Solving Hoof Problems, Laterally?

Every day, as hoof care providers we, like everyone else face day to day problems. Most are easily solved using vertical (conventional) thinking. What cloths do I wear today? Do I have toast or muffins? What route do I take to my first client? But on occasion we are presented with problems that are not so easily solved. What thought process do you employ when presented with a hoof related problem. 

Below is a recent post from Facebook. It caught my eye, in that it presents a series of problems that the hoof care provider often faces. 

I view this as an exercise in lateral thinking. My entry point into this problem is likely not the same as many of yours. I make a list of problems, listing the most obvious first and keep adding to the list until my thought process is exhausted. I'll start you off. Most obvious problem: My horse is lame or stated as a question; why is my horse lame? How we approach or enter into a problem is dependent upon what problem we choose to approach. In this exercise feel free to list any problem that comes to mind, even those that sound ridiculous.

When we are presented with something, we immediately begin to establish defined patterns of thinking based on past experience. In the book Lateral Thinking, Creativity Step by Step, written by Dr. Edward de Boneo,  offers an example of how this works: You have two boxes one is labeled white ping pong balls, the other black ping pong balls. As long as you are handed a white or black ping pong ball you have no difficulty placing it into the appropriate box, you are comfortable, you have established thought patterns that solve the problem. Then you are handed a gray ping pong ball, which box to put it in? Your mind will struggle to choose, though experience may sway you to put it in the white box because you see gray as closer to black, or you may decide that because black is the absence of all color that it needs to be in the white box.  But, what if you chose to break your pattern of thinking, what then? When do you decide that there needs to be a third box?  Hmmm a third box.

Facebook Post:

left hind

right hind

I'm trying to understand the nature of my horse’s current lameness... now his left hind foot is smaller and more contracted than his right hind, which had had a series of abscesses. My experience has taught me that the "prettier" foot is usually the one causing all the problems. Because his left hasn't had all those ugly abscesses, it's "prettier". When I watch his left lead canter in the round pen, he will canter a few strides, then switch leads behind. He's much more comfortable and doesn't switch when cantering to the right. His hip is higher on the right, which means he's putting more weight on his right leg. I felt like all along, he was weighting his right hind more because the left front was the original issue. 

Now I think the issue is the left hind. But I'm not sure which issue is the cause: is it the left hip? or the left foot? I can trim the foot for more decontraction, but of course that will make him less likely to want to weight it if it abscesses. Or maybe he's not weighting it because it's so contracted? Maybe it's time to try a chiropractor. Oh me. The left hind is the white one. Now I know color of hooves doesn't make a difference but man, this foot seems much harder and tighter than the right one. The abscesses on the right really helped that lateral wall become more angled out.

Vertical thinking follows patterns, Lateral thinking breaks those patterns, though lateral thinking cannot exist without vertical thinking. Can you outline the pattern of thinking this owner has?