Gutted

jesterfaerie

jesterfaerie

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Ugh I am absolutly gutted at the moment, had the farrier out to my new boy yesterday to be told I shouldn't buy him or at least strongly think about it before saying yes as he has VERY poor feet
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I am now considering taking him to uni with me and asking the farriers down there on their opinion before I decide what to do. Is this a good idea or should I just try find another one before I fall for him?
 
Have you got some pictures of the feet?

If the horse had a rubbish farrier before hand could be why his feet are now so bad.

Also if the horse hasnt had a very good diet previously, another reason why they may be bad

Bad feet can be made excellent with a good farrier and a good foot supplement. Believe me I know!!
 
P.S ask the advice of your vet rather than your farrier?

Also I'll bet that he could have White Line Disease which is another thing that make the feet go rubbish. A lot of people/farriers do not realise that their horses feet are full of infection and never do anything about it until it all comes to a head!
 
Yes I too wouldn't be too worried - when Rock came to me his feet were a mess, he had had the same shoes on for 12weeks, was lame on his feet, had thrush and white line - 3years later and his feet are a picture of excellence. A good farrier will get his feet right!
 
farrier can do wonders for poor feet, but from bitter experience id steer clear. sorry.

i fell for the horse and was deterimed to help him, and my farrier told me his feet were rubbish but with the right treatment and time they could be better, but never perfect.
 
How old is the horse, and how well shod in the past?
Has the vet seen him and done a 5 stage? What did the vet think?

A lot can be done to correct poor feet but I would be very very wary, and personally I would want xrays done to check balance and be prepared for some expensive shoeing for a while .... especially if you are wanting him to compete
 
What did your vet say at the vetting?

My horse doens't have the greatest quality feet. However they are improving with a good feed balancer and regular visits from my farrier.
 
Well the farrier has said he could try work with them but it is still a risk that they may not improve.
He appears to have sunken (sp) frogs.
O_B no I haven't but I will go take some now.

Well he raced when he was younger which probably wouldn't have helped (diet wise and constant changing of shoes). For the past 18 months I have been told he has been fed on a very fibre based diet, the farrier used on him previously does have quite a decent reputation. He is now fed decent hay and grass and 3 meals of healthy hoof per day and my farrier has told me to apply stockholm tar to his feed everyday. I am considering asking to extend the loan from 2 months to around 6 to see how things go with his feet.
 
id go with what your farrier says, they know what they are talking about. if he is not your horse why give yourself the heart ache and expense?

its not funny when shoe bills come in at nearly double the normal amout, and the horse is lame more offen than sound!

my pony is at a yard that used to race so there are loads of ex racers, none of them have very good feet
 
I haven't had him vetted yet as he is on a two month trial, but would get him vetted if I decided to buy him.
B_&_J - he is 7. Yes I was hoping to compete him but it is the very expensive shoeing that is my worry, he is cheap as chips so I may as well buy a horse that is more expensive with good feet that needs regular shoeing I guess.
 
I actually bought a horse from a farrier once and he had the worst feet bar none that I have ever seen.... It took about a year but with regular good shoeing (from a different farrier, ahem) and a feed balancer they grew out and look pretty nice. Some horses just have bad feet but if he's not lame and he's able to do what you ask him then I'd say don't worry too much. But I would get him vetted in case.
 
I went to look at a horse being sold by a "well respected " farrier. Someone tipped me the wink to have the feet x-rayed. I did it failed. And the vet even noted how bad the shoeing was. My own farrier is fantastic and I cannot tell you if it wasn't for him my horse wouldn't be sound. I trust my farriers advice and he works very closely with my vet and physio.
 
Its a difficult situation, I would be tempted to extend the trial period & see how he gets on, also get some other opinions. I bought my ex racer with rubbish feet, they will never be perfect but they are significantly better & he can lead a perfectly normal life. At one point he could only retain shoes for 4 weeks - v expensive but is happy in them now for a usual 6 weeks.
 

I am sorry to say it but from those pictures I do think those feet are exceptionally poor. I would be worried that the horse would be lame quite frequently and would struggle to keep shoes on
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It isn't just the quality of the hoof but also the hoof/pastern angle looks pretty poor.

Remedial farriery could bring them back a long way plus better quality diet (Biotin) but if I am really hones (and I have had a horse with poor feet) I would steer clear. sorry
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have more in depth discussion with your farrier, and then have the same discussion with at least one other farrier and your vet before you do anything.

when i got ron he couldn't keep shoes on for more than a fortnight. 3 years later we haven't lost one in over a year.
 
I have to say I agree with Arwen. I know its hard particularly if he's everything else you would want in a horse, but looking at those photos I would not be buying him.

I am speaking from some experience as my TB had terrible feet when I first bought him but it was the basic shape etc was good and it was clear they would easily improve.

Have an in dept talk with your farrier as Jencash suggested so you have a better idea of why he thinks they are so bad and also ask what he would do if he had to shoe this horse long term.
 
His horn looks quite weak, put him on the best supplement and msm, i wouldnt want to be shoeing a horse like this every 2 weeks as his hoof isnt stong enough to support this, i would be tempted to leave his feet aslong as possible so he can start to grow some new horn for the farrier to get nails in, leave his shoes as long as poss.
 
My last horse (TB) didn't have brilliant feet but my farrier improved them no end and they didn't cause her a problem. Depends what's wrong with them I suppose?
 
[ QUOTE ]

I am sorry to say it but from those pictures I do think those feet are exceptionally poor. I would be worried that the horse would be lame quite frequently and would struggle to keep shoes on
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It isn't just the quality of the hoof but also the hoof/pastern angle looks pretty poor.

Remedial farriery could bring them back a long way plus better quality diet (Biotin) but if I am really hones (and I have had a horse with poor feet) I would steer clear. sorry
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I agree with Arwen that the hoof/pastern angle doesn't look good from photos and his feet aren't good. Maybe ask your vet and or/another farriers opinion. Did you know the horse before you got him on trial? Does he have a history of lameness?
 
Those feet are so full of infection it is unreal ( white line disease !!)

PLUS he obviously has not been getting a sufficient diet in the last 6 months and he has had a severe lack of nutrition.

Could also possibly be laminitic feet as well.

So a combination of things.

Stockholm tar is not the way to treat them- he needs

-A foot supplement ( I reccomend Formula 4 FEET )

-Daily Hibbiscrubbing of the frogs ( for thrush )

-Weekly treatment of Keratex disinfectant into the nail holes for the WLD

-He needs to have his shoes taken off every 4 weeks so that his feet can be soaked in cleantrax ( a specialist WLD disinfectant) for 40 mins to help clear up the WLD

- Daily treatment with Keratex hoof hardener

- When conditions are wet, you need to apply keratex hoof gel to the feet to waterproof the feet ( otherwise the frogs and the internal structures become too soft )

With this program I think there is a good chance that these feet will be virtually normal in 6 months time. Just please dont use stockholm tar as that will keep all the infection in!!
 
Crikey.... those are some scary feet..... they look laminitic with those wavy lines round them, and the farriery looks abysmal.

Sorry, but I would not touch with a bargepole.
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if he's lovely in every way, and you're honestly prepared to do very little with him for at least 6 months while you stuff him full of good stuff and take really great care of his feet, then buy him.
i'd have him on Formula4Feet and do as Ouija Board says.
but if he's not perfect in every other way, don't go there.
"no foot, no horse" is only too true. lame horses are heartbreakers and cost more to keep than sound ones, and it can all be for nothing...
best of luck.
 
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