A friend of mine decided to rescue a donkey. If I understood correctly a couple of months old. Now I only had a look at a laminitic burrow only once in OK, and I have no idea what to look for in trimming/shoeing donkeys. Any tips would be appreciated! Thanks guys!
I have done hundreds of them and I bet I still don't do have as good a job as you will do on this one Ron. There's not much too them, they grow sole and wall equally that's the only major difference to a small pony. Biggest problem I used see in them was wld. I was at a lecture given by the farrier from the Devon donkey sanctury, he recommended removing sole and getting the heels down to get frog contact and balance around coa, nothing new to you!! Beware if they need sedation it takes more than most 18h horses, a vet who didn't believe me on that point one day in a rescue center needed 17 stitches on his lip!
Ron, I carry a few on the books and struggle to 'read' what I think is correct hoof conformation and phalangeal alignment. Where the heel buttress of a properly trimmed horse may align with the caudal aspect of the frog, a donks heel buttress will typically be well forward of that same point. You'll be left with the sense that you are always leaving the heels and bars too long. As David mentioned, there is rarely any sole concavity. Donks tend towards a thick sole that remains at the same level as the wall. They typically don't flare at the quarters like a horse but will distort at the dorsal wall if left too long. If the heels are left too long they tend to collapse inward. I also agree with David that they appear prone to whiteline infection. I don't really have a good mapping protocol for donkeys and am not sure COA presents the same as a horse. I simply remove what appears to be excess material, try to keep the toes back and leave more heel length than I would on a horse. Guess the best advice I could offer would be to treat them like a club footed horse. Cheers, Mark
Most of the long ears I do are great guys to work on. My observations are the same as Mark said. High heels collapse and in general if left to long will roll under. I keep it simple and trim them to look right. If it looks and feels right it probably is. I try not to over think donkeys. Most common thing I see with donk's is where the hoof outer wall peels off. I treat it like WLD and it clears up.
One thing I have noticed about donkeys and mules is as a general rule they seem to be comfortable on feet that would have a horse crippled. This observation comes from working on a bunch of rescues over the years. Rescue donkeys usually have feet that make you want to cry.
