2 questions that I need your help with pleeeease

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sevoflurane

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Question 1

is there any hoof supplements and topical treatments that ACTUALLY work on very poor tb feet


Question 2

Has anyone tried a full set of boa boots or similar for a 6 month period or so to rest their ex racer tb feet

I am desperate to try and sort my boys feet.....the blacksmith has been about 5 or 6 times in the last 6 weeks and my boy has been lame twice arrrggghhh we can't keep going on like this
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I just posted about my boy's feet. he's a TB too and can't keep shoes on this summer. I was wondering about the pull on boot things.
Naff profeet has helped to improved his feet but now he has undone all the good by ripping shoes off.
anything with biotin in, is ment to help.
 
I am sure that much more knowledgeable people will be along to answer shortly.... (:))

But

If it is a problem with actual poor hoof growth, then I believe that you need to address the horses diet, and add a biotin based supplement. If it is actual poor hoof growth, or bad quality horn then topical treatments will not have much effect.

If it is poor feet caused by bad shoeing or by the feet drying out, then topical treatments, like effol and kevin bacon can be helpful.

I haven't used boa boots, but I do use easyboot epics all round on my mare. This isn't a short term use though - I plan to keep her barefoot for as long as I can. I think the hoof will usually take between 9 - 12 months to grow right through, so if you want to take shoes, you need to be prepared to leave shoes of for at least this length of time.

As I said I am no expert, and I am sure others will be able to help more
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I just read you'r post and thought you must have a tb!!!! my boy is on Naf Rock hard supp and topical treatment, I've recently added lime stone flour and changed my chaff to healthy hooves! he's currently being shod every 4 weeks max, but his hooves are just disintegrating.....he's lame again bit no obvious reason, but I'm sure its his foot.

Farrier tolod me to turn him away for 6 months on good grass with no shoes, which I know makes sense but I want to ride him
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farriers are usually right!!! i add biotin and that helped my boys feet but i know kevin bacon is doing a feed stuff thing i think and the ointment is recomended by many too xx
 
My friends old TB had very poor feet. She got the Marqyuis boots for all four hooves and hd his shoes taken off. She also gave him a supplement - it was Farriers Formula but there is also Formula 4 Feet. Prior to having his shoes off he would loose shoes, puncture his soles, loose bit of wall and spend days on box rest with abcesses etc etc. She also rubbed corncucresine in everyday - his feet improved no end and she used to ride him for miles on roads and over fields. Kept him shoeless and used the boots for 5 years and then he was retired shoeless to a field - was just trimmed every 6/8 weeks
 
my boy grows plenty of foot which sometimes causes the problem because they are weak, the foot splays, cracks and splits. He's on rock hard, limestone flour and healthy hooves chaff as well as topical stuff like pro feet and kevin bacon!
 
I have only used them for riding - I don't know about turn out. I don't think I would want to leave them on for very long periods of time.

Is your field stony at all? If not then your horse would probably be fine out in the field.
 
the field is not too bad....stoney on the way down tho....he would even be ouchy just on hard ground the way they are at the moment, but I guess this would improve? maybe winter time would be a better time to try them with softer ground for him during turn out
 
Ours is stony on the way to the fields - when his shoes first came off she would just put his boots on to get him to the field and then take them of - it really only take a few weeks for their feet to harden up. My other friends 2 TB's are both unshod - her mare has been unshod for 6 years now - was a bit ouchy across the stones to start with but now no problem (I mean when being led - she also had the Marquis boots for her fronts for riding) and her youngster (TB) is 5 and never been shod yet - manages the stones and hacks (mainly fields 'cos he is a nutter!) perfectly well.
 
I've always found the Equine America Hoof Power Plus really good, worked out cheaper than Farrier Formula. My boy has one boxy foot due to contracted tendons as a foal and it has meant that his boxy foot does not grow as quick. He has had periods of lameness but the feed supplements have always helped. Good luck
 
As on the other post, i have heard lots and lots of good things about feeding a cup of black sunflower seeds, they are supposed to improve hoof quality greatly, and they are cheap, might be worth a try
 
Who's shoeing him (PM me if you'd rather not say on her and you will tell me)

Change of farrier maybe? Its done wonders for mine , other than that keratex and lots of it !
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This is what I've found works best and I've been struggling with my boys terrible feet for 11 years!

-Formula 4 Feet at full dose (tried lots of other supplements too)
-Healthy Hooves as a chaff (probs not necessary)
-A very good farrier and shod every 6 weeks, or less as necessary
-careful management, in for a few hours if wet, hoof moist if dry
-careful riding, esp. where we trot and canter, reduce roadwork
-if all else fails shoes off and turn away for 6 months, lame at first but feet really improve.

I know you need a quick fix, but unfortunately you're looking at 9 months or so before you see a real improvement. I've not found any topical treatments that I would really rate and my farrier doesn't approve anyway. Hope that helps,

Sue
 
I use farriers formula on mien as he has thin walls and can be very footy for a couple of days after being shod and has gone lame for several weeks in the past with shoeing related (abscess) problems). The Farriers formula seems to be doing ok. We are also feeding it to outr on TB who has recently started having problems with his feet and we think e can now see where the new, better horn is growing through.

However, as old TB was actually on 3 legs and had a nasty abscess we did decide to invest in Boa boots for him to wear in the field whilst he was recovering. I have to say I was quite impresses, they fitted well and stayed on unlike the old poultice boots. However, you have to make sure you fit them properly and tight enough. I don't think they should be worn for long periods but they can be used when poulticing so ours ad them on for a long period, they were only removed for his twice daily hot tubbing and poulticing. I think he had them on for about a week in total but then we did notice they seemed to be causing some pressure marks so we removed them. He was turned out 24/7 though so I think they did bloody well.

They are def worth a try but they can't really be left on for a very long time to be honest as they are just intended for ridden work really.
 
My friend's horse has had terrible troube with feet (just his back ones for some reason) and she's tried everything. She took his shoes off and tried boots but although his feet improved with not having nails going into them every 4 weeks, but he has a funny action with one back leg and kept twisting the boot off and couldn't cope being ridden barefoot. She tried all sorts of supplements and nothing worked.

She then changed farrier just because the old one got too expensive every four weeks so went with somebody a bit cheaper. He looked at his feet and his action before shoeing him and said that he needed to wear overreach boots on his back feet at all times. Since then he hasn't lost a shoe in over a year and is up to 6 weeks in between shoeings. He's trashed about 8 pairs of boots but he was doing that to his feet before.

So maybe you need to ask your farrier to really assess his feet objectively before shoeing him next time, or change farriers, a fresh pair of eyes might see something different.
 
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