Hoof Crack Help

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What is this crack in my horses hoof (hes had it since i've had him) and what can I do to get rid of it? :)

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No expert feet look very long in toe (unless its the pic angle) but I would personally get a really good farrier out urgently and get the horse off any mud wet etc until they come out. Make sure you are picking the feet out. Doesnt look right at all and my newly barefooted has some big chunks missing from knocking them but this look like the surrounding area is not right for it to have caved in a bit?? Has to be farrier one that you know is excellent.Good luck let us know what they say too
 
I would have said that your horse's hoof is too dry and therefore brittle. When the hoof then makes contact with a hard or uneven surface there is no "give" in the hoof structure and it cause it to crack and chunks like that can come of. A good moisturiser will help but some horses seem to be prone to having bad feet like this and the only way to help in some cases is to shoe so the hoof is not damaged. The hoof seems very long in the toe aswell which will place added stress on the area. Get a good farrier out.

Someone will probably correct me if I'm wrong (I'm not brilliant with feet)
 
Toe is definately long, it may take up to a year to grow down damage like that.

Have you talked to your farrier about it and what you can do?

I would be rubbing cornucrescene on the coronary band to encourage the hoof wall to grow down.
 
Yeah talked to the farrier, he says he has really good feet apart from that and it doesn't cause him any problems! I will ask what I can do about it next time as usually forget it's there as he's always had it and is getting trimmed soon.
 
feed somthing with added biotin, perhaps formula 4 feet, happy hoof, or even rosehips. Get the hoof growing well and put lots of stockholm tar in the gap. make sure the hoof is oiled underside around the frog xx
 
My farrier would tell you to disinfect that area really well to help clean it .I would try to do it every day use an old toothbrush to really get into the gaps.

His toe looks very long and that will put added stress on the weak heel area,if the toe is cut back it will enable the heel to become stronger with use.

A good quality supplement would help and cornucresine round the coronary band may also promote better growth,although it does look like he has suffered an injury and it may always be weak there.
 
From the shape of the hoof and the growth lines it looks like there has been some laminitis in the past, the toe has been taken back and rounded off which is good. I would think there has been damage to the coronary band which is causing the crack not to mend, it might never get completely better if that is the case, so it's just a case of monitoring it and keeping the foot trimmed regularly by a competent trimmer.
 
Hi thanks! Yeah the damage to the coronary band is what the farrier said must have happened too. Although I don't know any history of laminitus, I will check it out though.

Will the crack affect him in the future? / How much will it possibly heal, if at all?
 
I have a horse that has had one or two cracks in the past (lol). I would say now that if you don't reduce sugars in the diet you will be putting stuff on forever more. I've been down the soaking,spraying, trimming etc. routes all to no lasting avail until I seriously addressed sugars in diet. For me, in our area, it means soaking all hay and very limited, if any grass... probably not what you want to hear but this is my experience.

After you have major improvements then you start looking for more improvement and delving into the complicated area of mineral status...
Salt and magnesium being two most commonly needed. If you can get your forage tested for minerals it will help you balance overall diet. Be careful with all hard and bought feeds is my advice as well.











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