Hoof help please! *pic*

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saddlesore

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Posted on behalf of a friend who is concerned about her horse's feet. They have been stapled and filled with tar, but the front right one is beginning to split apart at the bottom too, almost looks a bit like seedy toe?

Our fields are really dry just now and the flies are terrible so the horses are stamping a lot - could this be a factor?

Farrier says the feet are fine (:eek:) but friend isn't happy!

Advice greatly appreciated :):)

(I should add that both back feet look fine)

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I had a mare many years ago that had sand cracks far worse than this - she looked as if she was cloven footed they were so deep and bad - she was unshod at the time and I bought her off the knackers wagon.

My farrier shod her and plated the cracks, the worse foot then abscessed so the plate had to come off and he then stapled it when the abscess had healed.
The only thing he did do was to brand across the top of the crack.

It was then a matter of getting her feet to grow down so I would rub her coronary bands for five minutes each foot with Cornucrescine. I did this religiously every day and sometimes twice a day and her feet had grown out in 6-7 months.
 
Yes. He gets farrier every 6 weeks or so. Farrier has been monitoring them after the initial crack but friend is really unhappy since they have started to deteriorate again and doesn't really know where to go from here. A second farrier opinion is on the cards but think she also wants diatary/management advice if possible? Horse himself looks a picture of health and is a hardy native type?
 
Yeah I can't believe he said that either tbh! :eek:

He is genuinely a really good farrier, but isn't overly into doing anything 'fancy' with feet re remedial shoeing etc.
 
OMFG were they always like that??

moss my horse had bad feet before i bought her see???

now after hoofmender they brilliant 100% money back guarantee
this is how they were
 
Crikey, something is seriously wrong there. However it does look like the farrier is trying to do something but I would honestly get a second opinion and get another/remedial farrier to have a look and see if anything else can be done.

I would start by making sure that the horse has a good vit/min supplement and a sensible diet to start to try and repair and strenghen those feet from the inside. But whatever happens it is going to take a while for them to recover. How long have they been like that and is he being ridden?
 
Yes he's being ridden as normal under farrier advice. Not too sure how long they've been like that, but its definitely not too long. I hadn't noticed until today.

She's not a member on here but hopefully she'll be able to come on and have a look at the replies and get some ideas on how to help him. She is understandably concerned!
 
Has this horse always had a crack in the middle of the hoof, or has the crack grown up from the ground? It looks like either the crack has damaged the coronary band, or the coronary band was already damaged, resulting in the cracks.

It looks like the horse has quite bad white line disease, so the foot would need soaking to clear this up, and either take the shoes off so that the horse is not walking on his walls, or a remedial farrier who is good at this sort of problem. Unfortunately, if the coronary bands are damaged, you may always have a slight crack in the wall, but if treated right, it should be easy to manage.
 
TicTac said:
Crikey, something is seriously wrong there. However it does look like the farrier is trying to do something but I would honestly get a second opinion and get another/remedial farrier to have a look and see if anything else can be done.

I would start by making sure that the horse has a good vit/min supplement and a sensible diet to start to try and repair and strenghen those feet from the inside. But whatever happens it is going to take a while for them to recover. How long have they been like that and is he being ridden?
Click to expand...

I quite agree - a good high fibre diet - no starchy additives, definitely no sugar/low sugar with a good mineral supplement. Perhaps even a detox to kickstart? Keep it simple I think and do some serious research.

I promise you, your friend is not alone. I'm sure farrier is trying his best but wouldn't hurt to get 2nd opinion.
 
Thanks very much for all the replies. Friend is coming on for a look at them.

He is already on a low everything diet to contro his weight as the grass at our yard is plentiful! Perhaps a vit and min supplement then or something more specific?
 
Foxhunter49 said:
I would rub her coronary bands for five minutes each foot with Cornucrescine. I did this religiously every day and sometimes twice a day
Click to expand...

this would be my plan of action - stimuating new growth and getting the crack to grow out quicker than just leaving it. you gotta love cornucrescine!!!

also id get second opinion from another farrier if possible because those feet are not fine
 
saddlesore said:
Thanks very much for all the replies. Friend is coming on for a look at them.

He is already on a low everything diet to contro his weight as the grass at our yard is plentiful! Perhaps a vit and min supplement then or something more specific?
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hope cptrayes & amandap pick up your post. they are good on nutrition.

