Feed for good-doer's feet

[noblesteed]

Hi all,
Just moved my horsey to a new yard and taken over his full-time care again, and want to get his new regime sorted, need a bit of advice please. He is 15.1 connie x iberian who is barefoot on hind feet.
Previous yard, all summer he's been out on cow pasture 24/7 in a greenguard with no hard feed whatsoever. He was 'supposed' to be getting a supplement of Equibites for his vits and mins. To cut a long story short he hasn't been getting these regularly (he's been on loan) He has remained a decent weight (score of 2.75) and sound all summer after a minor lami scare in spring.
Farrier came to shoe fronts at the new yard and had to put shoes back on, saying there is insufficient hoof growth and to leave it 3 weeks. Hind feet are quite sore since being at new yard which is a lot muddier than previous one. Now horse has ALWAYS had decent feet, so I suspect the previous pasture has been lacking in certain nutrients??????
Now we are at the new yard, the regime will be - out during the day in muzzle (til the grass dies back), in at night with a smallish net of haylage and a scoop of fast fibre (which includes all vits and mins). Does this sound enough feed to encourage the feet to grow more or is there a supplement I could add that won't break the bank? Bearing in mind that he gets fat on thin air and so balancers etc are a big no-no - even lo-cal made him gain weight.
I also have the added issues that he eats the haylage within an hour and I fear it may turn out to be too rich to give any more- in which case is it possible to soak haylage so I can give him more? Otherwise I will have to start buying in my own hay. AT old yard I used to soak his hay in autumn and spring...

ANy advice would be much appreciated!!!! Thanks!

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

I would buy in some oldish stalky hay but if that isnt possible you could soak haylage as long as you dont leave it in the water for hours in hot weather. But it would need to be high fibre lo cal haylage to start with, otherwise I would def not risk it. He would be better off having more of a lower calorie feed that would last him longer.

Magnesium oxide is what I would add - get online eg from Natual Horse supplies on eBay and it isnt expensive but very good for feet. 85% is how it comes out of the ground and is cheaper than 95% pure, but dont buy too much 85% to start with as some horses wont eat it and will only eat the 95%. It wont make the feet grow much quicker but by making them stronger and harder they will not break off as much so you will keep much more of what they do grow! Maybe consider hoof boots too, so you can continue exercising and hoof can grow a bit more without being worn too quickly.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Having decided to stop using bailey's Lo Cal and give Pro Hoof a go, I saw a deterioration in my horses feet, so tried Metabalance with equally poor results over a period of 8 months.

Both of them usually have a lot of hoof growth but this slowed down, and they then had problems with very stubborn thrush and an abscess.

Restarted the Baileys Lo Cal and we're getting back on track.
My very good doer h/w traditonal doesn't gain weight with this and the Hanoverian mare had her shoes removed for the first time in her adult life and was trotting over gravel within a couple of days.

I'm sure different supplements work for individual horses, but my experience is that Lo Cal works best for us.

 

[Ali2]

I'd feed the haylage soaked and from a trickle net. I'd also mix it 50:50 with good quality barley straw.

Fast Fibre won't give you all the vits and mins you need unless you feed it at the rate recommended on the bag, in which case you'll probably be giving him far too much. My boys get 300 g per day of Fast Fibre or High Fibre cubes with a concentrated vit and mineral supplement mixed in. I make my own, cos its way cheaper, but it's based on the Forage Plus winter balancer. My big lad has much better coat and hoof quality and is less reactive since being on the minerals - for us they work Too early to say for new boy as he's only been with us a few weeks - his feet are growing at a good pace though and he's stomping over everything

 

[noblesteed]

Thanks for your replies. Thought about a trickle net, if they're any good I think it may be a good investment. I have hoofboots for him but his feet have gradually changed shape and so they don't fit as well as they did, I might need to replace them.
I might try soaking the haylage, it's from the farm not one of the branded bags so not sure what's in it! My friend's good doer who also has very dodgy feet does ok on it unsoaked but I think my horse is an even better doer than hers... She feeds it ad lib as well!
Was wondering about the fast fibre, I know it can be used as a hay replacer so I wasn't so worried about how much of it I am feeding, he's been getting a full scoop with a handful of chaff and a smaller haynet. As it seems to take him longer to eat his sloppy fast fibre than his haynet! It's pretty much the lowest calorie feed you can get isn't it? Anyway I could halve it and add some Equivite or similar.
The farrier recommended something like formula 4 feet, but it's really expensive. He said not to bother with biotin on it's own either.
Interesting what you say about magnesium, I used to feed horse a magnesium calmer and stopped about a year ago... Feet have not been so good since then...