Barefeet, flat feet, foot sore, stones, ground, shoes? woes

I wouldn’t waste your time with hoof hardener, it doesn’t do anything much, it’s the diet and trim that need to be right for a happy horse.
 
Excellent- hoof boots are fab, I used them on my mare who struggled with the very stony path to the field and she was so much happier.
 
Horsekaren said:
From the pictures are there any signs of sugar damage? how can you tell? he is on a very low suger diet, has been muzzled for all but 4 hours a day in the last two months, i have taken it off since the field is so bare and dry, he is worked 4 -6 times a week, no treats ect.

He is a fantastic weight for his breed, 15.3 cob approx 525kg, everyone always comments on how good i keep his weight.
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His diet isn't the best. Fast fibre is no longer recommended and D&H feeds are generally cr ap. Would you be willing to change?
I wouldn't also say that his feet look flat - there looks to be pretty good concavity from what I can see. Horses are meant to weight bear on all parts of their feet, including the soles. Putting shoes on will just mask the issue you have now, not address it.
If I were you, I'd video the horse walking and see how he's landing. If he's not landing heel first, you've got an issue.
Regardless though, id change his diet (thunderbrooks, Agrobs, salt, micronised linseed and a supplement), treat with Red Horse products (just in case there's thrush), get some hoof boots on and get out hacking. Movement is critical to improving feet. Don't trim either - leave his feet alone for now to find their own balance.
 
PoppyAnderson said:
His diet isn't the best. Fast fibre is no longer recommended and D&H feeds are generally cr ap. Would you be willing to change?
I wouldn't also say that his feet look flat - there looks to be pretty good concavity from what I can see. Horses are meant to weight bear on all parts of their feet, including the soles. Putting shoes on will just mask the issue you have now, not address it.
If I were you, I'd video the horse walking and see how he's landing. If he's not landing heel first, you've got an issue.
Regardless though, id change his diet (thunderbrooks, Agrobs, salt, micronised linseed and a supplement), treat with Red Horse products (just in case there's thrush), get some hoof boots on and get out hacking. Movement is critical to improving feet. Don't trim either - leave his feet alone for now to find their own balance.
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This absolutely :)
 
Horsekaren said:
No i dont hack him at the moment, i dont plan on hacking for a while until the ground softens.
His feet have always been flat, when i had him vetted they commented on his flat feet, all they said was one day he may benefit from shoes. When you say it looks like he is preparing to shed how can you see that. I've not really got an eye or a very good understanding of feet.

When you say treat the frog, would that be with the hoof disinfectant i do once a week but up it to twice a day?
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With the right lifestyle he can gain some concavity, they don’t look flat to me anyway.
 
Horsekaren said:
No i dont hack him at the moment, i dont plan on hacking for a while until the ground softens.
His feet have always been flat, when i had him vetted they commented on his flat feet, all they said was one day he may benefit from shoes. When you say it looks like he is preparing to shed how can you see that. I've not really got an eye or a very good understanding of feet.

When you say treat the frog, would that be with the hoof disinfectant i do once a week but up it to twice a day?
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I find it fascinating when vets say x horse will benefit from shoes.... I mean where does that come from? How many performing barefoot horses are they comparing it to? Going by the general veterinary opinion (and experience!) on bf horses, I'd say very few! I will stick my neck out and say I don't think vets have enough experience to comment on barefoot hooves, they should rely on qualified podiatrists just like they rely on farriers.
 
Bellalily said:
I wouldn’t waste your time with hoof hardener, it doesn’t do anything much, it’s the diet and trim that need to be right for a happy horse.
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It hardens the feet in the time you are waiting for the feet created by the right feed to grow down!
 
tallyho! said:
Sugar in hay never changes no matter how old it is. Sugar only dissolves in solutes hence why soaking works to remove it. Some vitamins and minerals degrade over time though. I don’t worry about feeding fresh hay, as long as it is dry (no mould - some people like to wait a few weeks just to make sure) and not too dusty. Meadow preferred! :)
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Second this😊
 
May I ask what is the problem with fast fibre? I only use a small amount to carry the forage plus balancer as it is one of the ones they recommend.
 
Carrottom said:
May I ask what is the problem with fast fibre? I only use a small amount to carry the forage plus balancer as it is one of the ones they recommend.
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Because it already contains “balanced minerals”. I’m not sure that it used to which is why lots of people used to use it for bf. So if you’re buying it to mix your balancer in, it would throw the balance out of whack, wouldn’t it. Why would anyone do that? It’s expensive enough to buy the balancer never mind add more that might not be needed.

Increasingly, the groups I belong to use a simple grass pellet or hay cob.

In an ideal world you would test your forage and get a company to make bespoke minerals for you but you can’t guarantee the same forage source all the time.
 
Carrottom said:
May I ask what is the problem with fast fibre? I only use a small amount to carry the forage plus balancer as it is one of the ones they recommend.
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It's the nutritionally improved straw in it. It's soaked in caustic soda to break it down. Plus it has fillers in it.
 
PoppyAnderson said:
It's the nutritionally improved straw in it. It's soaked in caustic soda to break it down. Plus it has fillers in it.
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this. plus I've had two horses (of the same breed weirdly) that went footy on this and unmolassed speedibeet. I know all the arguments as to why they shouldn't have but there you go, it happened on the several different occasions that I tried it. Don't have those two anymore but having great results on restricted grass, top chop zero, salt, equimins advanced and soaked hay-also use aggro's cobs in the winter but nothing else.
 
But anything you feed has minerals in it, so if you are that bothered then you need to do the maths, but even if you are forage testing you are guessing how much they are eating anyway, a handful of fastfibre even as a 'complete' feed is going to provide very little of anything, especially as it is still touted as a hay replacer despite it's selenium content.

I can't get het up about NIS but I know plenty of people do.

I fed it before agrobs has made it over as something that he would at least touch.
 
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