Barefoot post canker .....it's complicated !

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JessicaRabbitt

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My mare is recovery well from a nasty bout of canker , (brought on, the vet thinks,by shoeing with pads.)

I'm just wanting to check I'm on the right lines with feed and management.Her shoes came off in April, but she's been in limited work since then as she's been in boots while the surgery healed.Now she has 2 feet out of boots and the other two are not far behind.....

She's currently fed Alfa A (the molasses free version, haylage,and Formula feet .The thing that is a bit tricky is the yard we're at , which otherwise suits well, has limited storage for different feeds, and from what I see on the forums you need quite a few different ones and supplements too ?I have assisted livery so it needs to be something ideally in no more than two big containers and one small one that could be fed together.The farrier also he has some "paint-on" solution for hardening feet, has anybody heard of this?I'm sure there's other things to think of as well.....thanks for any help !
 
Hardening soles with a paint on solution is one thing, but hard won't protect the internal structures.

We want the sole to be THICK - not just hard.

We get a thick sole with a decent diet and stimulation of the hoof against the ground. So you are on the right track already - time and movement.

If the diet is working OK with you, then carry on with it as it is.

If not, I can send you some suggestions via pm :).
 
I don't think you need lots of containers if you buy a ready mixed suppliment rather than mineral balancing yourself.

I think the standard advice is Suppliment + Linseed + Base of fast fibre or speedibeet or similar. That is two containers big enough to hold a 20kg sack and one small container.

I was worried about complicated feed as I'm on a yard where the staff mix and give feeds but it is less complicated than what she was getting when she had their standard feed!
 
Thanks for the swift reply Oberon !

Yes, I thought about the internal structures too and the paint - the farrier ahs been great (he's pro-barefoot as well) .Re work , at the moment she is going in the field for a 2-3 hours a day, otherwise on the walker or on road exercise (in boots as we're waiting for the last bit of healing.) My hope is to be able to do everything with bare feet in the next month and hopefully start some hacking as well ...

I'll pm you some pics if I can find a way to do so ....I'm hoping it's correct re diet but when I read about it there seem like so many different things to feed .If you can pm me some ideas that would be very kind.My mare is 17h, 20 years old and is generally an "all rounder"....
 
You can make feed as simple or as complicated as you need to.

Almost all the nutrition will come from the grass and forage, sunlight and internal synthesis.

What we need to feed for is:

1) To correct imbalances in the grass/haylage.
2) To provide extra help to elderly/poorly/hard working horses.

My old, dentally challenged, Cushings boy has grass/haylage and then a bucket of Fast Fibre, Speedibeet, chaff, J-herb, Yea-sacc, Linseed and Pro Balance +.

My young and healthy horse has grass/haylage and a handful of Fast Fibre with Pro Balance + in the winter as that's all he needs. However - if he was still living out, he would just be getting a smile and a pat :p.
 
Kat said:
I don't think you need lots of containers if you buy a ready mixed suppliment rather than mineral balancing yourself.

I think the standard advice is Suppliment + Linseed + Base of fast fibre or speedibeet or similar. That is two containers big enough to hold a 20kg sack and one small container.

I was worried about complicated feed as I'm on a yard where the staff mix and give feeds but it is less complicated than what she was getting when she had their standard feed!
Click to expand...

Ah, that's useful to know, thankyou!Is that Suppliment a product or did you mean appropriate supplement, sorry if that seems a daft question.Can you get these things from your normal feed merchant??
 
Oberon said:
You can make feed as simple or as complicated as you need to.

Almost all the nutrition will come from the grass and forage, sunlight and internal synthesis.

What we need to feed for is:

1) To correct imbalances in the grass/haylage.
2) To provide extra help to elderly/poorly/hard working horses.

My old, dentally challenged, Cushings boy has grass/haylage and then a bucket of Fast Fibre, Speedibeet, chaff, J-herb, Yea-sacc, Linseed and Pro Balance +.

My young and healthy horse has grass/haylage and a handful of Fast Fibre with Pro Balance + in the winter as that's all he needs. However - if he was still living out, he would just be getting a smile and a pat :p.
Click to expand...

Hmm, it is a bit fiddly isn't it , but I'm sure it's not when you know what you're looking at.I guess the trick is to check that horses feet are doing well, it's just a question of knowing what to add next, and not to be duplicating minerals in your supplements ???I've not heard of J-herb I'm afraid, and are all the different types of fibre to give variety /texture ???I 'd like to keep it simple if possible (that's the appeal really of "all in" supplements ) , but not the ones that are full of sugar!She's not cushingoid and has good teeth, and is generally in excellent health thankfully .....
 
JessicaRabbitt said:
Ah, that's useful to know, thankyou!Is that Suppliment a product or did you mean appropriate supplement, sorry if that seems a daft question.Can you get these things from your normal feed merchant??
Click to expand...

