Flat footed and barefoot horse

[Courtney Mabbott]

Could anyone recommend any feeds or anything I can add to feed to improve my flat footed and barefooted mare hooves, she is a rescue and now have finally have a good farrier, he says her hooves are improving, She wears cavallo simple trek boots but she still seems to be crippling whilst out on a hack, I would put shoes on her but she’s never been shod before and have read mixed opinions on shoes

 

[ycbm]

What do you feed her? It can be as much about what you shouldn't feed as what you should add.

How old is she?

What work does she do?

 

[Courtney Mabbott]

She’s on
Senior conditioning mix
Original mollichaff
Grass pellets
Spedibeet

She’s 16 years old and I’m in the process of rebacking her so she’s in very light work, she gets ridden in walk for about 20/30 mins about 3 times a week

 

[Courtney Mabbott]

What do you feed her? It can be as much about what you shouldn't feed as what you should add.

How old is she?

What work does she do?

She’s on
Senior conditioning mix
Original mollichaff
Grass pellets
Spedibeet

She’s 16 years old and I’m in the process of rebacking her so she’s in very light work, she gets ridden in walk for about 20/30 mins about 3 times a week

 

[ycbm]

The conditioning mix probably and Mollichop definitely are full of sugar and I would change those.

Has she been tested for Cushings? At that age, the cause of flat soles and sore feet in a lot of horses will be that.
.

 

[Courtney Mabbott]

The conditioning mix probably and Mollichop definitely are full of sugar and I would change those.

Has she been tested for Cushings? At that age, the cause of flat soles and sore feet in a lot of horses will be that.
.

she’s a thoroughbred and she was very under weight when I rescued her and this is the only feed that I found that helps with her weight, her feet were a mess way before I got her and was probably caused by bad farriery but I will definitely get her tested

 

[ycbm]

There are plenty of feeds which should condition her without the sugar. Copra, and linseed come to mind but I'm sure others can advise on that.

I would strip the sugar out and add a "barefoot" supplement from either Forageplus or Progressive Earth.
.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

My barefoot mare is on honeychop free from. Very low in sugar/starch, high in fibre, no alfalfa, soya or molasses. She then gets a handful of pony nuts along with a vit and min powder and magnesium. I changed to this chaff from a higher sugar one when I took her shoes off and she’s taken to barefoot life really well.

A tricky one as it’s nice to keep shoes off if you can but I personally wouldn’t want to ride a horse that was “crippled”. Barefoot health all comes from correct stimulation and diet so if she’s landing toe first, which is likely if she’s in pain, this won’t be helping her overall foot health.

just seen your horse is a tb. Maybe have a look at honeychop top line and shine? It’s relatively low sugar for a “topline” aimed chaff.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Just to add, there’s nothing wrong with shoeing if that is what the horse needs. Maybe have a chat with your farrier and see what he thinks? I was worried taking mine off as everyone says “Connemaras have bad feet” and every farrier I have had says they rarely see a connemara cope without shoes. But he said may as well give it a go so I did, stripped her feed right back, added some vits, got on top of some low level thrush and did A LOT of reading. Now my farrier is eating his words ?

 

[Courtney Mabbott]

There are plenty of feeds which should condition her without the sugar. Copra, and linseed come to mind but I'm sure others can advise on that.

I would strip the sugar out and add a "barefoot" supplement from either Forageplus or Progressive Earth.
.

Thank you I shall look into it

 

[Courtney Mabbott]

My barefoot mare is on honeychop free from. Very low in sugar/starch, high in fibre, no alfalfa, soya or molasses. She then gets a handful of pony nuts along with a vit and min powder and magnesium. I changed to this chaff from a higher sugar one when I took her shoes off and she’s taken to barefoot life really well.

