Bit of advice needed, horse sore on back feet

tonitot

tonitot

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Ethel is quite foot sore behind at the moment, is fine in the field and okay on roads but the smallest stone and she turns into a cripple. I would put hind shoes on her but she is turned out with another horse and they occasionally have a mad few minutes with a bit of kicking out, she has caught him a few times and in worried she'll do some damage with shoes on. I dont want her turned out alone, she hates it. Her hind feet are quite soft and a bit thin, are there any supplements or anything I can put on her feet ti harden them up and stop her being so sore? Im thinking of getting her hoof boots for hacking but theyre pretty expensive and I'd rather not have to get them.
She's a TB, turned out during the day and in at night. Fed speedibeet, Alfa a chaff and micronized linseed, currently quite fat but slowly losing the podge.
Thanks :)
 
Biotin in any of the supplements which contain it would help. If she is overweight, I would cut out all the feed which she is currently getting, everything you mentioned is known to aid weight-gain.
 
I would jeep a high fibre feed such as speedi beat but change the chaff to hifi lite/original/molases free, and feed a balancer and magnesium. This should help her feet, and make sure he trim is balanced. X
 
Hoof Boots needn't be expensive; a pair of Cavallos can cost as little as £82 inc postage off ebay and they will last you a long time. If she comes right in the meantime you can sell them for a reasonable price too.

Agree Speedibeet is fine :) magnesium fine, I'm very dubious about balancers tbh
 
Vit and mins like eqivit is good alternative to balancer, esp if loosing weight.
Agree hoof boots can.least easily over 2 yrs depending on.how.much use them etc. And second hand they still go for over 40!
 
Waltzing Matilda said:
I would jeep a high fibre feed such as speedi beat but change the chaff to hifi lite/original/molases free, and feed a balancer and magnesium. This should help her feet, and make sure he trim is balanced. X
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I use speedibeet to put weight on/maintain weight in the elderly. My mare who is on a diet, simply eats grass. I would be very wary about a balancer - I've known them make feet very tender.
 
I've had to put hinds on my TB today as he was getting so sore and I didn't think it was fair on him to be in pain just because I like horses to be as natural as possible. He's always had fronts on as his feet are not great. Farrier agreed with me and it's made a difference already. I think all that rain and now a quick switch to hard ground has meant his feet didn't have time to adapt. Will whip them off in the autumn most probably.
 
tonitot said:
Ethel is quite foot sore behind at the moment,
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Does "at the moment" mean she has been comfortable treading on stones in the past? If so, I think you need to look at what has happened since she has last been comfortable - the grass growing - and see what happens if you drastically reduce her grass intake. A horse which is carbohydrate intolerant will often grow soft feet and/or thin soles. Fat horses are often carbohydrate intolerant and if you feed them too much of it, it affects their feet.

I found yeast to be an essential to keep my horses rock crunching all year, along with no grass between 10am and 7pm, when the sugars are higher. (Later would be a bit better for some horses, but I don't need to keep them in that long) Yeast has a double anti-inflammatory effect on the gut.
 
Thanks everyone. Once the feed she has runs out shes going to be put on a cool mix and a bit of chaff so she gets some food when everyone else does. She is okay on her hind feet until she starts doing more work, then she gets a bit ouchy. We have to hack a lot as we use a school down the road so she does a lot of road work but where I can I walk her on the grass/soft bits. Would a hoof hardener be any use or do they only work on the outside of the hoof rather than the sole? Also I've heard of a supplement called prohoof, any good? Or would I be better off just giving biotin? I've tried her on magox before, she refused to touch her feed with it in. Also would brewers yeast be any help?
 
If she is sore on her feet I personally in my experience (and from my knowledge and training) I would avoid a mix as they r generally over 20% starch.
Generally (but particularly with sore feet) u should b looking for under 10% starch.

If she won't eat mag ox u could try calcinised magnasite (spelling?) As an alternative. It's a lot coarser (and cheaper) but does same job.

Also don't wait until food has completely ran out to change as may upset stomach (and make feet worse), feed should b changed gradually over a 7-10 day period.

I doubt hacking on road to school is a lot of roadwork (I used to hack for between 1-3 hrs 3-4 x per week on roads completely barefoot (one had boots on front in summer as had low grade lami -later found out to.b due to protein allergy)), and really shouldnt make her sore, this would def indicate an underlying issue with feed/feet etc.

Keretax may help a little on the soles short term, but feed and balance trim and gentle regular exerise appropriate for the current condition of her feet will make the biggest difference. It can take up to 3 months once feet balanced and diet sorted to grow new sole and 6-9 months to grow s complete hoof wall, so may also b worth getting horse checked by chiro to make sure something higher up isn't affecting her feet too.

Personally I wouldn't waste money on biotin, if her feed is balanced (balancer or vits mins, there should really b enough in her diet). Brewer yeast can settle stomach and aid digestion, so may help a bit. But would b more effective if diet also balanced. High fibre diets also help settle stomach.

Obviously all ur choice and up to u.
Best wishes. X
 
Okay thanks. I know to change feed over time, I didn't mean I was just going to change it in one day, just waiting for this feed to get low enough before I buy new feed. She does do a lot of road work, we dont just hack to a school. She is worked 7 days a week, lunged on a Sunday in the round pen, she is schooled 2-3 times a week and the other days we go on hacks lasting anything up to about 3 hours and are never out for less than an hour due to how fizzy she gets if not ridden for very long. I'll try the calcinised magnasite and see if she eats that, she can be a bit fussy. Thanks :)
 
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