# Corrective Hoof Trimming



## LillyRoseGal (Jul 15, 2018)

I don’t know if anyone here has experience with this sort of thing, but I’m looking for pretty specific advice. 
This doe has fairly poor foot conformation, but her feet are also in bad shape. She went a couple months with out a trim but now I’m tryin to find a good schedule for her. 
Her feet curve in on each other, the heels are slanted in, and her wall also slants in on the back feet. There is a bit of what looks like bruising on the the top of the wall on the back heels. 
Does anyone know of corrective trimming I could do, besides regular trimming- or rather HOW I should trim to best correct her feet/suit her needs?
Please note that I scrubbed her feet for these pics, so they are wet.


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## LillyRoseGal (Jul 15, 2018)




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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Can you trim them with what you consider to be normal trimming and then show us pictures again?


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## LillyRoseGal (Jul 15, 2018)

I can show you my other does, with good, simple feet. (Lol nothing is truly simple, but you know what I mean...)
It will be tomorrow before I can get pictures though.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

The inside toes on both back feet are longer than the outside toes causing them to roll outward. 

Be sure both toes are the same "height" when you finish trimming. Looks like you achieve that on the front feet so I'm sure it's just tougher for you to trim the inside toes on the back (awkward trimming angle or whatever.)

I wouldn't really say her feet are all that bad. Are you trimming the frog when you regularly trim? How much acreage does this goat have to roam over? 

Photos of the other goats feet won't really help. But if you can take post-trimming photos of this gal we can give you more pointers for sure !


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

On the back feet, don't lose sight of your parallel line with the coronary band. The lines I drew aren't exactly correct, but just trying to give a visual. Literally take a sharpie marker out with you, find the coronary band where hoof meets fur line, and draw a line a couple inches down the hoof parallel with the coronary. It's a guide line, you won't quite get there .


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## LillyRoseGal (Jul 15, 2018)

The first is after trimming. Sorry if it is hard to see the second one- that was after cleaning but the hoof was rolled over.
This is back left. I'm mostly concerned with the way her actual frog swoops away. It is difficut to see in the pictures, but her frog is sharply slanted towards the center- none of my other does feet do this. And the outward curve to her toes when viewed from the side bothers me- though that is because she wasn't on a regular trim schedule.

No I do not trim frog, because it will bleed.  Maybe you meant heel? Yes. That is trimmed. I took a bit more off in these pics than usual, because the heels were uneven when I quit last time.
Hope this helps!


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

You are not taking nearly enough off.

You absolutely need to be trimming into the frog. No winky face needed. This is not a horse, frog trimming is essential to correct her feet. 

Cut those walls down more then level out the frog and then you'll be able to get that heel trimmed off. You need to see pink frog when you are done. A lot more can come off the toes and heel. 

The frog is not slanted to the middle, the walls are just not trimmed down enough. And her uneven toes is not a conformation issue, they just need more aggressive trimming.


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## LillyRoseGal (Jul 15, 2018)

I have never, ever trimmed more than the tiniest amount of frog, on any doe. I have never seen anyone do this- including both of my mentors (two different people who’ve never met btw) who each have kept Goats for 30+ years.
I’m not trying to carve her feet into perfection in one trim, and I certainly don’t need a lame goat because her feet are too sore for practicality.
Perhaps the pictures aren’t the same as real life, but there is most certainly live flesh there: I know, I made her bleed (and limp) the day before I started this thread.
Can I take more off? Most likely. Is that in the best interest of my goat, her comfort, practicality and longevity? I’m not sure. I was hoping there was a way to slowly adjust her feet, ligaments and muscles to the different angles being introduced. 
Please keep in mind that on the 11th of this month her toe had overgrowth an inch and a half long out in front. She was in bad shape, and I don’t feel comfortable hacking away too much, without knowing *why.*
So tell me, what will all this cutting away do to improve her feet?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Good rule is, if you see pink stop trimming.
If you cannot achieve your goal, that is OK.
You can trim more off the next time.
Doing it slow is OK, you are correct you don't want to lame her. 

A side shot of her hoof, would help as well to see if more toe must come off. With what I see, it looks like it may be that.

The heals look even and good, from each other, may not need more trimming.

Always try to make a flat even surface, on both sides, when finishing, if possible. 
It is like high heal shoes, we don't have a slant on the bottom of one and expect to walk well that way. 

Slide your finger across both hoof bottoms, is is flat? Or raise? If one side is raised, the higher side will have to be trimmed down, even if it is the heal.


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## elvis&oliver (Jun 28, 2018)

Following


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## elvis&oliver (Jun 28, 2018)

I don’t use a file and I don’t know if you’ve tried one as well. My thought is I wonder if a file might make it easier to level them and to go at the pace you want too to correct them. Just a thought.


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## OpieDoodle (Nov 15, 2015)

Once you have bad feet on your hands expect it to take a WHILE to get them back to perfection. With that said you do have to be aggressive with trimming. 

