Help with hooves! (pics)

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ohdearme

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Hello all!

I have a fairly new horse, and have had the farrier out 3 times for her so far - always reported no issues, said her feet are very good.

With the dry weather over summer, she had some chips/cracks, especially at old nail holes - farrier said moisturiser, don't worry.

Things have progressed to this - a scary looking chunk out of one of her fronts (pics attached). No heat, not lame, happy horse. I can't help but worry when I see it! Have seen many terms floating around that are new to me (seedy toe, white line disease etc), and not sure of my best course of action...

Am trying to find a new farrier, as not overly impressed with the last one, but am worrying in the meantime, so any advice welcomed!

Pics - 2 of main front hoof, 1 of a hind with slightly less severe looking
 
Barton Bounty said:
Wow, that is a fair chunk! She didnt damage it at all? My boy has a wee chunk out his and he was lucky to get a shoe back on tbh! But its not even as big as that
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No damage at all that I know of, just seems to have progressed a bit recently!

Quigleyandme said:
Well, apart from the missing chunks they look like healthy hooves. She might benefit from a hoof supplement for six months or so. I had a horse with horrible feet who would tear chunks off with his shoes but it didn’t make him unsound and a hoof supplement worked wonders for him.
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Fab, thank you will try this - do you recommend any particular one?
 
I used Science Supplements 4Feet. It was very economical compared to Farriers Formula and worked just as well. SS has changed the formula and it is now 4Feet+ but when I baulked at the price because my horse is massive and the souped up formula would cost too much I was able to purchase the old 4Feet formula.
 
Many people who work horses without shoes would recommend a mineral supplement from either Forageplus.com or Progressive Earth.

The brittle nature of the broken of piece of foot is probably around 9 months old, so caused by whatever she was eating at that time. But looking at them, I do wonder if your farrier is leaving the feet too long.
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I have had similar before - I lost chunks up to the clenches (link to my previous thread), always in the fronts. I had my horse on Forageplus balancer for 3.5 years and tbh I don't think it made any difference for this. Vet & farrier thought it was something bacterial getting in via clenches/nail holes (aka white line disease) That bit of hoof was very wet and spongey.

I have taken him barefoot now, initially because he lost too much hoof wall to shoe and he's been unshod for a year. I have had a bit of chipping when I lose the bevel on the hoof wall, but nothing to the extent that I had before.
 
They look very similar to my gelding’s hooves. I wouldn’t worry about the chunks missing, the wall there is weak. You need to concentrate on growing strong hooves from now on. If I was being picky I would like a bit more heel support and maybe slightly more off the toe but not sure how far in to shoeing schedule they are.
 
Have you had a run of particularly dry weather? At my usual 5 week appointment it looked like none of mine had been trimmed for 10 weeks so much retained sole had come off. The two with shoes on were on stilts and we had random chunks coming off every time I used a hoof pick. It made it look like the farrier hadn't done a great job last time round but of course it was just retained sole.
 
Are you putting anything on the chunks? They could have a bacterial infection so new growth will just keep rotting away.

My old lad didn’t have the best back feet, but I found red horse products were a positive for him. My weekly routine with him was to pop some hydrogen peroxide on once a week and daily spray on the red horse stuff and fill the holes with the red horse filler (I forget the names) he was also on a sugar free diet and hoof supplement and biotin.

it is a long long process but I did see some Improvements and had he lived longer I feel confident they would have healed.

edit to add - it’s called hoof stuff and artimud. The spray is sole cleanse.
 
Thanks for replies everyone!!

in the pictures, it’s been 3-4 weeks since shoeing. Past few times it’s been 8 weeks in between, as farrier says she “has such great feet”…
 
SEL said:
Have you had a run of particularly dry weather? At my usual 5 week appointment it looked like none of mine had been trimmed for 10 weeks so much retained sole had come off. The two with shoes on were on stilts and we had random chunks coming off every time I used a hoof pick. It made it look like the farrier hadn't done a great job last time round but of course it was just retained sole.
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It has been very dry recently, but poured with rain over the past week or so - I’ve heard this mix can play havoc with hooves! When farrier came 3-4 weeks ago, he told me to moisturise as they were too dry, but now with all the mud/rain I assume that’ll sort it. I have noticed her frog and some sole shedding off
 
Surbie said:
I have had similar before - I lost chunks up to the clenches (link to my previous thread), always in the fronts. I had my horse on Forageplus balancer for 3.5 years and tbh I don't think it made any difference for this. Vet & farrier thought it was something bacterial getting in via clenches/nail holes (aka white line disease) That bit of hoof was very wet and spongey.

I have taken him barefoot now, initially because he lost too much hoof wall to shoe and he's been unshod for a year. I have had a bit of chipping when I lose the bevel on the hoof wall, but nothing to the extent that I had before.
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I agree, I don't think a supplement is going to make much difference.
 
An 8 week interval is quite likely to be part of the problem, as they grow to long before they need doing and that puts a lot of strain on the hoof wall at the nail holes.
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I can only see the first pic, it says URL expired on the other two. To me it looks like a too long foot with a dubbed off toe (thereby thinning the wall at the front which will of course weaken it). I suspect a weak/contracted heel too. The horn quality looks ok. I would apply Red Horse Sole Cleanse to all those holes and chips, and look for a new farrier, and/or take the shoes off for a while. You might decide you like it!
 
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