Deep sulci, rubbish frogs Help please.

[oldie48]

Rose is in good health, out on a good covering of grass although it's wet there's no mud and she is stabled in a big stable on rubber matting with a very generous bed of straw pellets covering more than half the stable. She comes in from the field and usually her hooves are clean, overnight they pack with the bedding but her feet are picked out before riding or turnout. She doesn't stand in muck or stale. She has very deep sulci although the central cleft is not as deep. She came with mild thrush which cleared up quite quickly, then she had another bout which again cleared up quickly. Not all her hooves were affected, in both cases it was the off fore and near hind the others were clear. However, I noticed at the weekend that her off fore looks really bad again. She's not unhappy about me picking it out but she the heel looks ropey, almost as if something has punctured it. she is being shod on Wednesday morning so I'll get advice from my farrier but any tips please to improve the quality of her frogs (apart from going barefoot). She had been turned away for nearly three years and when I bought her she was pretty much turned out 24/7 so I think she'd been affected by standing in the wet but I've had her for almost a year and we've had a dry summer so I'm at a bit of a loss to know what is causing it. I have never had any problems like this with any of our other horses and apart from her frogs, she is looking really good with a beautiful shiny coat etc. Apart from turnout on plenty of grass (still) and ad lib haylage, she gets two feeds of Ease and Excel, with micronised linseed and NAF pink powder, I've just started to add some unmollased beet as the quality of the grass is reducing. Any suggestions?

 

[Pinkvboots]

I use swan anti bac for all things feet it's very good for any kind of thrush and white line disease, just use twice a week when it's bad then once a week for general maintenance.

 

[Reacher]

Could you upload any photos? Are the central sulci narrow and deep?
Do you mind me asking why you rule out BF?

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I would stop the PinkPowder. It really affected 2 of our horses' hooves for the worse, making the frogs super-sensitive . If you read the ingredients, you wonder why would any-one give that stuff to horses? We found out the hard way that PP and Haylage Balancer did more harm than good.

We use tea-tree oil spray to keep hooves in good condition and combat thrush.

 

[oldie48]

Pearlsasinger, Interesting about the pink powder I'll have a look at the ingredients as I've used it or the haylage balancer for years and never had a problem before. Her frogs aren't sensitive, they are just not what I would like to see.

Reacher, Farrier came yesterday the and frogs look much better having been trimmed etc although he agrees they are not the best he's seen! No thrush though. My farrier is superb and not adverse to BF neither am I but ATM I'm not keen on going through the transitional stages and having used hoof boots in the past tbh I found them a real pain. Having discussed it with farrier, I am considering using pads to stimulate the frogs, not made a decision yet though and I may at some point reconsider BF.

 

[Orangehorse]

On the recommendation of a barefoot trimmer I feed mine Progressive Earth Pro Balance, it has everything needed for hooves. There are other supplements from the same supplier, so you can ask for advice. You are then just feeding the minerals needed without fillers.
Don't overdo the medication on the frogs or use anything too harsh, because if you do it will kill the tissues and just give an easy meal for the fungus.
Red Barn do products for thrush.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Pearlsasinger, Interesting about the pink powder I'll have a look at the ingredients as I've used it or the haylage balancer for years and never had a problem before. Her frogs aren't sensitive, they are just not what I would like to see.

Reacher, Farrier came yesterday the and frogs look much better having been trimmed etc although he agrees they are not the best he's seen! No thrush though. My farrier is superb and not adverse to BF neither am I but ATM I'm not keen on going through the transitional stages and having used hoof boots in the past tbh I found them a real pain. Having discussed it with farrier, I am considering using pads to stimulate the frogs, not made a decision yet though and I may at some point reconsider BF.

It took us a while to work out what was going on and in fact it was only when the feed shop didn't have PP over the Christmas period and we bought Haylage Balancer instead that things came to a head. We went on a hack that we had been on many times before, both horses (2 very different types, one heavy Draft , the other lightly built Appaloosa) were both virtually dancing on the rough track and we realised that we had just started feeding the HB. We had been wondering why behaviour had deteriorated. Then we compared the ingredients of both and realised that they were practically the same. We stopped both and the behaviour and feet settled back down.. I do agree with you about hoof boots - the Draft mare's boots just spun on her extremely round feet.!

 

[irishdraft]

I have the same problem with a horse I bought 18 months ago in the same 2 feet. He had a very deep thrush problem which has taken a year of various products to get rid of but the deep split remains . I am now using red horse hoof packing to keep the thrush at bay . In the 18 months of ownership his frogs have improved but I wonder if some horses have a tendency to this despite best efforts. He lives out at grass & is ridden most days but previously was kept in a lot and didn't receive much exercise which didn't help .

 

[ester]

even without 'obvious' thrush, I have found treating frogs with red horse products has led to a very quick improvement in frog condition.

 

[Goldenstar]

Leovet frog medic is my go to it’s magic stuff .

 

[Nudibranch]

Pro Balance or Pro Hoof are very good. We have problems sometimes as they co graze with sheep, and whenever there's foot rot we have to deal with thrush. Iodine clears it up effectively (and no, it doesn't damage tissue contrary to what some people believe - it's the exact same stuff OH swabs patients' skin with before an op). Cheap, works well and easy to use. It also has a drying effect which can be useful.
Frog stimulation is what you need as you know, though that can be trickier to achieve in shoes. Pea gravel standing might help but would be a lot of work and £ to create, and would she actually spend much time using it anyway...?

 

[sbloom]

If the sulcuses aren't getting more shallow over time, and she keeps getting it back again, then I'd be reading up more about frog function, correct hoof form etc, I see hooves like this really often, more common with shod feet and it can be harder to correct with shoes. However, it's also true that fixing the thrush can help the sulcuses open up, you need to decide where you think you might be at in this cycle, taking photos regularly (dead straight on onto the sole, plus ground level photos from the side for context) will help, then you could post here if you'd like further input.

 

[RumbleTheTumble]

It took us a while to work out what was going on and in fact it was only when the feed shop didn't have PP over the Christmas period and we bought Haylage Balancer instead that things came to a head. We went on a hack that we had been on many times before, both horses (2 very different types, one heavy Draft , the other lightly built Appaloosa) were both virtually dancing on the rough track and we realised that we had just started feeding the HB. We had been wondering why behaviour had deteriorated. Then we compared the ingredients of both and realised that they were practically the same. We stopped both and the behaviour and feet settled back down.. I do agree with you about hoof boots - the Draft mare's boots just spun on her extremely round feet.!

If it helps..I use hoof boots for my three and different brands fit differently!
I like equine fusions best but one of mine has feet too round for them and they spin! For him I use G2 macs and they stay straight. Hoof boots has been quite a journey for me these last 7 years or so but they do work quite well now I'm used to them. However (and sadly)....they don't solve all problems as they have some of their own!