Can't improve horses's feet

FfionWinnie said:
It's a reflection on the feed companies who churn out this rubbish. But then the human food companies do the same.

My horse is intolerant to sugar and starch - like properly intolerant as in could die.

The number of experts from feed companies who have told me a load of junk about their products and how suitable they are for her, is depressing. It's a constant learning curve and the more I learn the better she is.
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How do you know that it won't suit her if they're telling you it does - do you just look at the content/ingredients and see that it isn't the right fit?

You're right, it's such a learning curve. The last yard I was on, I wasn't even sure what she was getting fed, or if it was consistent. The YO on my new yard is really open to changing feeds, trying new things, and is happy to get in different feeds for different horses.

I forgot to mention she is on haylage too - is this ok or should I be looking at feeding her hay? She certainly isn't a poor doer so it's not about weight with her.
 
OP, take a look at this website:
http://forageplustalk.co.uk/category/shod-horse/

I had a nightmare with reoccurring abscesses when I moved my horses to a new yard in Oct 2012. Winter of '12/13 I thought was a one off as it was so wet, then again winter '13/14 with 4 in total (one that came back 3 times, and ended up with a large chunk of foot being cut out and 2 months stabled, normally out 24/7).
I then started to worry about what was going on, horse tested negative for cushings, so I went and did some research and came across the "Hoof Abscesses and Poor Hoof Quality: How minerals can help!" article. I've been feeding my boy minerals since Feb '14 (he is on Pro Balance from Progressive Earth, find them on eBay), as well as a barefoot friendly diet (no molasses, lots of linseed, salt etc) and we haven't looked back. No abscesses at all in winter '14/15 and his feet and coat are looking better than ever! Which is quite an achievement as he has always had poor quality horn.
 
Yes I have to check the ingredients, and check with people who know more than me if I'm not sure. With my horse it's also linked to her performance (because she cannot physically perform well if the diet isn't right) so I will know within 24 hours if something is not what it claims.
 
I changed my horse to thunderbrook feeds a couple of months ago to deal with ulcers and her feet have improved enormously. This surprised me because previously I'd been feeding fast fibre and a balancer and thought that would be ok for hoof growth.
 
Do be careful with Top Spec feeds they contain all sorts of rubbish if you look at the small print, even when the 'headline' is "cereal-free". Tere are other threads on here about TS feeds.
 
Anecdotally barefooters do not get on well with topspec and we tend to stick to 'straights' as we know what is in there.

My base options are- unmollassed sugar beet, fast fibre, umolassed straw or grass chaff - depending on fussiness and energy requirements of the horse. I am currently feeding Agrobs aspero chaff to my fussy ******!
Energy- Oats
Extras- micronised linseed
A no iron vitamin and mineral supplement. - forageplus/prohoof (from pro-earth on ebay)/ I use equimins advanced complete and there are a few others- comparing ingredients against the first two is a good idea as they are high spec.
 
Thanks everyone. Now I think I am more confused than ever :) Equine Nutrition talk is with TS so will be interesting to hear what they have to say. I won a bag of TS feed balancer at a show and had my mare on it, it was really great for her I found! I guess different strokes for different folks.

I will stick with the core of what I've learned here so far anyway and the first port of call is to get her off sugar/starch. I spoke with YO and she will substitute the molassed beet pulp for speedi-beet as a starting point, and we are going to have a proper look at how we can start gradually phasing out the coarse mix and replace it with something non sugar or cereal based. More research required!
 
To confuse you even further, there's Agrobs. I use their Musli and Weisencobs and I've seen a big change in my horse's health. Apart from good hooves, she's just happier in herself and full of controllable energy. Google red Rufus, the UK distributor. Some feed shops are beginning to stock the products. They're not cheap but go a long way.
 
Nato sorry to be the barer of bad news but please remember once you have sorted out your horses diet it will take at least 9 months for the new 'good' hoof wall to grow in. So don't become disheartened when you don't see immediate results, stick with it and in time you will be glad you did..... Next June!
 
alibali said:
Nato sorry to be the barer of bad news but please remember once you have sorted out your horses diet it will take at least 9 months for the new 'good' hoof wall to grow in. So don't become disheartened when you don't see immediate results, stick with it and in time you will be glad you did..... Next June!
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Thanks alibali, yes I did read that somewhere so I'll keep it in mind, thank you! However have had her on the biotin for over a year and her feet have not improved so what we're doing now definitely isn't working.
 
Whilst you're sorting out the diet it may be worth asking your farrier to switch to a lighter shoe at the next time of shoeing. This would then exert less pull on the hoof wall - mine is usually shod in front with light steels or when we are doing less road work, racing plates! Also definitely don't let the horse go longer than 6 weeks between visits.
 
Lanky Loll said:
Whilst you're sorting out the diet it may be worth asking your farrier to switch to a lighter shoe at the next time of shoeing. This would then exert less pull on the hoof wall - mine is usually shod in front with light steels or when we are doing less road work, racing plates! Also definitely don't let the horse go longer than 6 weeks between visits.
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That's really interesting. Thanks for that. I will definitely keep it to 6 weeks while we're getting her sorted.
 
What are people's thoughts on grass nuts, or nuts in general, as an energy source? Considering replacing coarse mix with grass nuts, instead of replacing the mix with oats. Keeping speedi beet and micronised linseed.
 
nato said:
What are people's thoughts on grass nuts, or nuts in general, as an energy source? Considering replacing coarse mix with grass nuts, instead of replacing the mix with oats. Keeping speedi beet and micronised linseed.
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Grass nuts yes, I feed both mine these and they are great as an additive to feed for condition/energy. I also feed speedibeet, non molassed chaff and linseed. I wouldn't feed normal nuts, as they have molasses in for starters.
 
Depends on the nut, decent grass nuts like Baileys Hay Replacer, for sure. Generic pony nuts, no because they're cheap rubbish.
 
Try baileys lo-cal balancer with chaff if a good doer - my cob mare is barefoot and over the summer, her hooves became quite dry and prone to cracks. She's lost a fair bit of weight on this though so I'm having to integrate other hi cal/fat foods now but the lo-cal balancer, oil in feed and hoof ointment did wonders for her dry cracked feet. We now have lovely hooves! Just need to get some weight on my mate for the winter
 
Nato, how are your horses' feet now? I see we're about 10 months on from your last post. If you have made all the dietary changes and you still have the cracks problem, have a good look at your horses' feet. If they are quite under-run, they will be more prone to cracks on the quarters...
 
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