Q. I have a 4 yr old Thoroughbred, off the track, heavily raced since 2, new to me, and an auction horse. I noticed last night (after the first layer of mud was removed) that her hind hooves have “scuffs”. These are old or semi-healed outer (?) hoof wall damage of some sort, and occur on both hind hooves about 2 inches above the toe, facing directly forward. I have studied her walk on several surfaces (dressage prospect) and see no signs of over-reach or dragging. Her paddock currently is very rocky/brushy. The only other oddity is that these two hind hooves, which have no shoes, have frogs that are absolutely flat – worn or trimmed (???), can’t tell. Does it have to do with trimming the hooves excessively short for some reason, and are these tied in? She’s sound and moves well.
So my question is, do you think she may have had, or has a hoof problem?
A. I’m afraid I know absolutely nothing about how racehorses are trimmed to run, but it does sound like your girl has a scalping problem. If the “scuffs” were only on one hoof or were on different parts of the hooves, or if one scuff looked fresh while the other looked well-healed, I would be more inclined to think in terms of an injury not associated with her normal movement. But the fact that these scuffs appear equally on both hind feet leaves me suspicious of scalping. Scalping would become more pronounced at the trot, and typically, the faster a scalper moves, the higher on the foot, coronet, or even pastern the strike is likely to occur.
As far as the flat frog is concerned, Thoroughbreds are typically quite flat-soled. If she has been trimmed or has shed her frog recently, her foot will likely look even flatter than usual.
Make sure to discuss both of these concerns with your farrier next time she’s due for a trim. There may well be some trimming practice implemented on the racetrack to promote speed in the horses that might have resulted in her hoof scuffs. It’s certainly worth researching.