I have a doe with horrible feet, like literally worst feet I have ever seen and even some of my mentors thought they were super bad. It was honestly scary for me to trim so much off her but I just watched for pink. I took quite a bit off with no issue with lameness. Just make sure you are watching for pink. I trimmed her once every 2 weeks for a while, she was pregnant so I stopped for her last month of pregnancy as it was hard on her to stand with three legs when she was the size of a house. She just had her babies a couple days ago and I'll start picking it back up once her and the babies have some time to bond


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

The people writing you are correct. Nothing should be folded over, and many of those pictures show long heels.

She needs copper, and probably zinc, too, for her feet to grow out healthy and straight. That's in addition to good trimming, so it isn't the immediate correction you first wrote about, but it won't be completely corrected without them. Yes, I know you supply minerals, some just need a bit more than others.

Trimming again, and then using a rasp to level and smooth the bottoms, can give us a better idea of how to suggest specific cuts.

Hang in there. You've noticed the problem and are addressing it. So many don't notice, or they think "That's just how this goat is." instead of trying to fix it.

You are great.


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

I would say the toes need to be trimmed more. Get a rasp and really file down concentrating on the toe side. It will take a few trimmings. Each time you take more off, the pink part and the blood vessels retreat back as the hoof hardens wen they walk around again after you trim it. So the next time you trim, you can take a little more off than you did last time.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

I let one of my goat's hooves grow too long. He put up a fight on the back ones so it was more difficult. Eventually we got it to the point after 2 regular trimming to be back to normal. But I find if you correct the toe and the tip, the rest follows.

A photo after a bit of correctional trimming:


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

NigerianDwarfOwner707 said:


> I let one of my goat's hooves grow too long. He put up a fight on the back ones so it was more difficult. Eventually we got it to the point after 2 regular trimming to be back to normal. But I find if you correct the toe and the tip, the rest follows.
> 
> A photo after a bit of correctional trimming:
> View attachment 153591


You can see it can still be taken down a lot more on the walls, and the toes still curve slightly.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

NigerianDwarfOwner707 said:


> You can see it can still be taken down a lot more on the walls, and the toes still curve slightly.


But it is infinitely better than it had been before.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

How come you didn't take the walls and heels down in that photo @NigerianDwarfOwner707 ?


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

SalteyLove said:


> How come you didn't take the walls and heels down in that photo @NigerianDwarfOwner707 ?


Oh I did. That was just in the middle of a trimming.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

NigerianDwarfOwner707 said:


> Oh I did. That was just in the middle of a trimming.


Ohhhhhh okay! I was worried newbies were going to think that was the finished product.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

SalteyLove said:


> Ohhhhhh okay! I was worried newbies were going to think that was the finished product.


My bad! No, I try to trim as much as I can until I see pink. I was in the middle of trimming and it occurred to me I forgot to take the progress photo I was planning on doing.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

And after trimming, the goats are so done I have no extra time to make them wait for a picture.


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## LillyRoseGal (Jul 15, 2018)

Hi All!
Sorry it has been so long since I looked at this thread- kidding season, milking, and a sick goat have taken all my spare time.
I've put this girl on a two week trim cycle since kidding. I don't know if there's really any improvement yet. Mostly I'm waiting for the slipper-toes to grow out (regular trimming should be helping that)
It's 5 days til her next trim, but I played around with her back feet this am. Posted some pictures- I didn't get a before or after, these are all durning. Mostly I wanted to see how deep I could go without blood, try to find the pink y'all were talking about. I focused mostly on the heels- trying to figure out how to make them level every time (the picture is taken from a slant, which I only realized later, but they are even in that last picture).

Please no rude comments. I'm doing what seems best, just wanting some positive input/extra sets of eyes.
Also note, I hardly touched the walls, just taking a little bit of flare off.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

The video on this page has a pretty nice visual of trimming the sole to pink:

http://www.prancingponyfarm.com/goat-hoof-trimming.html


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

Definitely do the walls as it is looking like they are starting to turn in. and it looks like you could do a little more toe. A file or rasp could be useful for you.


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## Goatzrule (Feb 7, 2013)

Often times your local slaughter house will have extra legs and you could practice trimming on those. That is what we use for the 4H kids who are still learning. It takes a while for new owners to learn how deep to be trimming.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

I agree. It takes time and practice, don't feel bad. I find doing multiple small trimmings instead of one big one helps a lot. Her hooves do look better, though.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I too agree.
That video does good to teach.

We do not judge anyone here. 
So never worry about that on TGS. 
We are different than other sites who are so mean when someone asks questions.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

Yes, absolutely, no judgment. It’s okay that you haven’t trimmed to the correct standards, you will get there! Don’t rush and hurt yourself or the goat, go at your own pace, we are only educating you towards the end goal!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Yep :up:


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