A tricky one as it’s nice to keep shoes off if you can but I personally wouldn’t want to ride a horse that was “crippled”. Barefoot health all comes from correct stimulation and diet so if she’s landing toe first, which is likely if she’s in pain, this won’t be helping her overall foot health.

just seen your horse is a tb. Maybe have a look at honeychop top line and shine? It’s relatively low sugar for a “topline” aimed chaff.

I shall look into it, I definitely think she is getting too much sugar in her feed I just don’t like changing feeds when I know what works with her weight but if I have to do it to get her feet better I will, and yeah it’s awful she wears her trek boots but she still cripples I just don’t understand where I’m going wrong and obviously it’s put me off working her as I don’t want her to be in any discomfort, her farrier doesn’t seem to think she needs shoes as her soles are too thin, I know it isn’t a quick fit but I can’t let her carry on like this, thank you for you advice

 

[victoriawfnj16]

i agree with others, you want as little sugar and starch as possible in the diet (starch converts to sugar) so a combined percentage of below 10% is usually recommended.
thunderbrooks/agrobs are both good options although they can work out quite expensive if you need to feed a lot.
if cost is a concern, i’d keep with the speedi beet and grass pellets, as you can feed quite a bit of it relatively cheaply.
linseed and or copra are both great for weight gain, although some don’t like the taste of copra (it’s coconut meal).
best of luck!

 

[Courtney Mabbott]

i agree with others, you want as little sugar and starch as possible in the diet (starch converts to sugar) so a combined percentage of below 10% is usually recommended.
thunderbrooks/agrobs are both good options although they can work out quite expensive if you need to feed a lot.
if cost is a concern, i’d keep with the speedi beet and grass pellets, as you can feed quite a bit of it relatively cheaply.
linseed and or copra are both great for weight gain, although some don’t like the taste of copra (it’s coconut meal).
best of luck!

thank you I shall be making some changes to her feed and see where she goes from there

 

[victoriawfnj16]

movement is also massively important, so the more you can get her moving the better, especially over a variety of surfaces!
it will take time, but take pictures now to review in say 6 months time!
also try and let the feet dry out a bit if you can (i don’t know what your situation is) but if she’s in a wet field all day, try and bring her in to stand in the dry for a bit!

thank you I shall be making some changes to her feed and see where she goes from there

 

[Gloi]

As well as changing the feed and giving minerals you could try hoof armour on the soles or buy pads for the boots.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

It’s much easier transitioning a good doer native barefoot than a tb as diet is such a huge factor so I feel your pain. Can you soak his hay so you are limiting sugar that way? I don’t know if you are on Facebook but there are a few good barefoot horse groups where you could ask for feed advice.

It’s a slog of a journey but will be worth it! As above take photos, once you get the diet sorted you will see a big difference and that will spur you on. Also don’t know where you are but frozen ground is awful for bare feet, the ground is churned up from all the wet and then frozen in lumps and bumps, not comfy! If where you are is frozen and hard you might see an improvement once we see the last pesky frost behind us.

 

[Courtney Mabbott]

It’s much easier transitioning a good doer native barefoot than a tb as diet is such a huge factor so I feel your pain. Can you soak his hay so you are limiting sugar that way? I don’t know if you are on Facebook but there are a few good barefoot horse groups where you could ask for feed advice.

It’s a slog of a journey but will be worth it! As above take photos, once you get the diet sorted you will see a big difference and that will spur you on. Also don’t know where you are but frozen ground is awful for bare feet, the ground is churned up from all the wet and then frozen in lumps and bumps, not comfy! If where you are is frozen and hard you might see an improvement once we see the last pesky frost behind us.[/QUOTE

yeah I’ll try that and yeah I’m probably on most of them and yeah I’ll see if they can give me any advice, I will definitely take pictures so I can any improvements, her field is just absolute slop, I do try keep her in as much as possible to keep her feet dry but she doesn’t like being in at all she’s comes in at night but with her weight she sweats from stress so then it’s her weight that I worry about, thank you for your advice it’s very helpful