From my personal experience of weak horn, calcium helped a lot. It's amazing how the metabolism really affects hoof quality. I'm not sure about topical treatments - some swear by it but I think it's like nail-cream. It looks better but how deep does it go?
 
saddlesore said:
Thanks very much for all the replies. Friend is coming on for a look at them.

He is already on a low everything diet to contro his weight as the grass at our yard is plentiful! Perhaps a vit and min supplement then or something more specific?
Click to expand...

Is his grass restricted too? I'd get him off grass and onto hay/soaked hay for a while and it should help.

Cornucrescine is supposed to work by acting as a mild blister so stimulating the circulation to the area, there is a theory though that it may encourage faster growth to the outside layers of the hoof, but not internally so the wall produced is actually weaker if that makes sense?
 
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Yeah she's been restricting his grass via a mixture of muzzling and stabling depending on the length of the grass. I've used cornucrescine myself in the past but not 100% convinced it would be the best solution for this. Could it not soften the hoof and therefore leave it more succeptible to splitting?
 
A useful vit and min suppliment is Equimins hoofmender.. also has yea sacc in it to help the gut and the vit and mins are chelated.. (from organic source rather than synthetic and not available to the horse).

Would highly reccomend micronised linseed instead of any hard feed or mixes.. linseed will help the hoof wall

Also to help the gut I would suggest using pysillium husks... will help the gut wall heal.

top spec top chop lite as far as I know is the only chop which doesn't have chemical preservatives and or molasses in any form but is still very palatible.. (other than the simple / single chops of lucerne and grass)

Look at the grass if it's basically ex cow pasture and stuffed full of nitrogen you may need to add Mag Ox into the equation too.. this is available form various suppliers over the internet / ebay etc

That and a decent trim.
 
Yes I would ask for a second opinion too. Vet or busy yard may be able to recommend.

Cant remember if vet has seen them??Stamping etc either some discomfort...field harvest mites for stamping but looking at the top split???is it that and deeper inside??

No expert but I used cornucrescine ?stuff after recommendation from my farrier and I am personally not that keen on hoof potions(he is about 100years old and has seen it all so for him to recommend is unusual too) but this did seem to moisturise but I only put it around the band . Good luck I hope they grow out ok in the end..so many holes etc causing weaknesses etc etc but sorry not experienced enough..just agree 2nd opinion

please dont worry about offending your farrier either...difficult if you get on with them etc but it has to be done sometimes for horses sake.
 
Hey evryone,
i am the owner of this lil guy :). his feet have not always been like this, started off about 4-6 months ago and my farrier said its just the way the weather and ground is so left it for a bit, he then filled them in and stapled themabout 2 months ago and they were looking fab but its only been the past month that theyve started to become like this .. past 2 weeks in a row ive showed my farrier his feet and hes said there fine .. they'll 'grow out'. Starting to really panic now :(. He doesnt get fed anything as grass at my yard is so rich and long. Dont have a clue what to do or who to go to as this is the only farrier at my yard and have used him for about 10years now.

p.s he doesnt stamp his feet at all.

any help would be seriously appreciated!
 
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It may be worth feeding him a supplement designed for hooves, just to support him while the feet mend, Formula4Feet is the one I would recommend.

Good luck with him...let us know how he goes on :)
 
I'd prefer to go the white lightning/clean trax route personally as it does look like there is a fair bit of fungal infection going on in there. You could try the cornucrescine as well to see if it helps, but the article I linked to has some excellent advice on treating and managing white line disease which it looks like this horse has.

Ideally his diet should be low sugar/starch and minerally balanced, the best way to do this is by forage testing, but this isn't always practical. The book Feet First has good dietary advice, although it is geared towards barefoot, the dietary principals will help all horse's feet. He does have quite pronounced 'growth rings' that suggest dietary imbalance.

Adding Brewers yeast, micronised linseed, magnesium oxide and seaweed/rosehips has been found to help some horses.

ETA, If grass is rich on your yard I suspect that this is a huge part of the problem even in small amounts and I'd try restricting more severely and feeding low sugar/starch fibre alternatives and certainly try adding some magnesium to his diet.

Your farrier is correct in that it will grow out if the diet is right, but I'd be tackling any fungal infections too as they can track up the hoof where there is little oxygen to kill them off and it can be a continual problem.
 
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