Hoof supplement & cribbing link?

[Nari]

After Jim had colic I put a collar on him (vet's advice). For a few days I cut out all his supplements & just kept him on hay, alfalfa & sugar beet & he wasn't even trying to crib much. I then gradually added back his calmer, half ration of Benevit & finally hoofsupplement. I don't know if it's just coincidence but he's only had the hoof supplement back in for a few days & he's trying to crib again, to the extent that he's stretched his collar & unless it's done up so tight it looks like it's strangling him (which I won't do) he's managing to crib a bit. He's also getting a bit edgier in his general behaviour.

Does anyone know if the contents of a hoof supplement (TRM Hoofmaker Plus, have had good results with it!) could make cribbing worse? Thinking back I tried a few in the past that made him very loose so maybe it isn't my imagination. I'm going to try cutting it out for a week anyway but I'd love to know if anyone else has noticed anything similar or has any views on this.

 

[_daisy_]

someone I know used a collar on her horse that cribs and it is the collar that makes him colic. She now puts up with him cribbing and accepts it - better than him having colic

 

[Nailed]

The coller needs to be done up so tight that it look like it is strangling him.. This is the only way the coller is effective. The fact his is back on any supplement can be the reason he is cribbing.. Try Coligon. Also.. he may be cribbing more as he is feelin better.
Never heard of a coller giving a horse colic but anything is possible
Lou x

 

[Nari]

E_C_W the collar was put on because he's had colic, it wasn't the cause.

Loobie_lou it sounds like I need to stop being such a softy then but I hate collars

. If the vet hadn't been so certain that the cribbing had caused the colic & the colic hadn't been so bad there's no way I'd use one, still it isn't going to do any good if it's too loose. I've tried Coligone but it didn't seem to have much effect on him & it was very difficult persuading him to eat it

.

 

[vicijp]

Could you not syringe the liquid down him?
Thats the problem with colalrs, they learn how to cope and you have to keep tightening.
Have you tried more turnout and/or more feeds/roughage.

 

[Maggie2]

I have used this supplement for a mare who could easily be pushed over the edge into colic or cribbing etc. and it hasn't affected her at all other than now she has really good hard feet and I have dropped to half a sachet a day now.

 

[JaneSteventon]

Hello Would it be worth trying seaweed as a supplement. It is recommended to fed alongside alfalfa for hardening hooves. My two are on this and work barefoot. Maybe a natural product won't affect his cribbing.

 

[madhector]

i feed seaweed too for my tbs terrible feet, is excellent stuff

 

[Nari]

Frankie41 thanks for that suggestion, I was wondering what to try if dropping the hoof supplement did seem to help.

Maggie2 I agree it's worked well on his feet, certainly better than anything else I've tried. It just seems a bit of a coincidence that his cribbing started again almost as soon as I restarted it. I don't know whether I want there to be a link or not - if there is then it may be an easy way to help the cribbing but I'll be savage if his feet go downhill.

Vicijp I can't face fighting with a 16.2 ID every mealtime! I know I'm a wimp but I also know this horse - he won't get used to it, he'll just get stroppier & stroppier. Keepwise he's turned out all day with seven others (one of which he's very close to), gets ad-lib hay at night & at the moment his feeds are Luciebix & Speedibeet since he isn't in a lot of work.

 

[Maggie2]

OK then, another thought, we have had no end of gassy issues with horses on any type of pure alfa product, as opposed to mixed/diluted with straw as in hiFi etc.

And for some reason the twice I tried Luciebix the horse in question went footy, recovered within 48 hours of being off it and went footy again when reintroduced. We did it very very slowly both times, and the mare was underweight and not a typical laminitis candidate, but no question her digital pulses were raised.

I'd dump the Luciebix and look at a decent balancer, TS is good for colickers and palatable plus those on it rave about hoof quality so you leave off the HM'kr.

 

[Nari]

Maggie2 I've had BAD experiences with this horse & balancers (though I haven't tried the Top Spec one), for some reason they seem to turn him into a psycho that even the other horses are scared of! Seriously, to ride he turned into a plunging bucking maniac, to handle you had to watch all four feet & teeth and he was charging any horse that came near him in the field to the extent that they were running away if he moved

. I doubt it's the vit & min content that cause the problem as he's absolutely fine on Benevit. I'll bear that in mind about the alfalfa though, although the research I'd read suggested that when fed with sugar beet it was a good diet for a cribber as it acted as a gastric buffer. Mind you I'd also read research saying cribbers don't swallow air & cribbing doesn't cause colic - maybe I should give up reading

!

He's had no hoof supplement for 3 days now. I normally put it in breakfast & when he's turned out usually he stands at the gate & cribs for maybe half an hour (although this had stopped just after the colic & had started again soon after the hoof supplement was added). Today he had one, & I mean one, token bite then walked off to graze & I didn't see him crib at all in the couple of hours I was on the yard - coincidence?