I've posted some pictures of one of my client horses. His name is Dakota. Dakota had 4 shoes pulled on March 27th, 2011. No photos were taken that day, and he was given a really minimal trim since he had just had a big change to his feet! When I came back out 6 weeks later, I took some photos of his hooves and the trim. Two trims later, on July 31st, I took another set of photos. Here are the comparisons of his left front foot on 5/8/11 and 7/31/11 (just under 3 months).
The first two lateral views, both post-trim, show how is foot has migrated back under his leg, and his toe and heel are shorter, all without removing any live sole. Also, you can get a sense for the new, post-shoe hoof growing in by noticing the very top of the rasp marks from the previous farrier (barely visible near the bottom of the hoof on 7/31/11). About 1 1/2 inches above the rasp marks is a growth ring marking about when we removed the shoes (about 1/2 way up the hoof wall). Notice how the new hoof is growing in at a taller angle than the previous hoof:
The next comparison shows how his heels have opened up and shortened, and his frog has become wider. I think his whole frog/heel region looks less "stressed" and stretched down between the contracted heels:
The sole views again show the decontracted, wider frog. Also notice in the after photos how the toe is less stretched forward, the "white line" (here filled with dirt) is more uniform in thickness, and the hoof is nice and round. The white chalkiness of the sole on the 7/31 photo is exfoliating sole, loose and soft, that I removed some of to balance his heels:
These are front views of the same hoof. The first one is pre-trim in May. Notice the poor quality of the hoof wall, that appears dry and dead. Now look at the new, strong, living hoof wall in the 7/31 photo. Next time I go trim Dakota, I will probably pay attention to the fact that the lateral (outside) wall on this hoof looks a little longer than the medial (inside) wall. This may just be his conformation, but I generally like to have the medial and lateral walls around the same length in a balanced hoof. If the live sole, however, doesn't allow for this I will always defer to that, because it grows directly from the bottom of the coffin bone:
The last two photos, while not great quality, are kind of my favorites. They really show how his heels have opened up and decontracted considerably in less than 3 months. Notice how the wall at the heels bends in in the 5/8 photo, and the frog is sending out "shoots" to reach for the ground. Imagine how it must feel to have all the internal structures of your heel smoosh between these pinched walls every time you load your hoof, with little ground support to stop the descent of the fetlock. The digital cushion can't serve it's function "cushioning" the bones of the hoof (including the navicular bone) without the positive pressure of the ground at peak impact.
Now look at the second photo, and how much more cone-like this hoof is shaped. The walls angle slightly out instead of in, so as the fetlock descends there is room for the digital cushion to expand and aid in support and circulation. Also note how the frog is just a millimeter or so above the ground, perfect for our soft Delaware Valley environment. Once Dakota moves out into grass, sand or dirt, he will have just the frog support he needs:
Dakota was sound from day one in the sand arena and grassy fields during this transition, and was ridden and jumped regularly, with the exception of an unrelated ligament injury in July. His owner refrained from riding on rocky trails since he was a little sensitive on them. Another option of course is booting for trail riding. I think this regular work was just as important as the trim in facilitating the transformation of his hooves. Horses were designed to move!
