Barefoot question

Swift00

Swift00

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Hi, sorry this might be a bit long, so i apologise in advance. Swift is a 13.3hh welsh section c, Swift has been barefoot ever since i've had him, I got him in May '07, and when i got him he had been barefoot for 6 months.
To begin with his wall and sole tended to separate quite a bit, this only really affected the front feet, and bit's broke off, but with the help of a fantastic farrier after a year, his feet were looking much better, he was also getting a feed balancer with boitin in it at the time.
In August 09 i had to move him further away and so had to change farriers, to a new one who seems to be just as good as my old one, after another year he recommended stopping feeding the biotin, so i have, however in the last 9 months or so he has been getting gaps appearing again between the wall and sole, which stones and dirt get in and i keep having to remove, i questioned the farrier about it last visit which was 16th March, and he said that it was nothing just an inconvenience (because of having to pick little stones out), however i'm not convinced by this view. he feet were ok during the first few weeks after trim but have started to separate again, and have look worse than last time, he isn't due for a trim till 15th May (usually 10 weeks between trims as it always has been)
The odd thing is there isn't any flare with it,just the 2 coming apart? hopefully the pics will show it, what is best to do about it, I will try to contact said farrier tomorrow, but would be grateful if anyone could give me any ideas.

Current exercise is twice a week over soft hard and stony ground and he is deffinatly struggling more than ever on stony ground, he always has struggled a bit, so i bought him Cavallo sport boots which help a lot, but would really love for him to be pain free without.

Oh and current diet is, hay/straw mix 24/7 grazing, 300grams of fast fibre with mag ox supplement and access to a dengie lite lick overnight.

ok so this is near fore

and this is off fore

Hope i haven't missed anything, shout if I have and thanks in advance
 
Looks like a bit of white line disease to me. I'd treat the wld and put the pony on a decent balancer such as pro hoof or one of the forage plus ones.

I'd also treat for thrush under those flaps (and snip off the loose bits), as this may be contributing to the footiness.
 
TwoStroke said:
Looks like a bit of white line disease to me. I'd treat the wld and put the pony on a decent balancer such as pro hoof or one of the forage plus ones.

I'd also treat for thrush under those flaps (and snip off the loose bits), as this may be contributing to the footiness.
Click to expand...

thanks for the reply, will look into those balancers, farrier said to leave the frogs alone last time i saw him, how do you treat wld?
 
The photos appear to show a stretched white line. This is then vulnerable to infection, trapped stones and separation.

Photos can be misleading but I'd hazard the soles could be thicker and perhaps more concave.

The white line stretch and the lack of thickness to the soles are largely/usually dietary.

I would second the recommendation for a good quality mineral supplement such as Pro Hoof or Forage Plus.

When you sort out the white line stretch you will find that the problems with separation, infection and stones go away.
 
I'm not an expert by any means but the near fore doesn't look particularly well 'balanced', although it's difficult to say without looking at the foot on the floor.

However, he appears to have a slightly longer heel to the inside with a flare on the medial aspect of this foot (on the inside.) If there is a slight unbalance with a flare or [longer hoof from coronary band to floor on the inside] there may be increased concussion on the outer aspect of the hoof wall. This may alter breakover or perhaps alter the ability of the foot to effectively dissipate the ground forces it encounters with each movement whereby it shifts the forces/concussion from the centre of the foot [the area just infront of the frog which the foot is able to cope well with] to the outer edge, which it is not able to cope well with. This will then alter the integrity or strength of the hoof wall to make it weaker. This may account for lamini separation on the outside - as forces are drawn to the area, if that makes sense.

It may not be the whole answer but it may be part of it.

Just a thought?? I'm not a farriery but it may provide you with some questions that he can dismiss or pick up on.
 
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Thrush and wld are different!! Thrush is anaerobic bacteria in the frog/sulcus areas....wld is separation of the wall from the laminae.....different problems, different treatments!!
 
Alyth said:
Thrush and wld are different!! Thrush is anaerobic bacteria in the frog/sulcus areas....wld is separation of the wall from the laminae.....different problems, different treatments!!
Click to expand...

Close but not quite :)

Both are fungal or bacterial infections, thrush of the frog and WLD of the white line (also called seedy toe when at the toe only). Both are common in horses with carbohydrate overload and/or mineral imbalance and/or metabolic disease. The treatment for both is exposure to oxygen - either by getting air to them or by disinfection with an oxygen releasing agent like hydrogen peroxide. Both can also be largely prevented with a good balanced diet.

OP why did your farrier tell you to stop the biotin when it was working for your horse? If it's cheaper for you than the full scale balancers, then I'd just put him back on the biotin.

He is correct about small stones in the white line in a healthy hoof not being an issue, but he is not right about the spread white line in your horse not being an issue. It is an indication that things were not as good as they were, so you are right to query it.
 
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Thank you for all the replys, I will definitely get him back onto a mineral supplement, farrier said to stop biotin as he felt Swift no longer needed it, but i must admit i regret that decision now!
Farrier usually balances his feet well, but i know Swift does wear his feet unevenly and usually needs rebalancing at the next trim.
Out of interest which mineral supplement would you say is best on a limited budget, but still will provide enough to help his feet out? Also would it be best to ride him in boots more often until the wight line grows down tighter?
thanks again, i really appreciate it
 
Also it would be worth cutting down on grazing and supply hay but not rhygrass, a good timothy hay is best. Also I have been informed that nearly all feeds contain by-products of grains that aren't foot friendly so I have moved to basemix by thunderbrook equestrian, its 100% good stuff and is a balanced feed so no need for balancers
 
Ok, so he used to be on spillers lite balancer, would this be good choice for a start? It has the biotin hoof supplement in if pluses everything else he needs, if I put him back on this will I still need to continue with the mag ox?
 
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