Feet help/ideas please

paddy555

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Dammit, I have buggered this up :(

Tbh I assumed it wouldn't be an issue as he's only had a couple of sets of shoes on in his life, and I did build up the length of road work etc but clearly not slow enough if that's what's made him sore.

don't be daft, you haven't buggered anything up. :D just one of those things. Some of the most awful feet come out of shoes and never miss a step and the most perfect feet can be a nightmare.

You have just brought the decision closer as to whether you wish to boot on a reasonably long term basis or if you prefer to shoe.
 

Michen

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don't be daft, you haven't buggered anything up. :D just one of those things. Some of the most awful feet come out of shoes and never miss a step and the most perfect feet can be a nightmare.

You have just brought the decision closer as to whether you wish to boot on a reasonably long term basis or if you prefer to shoe.

Ooof, even harder. If I was keeping him for myself I would boot with a view to then shoe in winter for autumn hunting etc. If I was defo selling I'd shoe now and save myself the faff, because really his feet are in a nice enough shape now and certainly wouldn't affect resell (I am just very hoof conscious!).

I'm going to invest in some more boots and give it another few weeks and see if he's improving, if not then I'll shoe.
 

Pinkvboots

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Actually I have some somewhere... but think I left glue in the gun thingy...

I found the hoof amour only works if they are very slightly sensitive it wasn't enough protection in the beginning for my horse, but it's so cheap it's worth a try it might help a bit, the cartridge stays in the gun until it's finished any way you just need to attach a new stick mixer thingy for each application.
 

splashgirl45

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you say he is comfy in the field but he can pick his way and go at his own speed, if your field has any ruts in it i would think he will be sore there as well. my loan horse had very thin soles and my farrier suggested using keratex. its not cheap but did help. sounds like you have done everything pretty well and may be worth shoeing if you want to crack on with working him with a view to sell, no point not working him over the summer as it is a better time to sell, IF you are really going to.
 

ester

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I think ester has posted before about feet ‘waking up’ and becoming sore at the 6 week mark so hopefully she’ll be along soon.

Mine has thin soles and I couldn’t get barefoot to work for us. It could’ve worked if I’d had access to completely grass free turnout but that’s not an option round here. We also had feet seeming amazing for the first 3-4 weeks then everything went rapidly downhill.

I have (and haven't read everything said yet sorry), obviously very much the other end of the age scale! but frank was until the 6 week point and was then footy, he was ok on grass (it was a wet summer overall) but had to be booted on tarmac for our short walks down the road for about 6 months. and then again when we moved to wilts and surfaces were initially more challengin.
They were living out for most of it but as at home no yard to field journey that wasn't on grass.
 

Michen

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I’d quite like some opinions on the feet as to whether they are in ok enough nick to shoe... I do think they are much improved and want to crack on with him a bit but I don’t want to compromise his longevity even if I do sell him.
 

Pinkvboots

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I can see his got flat soles so that's why his feeling the ground, his frog looks much better now it's really spread out and looks healthier I can see any reason not to shoe him if it will allow you to crack on.
 

Gloi

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Don't be impatient. Those frogs still aren't really doing anything although they are LOTS better than they were sorting them out should be a priority. It looks like there is still a split between the heel bulbs , though it may just be the photo. If there is then floss it and clean trax it.
I think keeping a couple of layers of hoof armour on the soles would be good for him He probably just has a bruise which will recover in time. Have you tried keeping him off grass and giving him soaked hay to see if it makes a difference? It would be worth ruling out grass sugars causing a problem. Don't give up yet, boot all round if needed but it's early days and you are still learning what works for him. The contraction in the hooves has really improved no end!
 

Michen

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Don't be impatient. Those frogs still aren't really doing anything although they are better than they were sorting them out should be a priority. It looks like there is still a split between the heel bulbs , though it may just be the photo. If there is then floss it and clean trax it.
I think keeping a couple of layers of hoof armour on the soles would be good for him He probably just has a bruise which will recover in time. Have you tried keeping him off grass and giving him soaked hay to see if it makes a difference? It would be worth ruling out grass sugars causing a problem. Don't give up yet, boot all round if needed but it's early days and you are still learning what works for him.

