How To Keep A Good Foot?

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Dex has great feet and I would like to set him up as best I can for staying barefoot in the future. I have a fabulous farrier already, but I am not an expert on barefoot horses - all previous ones have come to me fully shod.

What would you recommend for me to do to keep them in good shape? I see lots of people using Kevin Bacon or some sort of moisturiser.

 

[Lady Jane]

His food will make far more difference than anything you put on his foot. Look at information regarding feeding barefoot horses

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

His food will make far more difference than anything you put on his foot. Look at information regarding feeding barefoot horses

Interesting you say that, I thought I had him on a low sugar/starch but having just looked at the Spillers Original Balancer I have him on, albeit just a handful, it's 9% Starch and 5% sugar.. and the honeychop lite & healthy is 0.1% starch but 4.1% sugar. Failure at the first hurdle! I will review and improve....

 

[JBM]

Pure Biotin! Love it put it in all their feed

 

[Gloi]

Pro hoof and the other mineral supplements from progressive earth are really good.
The best thing for good hooves is movement

 

[tda]

Basic low sugar starch diet, or no hard feed at all, good quality meadow hay or grass. Minimal stabling, variety of surfaces to move over, keeping feet moving x

 

[Flowerofthefen]

My farrier is not a fan of moisturising too often. My boy was shod 3 weeks ago. I thought his feet looked dry. Farrier said feet were great moisture so leave alone unless it doesn't rain in the next month. If it doesn't rain then use something like E45 cream. It rained 2 weeks later so still not used anything.

 

[Burnttoast]

Diet as above and as much movement as possible on varied surfaces. Lots of walking on tarmac if you have ok roads is ideal (increase time/distance gradually if this is new for him) and will help with keeping angles consistent between trims and frog healthy.

 

[Nasicus]

Interesting you say that, I thought I had him on a low sugar/starch but having just looked at the Spillers Original Balancer I have him on, albeit just a handful, it's 9% Starch and 5% sugar.. and the honeychop lite & healthy is 0.1% starch but 4.1% sugar. Failure at the first hurdle! I will review and improve....

You're comparing two different products there, one is a balancer and the other is a chaff, so don't beat yourself up too much!

 

[SEL]

You won't be feeding much of the balancer - hay and grass are usually more of a problem. He's growing though and doesn't look to me metabolic so right now that's not so much of a worry.

Regular trimming cycle and good feed are a start plus walking on different surfaces - especially while he's young

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

You're comparing two different products there, one is a balancer and the other is a chaff, so don't beat yourself up too much!

I feed both of those things, handful of each to get a sarcoid supplement I am trying into him so I don't think I feed enough of it to make much difference to anything but worth reviewing

 

[Nasicus]

I feed both of those things, handful of each to get a sarcoid supplement I am trying into him so I don't think I feed enough of it to make much difference to anything but worth reviewing

If he proves to be very sensitive to sugar and starch, then it's worth looking at. But if it's such small quantities like you say, I wouldn't get too hung up over 9% starch and 5% sugar. I feed Feedmarks Slimaid balancer, and it's 1.9% sugar and 30.8% starch. But the feed rate is so small (40g) it really doesn't make any difference.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

My farrier is not a fan of moisturising too often. My boy was shod 3 weeks ago. I thought his feet looked dry. Farrier said feet were great moisture so leave alone unless it doesn't rain in the next month. If it doesn't rain then use something like E45 cream. It rained 2 weeks later so still not used anything.

Interesting, I'll bear that in mind!

Thanks everyone for the replies. I would like to get him out for short walks on the road/in the woods soon - he covers rubber, flint tracks, grass and concrete in the yard but obviously not a huge amount of it other than the grass. I plan to keep him on the same 6 week cycle as the rest of the yard trimming wise.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

If he proves to be very sensitive to sugar and starch, then it's worth looking at. But if it's such small quantities like you say, I wouldn't get too hung up over 9% starch and 5% sugar. I feed Feedmarks Slimaid balancer, and it's 1.9% sugar and 30.8% starch. But the feed rate is so small (40g) it really doesn't make any difference.

Ahh I see what you mean - he doesn't seem that sensitive to feed so much. The yard have been feeding this years hay for the last couple weeks and I have noticed no change.

You won't be feeding much of the balancer - hay and grass are usually more of a problem. He's growing though and doesn't look to me metabolic so right now that's not so much of a worry.

Regular trimming cycle and good feed are a start plus walking on different surfaces - especially while he's young

This is his current condition (this was pre-farrier visit), bit of a belly but I am loathe to restrict turnout due to being young, nor exercise too much for the same reason, I also don't love haynets for youngsters as I like them to eat from the floor - I have an eye on it, I can feel ribs although not see them. He's out for 18 hours a day, they have to come in in the daytime.

 

[Gloi]

Look after your frogs and treat any sign of thrush. Make sure you keep the front toes from getting long and heels under running

 

[cjwchez]

I definitely recommend getting some biotin to add to their feed

 

[SEL]

Ahh I see what you mean - he doesn't seem that sensitive to feed so much. The yard have been feeding this years hay for the last couple weeks and I have noticed no change.



This is his current condition (this was pre-farrier visit), bit of a belly but I am loathe to restrict turnout due to being young, nor exercise too much for the same reason, I also don't love haynets for youngsters as I like them to eat from the floor - I have an eye on it, I can feel ribs although not see them. He's out for 18 hours a day, they have to come in in the daytime.

