Hoof sole scraping off?! Is this normal?

[Chloeap]

So my horse has been on box rest for nearly 3 weeks now. He is barefoot and has been for 8/9 months now.
I was picking his feet out this evening and noticed the white sole coming off when I was picking them out! It was just crumbling away. Is this normal as I haven't noticed this before?
I am thinking its maybe because he is being kept in and not allowed any exercise at all at the moment, the hooves aren't getting worn away on the hard ground/stones like normal? Or maybe it's something to do with standing on straw all day and (despite our best efforts) it's probably a bit wet as he is a messy lad.

Any advice hoof experts?!

 

[Leo Walker]

Was it false sole coming away? Was the sole underneath healthy looking or did it come off and what as underneath looked similar?

 

[ycbm]

it's completely normal on box rest. He's not getting any movement to remove dead sole, so it goes chalky and scrapes off with a hoof pick instead.

Scrape off what comes of easily and as long as what's at the bottom is hard, itts fine. If the sole is getting soft I would put a sugar/iodine solution on it or use a hoof harder product.

 

[Chloeap]

Thanks for replies. It seems okay, I scraped off what was coming off and he's back out now in a small paddock and can start walking so I'll keep an eye on it and hopefully it was just box rest related as normally his feet are good!

 

[Casey76]

His feet are still good the powdery stuff is what he hasn't been able to exfoliate away by waking on different types of terrain naturally.

If you get a wire brush (the type used for cleaning rust of metal), and scrub his soles with that, it will take all of the powdery stuff off.

 

[Chloeap]

His feet are still good the powdery stuff is what he hasn't been able to exfoliate away by waking on different types of terrain naturally.

If you get a wire brush (the type used for cleaning rust of metal), and scrub his soles with that, it will take all of the powdery stuff off.

Yes I know they are good still! didn't mean it like that
Okay fab, thank you. Will see if I can find one - and see if he'll let me do that! Hopefully that + more time in the field + walking will sort it out