CC my horses hooves please

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Jericho

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Having a few issues with going barefeet. Background is that shoes came off in November and she had the winter off. She is on 1 1/2 acres of OK grass (not too short or too lush) at night. In bare paddock during day (10am - 6pm) with soaked hay. Fed handlful of Top Spec TopChop lite with brewyers yeast, linseed, mag ox, seaweed and rosehips wetted with speedibeet. She hasnt been trimmed by the farrier for about 3 months although he has seen them just didnt do anything. Since beginning of Feb has been hacked out once or twice a week for about 45 mins. Fine on grass and smooth road, very footy on stony tracks.

I would be grateful with those in the know would pass comments on her feet so I can get a general feel of how they look. My step is to get a barefoot trimmer out but curious to what other people will say first.

I couldnt get any decent showing the wall headon but her feet generally look OK (couple of event lines half way down which I guess was the autumn flush of grass?) and they are flaking a bit on the edges particularly the hinds (very dry weather here - no rain for several weeks)

Right hind
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Right fore
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Left hind
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Left fore
photo-1.jpg
 
Have you had a forage analysis done? Seaweed is no longer routinely advised, due to high iodine levels. Diet would def be my first consideration with a horse that is struggling with the transition. I'd consider forage analysis, but if that's not possible maybe pro hoof/meta balance/forage plus supplement. Also, some people have had problems with top spec products; I'd consider removing the chaff.

Do you have hoof boots? If your horse finds the stony tracks very uncomfortable, I would avoid riding on them without boots, as it's likely to do more harm than good.
 
The feedng regime seems complicated, an awful lot of different things you're buying there. Must take you ages to mix up each feed.

Can you simplify her feeding - grass and when needed, hay, and for the essential bits, give her a handful of non-molassed non-alfalfa chaff with a vit/mineral supplement/balancer sprinkled over the top and a few carrots or a sliced apple?
 
Looks a tiny bit like she's wearing the toe in her fronts - wondering if her toes are a little long or if she needs a roll putting on the wall when trimmed?
Are her frogs sensitive any where? She's shedding - any pockets of infection hidden anywhere?

White line a bit thick (common this time of year) so possibly the cause of the sensitivity could be metabolic :)

You will find most barefooters will run and hide from the TopSpec logo
lol.gif
. Something must be funky with their standard vit and min premix as so many BF horses get sore with it :(.

Otherwise I can't see anything dreadful.
 
Oberon said:
You will find most barefooters will run and hide from the TopSpec logo
lol.gif
. Something must be funky with their standard vit and min premix as so many BF horses get sore with it :(.
Click to expand...

Oddly, the topspec chaffs/cubes etc don't have a vit & min premix added - that's only in their balancers. Poss may just be the alfalfa that causes problems?
 
Nocturnal said:
Oddly, the topspec chaffs/cubes etc don't have a vit & min premix added - that's only in their balancers. Poss may just be the alfalfa that causes problems?
Click to expand...

Must just be the logo then
woot.gif
.

Their Anti Lam is a shiny bag of wheat feed and limestone flour
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Hi,

My horse's hooves are similar and I believe she has metabolic issues. She's barefoot Sept - March and shod March - Sept as she has thin soles but does cope well when barefoot and this has definitely helped to thicken her feet up.

Would have to agree with Oberon re: Top Spec. I have tried their feeds and my horse ended up with a crest like a stallion as she also did when I tried a rosehip and linseed supplement.

After some forage analysis, what I have found to be most effective is a basic forage diet with copper/selenium/yeast/Mag ox supplement, biotin and salt. This does my horse fine and she is in moderate work and currently working to start eventing. In light of the fact that your horse is only worked for 45 minutes twice a week it may be an idea to cut her feed down to a forage based diet as well as she is only in light work anyway but try it yourself and see - it will cut your costs down as well. If it is working, you will probably see the difference within 48 hours.

Good luck...oh and avoid Happy Hoof as well. That has some molasses in it and made my horse very footy.
 
Thanks for all the replies.

The rosehip etc is all in one mix - a supplement from natural horse supplies that says it is good for barefoot horses. Interestingly I have noticed this year she has gained a little crest around the same time I started to feed this supplement - think I might take her off that!!! Other than that the Top chop was the only chaff that I could find without molasses and alafafa so thought it was safe - she only gets a handful twice a day as a base to mix supplement in but will change that too. What would you recommend as a base - is Fast Fibre any good?

I do have boots and the next time we go out I will be putting these on her front until she is more comfortable. Was hoping that the soles would benefit from working directly on the road but I dont feel comfortable with her doing that at the moment.

Thanks for all the support - I will also treat for thrush, she isnt showing any problems in her frogs but wont hurt to be doubly sure.
 
I use Simple Systems feeds and the other two I know of that might be helpful are Thunderbrook Feeds and PureFeeds - they all have websites.
 
Can't agree with that - had terrible outcomes with both. TB basemix is 14% sugar/starch combined which is too high and to date they have failed to answer questions about mineral levels.
 
Alfalfa is low sugar, but can be too starchy. Also high levels of bioahigh cavailable calcium make it unsuitable for horses that already have high calcium (forage test). And it is a legume.
 
Badminton horse feeds do a chaff called 'Easy Rider'. No molasses & no alfalfa. My 3 love it. Not all feed stores stock it yet, but they should be able to order it in if you ask :)
 
Mta... Doh, I see I already posted about thrush. Apologies I didn't read the whole thread.

I see thrush in every frog but I do tend to see it everywhere ;). I would treat vigorously myself starting off with a soak of cleantrax or 2 cups apple cider vinegar in a gallon of water for 20 mins.
Then scrub hooves at least daily and apply something like sole cleanse and field paste.

Diet will need looking at imo cutting sugars as low as you can and look to mineral status.

http://www.healthyhoof.com/articles/Thrush/Thrush.html
http://www.barefoothorse.com/barefoot_MoreTopics.html
 
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