He is on soaked hay. To keep him off grass 24/7 would mean he lives in a stable. I could muzzle though for his overnight turnout.
 

Gloi

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He is on soaked hay. To keep him off grass 24/7 would mean he lives in a stable. I could muzzle though for his overnight turnout.
Sorry, didn't see that, just do the best you can to keep sugars down. This is the worst time of year of course for any animal sensitive to sugars.
 

HappyHollyDays

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If you want to increase your knowledge of barefeet even if it is an interim to shoeing Bear at a later date have a look at Mark johnson Farrier Another Way. He looks after DP’s feet and has kept him sound with the thinnest soles on the planet for 4 years now. Unfortunately he is out of your area or I would have recommended him to you to use.
 

bouncing_ball

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If you want to increase your knowledge of barefeet even if it is an interim to shoeing Bear at a later date have a look at Mark johnson Farrier Another Way. He looks after DP’s feet and has kept him sound with the thinnest soles on the planet for 4 years now. Unfortunately he is out of your area or I would have recommended him to you to use.
Does he use Duplo shoes on DP?
 

Gloi

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If you want to increase your knowledge of barefeet even if it is an interim to shoeing Bear at a later date have a look at Mark johnson Farrier Another Way. He looks after DP’s feet and has kept him sound with the thinnest soles on the planet for 4 years now. Unfortunately he is out of your area or I would have recommended him to you to use.
Thanks those are really good.
 

Boulty

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Is he on any mag ox at the moment? We've had some rain followed by sun after a long, dry period which may affect grass growth & it is the time of year for grass to be deficient in it. It's a fairly cheap thing to try & used to help the ppid pony massively who when things were bad had soles like paper.

As someone had already mentioned some of them do seem to suddenly go sore as blood flow improves / the feet "wake up"

Thrush probably isn't helping & if persistent can be a right PITA to get on top of.

How's he landing otherwise?

May be worth looking at alternative boot styles or getting some pads for them to give a conformable surface & stimulate the foot / give more cushioning from the stones.
 

Boulty

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Oh & red horse products are great for thrush. (I've also used their stronghorn & found it helped when I was doing everything I could & horse was still a little footy). Looks like there's possibly still a bit of a central sulcus split from the photos. If so would pack field paste or artimud in there (clean it out & floss with something like a baby wipe or I know someone who uses strands of old rope mops)
 

Brownmare

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To me that hoof looks like it has been trimmed too short. It may be the photo angle but it doesn't look like any wall height has been left above the sole which I would be wanting to see. Also, in the shod pic his hoof shape looks awful so I would say he had a pretty weak and compromised hoof before he was ever shod if he has only had 2 sets in his life.
I would say he has cumulative low level sole bruising that has just now reached his tolerance threshold. Boots with pads all round will allow him to land correctly and build digital cushion and sole depth. I would also increase the size of his feeds - if the straw chaff is lower energy and lower sugar than the grass and hay it is far better for him to fill up on that. I would also add magnesium and salt as others have suggested. If his frog has a proper bumcrack soak a gauze strip in white lightning gel and wedge it in there with a hoof pick to pack it out and stop dirt getting in.
 

Michen

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Some other posters have picked this out from the pic you posted, what’s this? Looks like you’ve maybe got hoof stuff or similar packed into the frog, but not here? Could that be making him sore?
View attachment 48274

it is a crack that’s very nearly closed up having been stuffed with various red horse products. So improving but ?‍♀️
 

be positive

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The frog looks so much better but it does not yet appear to be really doing it's job so still a way to go before he will be landing properly heel first and letting it absorb the impact, I think at this stage they are more aware of their feet and start to be a little more cautious so appear to be more sore even if they are improving to the eye, the mare here has always been fine on stones but only started moving really freely at all times once she had built up the back of the foot, the frogs had developed properly and she was genuinely landing heel first, he is some way off that, it has taken well over 6 months for her and she started with decent frogs, can you do a bit more on a surface?
 

