foot issue

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lynnandbella

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I had fronts put on my youngster 6 months ago because her feet were bad, i tried lots of feed and suppliments but nothing helped. Her fronts have improved, but her hinds are a worry, her frogs are very low and touching the ground, and theres a crack along her coronet only small and maybe just where new horn growth is coming , she hates being shod is only cold shod in front as she cant cope with it! What do you suggest?
 
I think some photos would help, shoes will not cure any problems just disguise them or even worse delay them.
The crack in the coronary band could be where an abscess has come out leaving a hole which will grow down, her frogs should be on the ground, their function is to absorb the pressure on the foot and pump blood round, a good strong healthy frog will be in contact every time the horse puts its foot down.

Diet is most important, a correct diet will support good strong growth, it may be that you have used the wrong supplements, not given them time to work or fed feeds high in starch or sugar which have caused poor growth.

There are loads of threads on here about barefoot diets, not exclusively for barefoot horses, if you search they will have loads of info on what you should and should not feed for healthy feet.
 
Frogs should touch the ground - removing frogs from ground contact is one of the ways shoeing can damage hooves.

Pics would be very helpful...
 
I meant her heals are on the ground , the bulbs are right on the floor behind! Looking at her shod fronts earlier, the pale hooves have gone black where the nails are and split from the nail to the ground, i had her on sea kelp, brewers yeast, linseed, happy hoof and sunflower oil for a good 9 months!
 
I would suggest removing the seaweed and happy hoof from her diet - neither are ideal for hooves. Pro balance + or similar is a much better source of minerals than seaweed, and something unmolassed, such as fast fibre, would be better than happy hoof, which is in fact known to make hooves unhappy in many cases ;).

The black parts around the nail holes sounds like a little bit of white line disease, which is very common when you have holes in the hoof wall. A gentle disinfect on a weekly basis should help, as will resolving any existing dietary issues.

Re the heels - I suspect it's nothing to worry about. A horse's hoof is meant to share weight between the hoof walls, frog, sole and heels. Unless you mean the heels are under run? That's another matter, and usually accompanied by a long toe and wall flare.
 
Happy Hoof is awful stuff IMHO! Fed it to mine when I couldn't get my usual feed/chaff. It smells horrid, really sweet and not at all fresh, and it's very sticky and clearly heavily molassed. Clumps together in the bag and is sticky to touch. It smells sweet and sickly. Sent my horse loopy too - he's back to normal now he's back on Safe & Sound (which is lovely and fresh, and doesn't have big lumps of molasses in!).

Would suggest reading this for ideas of how good and bad unshod and shod hooves look, and keeping hooves healthy http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feet-First-Barefoot-Performance-Rehabilitation/dp/0851319602
 
Ok thanks folks have ordered a book to study! Looked at her feet again today the black hoof looks fab the lighter hooves arent dyer but theyre not as good as i would like, lots of cracks, thin walls etc i have pics from a while ago on my phone but not sure how to put them up?
 
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