Feet are rubbish - but his coat is beautiful? What to use?

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Stormynight

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Title sums it up, really. My guy is looking really well... he has a lovely shiny coat, but all of a sudden his feet have started to break down. They're chipping, cracking, flaking, and my farrier commented last time he saw him that they're not great and that biotin may be a good idea. He's seen by the farrier every 6 weeks.

He's fed Spillers Lite Balancer (and has been for the past 8 months) so there's already a degree of biotin, zinc etc in his diet - I've really seen the difference in his coat but the feet look like they're getting worse - I've always thought the two were linked to an extent. He's shod in front and bare behind, the hinds are a little better than the fronts, but still not wonderful. Nothing drastic has been changed other than him now being out 24/7 (not on masses of grass).

Any suggestions would be great. Supplements, topicals that really work? Thank you :)
 
Your balancer is probably not giving your horse enough minerals to meet his requirements.
Is he getting the full recommended feed, 20kg should last 40 days if fed 500gms per day. You need to weight it really, but even so, hoof oriented minerals tend to be more complex than the ingredients in this particular balancer.
Minerals tend to be expensive, and are therefore often restricted in complete feeds
Buy a months supply of pro hoof by progressive earth [introduce over week], this should work [there will be an event line], then switch to their summer balancing mineral. You need something to carry the feed. Fast Fibre is OK, it is cheap[ish] and no molasses.
I would ask progressive earth for advice on how much Spillers light to feed, or if they recommend a change, selenium is toxic in excess, so you don't want to risk overload, though this is unlikely.
I find micronised linseed is a great feed, even 25gms in summer if lami prone, more in winter or in medium work.
Add 25gms salt per day.
Biotin is manufactured in the gut if the diet is correct, but I would rather get the basic feed intake correct than just adding straight biotin, this should be cheaper and more effective in the long term.
There may be a metabolic disorder, others will comment, but the sudden change is probably due the spring grass which he is now eating, it is hi in sugars and low in fibre, delicious for him, but not the healthy horse option.
Ideally he should have access to herbs and hedgerows for variety, if the grass is of the dairy farm type he does not have this option.
I might try this lotion [potion]
http://www.carrdaymartin.co.uk/product/cornucrescine-moisturiser/
 
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I can definitely second pro hoof and pro balance. Have used it for a few years now and even my shoe obsessed, anti-barefoot vet admits they have great feet! You could also add linseed to maintain his coat shine.
 
Stormynight said:
They're chipping, cracking, flaking

He's fed Spillers Lite Balancer (and has been for the past 8 months))
Click to expand...

Well after eight months, you will have grown down a full hoof capsule on that balancer. It would suggest that the balancer isn't the right one for your horse.

I agree that you should look into the 'barefoot approved' vit&min supplements (Pro hoof, Pro balance, equivita, Forage plus etc...). Of course you will need to wait a few months before the old hoof capsule is grown out.
 
Honestly the best thing I found for my mare with bad feet was cheap and cheerful Biotin which you can get from your local tack shop. It will take a few months to kick in properly but all of a sudden you will have more hoof growth.
 
I asked my farrier a while back what he would recommend for dodgy hooves and his reply was "Biotin". He said IHHO that it is the only thing he has ever seen decent results with.
 
I've just done a post about biotin on another thread, but here goes...

Biotin certainly can help some horses, however the research was done in Spain IIRC, so many people in the UK get better results feeding a supplement that is balanced to UK grazing. I got a dramatic improvement in horn quality on four horses by swapping from a molassed chaff to an unmolassed one, then another improvement when I started to feed Pro Hoof (you could see the event lines showing the diet changes and the horn was better above the event lines). So often, just feeding biotin alone isn't enough, or doesn't do anything, but that doesn't mean that there is no hope as there are other things that you can try. :)
 
I'd also recommend Progressive Earth, though you could try their Pro Mineral supplement which covers the most commonly deficient minerals and is significantly cheaper. You will probably get an event line as others have said, I got one when starting to feed Pro Copper and his horn quality is 100% improved.
 
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