Q. I was recently called to take a look at a horse that a client purchased for his daughter. Basically, the horse was given to him because of the condition of one hoof. She’s a buckskin mare, about 10 years old, and she’s a gentle, good-looking and well-mannered horse. At some point in her life, this horse obviously got her left hind leg tangled in some wire fence or some other situation that was pretty serious. The hoof wall is missing from the heel and around the quarter.

She has healthy looking hooves other than this one foot, but it’s in pretty good shape (minus the damaged section). I trimmed the frog because it had grown over to where the heel should be — almost as if nature was trying to compensate for the missing part —and cleaned it up to get a better look. It appeared that there was some hoof wall growing down from the coronary band, but only about 3/8 inch. 

I’m not sure how long the horse’s hoof had been this way. She was a broodmare for the previous owner. She doesn’t show any signs of hoof pain, which is why I think that it’s a fairly old injury.

 The horse is primarily used for leisure riding by the owner’s daughter, a beginner, so it won’t be hard riding. They live in a region that has sandy soil so any riding is easy on her feet. My questions are:

• Do you think she can grow the…