First time in over half of the show that I started shaking my head violently, saying “no, no, no.” I’ve learned a lot from Dr DeClue, her podcasts helping me figure out what’s going on with my mare and have faith and continue observing and paying attention. This episode , for the most part, is no different.

Now I’m not trying to be a know-it-all, this is just feedback. My humble input for the sake of knowledge. Like I said, I’ve learned a lot from you, sometimes trying to put my knowledge to test in terms of challenging myself to answer things before you finish your train of thought throughout your podcasts.

What I found I couldn’t agree with (and sounded contradictory when you mentioned shoulder girdle and scapular cartilage horses right after) is the flared side being the less used side. I believe it was along the lines of “if the lateral side is flared, the horse is loading the medial more.”

The flared side, in my (admittedly short) experience, is the weight bearing side, the overloading forces – even at a standstill in terms of postural lameness – making the hoof wall flare out sometimes to the point of white line tearing and separating from being overstretched. The longer constricted side “grows” more due to lack of use, the hoof on that side not wearing out enough in comparison to the other side, creating the high-low syndrome as well as hoof asymmetry. The more weight bearing side tends to be shorter and flared, the less load bearing side tends to be taller and restricted due to lack of use – sort of an atrophy in its own way.

I know because I have three cases like this, one with significant progress in just 6 months. This particular horse, let’s call him Mr. M, was overloading his lateral side on hinds so much the white line tore, separating the sole from the hoof wall and creating a deep crack. This was all coming from his camped under and toed out stance. His hoof wall looked horribly deformed and asymmetrical, small rocks getting lodged in the space between the sole and the wall. Mr. M still doesn’t have a very good posture, but with biweekly hoof care, the cracks have almost grown out, his hooves recovering their proper symmetry.

Case #2: this one not so much about excessive flare – more so about the constriction of the whole hoof. Mr. T spent most of his life shod on fronts and at least 4 years on hinds almost year round. Pulled shoes in July 2024, now barefoot on hinds (composites on fronts but irrelevant to this story). As the metal limits the expansion of the hoof on landing, shod horses tend to have narrow and constricted hooves. In the last 8 months, his left hind hoof expanded to a better width rather significantly but not the right hind. Out of curiosity, I measured the width a few days ago – it was a difference of a quarter of an inch (4.5 vs 4-3/4). Why? He doesn’t load his hinds equally, left one talking the grunt of his weight while he’s favouring RR. This was confirmed by his body worker as well, who found a lot of restrictions up higher – chronic compensatory pattern. When you ask him to lift his right hind as if to pick out, his preference is to pull it back away from his body instead of keeping it underneath.

Case #3: this is my own horse, who is semi-disabled for the lack of a better term. Yet, she’s still my main go to mount, especially for cattle rides. Long story that I won’t get into or it will be a mile long. Currently out of work due to sidewinder syndrome that’s forcing her to lean heavily on left hind, lateral side especially. At her worst, she was overloading left hind so much she looked lopsided, her hind end at the 11 o’clock mark, and she crab walked and spun on the forehand just to regain her balance. Wager a guess on her left hoof? It is deforming on that lateral side, flaring out so bad you can see it halfway up the hoof wall and her white line is about to tear. The lateral wall and sole worn out more than the medial. Lateral cartilage on that left rear on the lateral side is angry. Medial side hoof structures pretty normal in comparison, making for a huge good asymmetry and imbalance. She’s better now position-wise but once I get her back to normal, it will take months to repair the hoof damage. That’s once I take care of the problem up higher. In the meantime, all I can do hoof-wise is keep her on a tight trim schedule, which allows me to maintain a semblance of normal. Maybe I’ll be able to throw composites on with a slanted pad again. Only time will tell here.

Bottom line: flared side is overloaded and constricted side is weak and atrophied.

Hope my little ramble here makes sense.