Awful feet - any ideas or advice?

Honeypots, just another thing - coming out of summer and into winter is not the best time to be taking him barefoot for the first time, is it?

I just had a look at those boa boots and they look good. What happens about his feet when he is in the field - I appreciate they will protect his feet during ridden work, but what about in the field?
 
If the kicking & stamping at flies is an issue would stabling him part-time help? I find it makes a difference for one of mine. I'm also another one who saw a big improvement feeding Top Spec balancer (much better than F4F IME).
 
you say he has bad feet - does this mean because they are dry/crumbly or there is no horn growth?

My anglo has typical TB feet - thin walls, very dry, brittle amd crumbly, with little horn growth (even in summer) so at times there was nothing for the shoes to be nailed to, and when left barefoot actually went bald.

The only thing I can do is have 5 weekly intervals (pain when the other one was on 7 week cycles) and to wash feet every day to put some moisture back in. Also paint NAF hoof moist on every day.

I only feed BOSS and linseed, and he gets daily recommended amount of hard feed, is on poor grazing and has ad lib hay. In winter I also leave his backs bare, to give them a rest as they seem to have the worst growth of all - of bare in summer they will be bald, even if he is just on field rest. The BOSS hoof is now growing through and it is so much tougher - my other boy is now barefoot.

In winter its the opposite - feet are too soft so I then use Keratex hoof moist, which is supposed to put moisture in but just makes them dry.

When feet are refusing to grow, I use Len Rys Complimentary Hoof Treatment - it is brilliant, I get about 5 weeks worth of growth in 2 weeks, just need to put it on the coronet band 2 or 3 times a week.
 
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you say he has bad feet - does this mean because they are dry/crumbly or there is no horn growth?
<font color="blue"> Hi. Not seen you about for a while.
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He has dry, brittle, crumbly feet. One of the fronts has a bit of a crack going on as well. His feet seem to grow OK though. </font>

My anglo has typical TB feet - thin walls, very dry, brittle amd crumbly, with little horn growth (even in summer) so at times there was nothing for the shoes to be nailed to, and when left barefoot actually went bald.

The only thing I can do is have 5 weekly intervals (pain when the other one was on 7 week cycles) and to wash feet every day to put some moisture back in. Also paint NAF hoof moist on every day.
<font color="blue"> I am planning to cut the length of the shoeing cycle in summer and to keep the feet washed daily and then applying kevin bacon and, as recommended by TheFarrier, hoof heal until his feet are better, then will maybe use something like hoof moist.</font>

I only feed BOSS and linseed, and he gets daily recommended amount of hard feed, is on poor grazing and has ad lib hay. In winter I also leave his backs bare, to give them a rest as they seem to have the worst growth of all - of bare in summer they will be bald, even if he is just on field rest. The BOSS hoof is now growing through and it is so much tougher - my other boy is now barefoot.
<font color="blue"> My boy is on quite good grazing as we now have our own (rented) place. He is out 24/7 as I found he was better not being in where he seemed to rub a lot more. His sweet itch is quite OK this year - I have a snuggyhood - the flies just irritate him, and they are as bad in his stable as out.
I feed BOSS at the moment. I think it was you who recommended it to me. I stopped for a while but started again last month - it makes a nice difference to his coat, but will take a while to help the hoof I guess. </font>

In winter its the opposite - feet are too soft so I then use Keratex hoof moist, which is supposed to put moisture in but just makes them dry.

When feet are refusing to grow, I use Len Rys Complimentary Hoof Treatment - it is brilliant, I get about 5 weeks worth of growth in 2 weeks, just need to put it on the coronet band 2 or 3 times a week.

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Thanks for your post, CBAnglo.
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Havent seen you around for a while either! Read you moved them to your own yard (yay!) and that they were both much happier and you and OH were a lot happier too. Being out 24/7 is going to be so much better for keeping weight on as well (you were spending a fortune on feed!)

It takes about 9 months of the new horn to grow through - I can see all the little rings in their feet from when I changed their grazing and diet. I started feeding BOSS in September last year, and the new horn is actually a different colour - it is greyish black on the black feet and a lot whiter on the white feet. Very odd.

Try and get hold of the Len Rys complementary hoof treatment - it is really difficult to get hold of, but it really does work I have hoarded about 6 tubs of it. If you can speed up the new growth, you can see the effects of the BOSS.

His feet will be better next year - grass is really good for feet and now you have unrestricted amounts! In summer they grow faster, so you might be able to go 5 weeks in summer then back to 6 in winter. If the horn is growing, I would do that - in my case I had no horn so farrier had nothing to attach shoes to.
 
Hi Lanky

You are not too far I have said i will go as far as Bodmin and happy to come your way as a once off (always nice to meet HHO's)
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So let me know how it goes with your farrier.

I have one perhaps oddball suggestion (beyond hoof heal) Is feeding him echinacea for the sweetich and the crumbly hooves. Perhpas it because his immune system is weakened in summer from the sweetich and his feet suffer? Just a suggestion.

pm me and let me know what your farrier says.
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