Any Feet Experts out there?

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pinkcatkin

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My friend has a TB and a real problem with his feet. He has nice shaped feet for a TB, not flat, but the problem is that his back feet are very crumbly and his front feet just don't grow, so the farrier has a real problem putting nails in.

He has been on Formula Feet by Equilife for 8 months and although things did improve slightly this has now stopped. Somebody has suggested that long term use of certain products can be detrimental to livery or kidneys (cant remember which).

Can anybody suggest anything that might improve this situation?
 
Hi
Not a foot expert but had a young horse with crumbly feet and fed her Dengie Healthy Hooves which she loved and brushed Camrosa on them daily. They improved greatly. Also Biotin is a good feed supplement. Worth a try nothing harmful.
 
I'm no foot expert but my mare had a similar problem. I had her on Newmarket Hoof Supplement which she ate in her feed no problem. I also was advised by the farrier to regularly )every 3rd / 4th day) wash her hooves and give a good a squirt of hoof disifectant all around the nail holes and cracks as he felt that the broken hoof wall was leaving an open door for bacteria which would weaken the hoof wall more making more crumbly. I also applied Effol to her hooves daily.

I done this for about 9 months and I saw a fantastic result in my horses feet. I then had to change farriers and the new and current farrier didn't think all that much of what I had been advised but I suppose it's each to their own and I saw the logic in what I was being told as well as seeing the improvements so I believe it really did help. My girls feet are the best they have ever been and she is off of the hoof supplement but I still regularly disinfect - to my currents farriers dismay!
 
Hi

I would suggest feeding seaweed, this helps feet grow really well and its also pretty cheap. I fed this to my laminitic pony and the and the laminitis rings in his feet grew down quicker )almost 6 monts sooner than normal) and my fairrier and the hospital were amazed at their condition and the speed in which they grew.
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Hi, my boy had to go bare foot about four months ago now due to the exact same problems.I had the vet and farrier out and he is now on daily biotin,keratex twice a week and cornucresine on the coronet band every other day. Things are really improving and his hoof growth is fab
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Hope this helps
 
My farrier is a fan of keratex hoof hardener.

I would be interested to hear if there are any long term problems with feeding formula4feet as I currently feed it to my TB on my vet's advice.
The one thing I am really careful about is not doubling up by feeding more than one supplement that may overlap.

If you need to compare supplements this site is quite good at listing how much each costs to feed each day though of course their own brand performs best.
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http://www.equineanswers.co.uk/prodpage.asp?ProdID=3
 
Change farriers. My TBs feet were a mess until I got a very good farrier. TBs feet are notoriously difficult to keep in a good condition and if a farrier struggles to get nails in I'd suggest they aren't the right farrier for the horse. My current farrier has no issues (unlike previous ones) and my horses feet have improved dramatically. He is also on Foruma 4 Feet and I use Kevin Bacon products but the most important thing is a good farrier.
 
I cannot express how much difference a good farrier can make!
My TB was lame earlier this year diagnosed as foot imbalances due to trimming & shoeing. He was bilaterally lame, had awful shaped feet, cracks, holes etc.
6 months later with a new remedial farrier who is just excellent & his feet are so much better. Whilst his conformation will never be great, he holds his shoes, they don't crack, he can get decent nails in & most importantly my horse moves so much more freely (oh and is sound!).
He is now also on formula 4 feet which will hopefully only improve things.
 
Sounds very similar to my boy, he has always had slow growing bad quality horn and therfore has no hoof to nail to at times. I have had him 4 years and tried most supplements and topical solutions on the market.

A good farrier helps a lot, I have had farriers who were too scared to nail high so he'd loose them and more hoof when they came off... Once I found a farrier who can keep shoes on him that was a great help!!

But as he has slow horn growth it takes a lot longer to see a difference from supplements, my chap has been on Formula4Feet for nearly a year now and the farrier is only just starting to see a difference in the quality of horn.. which I am so relieved about. His last set of shores have been on nearly 6 weeks which is the longest he's had them on EVER!! So I would say stick with formula 4 Feet for a bit longer.

I also use Kevin Bacon original in the summer on his feet if the ground is very dry, which helps keep them from drying out.

I have also used keratex if its a bit wet but think that any kind of antibacterial solution to clean the nail holes will help with the hoof breaking down.
 
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