Chipped hooves

F

Fatonfreshair

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 March 2013
Messages
55
Location
East Midlands
Visit site
Our 14.2 appy X gelding has always had iron hard hooves; we have owned him a year and he came to us barefoot and we have kept him that way. The farrier has always been very happy with the condition of his hooves and trims and rasps them every 6 - 8 weeks. In the last couple of weeks however his front hooves have both chipped around the toe - he went out for a long hack through the woods yesterday and his hooves chipped some more. The farrier is due to come back out this week but I am wondering whether something has changed to make his hooves brittle? He is a good doer and only on grass (and hay when he comes in for a rest from the flies). I had been giving him a scoop of Hi-Fi Lite with magox to get the magnesium into him (spooking) - but he has turned his snout up at the hard feed for the last month and will not eat it. Prior to that he was only on it for a month or two at most.

Would chipping hooves be indicative of a dietry imbalance and should I be putting him on something to improve the brittleness or is this typical during hot spells when the ground is harder than normal? He is not in heavy work - he is my daughters pony and is mainly ridden in the paddock and popped over a few jumps.

I know that there are hoof experts on this forum and as I am still learning about all things equine I thought I would see if anyone had any advice/thoughts on this.

thanks in anticipation :cool:
 
It takes about a year for the hoof to grow from top to bottom, as you say that you have owned him for a year I would suggest from the brittle hooves now that there is a connection. Most horses need micro nutrients which, from the diet he is on, I would think he isn't getting. Get him on a low calorie balancer - Top Spec do an excellent one, but be warned it could take another year for the brittle hoof to grow out. In the mean time you could try soaking his feet 2-3 times a week and then applying something like Kevin Bacon Hoof Dressing. Do not use hoof greases and oils as this will make the problem worse. Some swear by using Hoof Moist or aqueous cream but it didn't work for me.
 
thanks for the replies - I will have a look at the article recommended by TrasaM.

I have no idea what our pony was fed before we bought him as he was bought through a dealer who gave very little information on him. I will look at a non fattening balancer and see if I can get him to eat it. The farrier is due this week and will perhaps see if the chipping is due to the toes being too long - I felt that he had over trimmed the hooves on the last but one visit and whilst they looked neat and tidy the pony was very reluctanct to have his hooves picked out for a while after and seemed a bit sensitive - I asked that they not be trimmed quite so much on the last visit but perhaps conversely they were left too long :confused3:

I hope this is not the start of hoof problems................on top of the napping, spooking, outwitting with tricks, sitting down like a dog in the field to watch the world go by and generally being a lovely 'character.' :)
 
My boy's hooves are chipping at the moment but that's because he is wearing away the old growth that was too long. Maybe your horse is getting rid of the old stuff that he no longer needs as well?

Also, if he isn;t on a balancer of some kind (I feed pro balance +) then his feet may not be in the optimum condition for barefoot (although I know that plenty of horses cope without being fed a low sugar / balanced diet although a majority do not so its worth investigating this too).

Have you got some pics?
 
Feed formula for feet with some spillers high fibre cubes and oil them twice a day, I use Effol liquid or Kevin Bacon liquid.

If you have a stream near by stand him in it.

Just had my 34 year old shod on saturday and myself and my farrier were commenting on how lovely his feet were
 
Leg_end said:
My boy's hooves are chipping at the moment but that's because he is wearing away the old growth that was too long. Maybe your horse is getting rid of the old stuff that he no longer needs as well?

Also, if he isn;t on a balancer of some kind (I feed pro balance +) then his feet may not be in the optimum condition for barefoot (although I know that plenty of horses cope without being fed a low sugar / balanced diet although a majority do not so its worth investigating this too).

Have you got some pics?
Click to expand...

I will try to get a picture tonight of his hooves. I cannot imagine he was kept on a very balanced diet before we had him; I suspect we were told he just had grass and hay and no supplements when we bought him (the dealer claimed he had the pony as a family pony for years in Ireland - but I am not sure that was true).

When we bought him 12 months ago there were no signs that he had been shod in the recent past - no nail marks although I do not know how long it would take for evidence of shoeing to disappear? Prior to this chipping the farrier had always been very happy with his hooves. I will get him on a balancer, squeeze the magox back into him and explore the Kevin Bacon liquid/hoof dressing although I am now confused as some people advise oiling daily and others say not to oil - presumably the Kevin Bacon range has oils and other unguents?

