>>>> When Cherie brought Mura here I asked her to look at Doppa's trim and she showed me where her front hooves were flaring on the sides and needed to be trimmed a little closer. Then when the farrier came last week I had him take the horses up on the concrete when he thought he was finished (we were working in the grass) and showed him the flare which he fixed right away. It was interesting because Mura had the same tendency to flare and I wondered if it as an Icelandic tendency. Both of these horses haven't worn shoes in years. These are the only Icelandics my farrier has ever seen.
I have nineteen Icelandic's and only one who has a noticeable tendency to flare early in the trim cycle. I've seen a few horses of other breeds with that tendency too - like the mare from Wanda's picture, who I think is QH x Fjord. My guess is that you have a coincidence if both of yours have it. I also have two Icelandic's whose feet trim very normally, who tend to grow slightly more heel between trims than average - not anything nearly as dramatic as a "club foot" but growing in that general direction to a much lesser degree. I just think it's normal variation that we might see within any breed. A good farrier will note these individual idiosyncrasies, no matter what the breed... Karen Thomas, NC
