Another Hoof Post!! Weak Walls

[Firewell]

Ive been reading the other Hoof and shoeing posts with interest and wonder if anyone can help me with my horses hoof problem??

Shes a TB (Typical!), Her feet are a nice shape and she has some seedy toe which thankfully is not getting worse and is slowly growing out. She has natural balance shoes which help support her hoves and shes always been shod by highly reputable farriers.

The problem is she has such thin walls and her feet grow really slowly. How can I get her get her walls stronger??

Shes quirky to shoe and I think a lot of the problem stems from the fact that her walls are so thin, my farrier says he can feel her flinching while he's shoeing her and hes pretty sure she can feel it, he has hardly any space to put the nails in and sometimes has to put them in quite high.

Shes fed, falcon feeds Oat and Barley free which is a really good low sugar, high fibre conditioning feed at the right amount for her to get all the nutrients. Shes also fed a magnesium supplement and some 'stoppy mare' herbs. She is on decent grass for 8 hrs of the day and a big haynet of haylage during the night. Shes the picture of health, eyes bright, topline, shes full of energy and her coat feels like silk.

I put antibac on her feet every 3 days, which is really knocking the infection in her white line on the head. She also has hoof moisturiser put on every day. I just need them to get stronger now!

Anyone have any other ideas to make her hoof wall stronger or is it just the way she is?? Im loath to change her feed, its the only one which gives her energy while keeping her calm and she really suits it.

I dream of her having strong healthy hooves, a neat row of nails and no more fuss every time the farrier comes! Anyone help?

 

[sally2008]

I would recommend stopping the hoof moisturiser, as soft horn is weak horn, and subsitute it for Keratex hoof hardener. Also, don't be tempted to try cornucresine or any product which claims to speed up hoof growth by topical application as, again, fast growth will be weak, in much the same way that a slow growing oak tree is hard and strong, unlike quick growing pine.

 

[jesterfaerie]

I have mentioned what I use on my TB on quite a few posts recently.
I have been using Equicast (.co.uk) for a few months and the condition of his feet have improved so much and he can now hold shoes on for 4-5 weeks, he struggled with 3 weeks before because the walls were so weak they just crumbled!
You can use them on their own or with shoes. Although with shoes it costs me around £50 for just the fronts but using them on their own will still allow you to hack out (just not as much) as they protect the sole so if your mare gets footsore (like my lad) then it does stop them for being footsore without shoes on hard ground.

 

[kellyeaton]

try some supplements for feed like biotion seaweed etc!