Do you pick your horse's feet out?

[wattamus]

After reading one thread it got me wondering.
My horse gets hers picked out twice a day more if she's being ridden (once before/ once after) and have effol (hoof ointment) on both morning and night.
But people at my yard don't seem to see the need! I mean i've been riding some horses for people and i ALWAYS pick out a horse's feet before riding, but some of them don't know what im asking for when i ask for their foot and they are full of crap and mud and bits of gravel etc and the smell......
anyhow yes as title do you or don't you and how often

 

[JFTDWS]

this was done just a couple of days ago Use the search function.

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

If I'm riding then yes, and occasionally the youngsters as an educational process, but all mine are unshod and live out, so they would immediately get filled with mud again at the moment.

 

[Mancha]

All the horses i own/work with have their feet picked out when leaving the stable, before and after being ridden, and when coming in from the field.

 

[Daytona]

My horses feet are picked out every evening by yard staff as on full livery so they do it. But I also do it again after riding.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Strange question ,
MY liveries feet get picked out yes

Mine do too, though not disclosing how often as the gurus will jump up and down . with the should do it more often stuff lol

 

[Lu1]

Yes, when they come in from the field, once a day when living out in summer

 

[Rudey]

Yes, at least once a day, especially when I found this once in my shod horses hoof.....

As you can see, it was a screw which angled quite deeply through his sole into his frog. It was fairly deep, as you will be able to appreciate seeing this....

As a disclaimer, I will say that our yard is very tidy, well run, and does not have such items laying about. How he came by to have this in his hoof, nobody knows. However, he did. If I hadn't picked his feet out on a daily basis, I wouldn't have found it and wouldn't have been able to act so promptly with effective treatment.

My farrier came out, and pulled the screw out, flushing the puncture and poulticed him up. A weeks worth of this.....

.....and he was fine! He did not get an infection, and was not lame at any one time. As soon as the poultice came off, I was back on board! Makes me wonder what could have been if I hadn't picked his feet out.... xx

 

[Marydoll]

OMG, youre so lucky that screw missed all the main structures and bursae, youre blessed !
And yes , i pick feet out

 

[muff747]

Yes, I pick my geldings feet out every evening on bringing in as he hasn't got rock crunching feet so if a stone sticks to the mud under his feet, he can feel it. I don't want him to have that pressure point under his foot all night.
Also, he had very bad thrush when his shoes were taken off and I have struggled with it ever since from time to time, so I make sure he has no muck in there so they will dry and discourage the thrush coming back.
I also pick out in the mornings so the yard isn't strewn with shavings but again, I don't want his feet to have poo stuck in the grooves all day.

 

[cassie summers]

yes i pick my mares feet out every night when she comes in and they are oiled everyday she had terrible feet when i got her typical shire feet very splayed but really good now thanks to a great farrier and the fact i look after them

 

[indi4]

Feet are always picked out when she comes in from the field, and i usually pick them out in the morning before turning out. They are also treated once a week with kevin bacon.

 

[MissTyc]

I pick out before riding to make sure there's no stone or anything like that.
I don't put any dressing or anything like that on feet - I do use the apple cider vinegar if I think I caught a whiff of something, but never had smelly feet.

 

[Mlini]

.....and he was fine! He did not get an infection, and was not lame at any one time. As soon as the poultice came off, I was back on board! Makes me wonder what could have been if I hadn't picked his feet out.... xx

You are soooo lucky! I knew of a horse that was in the same situation but the end result was not so good!

 

[Storminateacup]

I check my horses feet about once week. They are barefoot and live in fields that have not been used in 40 years. There is only mud and more mud in them. Dont see the point in picking out feet unless riding.

 

[madeleine1]

i pick my mares out when shes going to be ridden or once a day just to check for any injurys but she lives out so if i pick then out more often its pointless as they get full of mum. i figure if they look and smell clean when i muck them out then shes fine

 

[HashRouge]

I tend to check her feet once a day, which is how often I see her when she's on summer turnout. When she is in at night I only check her feet in the evening. She is unshod though so often I don't really need to do anything, especially if the ground is dry. I just pick them up and check there's nothing nasty inside!

 

[Devonshire dumpling]

A shod horse picks up more stones twigs etc, and have pulled out all kinds of embedded debris from the cob, however his hind legs are unshod and he picks up nothing as nature intended, so I think a shod horse needs regular picking! X

 

[Zimzim]

Yep my horses have their feet picked out twice a day. One of mine had a slight bout of seedy toe recently, so I clear the hole out twice a day to ensure theres no infection etc.

 

[ArabianGold]

Every day, my mare chucks shoes quiet easily so like to check the nails are holding so I dont have the panic of coming back to her with a shoe missing. I can call the farrier there and then to get it solved.

 

[Noodlebug]

Every night when they come in

 

[Theresa_F]

Feet are picked out once a day apart from Weds and Friday as YO finds them difficult to do - horses are well behaved but have large feet that are hard work compared to a dainty TB foot and he has problems with one of his hands and is not as young as he was.

They don't wear shoes and are not prone to thrush so not having them done those days is not a problem.

In winter they have a quick spray with stockholm tar, salt and essential oils to keep them in good condition. In summer they have Kevin Bacon on every day when the weather is dry to keep them in good condition.

 

[Rudey]

OMG, youre so lucky that screw missed all the main structures and bursae, youre blessed !
And yes , i pick feet out

You are soooo lucky! I knew of a horse that was in the same situation but the end result was not so good!

Extremely fortunate! It was fairly late on at night, so we cleaned it up and poulticed it, with the intention to assess the extent of the damage the next morning. I dreaded taking the poultice off, assuming the worst, with the expectation of many vet call outs. I was pleasantly surprised, all was well, and I kept a close eye on him. xx

 

[muddygreymare]

Yep mine gets her feet done when she comes in and after she's been ridden. Apparently I'm one of the only people on the yard who OWNS a hoofpick, let alone uses one!

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Yep mine gets her feet done when she comes in and after she's been ridden.

This. I did have to reinforce this with the people who sometimes bring him in, which surprised me. To me, it's automatic and I wouldn't dream of not doing it. I'd never forgive myself if he had a huge stone stuck in a hoof.

 

[horsey mad matt]

yes, every evening when he has his feed. someone said about not doing it because they would justt get filled with mud again, but it is mainly done to get rid of any stones or pieces of wood that may have got stuck. my friend found a piece of wood down the side of her ponies frog and if she hadn't off picked them out it was lickely to have gone in.

 

[Chestnut mare]

They are living out at the moment so only pick out before I ride. When they are in pick out before they go to bed and in the morning before turn out (we are not allowed to leave shaving trails from stable to field)

 

[hcm88]

All of my horses feet are picked out before they come out of their stable, whether that be to be ridden/turned out/anything. Saves mess going all over the yard amongst all the safety issues! I wouldn't dream of not picking them out at least once a day. Even if they've been turned out all day I will always go and check for stones (and horror story at the possibility of a nail/sharp object!).

 

[littlescallywag]

At the moment, every 2-3 days as I'm ill and havnt the strength to fight a nearly 17 hander who doesn't want to pick his feet up. On good weeks its done every evening with or without a fight, I just keep trying until he gives in , however long it takes, sometimes a good 20 mins for just one foot
Horses !!!

 

[sheep]

I always do if I'm riding- YO hoses her legs when she comes in from field and cleans her feet- but because of the bedding we use, if I don't pick them out, she looks like she is on stilts, because it seems to get compacted in her feet v quickly!