Hoof photos, advice please

[zizz]

I posted these on the other forum, but have only had one person reply and I would love some opinions on what to do about the white line disease. He has had his shous off since November on my new farriers advice as his quality of horn was compromised by bad shoeing previously. Feet have actually improved alot but we are having issues with an infection in the white line on the inside of both front feet and flares to the outside (perhaps compensating for the weakness on the inside?).

He is now hacking out 4 time a week on our roads and is fine so long as we stick to the tarmac and stay off the gravelly bits, although copes fine with walking over the road plannings to come in at night.


He has always been unshod behind, so I haven't got any photos, but could take some if they are requested. Sorry for the mud!!

Any advice/opinions appreciated!

Near fore;

off fore;

 

[TwoStroke]

That looks like quite a bruise on the OF; keep an eye on the soles, I'd boot if you have to ride over stones.

You can use something like white lightning or cleantrax on the WLD, check out equine podiatry supplies online for suitable products.

The flare looks very much like it's a deviation compensating for something - I'd keep an eye on it and see how it responds to treatment of the WLD.

Other than that I'd say that the feet are starting to make good progress; the caudal hoof is beginning to develop - keep up the good work .

 

[Oberon]

You are doing a fine job so far IMO.

Cracking deviation to the hinds - something going on upper limb/body I reckon. Likely rebalancing after the shoe removal.

If he is sound, don't worry about it but try and leave it alone come trimming time. You'll likely see it disappears gradually as the hoof and body rebalance themselves.

He is clearly growing a tighter connection following the shoe removal a few months ago. The last bits of poorly connected junk will be reaching the floor now and you may get infection to this. But don't fret - it will grow out/break off as the tighter connection grows down.

Hoof quality can recover after poor shoeing - it's not a permanent thing but the diet needs to be right too.
What is he eating?

 

[zizz]

That looks like quite a bruise on the OF;

Yes - he was lame for a few days before Christmas, we think he must have found a stone to stand on in the feild because he wasn't being ridden at that point, then this massive bruise had appeared and is taking forever to go.

Oberon - I always assumed deviations were compensations for a twist in the limb, he's got dead straight legs (county winning show horse) so it has been really worrying me.

The previous farrier was always trying to encourage the inside of his hooves to spread by placing the shoe to the inside and trimming away all flare to the outside, but the new one has been a godsend - I wouldn't have been brave enough to take the shoes off if it wasn't for him telling me I needed to!

Diet so far has been the biggest issue. He lost an enormous amount of weight following a nasty virus and 3 weeks of antibiotics put him off his food.

He currently gets just over a kilo of Dodson and Horrell build up cubes in two feeds a day, mixed with speddibeet and a handful of Alpha A oil with Equivite vit&mins. However he is very adept at just picking out the nuts and leaving the rest. Have tried copra, linseed and fast fibre to no avail. am going to attempt to add fenugreek in an effort to get him to eat up, but his putting condition back on steadily and has ad lib haylage day and night.

 

[Oberon]

I don't know the ingredients or NSC % of Dodson and Horrell feeds as they never put such information on their website

The only thing that worries me is the thin sole at the toe area and the bruising evident.

That is suggesting too much starch and sugar in the diet?

D&H ERS pellets have been found 'safe' for barefooters, as have Spiller's High Fibre Cubes (my elderly, Cushings boy goes mad for them ). Don't underestimate the calorific properties of Speedibeet either - you can safely up that if needed.

I'm also suspicious of alfalfa - it doesn't mash well with some horses (mine included due to the high calcium in our grazing). My horse's sole went pancake flat on alfalfa .

Fenugreek is often liked. You could try some curry powder from home before buying fenugreek to see if he likes it?

Although your horse moves straight - you can clearly see the frog is slightly off centre which indicates loading wonky and adds credence that the flare is deviation. You may well find it all settles down in time so don't fret about it.

 

[weebarney]

Diet so far has been the biggest issue. He lost an enormous amount of weight following a nasty virus and 3 weeks of antibiotics put him off his food.

He currently gets just over a kilo of Dodson and Horrell build up cubes in two feeds a day, mixed with speddibeet and a handful of Alpha A oil with Equivite vit&mins. However he is very adept at just picking out the nuts and leaving the rest. Have tried copra, linseed and fast fibre to no avail. am going to attempt to add fenugreek in an effort to get him to eat up, but his putting condition back on steadily and has ad lib haylage day and night.

What i have found helpful is mixing his food he doesnt like(but is good for him) with food he does like(sweet stuff probably) and then gradually remove the sweet food over a period of days or weeks.

 

[samlf]

best treatment ive found for white line disease (just treated my friends horse for it after having his hinds off!) is a daily scrub with a toothbrush and some iodine, and a soak in a milton solution. this has cleared it up within 2 weeks

 

[CBFan]

Ok... My boy had deviations in his hinds very similar to this but with a combination of adressing his diet, careful trimming (we DID trim the flare - very conservatively - but it worked ), a good bit of scrubbing with dilute milton and exercise it has grown out nicely

Be patient....

I think from what you have said the biggest thing you can do is adress his diet...

I would very gradually wean him OFF the bad stuff (practically everything he is on at the moment I'm afraid, and onto the good stuff

If you find he is fishing bits out , soak it and make it into a mash...(any cubes etc can be soaked, and add new feeds by the handful rather than by the scoopful.

I would personally have him on:

Fast fibre or speedi beet
Micronised linseed
pro hoof or pro balance.
If you need help with weight D&H ERS pellets are great (very high in oil) and VERY safe for barefooters - my sugar sensitive boy is fine on them

use dried mint or fenugreek to disguise new flavours.

I don't like alfa a or 'conditioning' feeds... and while high fibre cubes are relatively safe, they are bound together with mollases which, at the moment, it may be safest to avoid (you can always add these in at a later date when you have got things under control)

I know he has been ill but the weight WILL come back on in good time... just continue with the add lib haylage for now but be careful- it's almost spring!!