hhhmmm racing plates for hacking tb????

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sevoflurane

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just thinking about my boys crappy feet and wondered if any one thinks it would be worth putting him back in racing plates over the summer.....my reason for this is that the walls have no strength and just flake and break......light shoes would have less weight therefore cause less pull on the clenches and maybe his feet wouldn't bee so bad....he's currently being shod every 4 weeks.....just a thought?
 
I'd talk to your farrier, I'm sure he/she should be the best person to advise you X
 
I agree, your farrier is the best person to advise you. I would think that the racing plates may wear away too quickly if you are hacking- it depends on the surface. Maybe glue on shoes or hoof boots would be another option?
xxx
 
Some point to pointers have 'semi-steel' shoes which are somewhere between racing plates and normal shoes. They last longer than racing plates for hacking out but are lighter than normal shoes.
 
Speak to your farrier about it. In theory lighter shoes may help but they will wear out much quicker & need replacing more often thus more nailing into the hoof. Have you thought about hoof boots?
 
My TB was in racing plates; my farrier suggested them as they fit flush to the foot so no protuding edges for him to stand on and pull shoe off. He was shod every 5 weeks and lasted fine!
 
How long have you had him?
Mine had awful awful feet last summer- (I mean think the very worst you see on "before" photo's for hoof supplement ads)
After about a year on Biotin and Healthy hooves by Dengie his feet are much better- it did take ages tho' he was off work lame from June to November last year.
Good luck with him x
 
Used to use steel racing plates on my older horse during the summer when he was showing, he had terrible feet. They are ok but don't offer much protection for the sole nor did they last any longer than normal shoes.

TBH he has been far better without shoes and now use hoof boots for hacking but he did have 10 months off to help sort him out.
 
Mine had dreadful feet, was lucky to keep shoes on for 10 days, to the point where he got a quittor. My farrier was ultra, ultra patient until he shod him one day and I had to call him back before he got to the top of the drive as silly horse had pulled his shoe off as I untied him to turn him out!
So he suggested the plates, and also he'd been involved in trialling Naf Pro Feet which he recommended. There was a visible difference within a fortnight and he never lost another shoe while he was with me (8 months with weather extremes of baked rock hard ground and torrential rain and quagmire fields)!
 
Racing plates are very soft and dont really stand up to hacking (especially road work)

Ask your farrier to look into putting hoof cast on all four feet. This gives him/her something to nail onto and gives the feet time to improve between shoeings. Also helps the shoes saty on as they are nailed onto something firm.

Also are you feeding any suppliaments or putting anything on the feet at all?
 
I've thought about hoof cast....in fact you mentioned it to me in a post recently....I am going to speak to my farrier about that because it sounds great. But I am just thinking of other options as his feet are so bad, he's being shod every 4 weeks at the moment and his feet are disintegrating. He just had an infected corn which eventually came through the coronet band, he's sound but depsite no work for the last 2 weeks his shoes are still lose and clenches protruding.

I give him Rock hard supplement and lime stone flour as well as healthy hooves chaff. I was using rock hard to the walls and soles as well as kevin bacon but I've just started using cornucrescine for dry and brittle hooves...........its hard work and I feel sorry for my boy struggling all the time. I am thinking of 6 months off from Oct to March and using boots for hacking, but I'm not sure how he'll cope. I just need to get him through the summer so I can ride him
 
Do give the Naf Pro Foot a try, it really worked for mine! It has something in it which gives the liver a boost and helps the absorption of the nutrients needed for good quality (not just fast) hoof growth.
 
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