How can I improve my horse's frogs

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starry23

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My horse has been barefoot for a year. She has also been retired for a year because of ligament injury but is looking much better now (we've gone from being 3-4/10ths lame to only 1/10ths lame).

I think her frogs are looking a bit unhealthy at the moment though and could do with beefing up at bit but otherwise her hooves are in good condition. The frogs are better on her hinds but her fronts are narrower and appear to be shedding so have lots of nooks and crannies for nasty stuff to get in at.

She is on a low sugar diet and is muzzled so I'm unsure what else I can do to her diet (she only gets a handful of fibre cubes and lucie stalks to get her turmeric into her). I've started spraying cider vinegar on them the past week and now she is more sound I'm going to start walking her out which should hopefully help stimulate them a bit more (as she is constantly out in a field).

Is there anything else anyone would suggest?

Is it worth scrubbing them out/soaking in something like milton or buying red horse field paste stuff etc?
 
I have one with metabolic issues and although his hooves are excellent, sugar intake and persistant wet weather cause his frogs to deteriorate rapidly. Along with a low sugar diet, his feet are picked out and the frogs are jet washed with the hose to clear out the nooks and crannies and he stands on a clean shavings bed to dry the frogs, which are sprayed from an aerosol of Stockholm Tar about three times a week. Honey also works well on his feet.
 
Thanks. I have tried to give her a few supplements but she refuses to eat them after a few weeks! I bought forage plus balancer and she stopped eating that after about a month or so (probably the longest she has lasted on something like that) and I then bought another one that had a similar make up (equimins) and she wouldn't eat that one at all! So now I'm very reluctant to spend a lot of money on supplements as they usually end up going to waste! :/ It is a pity as she looked really good on the forage plus stuff, I definitely noticed a difference in her coat and hooves in only 1 month. I tried everything I could think of to get her to eat it but nothing worked.
 
Mine all get Forage plus and not had any real problems getting them to eat it so you may have tried the two things that work for one of mine who can leave some of it when out on grass 1) I mix it up about 1/2 a hour before feeding and 2) I bring him in for a few hours, feed soaked hay before giving feed. When I first started feeding FP one or two were reluctant but I just persevered (they got no replacement feed) and started with a tiny amount and slowly increased
Did you try the Equimins pellet version? I think they do a trial pack, so it might be worth asking them. I understand your reluctance to try again due to cost but it is so helpful to get eough minerals for some (all) horses.
 
Unfortunately I have nowhere I can bring her in and leave her as I no longer have a stable. With the forage plus stuff I decreased the volumes of the balancer I was putting in with the plan of building it up but that didn't work either. I added herbal spearmint, I tried grating parsnips and/or carrots into her feed (she loves them normally and only gets them as a very very rare treat), I increased the amount of fibre cubes she was getting, I tried playing about with adding different volumes of water. I tried making up feeds in advance or making them fresh, I tried shallow buckets to help with the smell. It got so frustrating I gave up.

It was the pelleted equimins stuff I gave her I sometimes managed to sneak her a couple of pellets but any more than that and she sussed me out!

I forgot I actually feed her D&H equi-bites. She loves these however I'm not entirely sure how much good they do. I've not noticed a difference since she has been on them however nothing has got worse!
 
The Equibites are supposed to be not bad as they're one of the few things you can feed that have no added iron, but the amount of copper/zinc is still low.

J was hit and miss with the supplements until Lucyad gave me some Speedibeet... apparently any amount of revolting stuff will be eaten if combined with a very small amount of Speedibeet - at the moment he gallops across the field when he sees his bucket of one small scoop of (soaked and watery) speedibeet, the full complement of minerals and a sprinkle of high fibre cubes. And that's even after the copper has gone green :D

Would you believe I now pick out feet only about twice a week, and I don't remember when I last sprayed a frog :D His are still weedy, but improving all the time with the central sulcus open at last.

I can give you some neat copper and zinc powder if you want to experiment ;)
 
Ooo BB that might be good (I still have your hoof boots by the way, keep meaning to message you!). I wonder if just adding the zinc and copper alone would be acceptable to madam (for a horse that is desperate to eat she is awfully fussy!). Hmmm maybe I should get some speedibeet as it is easier to source than the simple systems stuff!
 
amandap said:
Good luck. I use SB too but I believe there is the odd horse that doesn't like it! lol
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Yes, I just try to keep the quantity small. I reckon he gets a handful of unsoaked per day, and that added to the kilos of grass, gorse and who knows what else he chomps down must be fairly insignificant ;)

I can drop over a packet of zinc/copper and some Speedibeet at the weekend, starry23, and you can experiment. It has been the thing that has solved the frog issue for us, without any doubt.
 
Frank is fussy with minerals! and fussy with speedibeet!

Equimins advanced complete pellets are eat out my hand delicious though apparently and for our grass analysis good on zinc/copper (have no iron) but we need more magnesium that I add separately. Am sure they would send you a few to try.
 
ester said:
Frank is fussy with minerals! and fussy with speedibeet!

Equimins advanced complete pellets are eat out my hand delicious though apparently and for our grass analysis good on zinc/copper (have no iron) but we need more magnesium that I add separately. Am sure they would send you a few to try.
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That's the stuff I bought after I had tried forage plus and she won't touch the stuff!!! She can be such a pest sometimes!
 
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