OldieButGoodie
Well-Known Member
My 16.1hh 8yo IDx has lost a chunk of his hind hoof where the nail holes are. He does have slightly weird feet - a bit too small for his body and mixture of white/black in each hoof - plus the farrier commented a few times that they don't grow very much between shoeing (7 weeks).
He is being fed - half scoop speedibeet, handful mollichaff calm, and Progressive Earth Pro Hoof twice a day. He is on restricted grazing (12 hours overnight in a strip) as he is a very good doer and at high risk of laminitis (doesn't have EMS etc just gets very fat!). During the day he'll get 5-6Kg of timothy haylage from Devon Haylage.
His weight is really good at the moment - I've managed to keep it down this year - but I'm a bit surprised at the state of his hooves! One has a vertical line coronet to shoe not quite a crack but clearly visible. Three are starting to crumble at the old nailholes and on one of the hinds a sizable chunk has come off at the old nail holes. I started using Daily Hoof Barrier but I'm a bit skeptical about hoof 'dressings' in general so I'm not sure if I'm making the problem worse or better.
This is the first year out of the three I've had him that I've seen a problem with his hoof walls. I tried him barefoot last year but failed as I was told his feet are too small for his height/weight and the soles became too thin (which meant he became sore). So essentially he has to have shoes for support.
In the winter I feed micronised linseed but not in the summer due to his weight. In the past I added spirulina to his feeds too but he wasn't overly keen on it so stopped. Should I start again with the linseed (and maybe spirulina too)? Should I try a different feed altogether?
He is being fed - half scoop speedibeet, handful mollichaff calm, and Progressive Earth Pro Hoof twice a day. He is on restricted grazing (12 hours overnight in a strip) as he is a very good doer and at high risk of laminitis (doesn't have EMS etc just gets very fat!). During the day he'll get 5-6Kg of timothy haylage from Devon Haylage.
His weight is really good at the moment - I've managed to keep it down this year - but I'm a bit surprised at the state of his hooves! One has a vertical line coronet to shoe not quite a crack but clearly visible. Three are starting to crumble at the old nailholes and on one of the hinds a sizable chunk has come off at the old nail holes. I started using Daily Hoof Barrier but I'm a bit skeptical about hoof 'dressings' in general so I'm not sure if I'm making the problem worse or better.
This is the first year out of the three I've had him that I've seen a problem with his hoof walls. I tried him barefoot last year but failed as I was told his feet are too small for his height/weight and the soles became too thin (which meant he became sore). So essentially he has to have shoes for support.
In the winter I feed micronised linseed but not in the summer due to his weight. In the past I added spirulina to his feeds too but he wasn't overly keen on it so stopped. Should I start again with the linseed (and maybe spirulina too)? Should I try a different feed altogether?