The article suggested by TrasM is interesting and gives another point of view again.

I will see what works for our pony and hopefully stop this before it gets any worse. We do not have a stream to stand him in so I will have to try a big bucket and see if he tolerates it.

.....just got his back and neck sorted and now his feet have fallen off..................................!
 
If it is excess growth chipping off, it's actually a good thing. People who are used to shod horses do get worried by this, but it keeps the breakover correct and this is one of the main advantages of BF/unshod over shod.

Is the horse sound?

Look at the Rockley blog and see how the horses there for rehab change the shape of their hooves (for the better) by chipping off the unwanted growth.

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/
 
Fatonfreshair said:
I will try to get a picture tonight of his hooves. I cannot imagine he was kept on a very balanced diet before we had him; I suspect we were told he just had grass and hay and no supplements when we bought him (the dealer claimed he had the pony as a family pony for years in Ireland - but I am not sure that was true).

When we bought him 12 months ago there were no signs that he had been shod in the recent past - no nail marks although I do not know how long it would take for evidence of shoeing to disappear? Prior to this chipping the farrier had always been very happy with his hooves. I will get him on a balancer, squeeze the magox back into him and explore the Kevin Bacon liquid/hoof dressing although I am now confused as some people advise oiling daily and others say not to oil - presumably the Kevin Bacon range has oils and other unguents?

The article suggested by TrasM is interesting and gives another point of view again.

I will see what works for our pony and hopefully stop this before it gets any worse. We do not have a stream to stand him in so I will have to try a big bucket and see if he tolerates it.

.....just got his back and neck sorted and now his feet have fallen off..................................!
Click to expand...

The Kevin Bacon stuff isn't an oil, it is a dressing.
http://www.kevinbacons.com/en/liquid.html
 
I have attempted to upload photos but only got them as far as my album and they need to be rotated by 90 degrees to be upright! I am now at the end of my technical capabilities and do not know how to get the images from album to forum! If anyone can see them in the album then great - not brilliant shots as I took them quickly on my phone this morning.

Given the possible natural chipping for barefoot to correct any overgrowth - should the farrier still trim to reduce the length? Either a poster here or the Rockley Farn site mentioned that this sort of chipping and slight raggedness was not necessarily bad - we are just used to seeing neat hooves and his have otherwise been very neat until now. We do not have a sand school and until we get our drive redone - no pea gravel unless I lead him up and down a narrow garden path for an hour or so :biggrin3: He is sound although he did refuse a small jump yesterday, spin round and bucked my daughter off - she might not have warmed him up enough before attempting the jump.
 
attachment.php


OK - it's really not that bad. I think the toe had got a bit long, so the excess has chipped back to the breakover point.

ETA - if the horse is sound, try not to worry because of a little self trimming.
 
Both my boys are chipping a bit at the moment...they've grown a lot of wall since last trim (3 weeks or so ago) and are just self trimming. I keep mine on Baileys Lo Cal balancer, a handful of Honeychop pure oat straw chaff, a handful of microinised linseed and a tablespoon of brewers yeast....horn quality fabulous.
 
Landcruiser said:
Both my boys are chipping a bit at the moment...they've grown a lot of wall since last trim (3 weeks or so ago) and are just self trimming. I keep mine on Baileys Lo Cal balancer, a handful of Honeychop pure oat straw chaff, a handful of microinised linseed and a tablespoon of brewers yeast....horn quality fabulous.
Click to expand...

I think I am off for a shopping trip at the weekend for the feed and supplements - he does get fat on fresh air (hence my user name) so low cal, low sugar hard feed only for him otherwise he will become a goodyear blimp!.....still intend sneaking in the magox as he is sometimes literally scared of his own shadow! :D
 
That doesn't look too bad at all :) Remember that hooves (along with hair) grow more quickly in the summer, so there will be more growth between the same trim interval than there would have been in the winter and spring. So more length to chip off :) Your farrier will neaten them up nicely on next visit.
 
Brightbay said:
That doesn't look too bad at all :) Remember that hooves (along with hair) grow more quickly in the summer, so there will be more growth between the same trim interval than there would have been in the winter and spring. So more length to chip off :) Your farrier will neaten them up nicely on next visit.
Click to expand...

....does growth apply to teenage girls as well because I am convinced my daughter grows a foot in height over the summer !:D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top