Does it matter when horses get ice balled in their feet?

[SpruceRI]

I'm so worried when this happens... that they're teetering about on a hard ball of ice, and that they may lean slightly the wrong way and over stretch their tendons.

Can that happen? Am I worrying unnecessarily?

I've tried packing their feet with Vaseline, butter, baby oil, all of that mixed with salt, nothing stops the ice. Isn't so bad when they're walking about in the field which is soft underneath, but on the snow covered concrete it looks really uncomfortable.

 

[L&M]

I was going to post something similar!!

My lad hobbled over to me today and I thought the worst, but once had picked out the 3 inch stilt out of one of his back feet, seemed ok again.

It is so hard to know what to do for the best, as turning out keeps them sane, but could bugger their legs!!

Am going to try putting 'socks' on over his shoes tomorrow, using duct tape and brushing boots to try and keep them on - like you I have tried vasline, hoof oil, even wd40, but nothing seems to eliminate the problem.

As a last resort, and if the promised thaw does not arrive, I may get farrier out to remove his shoes as barefoot may be the only safe way forward.

 

[somethingorother]

I think in some shod horses it can make them slip more easily, and whilst i am all for horses getting maximum turnout and not being put off by risk of injury, that risk should be reduced. I also think that it compacts in so much and that the ongoing impact of the hard ice can bruise their soles. I think this may be what happened to my share last year, as we did not grease him up before turnout. This year we have been putting vaseline in daily and they have haylage in the shelter so stand in there most of the day.

 

[PennyJ]

Don't hold out hopes of it going away when they are barefoot. Our mare, we had dreadful gtrouble with in January with the snow, it was the devil's own job to pick out the compacted snow when she came in... She was shod on all 4. Now following damaged Tendons in March, she is barefoot and being a brood mare, but the snow had compacted just as badly today as in January. Maybe some of it is to do with their foot conformation? Certainly our gelding gets them too, but nowhere near as hard to pick out.

 

[SpruceRI]

My Shetland pony is unshod and he gets them too, although maybe not to the same extent, or they drop out naturally.

With my mare wearing shoes, sometimes I literally need a hammer and chisel to get the ice out, other times one poke with the hoof pick is all it takes.

My ponies usually live out but I do put them in when it snows as the shetland gets really upset when ice balls up on his feathers.... I have put him on him socks before, which works only if I have a never ending supply of dry ones! And the shod one just stands by the the gate and won't move.

 

[foraday]

Read the HH article the other week and someone suggested lard and veg oil blended together

I did this and it works! Brilliant idea and so cheap!

My ponies went out and had a great time in the snow not once balling up ice at all! Now everyone on the yard wanted to know my secret which is READ HH carefully!!!!

Think the recipe is 1kg lard and 1 litre veg oil-melt together and then allow to 'set'

smear into hooves as much as you want

Allow ponies to play all day!

 

[hannabanana]

Ah I hate snowballs in their feet! I am a vaseline user, but doesn't last long. I posted about using motor oil not so long ago but I don't want to risk it incase it does some damage! When mines out in the field he's fine because its softer ground but I still worry about him straining his legs too much! Think I may give this lard idea a go, but with an alternative (I am a veggie!), hopefully it works just as good. When getting the snowballs out I have found pouring warm water on affective intead of chisling away for ages, problem is, is that it would be a good idea to do it over a bucket as the water would just freeze on the floor when left :S.

 

[Storminateacup]

Mine are unshod and stil getting the snowballing in hooves. Its a worry but the best thing seems to be to put lots of deep bedding down in the stable or field shelter and when they are standing in then the snowballs drop out. Certainly I ve found loads of them in the straw of my field shelter. Nothing else works, and trying to pick out feet,especially with my youngster being a bit strong is really not a daily option if OH not around to hold him.

 

[Hels_Bells]

I just pick out feed every morning and slather on a load of vaseline and this seems to stop it.

I think there is a danger of them falling/twisting something etc if they have snowballs!

 

[Horsesnponysarelife]

I'm so worried when this happens... that they're teetering about on a hard ball of ice, and that they may lean slightly the wrong way and over stretch their tendons.

Can that happen? Am I worrying unnecessarily?

I've tried packing their feet with Vaseline, butter, baby oil, all of that mixed with salt, nothing stops the ice. Isn't so bad when they're walking about in the field which is soft underneath, but on the snow covered concrete it looks really uncomfortable.

pick out your horses feet with a hoof pick twice a day.that will help it!

 

[Ludi-doodi]

QR - I was talking to my farrier about this on Thursday and he says the problem is that when the snow/ice gets packed into the foot, the horse effectively ends up walking on the sole of the foot which they wouldn't normally do and so it can bruise the sole and make them a bit foot sore. I'm quite lucky in that Ludo doesn't seem to get packed snow to any great degree - I think it might be because he has quite thin soles so the heat/blood is close to the top and keeps the snow soft before it has a chance to get stuck there. No idea if that's right or just that I'm lucky - farrier didn't seem to know either!

I noticed that our local saddlery was recently promoting stockholm tar as a good for keeping snow out of hooves.

 

[lizfh]

I rode a horse in snow in the USA last year. The horses there have especial pads fitted under their shoes to prevent snow balling up in their feet. If we carry on getting winters like this I intend to find out more about them!

 

[kerilli]

barefoot makes no difference if the snow is the type that sets really hard, 1 of my mares has flat feet, barefoot, and was on stilts during our first snowfall.
i think it's dangerous, and won't ride when the snow is doing this in their feet. i'm sure someone on here a few weeks ago said that a horse on their yard had panicked in the field while on snow-stilts and broken a leg...
i'm going to try the lard & oil thing, definitely.

 

[MrsHutt]

I think there might be a number of variables - I noticed Hugo's 'stilts' in the field, and thought I'd better pick them out. With that, they all fell out! I think the action of him walking towards me made them fall out - standing still they were just compacting more (?) Depends on the kind of snow, too. On the day before the thaw (Tuesday?) the snow was really ice in the field, and it didn't go in to the hoof. I did panic a bit when he galloped off to see his girlfriend over the ice, though!