Advice please after farrier visit today

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BarneyTheChestnutOne

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Hi all, my first post asking for advice :)
Farrier came today for my boy and has said that he has soft soles in his front feet. Just to add he is also prone to minor thrush. What would you recommend to use now to help harden his feet up?
I also appreciate that diet is an important factor with feet so any advice to improving this would be great too :)
Barney (15.1hh 9yr old gelding of unknown breeding) has just started living out on relatively poor grazing but comes in every day for a rest, ride and feed.
Fed 1 scoop happy hoof, 1 mug micronised linseed, 2 mugs topspec leisuretime balancer and I have just dropped the topspec cubes from his diet but he was getting 1/2 scoop of these. Supplemented biotin, magox, yeasacc, salt and equimins flexijoint.
Does this sound Ok for him? Thanks in advance for any advice.
 
My barefoot trimmer (highly qualified and recommended to me) suggested I use Naf 'Rock Hard' on my horse's soles and frogs. Apparently it hardens the soles and helps with infected frogs (thrush?). I've only just started using it so can't report on its efficacy. He was adamant that Keratex makes the horn brittle so not a good idea. Rock Hard is very expensive, so it had better work! I don't know how it compares price wise with other products.
 
My mare had this and my black smith said bleach. It seems to work I have to say. He also said don't pick her feet out after she has been in the furled and to do it in the morning. Hope this helps
 
Unfortunately anything you put on the sole to specifically harden them will only have a superficial effect.

As you say, it comes from within and there will be seasonal variances because of grass fluctuations. I personally am not a fan of happy hoof as it is Mo-glo, which is still molasses ultimately. While I can't find the ingredients for the TopSpec, experience with reading their other products in the feedstore, where a product is not listed as 'lite' tends to have molasses quite high up the list. I would read the Rockley blog as to suitable feeds, try the new Dengie ranges as they have done a lot to get with the non-molasses movement. If you feel a balancer is needed, try a powder version like ForagePlus, or Progressive Earth (eBay) and drop any compound balancer feeds. If you need extra oomph, or more condition, up the linseed and/or add oil.

This should help with the thrush, as will spraying dettol on the soles and frog every day for a week, then every other day until it clears.
 
I have used Keratex when rehabbing a barefoot horse, but would use with caution as there is a fine line between hardening it up and making it crack!

For a shod horse I have found that picking really carefully and then hoof oil in and outside the hoof stops the thrush coming in the first place (if thrush is the cause of the softness). I have also used Terramyacin spray or Hydrogen Peroxide stops the thrush if it is already there and allows the hoof to harden up.

The hoof oil is not to moisten the hoof, it is to provide a barrier to prevent fluctuations in the hoof moisture. If the hoof is not alternately wet then dry then wet they crack less, and less bacteria (thrush) get in.
 
Always had very good result with Keratex (used as instructed on bottle) on both soft soles and brittle hoof wall. It gives improvement for period of time required for nutritional improvements to take place. In very dry periods when the hoof can dry out, they also make a 'moisturiser' that seems to protest hoof well.
Farriers formula is a useful supplement. For picky horses that don't like additives, Alfa-A seems to have a very beneficial effect on foot quality - not sure why, unless it's because Alfalfa contains more calcium than grass.
 
a friend of mine used keratex hoof hardener and it caused the hoof to become brittle and shatter, he was crippled on box rest with padding under his feet for months
 
I swear by naf pro feet. Saved my mares life when she had a persistent deep abscess and the vet recommended pts. Also keeps her brothers feet so that shoes actually stay on. I haven't found anything else so good. It does take a while for you to see a result as it works from the inside. I know it must be this that works for the gelding as when I foolishly stopped giving it to him his feet were bad again some months later once the decent horn had worn away. It's taken another 3-4 months to get him right again.
 
Thank you everyone, I will have a look at all of these as I feel I should use something in the meantime to aid hardening his feet up whilst I get his diet right.
Is the Terramyacin spray available over the counter?
I will have a look at the rockley blog, thank you, and have a little research into Dengie and see if they have a non molasses feed. I tried hi-fi molasses free but he wouldn't touch it :/ so it seems swapping or dropping the balancer as well is the way forward.
Thank you everyone, any advice on the nutritional side is a great help as it seems such a minefield and I want to get it right for him :)
 
My vet taught me this neat trick:

Make sure feet are clean and dry. Make a cross shape out of duct tape and stick a wad of cotton wool in the middle. Apply dry epsom salts directly to the sole of the foot and stick the duct tape/cotton wool over the top and then use extra tape to secure it neatly to the foot.

You can leave on for 24-48 hours and when you take it off your horse will have proper little rock crunchers! :)
 
Thank You :) I have ordered some NAF rock hard and will see if this helps at all, if not I will give this a go.
I am going to contact dengie about their molasses free range and try and contact top-spec to see if they have any balancers which are molasses free as I would still like to feed a balancer. If not I will look into other brands for this too.
 
Annie B. said:
Keratex painted on the sole and cornucresine on the hoof wall gives beautiful strong feet.
Click to expand...