I meant whatever suppliment you decide to use. The lovely Oberon recommended a few to me. I ended up buying Pro-Hoof which isn't cheap but included pretty much everything and more besides. I had to buy mail order (ebay seller progressive earth who also make pro-balance + mentioned above) but I can honestly say that the customer service is second to none :D

I should add that I'm no expert, I posted on here, and did a fairly massive trawl of various websites looking for information and an awful lot of people seemed to do roughly the same sort of thing with various tweaks for their individual horse.
 
Kat said:
I meant whatever suppliment you decide to use. The lovely Oberon recommended a few to me. I ended up buying Pro-Hoof which isn't cheap but included pretty much everything and more besides. I had to buy mail order (ebay seller progressive earth who also make pro-balance + mentioned above) but I can honestly say that the customer service is second to none :D

I should add that I'm no expert, I posted on here, and did a fairly massive trawl of various websites looking for information and an awful lot of people seemed to do roughly the same sort of thing with various tweaks for their individual horse.
Click to expand...

I do think this move to barefoot is fascinating - and timely for our horses. As you say there's so much info out there it can be a bit of a blur, and som ay companies have products to promote....

I'll have a look at the Pro-hoof vs the Formula feet then , thanks for that.....
 
If you ask Oberon nicely she might send you her feeding info, she listed about 4 suppliments for me to look into. Alternatively you could have a look at the Phoenix Forum, they have a whole board for Barefoot Diets, and there is lots of advice best of all it is from barefoot owners rather than feed companies. There are also lots of people who have a lot of knowledge of what is in various feeds and the starch and sugar levels.

I felt really overwhelmed at first but have been reading up pretty obsessively!
 
Kat said:
If you ask Oberon nicely she might send you her feeding info, she listed about 4 suppliments for me to look into. Alternatively you could have a look at the Phoenix Forum, they have a whole board for Barefoot Diets, and there is lots of advice best of all it is from barefoot owners rather than feed companies. There are also lots of people who have a lot of knowledge of what is in various feeds and the starch and sugar levels.

I felt really overwhelmed at first but have been reading up pretty obsessively!
Click to expand...

Great, I'll have a look at that - Oberon has already helpfully posted a couple of options but I'll have a look at the forum as well....
 
I make my mineral mix up at home so only take one pot to the field - mine live out so no storage at all aside from plastic feed bin :p That contains my fast fibre, bran and mineral pot and salt pot. Done. :)

PS you only tend to use loads if u do forage analysis so make up the entire thing by each individual ingredient.
 
JessicaRabbitt said:
Hmm, it is a bit fiddly isn't it , but I'm sure it's not when you know what you're looking at.I guess the trick is to check that horses feet are doing well, it's just a question of knowing what to add next, and not to be duplicating minerals in your supplements ???I've not heard of J-herb I'm afraid, and are all the different types of fibre to give variety /texture ???I 'd like to keep it simple if possible (that's the appeal really of "all in" supplements ) , but not the ones that are full of sugar!She's not cushingoid and has good teeth, and is generally in excellent health thankfully .....
Click to expand...

J-herb is a chinese herb helpful for some Cushing's horses ;).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynostemma_pentaphyllum

The Fast Fibre is my main feed. I've added Speedibeet for extra calories for the winter. The chaff is because he likes it and it's cheap :p.

The point I was making is that if you have a healthy horse - then make the grass and hay/haylage your main feed. They are actually pretty efficient at getting everything they need from that.

The need for extra help comes when the grass/hay/haylage is not balanced in it's mineral profile (ex-dairy, ryegrass, fertilised etc) or the horse is working hard or the horse has special needs (elderly/sick).

Sometimes with the hooves - just putting your faith in grass and forage is better than the most expensive and posh feeds and supplements :).
 
Oberon said:
J-herb is a chinese herb helpful for some Cushing's horses ;).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynostemma_pentaphyllum

The Fast Fibre is my main feed. I've added Speedibeet for extra calories for the winter. The chaff is because he likes it and it's cheap :p.

The point I was making is that if you have a healthy horse - then make the grass and hay/haylage your main feed. They are actually pretty efficient at getting everything they need from that.

The need for extra help comes when the grass/hay/haylage is not balanced in it's mineral profile (ex-dairy, ryegrass, fertilised etc) or the horse is working hard or the horse has special needs (elderly/sick).

Sometimes with the hooves - just putting your faith in grass and forage is better than the most expensive and posh feeds and supplements :).
Click to expand...

yes, that's a good idea with the hay/grass - she does in fairness look really well , her coat is glossy and she has lots of energy , so I don't think her diet is too bad. Is the Alfa A molasses free still too sweet do you think as a feed base then??
 
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