We got Rain when she was 3, in June of 2003.  She had funky little feet with a bit of dish, but with a close to 30 degree hairline, indicating a close to ground parallel coffin bone.  I didn't take any pictures of her feet but you can see some pictures of her in general on her own webpage: http://www.allisonacres.org/rain.html.  Be sure to check the dates of the pictures you look at on that page.  The very first picture of her is the last one at the bottom.

Over that first year she was mainly unshod and sound, although before we got her she had been started as a long yearling for the snaffle bit futurity and shod from at least 2 until mid-3.  She didn't make the cut for the futurity; she's way too lazy and slow.  So that's why she was sold.  My daughter rode her; she was her main horse, and she took 2 to 3 lessons per week on her at our working cowhorse guy's place.  We sometimes had her in shoes if they were going to be doing any rocky trail riding.

Then in her second year here, at age 4, we bred her.  She was unshod.  I got a new farrier (if you're reading this and you know who you are, please don't take any of this personally.  I know you have only the best intentions and are only doing what you believe is right.)  Her heels started getting higher and higher.  The farrier said there was nothing that could be done, because that was just the way her foot wanted to grow and we needed to respect that.  As they started getting worse, I asked if the heels could just be trimmed to be shorter, like her feet used to look, and my farrier as well as the others I consulted with AND my vets all said no.  You can't just cut the heel down, they said.  You can live with it or jack it up even higher with a wedge pad to, erm, relieve the pull of the flexor tendon (ooooo-kay), but you can't just cut them down, I was told consistently.

Then she was diagnosed as a "sinker", with supposed downward sinking of the entire bony column.  The remedy was to put her in shoes with frog support pads.  This was to take the weight bearing away from the hoof wall and transfer some of it to the frog, so that the new hoof could grow in properly attached to the coffin bone instead of torn away.  She was in shoes with pads for 15 weeks with no change for the better; she was worse, with more dish, more toe flare, and higher heels than she had ever had.  She also had the worst case of thrush I'd ever seen, and a stinky tiny atrophied black frog.  She was also diagnosed with pedal osteitis, "ski tip" coffin bones, and a small minor coffin bone fracture to the lateral "wing" of one coffin bone.

I was advised that eventually I would have to put her down.  The farriers and vets all said they could not take down her heels.  If that was the way the foot was growing, they had to respect that, they said.  I was curious why, if her walls shouldn't bear any weight since they were not properly attached, they didn't just trim them such that her sole and frog were weight bearing.  I suppose they thought that would be too painful.  I didn't see how the frog support pads were allowing the frog to bear any weight since after a couple of days in the new shoes her wall would be grown down enough - and the frog atrophied enough - that the frog support pad was nowhere near the frog.  Especially since they wanted the shoes left on for as long as possible, ten to twelve weeks if possible.  By this time that pad was nowhere near her frog.  Her walls were an inch or more beyond the level of the sole. 

During this time Rain was not lame per se on any given foot, but she would not do more than walk.  For the past year she had done nothing faster than a walk while at liberty.  She did trot the first few days after her foal was born, when she was nervous, but that was just a couple of times.  After those first few days after foaling, even when her foal would run off, she would do no more than a walk to catch up.

Finally in June of 2005 I decided to try a "barefoot hoof care" type person.  I heard of John Tucker and had him come out.  He trimmed her.  After this first trim, she trotted at liberty that very evening.  The next day she cantered.  She is now totally sound on soft ground at all three gaits.  She's pretty sound outside too but she will take the occasional ouchy step on gravel.

All in all, pretty amazing.

In this picture above, it was August of 2004.  She is unshod,
but look at those high high high heels.

This picture above was from almost a year later, after she foaled in 4/2005.  She is in shoes with frog support pads in the front.  Look at that toe!  And those high heels!

Here is a front view from the same day, 4/2005.  That is a lot of foot!

Same day, 4/2005.  You can see the shoe on the left front.  The farrier wanted me to leave them on for as long as possible, up to 10 or 12 weeks if possible.  I now think that's crazy.  Rain has now been trimmed at least every 4 weeks for the last year!

Here is a shot from the back showing those high heels and pads.  She'd had these shoes on for about 5 weeks at this point.  They remained on for 12 weeks; I should have taken a picture of that as it was a sight to behold!  She had no foot under the bony column; it was all out front.