy, tight laminar connection.
It is also important to preserve the integrity of the hoof wall, and this is why I strongly oppose "dressing" flare above the mustang roll. The wall is, as Dr. Bowker and others will remind us, simply a protective covering, like an eggshell. But also like an eggshell, part of its' job is to hold the inner structures in place. I absolutely believe that rasping all evidence of flare from the wall can considerably weaken the wall and compromise the overall integrity of the hoof capsule. Not to mention the reduced protection from kicks and blows offered to the inner structures.
I am often shocked at the amount of wall that is removed by some farriers and barefoot trimmers. Owners are effectively fooled into believing that the horse has "nice feet", because the wall is aggressively removed to shape the hoof the way it should be shaped; the way it would be shaped if the flare was addressed properly, and allowed to grow out. Rasp marks less than an inch below the coronet are not uncommon. Look at some of the case studies on my site, and you'll see that most of the horses just out of shoes have considerable rasped reshaping, some of them clear from heel to heel. It takes months to grow full thickness horn down from the coronet on hooves like that.
If you are an owner, be very critical of "dressed" flare. Your hoof care provider is trying to hide the problem, rather than correct it. If you are a hoof care provider, don't be tempted to make the wall pretty by rasping off anything above the mustang roll!
Saturday, March 8, 2008
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2 comments:
Do you feel this will in fact cause flare? I have two horses I trim myself and have for about 3 years now. Never seemed to be able to totally get all flares grown out and it's driven me nuts. I'm talking trimming like every 2-4 weeks, sometimes less. I saw a "happyhoof" videon on youtube and she talks about not rasping flares off from the top. I thought that was silly, but found myself taking less and less when I trimmed because of this video. I now only rasp like the bottom 1/2 inch of the hoof and work this into a bevel for a roll and it really looks like the flare are finally growing out. Before I would dress from the top in the lower 1/3 or so of the hoof wall and bevel just the same as I am now. I was thinking there was just too much sugar in our grass, but maybe I've just been trimming too much from the top. It makes sense with all the hoof intended to expand, and the hoof wall being the only part to spring it all back together, that removing it would increase flares in the hoof. I'll know for sure in about 3 months.
I don't think that it necessarily causes flare; there needs to be a mechanical reason for the flaring. But I do believe that it weakens the hoof capsule enough to allow it to flare more than it would otherwise. For example, a horse that drags its toes will have create flaring through the quarters; if we thin the wall too aggressively and try to "remove" the flare, the flaring becomes more pronounced. On the other hand, it's important to keep the bevel fresh and strong, and if you're not trimming every 2 weeks, it is advisable to bring the bevel up a bit higher to help the trim last longer!
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