help/advice needed..................... hoof related

[colour me in]

my baby boys hooves arent brilliant at the moment he's a 2yr old coloured gelding whose barefoot. He has been living out on and off (mainly in when the weather has been shocking) his feet have chipped, i've had the farrier out to him today who has trimmed them and he said that its because the ground is hard at the moment however i was wondering if i could give him a helping hand with supplements etc

Also he's on shavings on concrete there is a small patch of bare concrete by his door. Would it make any difference i invested in some rubber matting for by his door?

Also which supplements would be ok I know biotin is good but i dont want to be putting loads into his feeds.

He gets a scoop of moli-chop, a scoop of high fibre cubes, half a cup of oil and garlic granules.

Any advice/thoughts would be great

 

[colour me in]

my baby boys hooves arent brilliant at the moment he's a 2yr old coloured gelding whose barefoot. He has been living out on and off (mainly in when the weather has been shocking) his feet have chipped, i've had the farrier out to him today who has trimmed them and he said that its because the ground is hard at the moment however i was wondering if i could give him a helping hand with supplements etc

Also he's on shavings on concrete there is a small patch of bare concrete by his door. Would it make any difference i invested in some rubber matting for by his door?

Also which supplements would be ok I know biotin is good but i dont want to be putting loads into his feeds.

He gets a scoop of moli-chop, a scoop of high fibre cubes, half a cup of oil and garlic granules.

Any advice/thoughts would be great

loads meaning extra unecessary supplements

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I've got a new farrier recently and my TB has hardly chipped her hooves through all the recent dry weather. Last summer she had to have shoes on and I had resigned myself to having a shod but retired horse over the summer months.

So why did the new farrier make such a difference?

Well he took off all the flares and it's made a huge difference. The old farrier used to tell me that the mare had three good matching hooves and one smaller 'odd' one. The new farrier said that the smaller hoof was the best as it had hardly any flare. Now she has four matching, flare-free and pretty much chip-free hooves.

 

[rosie-ellie]

why dont you try changing mollichop to dengie healthy hooves it has all the nutrients in it so you dont need to buy any extra vits and minerals.

 

[B_2_B]

We use this (or the Happy Hoof one)
http://www.naf-uk.com/products/detail.php?id=8

 

[Tinypony]

Why don't you have a search here on "barefoot"? there have been some long and useful threads here lately, and they have included some sound advice on diet. My advice would be to google Thunderbrook feeds and have a word with them. I wouldn't bother with anything you paint on the outside or sole of his hooves, get the diet and hoofcare right and you don't need anything like that.
Don't cover his concrete, concrete is excellent for barefeet.
Do you walk him out in-hand? Roadwork is very good for the unshod horse.
I don't get chipped hooves, but myself and my trimmer keep on top of flare, and I also maintain a bevel on the hooves between her visits.
Honest advice? With a 2 year old that you want to have a barefoot ridden life I would pay for a really good trimmer to come and just give a second opinion and to give you advice about hoofcare and diet. I 100% recommend Fiona Varian, contact details on this list http://www.appliedequinepodiatrist.co.uk/#/find-a-daep/4541489803
She is based near Birmingham, but travels all around the country, so particularly for a one-off it might be worth speaking to her. She is a Hellerwork practitioner and looks at the whole horse in relation to the hoof. One session with her is like a masterclass, you would learn so much. She has transformed by horses' hooves, but with one in particular she was able to improve the way he moved at her first visit, and his hooves improved hugely in just a couple of trims.