Hoof help please! *pic*

It is not advisable to add copper, or any other specific mineral to the horses diet without first checking to see if the grazing/foreage is deficient in it.

Most copper supplements are also high in other things which block absorption of the copper. Best way is to buy copper pure as a mineral, IF it is needed.
 
I've not read all the replies and I feel i'm probably going against what everyone else says but I had a horse with feet like that. Something happened to him as a youngster and the injury to his coronet bands made his hooves grow with a flaw in them. The new growth didn't look too bad but from about 1/3rd the way down his feet, the cracks started to open through wear and tear.

My farrier shod him every 5 weeks and filled the cracks, After 3-4 weeks, the feet looked shabby because the filler would work loose and the play either side of the cracks made the nails loose.

He was never lame but I was often faced with criticism and advice from people who thought his feet could be managed better. My friend bought him off me and he has him still, the cracks are the same, he uses a different farrier who treats them the same as mine did.
 
tallyho! said:
cpt... in what form do you feed copper? You can get licks can't you but I wondered if you added it in tablet/powder form?
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I feed 1 gram of copper bioplex from forageplus.co.uk This delivers that same amount of copper as a dose of Copper Trition. CT is sold without any warning on the tub and I therefore assume that this amount is safe even if you do not have a mineral analysis of your forage. 1g is a TINY amount and care should be taken not to overdose, but to find a measure that is accurate.
 
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yes cornucrescine gets my vote. I had a cob with split hooves the farrier moaned about the state of them as he had trouble keeping nails in. Final straw was when the cob just clipped a log stepping over it and took the shoe off clean. It took about a year with a twice a week application (About 1 to 1+1/2 tins) They are fantastic now and no more issues, we are just about to start it on another cob that's come along. Best wishes Ian
 
I would recommend Formula 4 Feet, this is a supplement containing biotin. My horses hooves were nothing like this but they were very cracked had chunks missing so we couldn't nail the shoes on. After being on this supplement you could see the difference in the new hoof material growing down and it was much stronger. He had no problems with his hooves while being on this supplement. Below is a blog post I wrote about it.

http://thehorsetalker.blogspot.com/2011/08/biotin-supplements.html

Because they look so bad it might also be worth getting your paddock analysed for nutrients as it could be due to low levels or very high levels of micronutrients. I think there are companies that will do this for you. The vet may also be able to analyse a hoof sample in the lab but this would probably be expensive.
 
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