Hoof Help Please

[3equines]

Our new project pony came with a pretty rough set of hooves. She had not been trimmed since last summer and it has been an extremely wet winter and spring where she lived. My fiancee trimmed off what he could of the toes without making her too footsore, the following pics are what we have to work with from there. Our biggest concern is the hole in her right front, it goes up quite a ways. We want to put shoes on her because she is allready extremely footsore, but that hole is a problem because it needs to be kept clean.

So here are my thoughts.

1) cut away the outside of the hoof wall to open up the hole and let air in, also give access to clean it out. This would probably mean we need a pretty wide/thick horseshoe to support the rest of the hoof

2) don't cut away the hoof wall but clean out the hole really well, then pack it with sole pack and use a leather pad, and reset the shoes every 3 weeks

3) leave her barefoot on stall rest and clean hoof daily. Unfortunately, we have this horse in our care for trianing and keeping her barefoot as sore as she is will impede the training process.

Thoughts, opinions, advice?

Here's the pics of the right front:

http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz241/susnakela/adventures%20past/DSCF2083.jpg


http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz241/susnakela/adventures%20past/DSCF2084.jpg

and the left hind has a pretty bad quarter crack from all the flare, it goes up to the coronary band. The other hooves have a lot of flare, too. Flare isn't the big concern, though. The holes and quarter crack are. We did a pretty good job on another horse from the same farm, his flare was almost gone after 6 months of resetting the shoes monthly - unfortunately he has returned to his owner.

left hind

http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz241/susnakela/adventures%20past/DSCF2086.jpg

http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz241/susnakela/adventures%20past/DSCF2087.jpg

http://i832.photobucket.com/albums/zz241/susnakela/adventures%20past/DSCF2089.jpg

[offgridgirl]

1) cut away the outside of the hoof wall to open up the hole and let air in, also give access to clean it out. This would probably mean we need a pretty wide/thick horseshoe to support the rest of the hoof

Yes I vote for this one. We used compressed air to really make sure all is cleaned out. If you can, keep it dry and clean for 5-8 hours each day. If you do shoe, get a hot-shoeing done!:)

As for the rear crack-It doesn't look that bad...widen it out, so that it doesn't get caught and ripe a big piece off. I rasped one like it myself(not great job:doh:) and the farrier came two weeks later and it was mostly gone, when he finished.:cowboy:

[CaddoCinnamon]

I don't know. Sorry that I couldn't be of any help. I hope that you all can get her feet right an I can't wait till updates on Shelly. She is pretty.

[HoustonFarrier]

I'd shoe that front foot, and resect the hoof wall to make sure there's no underlying WLD setting up camp.

Hind foot crack, I'd just open up a bit, clean it out.

Steve

[Charlie Piccione]

These are great healthy feet, I would suggest to relieve the area of the wall seperation and clean it out. (remove most if not all that is seperated) One or two nips from the bottom should do it.
Foot soak with epsons and betadine, Was this a major solar abcess?

I would also relieve the rear quarters so the hoof has it's natural scoop ( follow the sole) That will take care of that rear quarter crack. Bars need attention.

Look how robust those frogs are.

[3equines]

Thanks everybody.

I have had great luck with a 50% bleach solution when dealing with hoof rot in the past, I had a rescue donkey that came with neglected feet and used several products, like Thrush Buster and White Lightening. When I switched farriers, the new guy told me to just spray the bleach solution in the hole daily and it worked, we finally got the hoof growing faster than the rot so the donkey could recover.

I feel pretty optimistic about the hoof recovering. My fiancee hadn't seen anythign quite so nasty before so he was pretty concerned. We'll trim away the loose wall and get a good set of shoes on there. Shelly is going to be a really neat horse to work with, she has a sweet and trusting personality so I can't wait to get to working with her.

[Joey A]

I'd get a veterinary diagnosis before I worked on this one personally. Horse looks like it has decent hoof mass, but that bulge in the sole at the frog apex indicates possible laminar issues and could be the source of abcess that made the hole.

Initial shoeing w/o vet Rx would be straight bar shoe with a leather rim pad cut away under the damaged area to provide protection, shock absorbtion, and access for cleaning. I'd also apply a barshoe to the other foot with a full pad and packing. Otherwise I wouldn't touch the horse without vet Rx.