DESPERATE...PLEASE HELP

[tobyiscool]

My 15.2 cobbish thing has always been barefoot with no problems at all. We moved yards over the winter and all of a sudden his feet are terrible. A mssive chunk has just cracked off his hoof and although he is 100% sound its still very worrying. Im considering shoes but is there anything i can/should be putting on his hooves to prevent cracking and help them grow back??
Any advice/ help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

 

[Grey_Eventer]

PM TheFarrier, he is VERY helpful, and will tell you exactly what you should and shouldnt do. BTW he is a professional, trined farrier.

 

[welshied]

My horse has been suffering with huge chunks missing out of his feet and we bought him some keratex (teh liquid one) and you put it on every day for a week and then twice a week after that and i am not joking his feet are fgine now it hardens them so they don't crack anymore. His crack whether he has shoes on or not its just because they dry up in summer/

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

It sounds like his feet have just dried out in the recent hot weather. The same thing happens to my cob if I'm not careful. As she has lami she always has Happy Hoof and Formula 4 Feet year round but in the summer I just paint NAF Hoof Moist on about every 2 or 3 days just to keep the moisture levels up with in the hoof.

Mine chips great big bits of hoof off and it doesn't bother her at all - but I obviously do everything possible to maintain good quality hoof growth and she is trimmed every 6 weeks which also helps stop the cracks from getting to big.

PM TheFarrier on here as he may be able to give you some more advice.

Don't panic its not as rare as it seems - especially in unshod hooligan cobs!! and it is easily managed by biotin supplementation in some feed, regular trimming and keeping moisture levels up.

 

[Ellies_mum2]

Bella managed to take a bit out of a rear hoof a couple of weeks ago. I bought some cornucresine (sp) and painted that on for a while til she saw the farrier again and it was trimmed out/off

 

[MrsMozart]

As P says, try TheFarrier.

What does your own farrier say?

Someone said recently that the weather is causing feet to dry out. Try Biotin (though the effects will take some time to come through) and Cornucrescine brushed on walls, including the coronet band (right up under the hairs).

 

[sherbet]

My cob was barefoot but I always put Kertex (sp) on and worked a treat, we also used it on the riding school ponies to help them.

 

[henryhorn]

It's the hot weather to blame.
Put him on one of the good supplements for feet (Farriers' formulae for instance) and ask your farrier to recommend a hoof dressing, some are better than others.
The hoof growth comes from within so I would just make sure he is getting adequate vit/minerals and add some oil to his diet too.
Probably a daft thought but I wonder if hosing his feet daily would help the drying out? Just an idea

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

A few years ago, I bought a horse from about 80 miles away and he came to me with very poor hoof horn. My farrier advised that in the area he came from the grass was deficient in essential minerals. I put ned on Farrier's Formula for 3 months and he never needed help again. It could be that the grass at your new yard isn't of the same nutritional quality as at your last yard and in that case he may need to be on Farriers or a similar nutritional supplement for life.

 

[nuffield]

Get a farrier to shoe him and use a good hoof dressing.

 

[Haniki]

Try him on something like Farriers Formula and maybe a hoof dressing like Kevin Bacon's.

 

[concino]

Have the same problem with cracks in hooves - horse is unshod. My farrier suggested I try hoofmoist and it does make a difference - but he added and I agree, 'what goes in is more critical'; try a vit / min supplement too.

The other thing I do, with permission and demo from farrier, is rasp the edges of the hoof where the crack is to help prevent the crack from splaying out. I need help to do this but it does seem to make a difference and when the hooves are trimmed back by the farrier, most, if not all the cracks vanish. All of the above seems to keep the cracks very superficial and prevent them from 'creeping' up the hooves.

Mention this to your farrier and see what he thinks. My old farrier - going back at least 30 years - used to heat the end of a rasp and burn across the top of the crack. My new, modern farrier did not agree with this !! How times change - it would be interesting to hear other farrier opinions on this subject.