I use cornucresine too... it definitely helped toughen up my mares brittle feet when I first got her. I have known of someone else at the yard using bleach on their TB's thrush prone, soft heels and feet- it did help a bit, but unfortunately she had other issues too and had to be PTS :(
 
BarneyTheChestnutOne said:
Thank you amandap my farrier said they were soft when pressed. Is this an indication of thin soles?
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Quite possibly but your farrier should advise. Sole should not move when pressed. If they are thin try to not ride on big stones/rocks that could jab the sole.
Diet is a big part of growing thicker soles but also not trimming any sole is another.
 
amandap said:
Quite possibly but your farrier should advise. Sole should not move when pressed. If they are thin try to not ride on big stones/rocks that could jab the sole.
Diet is a big part of growing thicker soles but also not trimming any sole is another.
Click to expand...

Ok thank you I am going to ask my farrier for more info my sister was at the yard with him yesterday as I had to work . Do you have any recommendations diet wise? It is such a minefield. I have been directed towards dengie molasses free range, and that topspec balancer may not be ideal so am going to look for an alternative. Hard to find best place to start as I want to get it right so he stays in good condition but still see an improvement in his feet.
 
Years ago we had a pony prone to thrush and generally not great feet, our farrier recommended "farriers formula" which is a supplement but also a liquid that you brush on to the sole/hoof.

It was really good and helped loads (not cheap so daughter was banned from using it in case of spillage)
 
BarneyTheChestnutOne said:
Ok thank you I am going to ask my farrier for more info my sister was at the yard with him yesterday as I had to work . Do you have any recommendations diet wise? It is such a minefield. I have been directed towards dengie molasses free range, and that topspec balancer may not be ideal so am going to look for an alternative. Hard to find best place to start as I want to get it right so he stays in good condition but still see an improvement in his feet.
Click to expand...
Diet can be a very individual thing I'm afraid when it comes to the bucket. Low sugar and carb, high fibre with a good quality balancer and salt is the basis. Many barefoot peeps prefer balancers with no added iron as it is generally in good supply in forages and water already and excess iron can interfere with absorption of other minerals.
Both Pro hoof and the Forage plus ones have no added iron. Whichever balancer you choose, feed at the recommended rate, don't skimp. If there is no improvement in a few months then you may have to look deeper at sugars in grazing/forages and also minerals in the grass/forages he is eating rather than use a standard balancer.Some horses do well on TS and others not so well.
FP is expensive and can take a bit for them to get used to but it is the highest spec I know of. So if you start with another and it doesn't help much then perhaps try FP.

As an aside to keep in the back of your mind, thin soles not responding to diet changes can be a sign of Cushings disease.

ps. The above is assuming the farrier is not swiping the knife across the sole at each shoeing/trim.

Also Oberon has a diet sheet she kindly gives out.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/member.php?61631-Oberon
 
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amandap said:
Diet can be a very individual thing I'm afraid when it comes to the bucket. Low sugar and carb, high fibre with a good quality balancer and salt is the basis. Many barefoot peeps prefer balancers with no added iron as it is generally in good supply in forages and water already and excess iron can interfere with absorption of other minerals.
Both Pro hoof and the Forage plus ones have no added iron. Whichever balancer you choose, feed at the recommended rate, don't skimp. If there is no improvement in a few months then you may have to look deeper at sugars in grazing/forages and also minerals in the grass/forages he is eating rather than use a standard balancer.Some horses do well on TS and others not so well.
FP is expensive and can take a bit for them to get used to but it is the highest spec I know of. So if you start with another and it doesn't help much then perhaps try FP.

As an aside to keep in the back of your mind, thin soles not responding to diet changes can be a sign of Cushings disease.

ps. The above is assuming the farrier is not swiping the knife across the sole at each shoeing/trim.

Also Oberon has a diet sheet she kindly gives out.
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/member.php?61631-Oberon
Click to expand...


Thats great thank you very much for your reply it has given me lots to think about. Barney is looking healthy on the outside on TS, nice and shiny and well conditioned (probably too much now) but it seems his feet may have gone downhill since he has been on the TS (1 and 1/2 years now and they have gradually been getting worse) :(
I will message Oberon and see if she would kindly mind sending me the diet sheet as I think this would be beneficial. I will have a chat with my farrier and see if he thinks it is worth thinking about cushings testing my boy or seeing if he responds well to a change in diet now.
Thank you again
 
So I have spoken to the lovely people at progressive earth about his diet and based on our chat I have ordered the pro hoof to replace the top spec balancer. So now I need to decide on a molasses free chaff to feed it in. It seems I can drop the magnesium oxide now, but not sure whether to continue the yea sacc or not? I will continue to feed the linseed and flexijoint I think as I think these are beneficial for him.
 
Pro hoof contains yea sacc but you could check the dose and perhaps top up until your supply is used up.
One of the quick soak un mollassed beets, fast fibre or even Spillers high fibre cubes soaked to a crumble would carry the Pro hoof, no need for a chaff really.
Good luck
 
Ok great, I will check out the levels in the pro hoof when it arrives and decide if I need to top up or stop using it then, thank you. He is not a fan of sugarbeet/Speedibeet I tried that before the topspec diet and he wouldn't eat it :( is fast fibre similar to these? If so will look into the cubes as he eats cubes nicely :)
 
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