Hole in wall of foot

[Birker2020]

My horse has suddenly developed a hole in the wall of his foot with the top of the nail sticking out.

Its the outside of his foot (off fore) so I don't anticipate him catching himself until a fellow liveries boyfriend (who is a farrier) can look at him over the weekend.

I'm feeding him Healthy Hooves/Happy Hoof as the previous owner had done so for the previous 12 months and using Keratex hoof hardener on the outside of his feet to stop the wet penetrating the nail holes and encouraging loss of shoes. Probably do this twice weekly. Also put iodine/eucalyptus mix on the soles/frog to deter thrush and keep the area healthy.

He's also both in and out in over reach boots (24/7) but unfortunately although they protect the back of the shoe/heel the Premier Equine ones don't come low enough over the hole. I think I will put a rubber one on underneath/over the top of the PE on that foot just in case he catches it with his nose or something silly.

I can't understand how he's managed to get a hole as he's obviously not stood on himself and he's turned out in an individual paddock with post and rail and mains electric. How does a hole suddenly appear, it appears a lot has crumbled away.

Edited to say he's shod every five weeks and he was last shod end of January (this is the 2nd time since I've owned him) and farrier is top class vet approved farrier.

So where am I going wrong in terms of hoof health??

 

[Tiddlypom]

That's quite a cavity. Might he have seedy toe? It'll need the shoe to come off to have a gook poke about.

If it is seedy toe, it can respond well when treated with Red Horse products.

The various Forageplus and Progressive Earth balancers are well rated on here for hoof health .

 

[Annagain]

I think it's probably worked its way down from the nail. Monty's feet were never particularly great and would do this now and again. I hate to say it but nothing we tried (we tried diet, applying all sorts of potions and even the farrier tried everything in his repertoire) ever really helped. When he retired and we took his shoes off, he was so sore we had to put fronts back on him. Even without work he still gets chips and cracks around the nail holes.

 

[Birker2020]

That's quite a cavity. Might he have seedy toe? It'll need the shoe to come off to have a gook poke about.

If it is seedy toe, it can respond well when treated with Red Horse products.

The various Forageplus and Progressive Earth balancers are well rated on here for hoof health .

Oh crikey. I've sent a photo to my farrier. Maybe I should ask him to come out and investigate rather than try to remove the nail.

I literally got the pro rider on him on Tuesday night for the first time since 31st October to start riding him 3 times a week , I could cry

 

[ester]

Have you more pics? I don’t like that ‘fold’ above the nail line/they look potentially nutritionally weak

 

[bonny]

I would remove the overreach boots, leaving them on 24 hours can’t be doing his feet any good

 

[Tiddlypom]

You might well be able to keep working him, don't despair yet, but IMHO that shoe needs to be taken off for a farrier and/or vet to have a good look, but it may be able to be refitted.

Just my thoughts, though.

 

[Fransurrey]

I'd be giving those a thorough soaking treatment to help with white line disease and thrush. Are you able to at least investigate glue on options or hoof boots, while you treat them over a few weeks? It's much easier to treat unshod hooves. Or if there are a few horses to be shod, get the farrier to remove your horse's shoes first, start a soak treatment (Cleantrax or similar) and have him shod last in line.

 

[Red-1]

I think that Keratex has its place, but if used too much it can make the horn brittle and crack.

Seedy toe is also likely, making the wall take the strain alone.

Looking at the next door clench, there has been some kind of trauma, possibly taking the horn, weakened by Keratex, on the hoof already weakened by seedy toe.

That said, I would imagine that with judicious trimming, judicious cleaning, he could stay in work whilst it cleans up and grows out.

I like Cleantrax too.

 

[twiggy2]

Hooves need some moisture keratex can be a bit to harsh, I worked with a horse yrs ago who had ok feet until the use of keratex, the hooves went so brittle they shattered resulting in 6 months box rest then hoof boots for turn out, she never put shoes on him again and he had great feet without shoes.

 

[RHM]

I would say it could be a touch of seedy toe. My horse is prone to it and the farrier using copper nails has stopped her nail holes cracking.
If he isn’t lame I would be continuing to work him while treating. Wouldn’t be too disheartened until you speak to the farrier.

 

[AandK]

I agree with ester and Red-1.

I don't think it is the sort of issue that means you need to stop work, but I would want to address hoof health via diet and what topical treatments are being used. I would get rid of happy hoof etc and swap to something more simple and then add in a good spec mineral balancer, Forage Plus/Pro Earth/EquiNatural.
I use the latter and it has really helped my older horses rubbish feet, along with sorting out diet, so much so that he is now unshod all round in his retirement. This was a horse who was crippled if he lost a shoe 15yrs ago. His current diet is dengie meadow grass, unmolassed beet, linseed, salt, gut balancer and the minerals.
Topical treatment wise, I like Red Horse/Horse Leads stuff. Sole spray and hoof clay are essential for me, they encourage hoof health and help keep nasties at bay.

