HELP! Horse with thin soles gone without shoes

[that_eventing_ connemara]

*Sorry for the long message but please read*
Just needed some information and some advise. My horse has VERY bad feet (Connemara breed) so thin soles, cracked feet. When the weather changes, he doesn’t adapt very well so his feet crack, go very soft and he can’t keep his shoes on. When he does manage to take his shoes off, it rips a lot of his hoof off with it. We have had in the past, pour-in pads for his soles and we’ve thought about casting and permanent boots- but all seems so expensive. He has Keratex hoof hardener and Keratex Gel on throughout the week. I went on holiday for a few weeks and my farrier came just before I left and took his shoes off, i was a bit apprehensive but he reassured me it was the best decision to let his hooves grow over the few weeks, which is understandable but surely you cannot go from shoes to no shoes in a day?? I’m not sure what to do when riding- if i can? Any thoughts/suggestions?
Thank you.

 

[meleeka]

Have you looked into boots for riding, with pads if needed (yoga mats are a cheap alternative to pads)?

 

[SEL]

Has he been out in a paddock since having shoes off? The ground has been damp so should be ok.

Boots for riding outside the paddock with pads if he's got thin soles

 

[ycbm]

Does he have HWSD?
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[that_eventing_ connemara]

Does he have HWSD?
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he hasn’t been tested.. as I decided what difference would it make to know if he had it or not? my farrier agreed

 

[that_eventing_ connemara]

Has he been out in a paddock since having shoes off? The ground has been damp so should be ok.

Boots for riding outside the paddock with pads if he's got thin soles

he has been outside, and he seems to be completely fine with it. but i’m worried that if the ground is so damp his hooves just act like a sponge and soak it all up which could be not so great as it could force bits of cracked hoof to fall off?

 

[LadyGascoyne]

I feed Forage Plus Hoof and Skin balancer, and I’d probably add some additional linseed if your horse will tolerate it. I also feed oily herbs like oregano and thyme.

I find it really improves the quality hoof growth.

One of mine wore hoof boots and pads when her shoes came off. I bought my pads here

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[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Hooves do better when they are not too dry. Farrier advised us to hose hooves in prolonged dry weather or to make a puddle round the water trough so that horses stood in it every time they went for a drink. Keratex is very drying

 

[Surbie]

What are you feeding him? And is he staying out in the field while you are away?

Like @LadyGascoyne I feed the ForagePlus hoof & skin balancer. My horse had feet that regularly broke up and split up to the nail holes. It's helped him grow a better hoof, though still far from perfect.

Since he's been barefoot he's been a lot better - also helped by my farrier showing me how to rasp the feet and encouraging me to maintain the trim on a weekly basis to help prevent the cracks and chunks coming off.

Mine took a few weeks to be comfortable, and I used Keratex hardener to begin with but I wouldn't use it long term as it is so drying.

 

[ycbm]

he hasn’t been tested.. as I decided what difference would it make to know if he had it or not? my farrier agreed

You would know that whatever extremely expensive supplements or surface treatments people recommend you to try, they aren't likely to help. I understand also that laminitis is sometimes a result of the hoof wall breakdown and personally I would want to know that's what I was watching out for in future. I think I'd also rather take advice from people who know specifically about HWSD and how to manage it than untargetted contributions from posters on a forum.
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[paddy555]

he hasn’t been tested.. as I decided what difference would it make to know if he had it or not? my farrier agreed

to me it would be the difference between feet that I could rehab to barefeet successfully or alternatively feet that I knew had an underlying problem where rehab to barefoot (or even successful shoeing) was always going to be problematical and may not be possible. Also feet that I knew I had to further research to find the best way forward.

I would also stop using kerratex. Very drying and it will make cracking worse.

You would know that whatever extremely expensive supplements or surface treatments people recommend you to try, they aren't likely to help. I understand also that laminitis is sometimes a result of the horse wall breakdown and personally I would want to know that's what I was watching out for in future. I think I'd also rather take advice from people who know specifically about HWSD and how to manage it than untargetted contributions from posters on a forum.
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this just came up which totally agree with.
There is a FB HWSD group with a lot of info. and probably links to farriers who are familiar with this condition.

 

[HelenBack]

You might be able to work out the likelihood of him having HWSD by looking at his parents. If either has been tested as N/N then he won't have it.

I do agree that it's worth trying to find out if you can though. My Connie had terrible feet when he was shod. I had him tested and he came back negative but I did do quite a lot of research into it while I was waiting. Seemingly all the normal management protocols go out of the window and you would need to find a farrier who is clued up on HWSD to help you work out how best to manage your individual horse.

All of that said, my Connemara had very bad feet while shod and since he went bare they just keep getting better and better. If your horse is comfortable then I'd try not to worry too much if his feet look ugly, they will almost certainly break up to the nail holes and look worse before they look better but it doesn't matter if he's happy. You can use boots and pads for riding as others have said and they should keep him comfortable.

You've picked a good time of year as apparently it's autumn now so the ground in the field should be soft enough to not cause him any problems.

 

[Ceriann]

My Connie cross with very thin flat soles but good hoof wall condition has been out of shoes well over 18 months. She’s coping well with a good supplement - I originally used pro hoof, boots as needed and the use of hoof armour. It’s not easy and she does react to changes in weather eg very wet weather can make her reactive when then taken on hard ground , very dry weather and hard ground can be tricky and it’s continuous management. Her feet are improving though - slowly.