Gloi

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To me that hoof looks like it has been trimmed too short. It may be the photo angle but it doesn't look like any wall height has been left above the sole which I would be wanting to see.

I wonder why the farrier thought he needed to be rasping into the sole of an already weak hoof. What with that and the amount of frog removed sometimes in the end it's better to take control of your own trimming.
 

Myloubylou

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I haven’t used this product but have used other products from the company & rate them. Hedgewitch frog & sole saviour
 

Brownmare

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I wonder why the farrier thought he needed to be rasping into the sole of an already weak hoof. What with that and the amount of frog removed sometimes in the end it's better to take control of your own trimming.
Exactly why I started trimming my own - I just could not persuade my farrier to not take a layer off the whole frog at every visit!
 

Pinkvboots

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My farrier told me to leave Arabi's feet when he was sore he showed me how to just rasp them and it really helped, he also never cuts into the frog he just cuts any hanging bits off.

We realised quite early on that even slight trimming wasn't helping so we just left them and rasped only.
 

ycbm

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To me that hoof looks like it has been trimmed too short. It may be the photo angle but it doesn't look like any wall height has been left above the sole which I would be wanting to see.

I agree with you in the respect that the farrier has removed sole callous, which is a complete no go. But most self trimming working horses will have about that level of wall height.



Also, in the shod pic his hoof shape looks awful ....

Can't agree with you there, sorry. It looks pretty decent to me. Many sports Connies have got that that slightly longer than wide shape.



Michen, his feet are flat, which is what your problem probably is, and that is normally a diet issue. You might have bought one who can't handle that lush grass down there, but boots should get you through.

It's not you, don't beat yourself up.

Is he on a barefoot high copper supplement? If he's not on yeast (it's in some) i would add that, I've seen it make a huge difference to footiness.
 

Michen

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To me that hoof looks like it has been trimmed too short. It may be the photo angle but it doesn't look like any wall height has been left above the sole which I would be wanting to see. Also, in the shod pic his hoof shape looks awful so I would say he had a pretty weak and compromised hoof before he was ever shod if he has only had 2 sets in his life.
I would say he has cumulative low level sole bruising that has just now reached his tolerance threshold. Boots with pads all round will allow him to land correctly and build digital cushion and sole depth. I would also increase the size of his feeds - if the straw chaff is lower energy and lower sugar than the grass and hay it is far better for him to fill up on that. I would also add magnesium and salt as others have suggested. If his frog has a proper bumcrack soak a gauze strip in white lightning gel and wedge it in there with a hoof pick to pack it out and stop dirt getting in.
I wonder why the farrier thought he needed to be rasping into the sole of an already weak hoof. What with that and the amount of frog removed sometimes in the end it's better to take control of your own trimming.
I agree with you in the respect that the farrier has removed sole callous, which is a complete no go. But most self trimming working horses will have about that level of wall height.





Can't agree with you there, sorry. It looks pretty decent to me. Many sports Connies have got that that slightly longer than wide shape.



Michen, his feet are flat, which is what your problem probably is, and that is normally a diet issue. You might have bought one who can't handle that lush grass down there, but boots should get you through.

It's not you, don't beat yourself up.

Is he on a barefoot high copper supplement? If he's not on yeast (it's in some) i would add that, I've seen it make a huge difference to footiness.[/QUOTE ]


.

Sorry just generic quote and reply as need to start doing some work emails.
Brownmare, tbh the farrier barely trimmed - the horse has mostly been self trimming. He took off a really small amount. I don't feel confident trimming myself as felt there was an imbalance and wanted farrier to look.

YCBM he's on equimins advance complete, I'm not sure whether it is deemed to have a high copper content but I believe it's well thought of in the barefoot world?

To be honest everyone, I think I am likely to shoe. Now perhaps now is not the time (grass) to be taking this horse barefoot, I really do need to crack on with him a bit.. you can see from the original shod pic how awful they were and whilst I'm not saying they haven't got a long way to go they are better. Maybe he needs a bit more time on a decent supp (he's only been on Equimins a short while) to sort things out for him before he goes unshod.
 
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