View attachment 116946

I think he looks great. I'm too creaky for anything that tall now but shrink him to 15h and I'd steal him!! I think keep doing what you're doing. If you're walking out in hand introducing him to the world then new surfaces are great. If he starts to want to walk on soft surfaces only then that's the time to be concerned. A bit tentative over sharp stones (we have ballast down on the track by the railway ) is understandable but they should be able to stomp over most surfaces without problem.

 

[Landcruiser]

Unless he has thrush there's no need to put anything on hooves. As others have said, the key is a good diet with as little sugar as possible, and a good mineral balancer, plus movement on different surfaces. The bigger key is to educate yourself about what a healthy functioning hoof looks like, and how to keep it that way (which is the process you have begun by posting here !)

Have a look at Hoof Geek website, she's a mine of knowledge.

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hoofgeek.com

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Unless he has thrush there's no need to put anything on hooves. As others have said, the key is a good diet with as little sugar as possible, and a good mineral balancer, plus movement on different surfaces. The bigger key is to educate yourself about what a healthy functioning hoof looks like, and how to keep it that way (which is the process you have begun by posting here !)

Have a look at Hoof Geek website, she's a mine of knowledge.

Home

Get FREE TRAINING and support with a Hoof Geek Academy membership 5 Products I Use to FIGHT Hoof Infection (and 1 that I AVOID!)How to Take a Digital PulseHow to Use Therapeutic Pads Ebooks and more... Never miss a blog post, and get priority notifications of new courses and offers. Get Access...

hoofgeek.com

Thanks for this, I will have a read this evening!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Pro hoof and the other mineral supplements from progressive earth are really good.
The best thing for good hooves is movement

Agree I use the range mine don't have shoes.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I just put water on mine when it doesn't rain and I feed micronised linseed grass chaff and unmolassed sugar beet and progressive earth pro balance.

 

[Nasicus]

Oooh, a little trick I was told re hoof moisture in dry weather is to make the ground around the water trough wet. Then, when they go to drink, they get a regular bit of moisture from standing there.
Can't provide any evidence for this, but they seemed to have nicely hydrated hooves back when I used to do this!

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I've been hosing off his hooves when he comes in from the field about 3x a week anyway to get him good at standing to be hosed, so I think that bit of it might be alright coincidentally

 

[Birker2020]

L

Dex has great feet and I would like to set him up as best I can for staying barefoot in the future. I have a fabulous farrier already, but I am not an expert on barefoot horses - all previous ones have come to me fully shod.

What would you recommend for me to do to keep them in good shape? I see lots of people using Kevin Bacon or some sort of moisturiser.

Lari had been on Healthy Hooves for a good year before I bought him so I continued, so he's been on it for over 2 1/2 years now.
I use moisturiser on his feet when its dry and was using hoof hardener in the winter. He was also on a 5 week shoeing cycle. He went barefoot for the first time ever in November 2022 and its taken him until now really to be comfortable. I'm not sure how his feet will be at retirement now I am not micromanaging them as I won't be seeing him more than a couple of times a week which will probably peter out to once a fortnight after a few months if he lasts that long. Already I am anticipating the three days of rain we are due to receive and wondering how on earth I will stop him getting thrush again. He even gets slight rain scald after a few hours in heavy rain

Would I go barefoot again? Yes I probably would be tempted although he was never ridden at all during that time period he was barefoot because he wasn't able to be ridden so I don't know how his feet would have coped in normal ridden circumstances, i.e. hacking on the roads and riding on different surfaces.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I’ve always just given a low starch low sugar diet with a good balancer. No lotions or potions on the feet other than diluted Milton on the frogs when needed.

I also run the rasp round my boys feet to keep the chips and cracks in check and I have a hoof knife for raggedy frog or easier sole removal when it’s shedding off

I’m definitely going to invest in a pair of scoot boots however as Farans feet are fab and strong but even they suffer on a common ride or endurance type scenario.

 

[Red-1]

I would get your farrier/trimmer, whichever pro you use, to get you a quality rasp and show you how to use it. Much can be done with a little rasp round between visits. I use Progressive Earth Pro Hoof Platinum, and give it in a little Speedy Beet and Mollasses free chop. I also feed salt daily, and magnesium when grass is growing.

He is looking fabulous!

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Thank you! He's really growing into himself! I will reach out to farrier

I would get your farrier/trimmer, whichever pro you use, to get you a quality rasp and show you how to use it. Much can be done with a little rasp round between visits. I use Progressive Earth Pro Hoof Platinum, and give it in a little Speedy Beet and Mollasses free chop. I also feed salt daily, and magnesium when grass is growing.

He is looking fabulous!

 

[paddy555]

Oooh, a little trick I was told re hoof moisture in dry weather is to make the ground around the water trough wet. Then, when they go to drink, they get a regular bit of moisture from standing there.
Can't provide any evidence for this, but they seemed to have nicely hydrated hooves back when I used to do this!

that is a brilliant idea that I would love to do except all my field troughs have ball cocks to specifically stop them overflowing. There is a downside to everything,

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

that is a brilliant idea that I would love to do except all my field troughs have ball cocks to specifically stop them overflowing. There is a downside to everything,

You could just bucket the water out, after the initial deluge needed I wouldn’t think it would take much to keep it fairly moist? Maybe it would…

 

[Nasicus]

You could just bucket the water out, after the initial deluge needed I wouldn’t think it would take much to keep it fairly moist? Maybe it would…

That's what I did, well, I didn't have to on the days I forgot to turn the hose off...