4Yo with rubbish feet

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Toast

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Looking for suggestions really, as i dont want to go down the route of front shoes just yet. Though i will if all else fails.

My rising 4yo's feet have been cracking and breaking off between trims, but this time he's been especially footy, dragging me off the road onto grass and even being footy in the school which is just sand and rubber.

Im thinking of going down the route of a hoof hardener or the like? Have used Keratex before but its really expensive.. Would biotin help stop the cracking and footiness?
 
What is she fed and what is her grazing like?

I can really reccomend a forrage analysis and diet plan from forrage plus but there are various feed stuffs you could try as well as some you should avoid which will help her grow better quality horn :)
 
I think forage analysis and resultant advice/mineral specification is rather expensive for one horse.
I would try a basic Fast Fibre feed for general minerals plus a supplement. Regular trimming and make sure the edges are rounded off regularly in between trims if needed.
Seaweed is not always the right supplement as it is not balanced.
The summer equine balancer from forageplus looks more appropriate but email for advice, minimum order about £45.00
Equimins is also a good source of advice and products.
 
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Toast said:
Looking for suggestions really, as i dont want to go down the route of front shoes just yet. Though i will if all else fails.

My rising 4yo's feet have been cracking and breaking off between trims, but this time he's been especially footy, dragging me off the road onto grass and even being footy in the school which is just sand and rubber.

Im thinking of going down the route of a hoof hardener or the like? Have used Keratex before but its really expensive.. Would biotin help stop the cracking and footiness?
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Poor quality wall is indicative of nutritional needs, unless it is breaking off between trims because there is too much wall and the horse is trying to self trim.
Mineral imbalance is a common problem. There are a few supplements that can help. Biotin is the tip of the iceberg ;)

Dragging you onto the grass and being footy is another issue. It is indicative of inflammation . If you look at the threads on this board (and other forums) you will find many horses are footy or coming down with lami :( It's the type of year and the grass.
I'm not recommending keeping the horse in - sometimes correcting the minerals and upping the exercise is sufficient to settle the issue.

I would recommend hoof boots if you want to stay barefoot. The are handy to have for situations like this, so you can keep them working in comfort.

The other option is to shoe - but please be aware that this will make him more comfortable but it will not prevent the inflammation. You would still need to address the issues causing the inflammation or you run the risk of acute lami developing.

I will pm you with some supplement ideas.

Lotions and potions are not needed - it's not the hoof that's the problem.
 
Miss L Toe said:
I think forage analysis and resultant advice/mineral specification is rather expensive for one horse.
.
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That depends on how much you value the resultant effects....

but also, that is why I asked the question as to what the horse is fed as there are several things that can be tried before resorting to that!
 
Miss L Toe said:
I think forage analysis and resultant advice/mineral specification is rather expensive for one horse.
Click to expand...

Hopefully, as it becomes more common it will become cheaper and more accessible.

I paid £47 for my analysis and then £45 for a bespoke diet. I paid for them on separate months, to spread out the costs and bought the minerals themselves on another month.

It may have been an outlay - but I have saved money in the long run. I was randomly feeding this and that to try and get the perfect balance. I was inadvertently feeding the wrong 'healthy' things that didn't work with my land.
The question of why his hooves were good, but not as good as they had been before was suddenly answered.
This way I know exactly what I need and what I don't need and my old boy looks great because of that.
So for that and the peace of mind, it was worth every penny to me.
 
Toast said:
Im thinking of going down the route of a hoof hardener or the like? Have used Keratex before but its really expensive.. Would biotin help stop the cracking and footiness?
Click to expand...

Keratex - expensive? Sorry, but if you think this is too expensive to use, then how are you going to afford the farrier or vet?

My horses are on biotin to help their hooves grow, and I use hoof heal oil to stop any splits or cracks appearing.
I would never put money before the soundness of my horse, otherwise no hoof = no horse / horse in pain.
 
DollyDolls said:
Keratex - expensive? Sorry, but if you think this is too expensive to use, then how are you going to afford the farrier or vet?

My horses are on biotin to help their hooves grow, and I use hoof heal oil to stop any splits or cracks appearing.
I would never put money before the soundness of my horse, otherwise no hoof = no horse / horse in pain.
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Chill, Winston. OP's just asking for advice.
 
I think your immediate footiness problem is more likely to be a question of what you stop doing than what you add.

How much grazing is he getting?
 
My horse had rubbish feet as a 4yr old - I added sunflower seeds and oil to her feeds and things improved. I've just had her trimmed again - 11 years old and still barefoot with good, solid feet :) Not bad for a horse thats mostly TB! :D
 
Miss L Toe said:
I think forage analysis and resultant advice/mineral specification is rather expensive for one horse.
Click to expand...

Def worth getting a low sugar/starch diet into him and trying one of the better feed balancers - the forage plus one, pro hoof from ebay or meta balance from equimins. Should make a huge amount of difference. Should that not improve things enough then it would be worth looking at getting forage analysis (our forage is messed up so none of the comercial balancers would come close!). I would say it is a total bargain compared to a barely field sound horse or happily covering the issues up with shoes lol!
 
Oberon said:
Hopefully, as it becomes more common it will become cheaper and more accessible.

I paid £47 for my analysis and then £45 for a bespoke diet. I paid for them on separate months, to spread out the costs and bought the minerals themselves on another month.

It may have been an outlay - but I have saved money in the long run. I was randomly feeding this and that to try and get the perfect balance. I was inadvertently feeding the wrong 'healthy' things that didn't work with my land.
The question of why his hooves were good, but not as good as they had been before was suddenly answered.
This way I know exactly what I need and what I don't need and my old boy looks great because of that.
So for that and the peace of mind, it was worth every penny to me.
Click to expand...
Well, yes, BUT, the fact is that taking a representative sample of one day's intake is difficult enough, but to take a representative sample of one horses intake over three months [and this is only one quarter of the year] is even more difficult. For example, to take a soil sample of a field, one has to take a particular number of samples over a particular pattern, then take the resultant multiple samples, mix thoroughly, then divide in to a small sample which will go the the laboratory, where they will mix and divide again, and again.
A soil sample is much easier to take than a sample of grass, or hay/haylage etc etc.
PS I am an agriculturalist, and would find it difficult to take a sample of my boys' feed intake on one day. He is in a known low magnesium area, so I feed that, plus a broad spectrum min and vit supplement. I adjust the Mg througut the year, when MG will be low, I add more. When laminitis is more prevalent, I add a lami supplement.
 
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I fully appreciate what you are saying.

My understanding with regards to horses is that sampling soil will not tell you what the mineral levels are going to be in the plant or what they will be in the horse that eats plants grown on it, only what you should do to nourish the soil.
But I am happy to bow to your greater knowledge of this, as I'm a novice with it all.

I sampled several haylage bales in Nov 2010. Now this should be completely obsolete by now.

But the simple thing is - it's working.

My horse is healthy.

I don't think it is something EVERYONE should do - but if you have tried all the usual things and you still don't have answers, it may just be that puzzle piece.

I got a message from a good friend today that she had read Carob was great for horses with Cushing's and perhaps I should look into it for my old boy.
Thanks to the analysis, I know Carob is not a good match for my horse and I have avoided wasting money on something that wouldn't of worked.
 
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