 

[windand rain]

Looks like seedy toe to me too hope it responds quickly I had the whole lot cut in a v shape so air can get at it as we show and the farrier was concerned but in the end it was cut out and in now improving daily. I managed to get some blue antibiotic sheep spray it has worked best

 

[Birker2020]

Hooves need some moisture keratex can be a bit to harsh, I worked with a horse yrs ago who had ok feet until the use of keratex, the hooves went so brittle they shattered resulting in 6 months box rest then hoof boots for turn out, she never put shoes on him again and he had great feet without shoes.

Gosh I've used Keratex for years I had no idea it could cause these problems.

I only started using it on Lari as he lost a shoe in the first few weeks I had him when he must have over reached in a really flat part of the field with no divots.

He has to have over reach boots on as he pulls off his shoes without, or he did when I first had him as he was weak behind. However he's a different horse now he's strengthened so might not anymore. The previous owner told me to keep them on 24/7 and I've been lucky they've not rubbed or caused mud fever to develop from rubbing. Its an expensive exercise if I leave them off and he pulls a shoe though.

I do swap the boots over after work so he has new clean ones on and the old ones are washed and left a radiator overnight to dry and I dry his heels as there is a huge amount of mud that collects underneath the boots in the heel area so his feet need washing every night.

 

[Birker2020]

Have you more pics? I don’t like that ‘fold’ above the nail line/they look potentially nutritionally weak

I've got one that shows a bit more foot but I only took a couple of photos just to send a photo with a text to my farrier. He's not said anything about his feet other than they were strong feet, that was when I first had him. He's been in discussion with the physio about his hind feet because he noticed an issue with the shoe or something, he's putting more weight through his near hind leg.

Trouble is I'm at work when he comes so I don't really get to speak to him very often.

I will have to try and ring him and get hold of him to come out and visit and try ad get advance warning as I need to arrange for him to stay in/come in from the field.

 

[ester]

Fwiw I’d agree with others re poss seedy toe but often that will come from not having a good tight white line - and obviously right now that is likely from before you had him.I’m partly wondering either the crease I see is about right for the change in ownership and it might be better/tighter growth above it.

 

[Birker2020]

Fwiw I’d agree with others re poss seedy toe but often that will come from not having a good tight white line - and obviously right now that is likely from before you had him.I’m partly wondering either the crease I see is about right for the change in ownership and it might be better/tighter growth above it.

Sorry not brilliant photos to be honest. Best I can find on my phone at the moment. I will take a couple more out in the light tonight.

 

[Caol Ila]

This was not an infrequent occurrence for Gypsum at my previous yard. It seemed chronic, and the farrier didn't seem bothered. She was never lame, so we lived with it. The cause must have been some deficiency in her diet, the bacteria in the soil, the farrier, or some combination of all of the above. In 2017, I pulled her hind shoes -- and her hind feet were far worse than her front feet -- and the seedy toe disappeared.

When she moved to my current yard (where Fin is now), it magically went away from the fronts, although she remained shod up front until the end of her life.

 

[Melody Grey]

Just a musing and happy to be corrected. Although a more frequent shoeing cycle will certainly help address other issues, I can’t help but feel the extra nail holes added more frequently lessen the stability of the hoof wall and invite problems like this?

obviously not expecting that going longer between cycles is in any way preferable, just a thought. Seedy toe/ anything else lurking aside, moisturising with Kevin bacon’s or similar might help?

 

[Caol Ila]

Just a musing and happy to be corrected. Although a more frequent shoeing cycle will certainly help address other issues, I can’t help but feel the extra nail holes added more frequently lessen the stability of the hoof wall and invite problems like this?

obviously not expecting that going longer between cycles is in any way preferable, just a thought. Seedy toe/ anything else lurking aside, moisturising with Kevin bacon’s or similar might help?

Yeah, the reason I pulled my mare's hind shoes was that my "if it works, don't fix" approach to hoof care was not working. She was repeatedly throwing shoes, subsquent and frequent reshoeing was causing more damage and weakness to the hoof wall, which was then making her more inclined to throw shoes. It was a sh1t cycle, the last straw of which was a shoe halfway detaching, the toe clip going into her foot, which caused an abscess, and then four days of very angry box rest. Hind shoes never went back on after that.

 

[PurBee]

I agree with others the keratex may be a significant causal factor, if it stops moisture completely entering the wall/used frequently enough. It’s formaldehyde isnt it?

Moisture allows some flex and elasticity...if we try to trap all moisture out, there’s a good chance brittle walls and cracking-off can appear.