Hoof care for a 3YRO Thoroughbred!??

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aparmo

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Hello all!

I'm wondering if any of you have any advice about my new boy's (riding 4 Tb) feet!

He's being brought into work and he's shod on his fronts, but he gets little cracks. I'm looking for the best hoof ointment to harden and help his feet stay healthy, or maybe if any of you have experience with happy hoof etc...?

My farrier will be taking a good look at his feet too very soon.

All advice and suggestions welcome!

Thanks guys!
 
Sorry aparmo... no ointment or magic potion is going to stop cracks on hooves... it's a hoof quality and/or balance issue. A healthy hoof always starts with diet - is he on a good hoof supplement? You asked about diet earlier to which I replied and saw this post. Perhaps a good hoof supplement from equimins/progressive earth/forageplus will be beneficial.

I can't see your tb's hooves so can't say what the balance is like but the diet is a good place to start to give him better hoof quality as it grows.
 
Thanks very much for your reply! Yes I was looking into hoof supplements etc... I‘m thinking very carefully about his feed. He‘s brand new to me and hasn’t had a good start. I don’t want to overload him with everything but really want to kickstart his all-round health.

Im also in a new area so finding 'THE‘ farrier is going to be a trial and error. I’ve always had excellent luck with hooves so it‘s a fairly new topic of investigation for me and am reluctant to rush to the first thing someone suggests!

Will try get a photo for you.
 
He's only 3 - personally I would take his shoes off and either turn away or just do light in hand and ground work over the winter (in hand hacking/long reining etc) This will help build muscle, strength and his confidence whilst stimulating his feet. Light work plus good diet should help his hoof health no end and come spring when you want to up his work, his feet will be in much better health should you need/want to re-shoe. My ex-racer grew from about 16hh to 16.3hh from a 4 to 5 year old so I wouldn't be in a rush to get them into full ridden work at 3 years old - they still have so much maturing to do physically and mentally.
 
ImmyS said:
He's only 3 - personally I would take his shoes off and either turn away or just do light in hand and ground work over the winter (in hand hacking/long reining etc) This will help build muscle, strength and his confidence whilst stimulating his feet. Light work plus good diet should help his hoof health no end and come spring when you want to up his work, his feet will be in much better health should you need/want to re-shoe. My ex-racer grew from about 16hh to 16.3hh from a 4 to 5 year old so I wouldn't be in a rush to get them into full ridden work at 3 years old - they still have so much maturing to do physically and mentally.
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Good idea :)
 
Oh sorry if I’ve given the wrong impression. I am by no means rushing to have him in full ridden work however he‘s the kind of horse that needs that mental stimulation. He’s mainly going to be doing light work in the school, lunging and some in hand walks out or plods round the cross country course (where we hack not jumping!). I‘ve known him for a while and would have started his work based on his behaviour if he was mine at the time too... he’s rather mature and level headed actually, however turns into a G*T if not being lightly worked.

I want to take his shoes off, and wouldn’t have had him sod myself, however apparently the farrier he has said he needed them. Again, this is something I’m going to consider and discuss with my own farrier.
 
aparmo said:
Oh sorry if I’ve given the wrong impression. I am by no means rushing to have him in full ridden work however he‘s the kind of horse that needs that mental stimulation. He’s mainly going to be doing light work in the school, lunging and some in hand walks out or plods round the cross country course (where we hack not jumping!). I‘ve known him for a while and would have started his work based on his behaviour if he was mine at the time too... he’s rather mature and level headed actually, however turns into a G*T if not being lightly worked.

I want to take his shoes off, and wouldn’t have had him sod myself, however apparently the farrier he has said he needed them. Again, this is something I’m going to consider and discuss with my own farrier.
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Well the farrier might be right given the state of the hooves now as he saw them, an equine podiatrist might say he just needed a better balance to begin with to solve the cracks (could be long in the toe? could be diet?) but ultimately you could research the issue and then make up your own mind as you know what's best. Being informed is being empowered after all ;)

I don't shoe to back my youngsters or for hacking/schooling (all on grass/hay with a good hoof supplement) - if they ever started eventing (:D) I might get a set!
 
Take the shoes off and see if you can maintain the work - if you can't you could always think about a set of hoof boots.
At three, the horse is still growing so if you shoe I think it could be legitimately compared to the ancient Chinese foot binding tradition - not a recipe for health in later years.
I have an old horse whose feet have been terrible his whole life despite having been barefoot for more than half of it. I'd put money on him having been shod very young (he is very big and TB) and not having had a chance to develop a healthy foot.
 
First of all, don't fall into the trap of thinking that there's such a thing as a typical TB foot. Pretty much all horses can go barefoot and certainly all feet can be improved. Also, don't believe everything a farrier (or vet) tells you. Farriers have a vested interest in telling you that horses need shoeing after all!! As someone else said already, you cannot fix cracks by applying something externally - you have to grow a good new hoof. Get your nutrition right (low sugar (NOT happy hoof!) and a good supplement - as above, equimins, forageplus or pro earth) and get your horse walking out in hand on roads (in hoof boots if need be at first).
 
I had a typical, flat footed TB gelding. I found that a low sugar and low starch diet, alongside a good quality hoof supplement (Hackup bespoke, Pro Hoof (from Progressive Earth) or the Forageplus one) made a huge difference to his feet. It will take 9-12 months to see the difference, but it is worth persevering with it. I could actually see the change in hoof angle grow down during this time. If you are minded to take the shoes off (I would, especially in the winter months), this will help harden his feet up and give them a chance to grow into what they should be. I also used Silverfeet ointment (on the recommendation of my farrier) it's a good all round, antibacterial, moisturing salve.
 
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