is my farrier right?

JanetGeorge said:
He's not wrong! In very dry weather I over-fill my troughs to create a nice muddy puddle around them - has improved feet enormously. For stabled horses, I hose the feet and then coat them with Kevin Bacon's - that did wonders for my old ID who had VERY brittle feet and was losing shoes every week!
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Did exactly the same with my boy, who had appalling feet, despite trying every feed supplement/hoof dressing/snake oil I could find. Finally listened to my grandfather, who told me to stand him in the stream for half an hour after he'd worked to cool his legs and get his feet good and soggy, then plaster them with his special recipe hood grease (Stockholm tar and vegetable oil blended over a hot Aga) Worked a treat!
 
For stabled horses, I hose the feet and then coat them with Kevin Bacon's -

This is what my farrier told me to do with a pony with chronic laminitis that has to spend a lot of time in.
 
I rate keratex hardener as its worked for me and a lot of people I know. A lot of people rate kevin bacons too. I can't stay quiet about the misleading comments on formaldehyde though which is a great chemical when used in the right way
Here's the science bit: Formaldehyde, like every chemical in the world, is used in different ways for different things (for example, the coating on your chewing gum is also used in another form for building ships and making plastic)
Formaldehyde is also used in eyelash glue, clothes, paper, dye and other cosmetics so I think a lot of the stuff said about it is said with a little bit of knowledge but not a lot of knowledge ;)
It will not cause cracking because it is specially mixed with other ingredients, and it is low concentration. The olympics farrier recommends it as well so it must be good stuff.
Pretty much everything we use for every part of life now is based in chemicals (look inside your kitchen cupboard)
So I say if something works, it works! Might be best to try a few different products and see what works best for your horse.
 
tallyho! said:
It's formaldehyde - you know? Preservative? What you use to pickle bodies with? That artist used it to pickle half a dead cow.
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^^^this. It's a fixative, which cross-links molecules in cells. I use it in the labs to preserve tissue (in my case, intestine!) and also in Formalin, to help fix cells to slides. Basically, anything that comes into contact with formaldehyde or formalin is fixed. No metabolic processes, no elasticity, zilch. I wouldn't ever put the stuff anywhere near a live animal. Saying that, I haven't read the ingredients of Keratex and would guess that to get it on the open market as non POM, it's so dilute you could substitute with water anyhoo!! :D

ETA: Just read the above post. Tis true that derivatives of formaldehyde are used in certain cosmetics and eyelash glue, but I can't say I'm a fan of those, either. I'd rather my face sag than put some of the crapp they call 'cosmetics' on it!! ;)
 
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My farrier said best thing in summer for britle hooves is to expose them to moisture...as in water.

If you ride daily anyway, why not wash your horses legs down after exercise with a hose, nice and refreshing, cools the tendons and adds moisture to the hooves.

But I think once damage is done, you can't do much until it grows out, main thing is to feed for good feet, if you start around Christmas time next year with say some biotin, it may help produce better feet by summer.
 
I was always told water too just a wet sponge when your picking feet out etc Kevin Bacons tell you to wet the hoof then apply as it seals in the moisture

as for sea water ....well ... MrsD123 you excel yourself
 
How funny, I used to work in a lab too! NHS staff use it and work with it everyday, and is a very good hardener and preservative.
It is widely used in the agricultural industry in animals destined for the food chain. It is used in nail solutions for humans as well.
For horses it is mixed with other flexibility ingredients. It would also be the only chemical known to man that is able to harden and strengthen a horse's hoof effectively for any amount of time.
Needless to say, horse hoof horn is very different to the human intestine!
 
StormyMoments said:
thanks for all the advice! :) my horse is on pasture mix, molassed chaff and codlavene, during the winder he is on speedibeat, but he comes off it in the summer as he doesnt really need it due to the grass being about 10cm long and having grazed by cows it is really rich but he hasnt put on much weight at all since the winter he always comes out of the winter looking ribby, even with adlib haylage and a scoop of mix, scoop of chaff and a scoop of speedibeat twice a day :/ bleeding irish sports horse too complicated ;)
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"bleeding irish sports horse too complicated "
His diet sounds too complicated to me , theres a lot of sugar in there especially if the grass is that rich .
I would add Biotin /Brewers yeast /Seaweed but you need to stick with one of them for six months at least.
Why not just buy the Cornucresene and rub it well in to the coronary band every day to stimulate the growth you don't need to put it all over the hoof maybe the sole as well. Other than that try JanetGeorge's trick and just keep the feet more moist during this dry weather.
 
My farrier told me that keretex is only good for some horses.It will harden the hoof, but in some cases all this does is make hard chips come off,not strengthen the whole hoof.He recommended washing her feet and then using "effoll or something greasy like that".Keretex didnt make much difference to my horse,but I dont think topical application really made much difference for her,they only really improved by adding a hoof suppliment and waiting for better quality growth.
 
I had one pony whose feet just crumbled, were far too soft and within days of being shod would break away at the nail holes. Keratex was just being manufactured at that time and I spoke to the guy at the production of it to ask his advice. We had previously had the pony on a biotin supplement and alfalfa but were getting desperate. Keratex certainly sorted his problem and he even went unshod for a period of time without harm to his feet.
These days I feed Formula 4 Feet which keeps all my ponies feet good and acts as a feed balancer too. We have some Welsh B's with very very hard little feet which our farrier asks us to soak overnight before his visit and we get disposable babies nappies, soak them and put on with duck tape ! Works a treat and softens the horn just sufficiently to enable him to trim.
 
I'm not sure your horse is getting enough vitamins to produce healthy hooves. So a rejig of his diet with either Healthy Hooves, Happy Hoof or a feed balancer would help.

In this sort of weather, with incredibly hard rutted ground, even the healthiest hooves can become brittle and chipped. My regime is to fill a feed bowl with water, grab a hoof and stick it in there. Leave for 5 minutes, then pull it out and coat it liberally with a bog standard hoof oil ensuring that all the sides and underneath are well lubricated. Repeat with other 3 hooves. Once a week does the job for the stone crushing variety of hooves, worth a try?
 
StormyMoments said:
my farrier came out the otherday to see my horses hooves to see if when he should book me in for shoeing as my horses feet just arnt growing, i explained to him that i had run out of the hoof ointment that he tells me to use, but i had started using Keretex, he told me not to use Keretex under any circumstances as it will make my horses hooves break down even more than they already are, as my horses feet are quite brittle, he told me that it breaks down cells and by the way he said it it sounded like his bl**dy hoof would just fall of and not grow back lol.

the next day i was reading in a magazine on how to keep brittle hooves in good condition and it said to use Keretex as it it good with strengthening hooves and helping them grow as well as letting them do their natural thing as there is no barrier like you would get with gel or oil based hoof ointment

so who should i believe, and has anyone had any bad results with Keretex?:confused:

cookies and cream for anyone who go this far ;)
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Yes your farrier is corerct. Keratex will dry out the feet making them harder - but if they are brittle in the first place Keratex will make it worse.

During drought horses feet don't grow so fast so using something like Cornucrescene on the coronary band will help them grow better and faster, works for your own finger nails too.

You also need to use a hoof oil/conditioner daily to keep the moisture in the hooves. Hooves are best at a certain % of water - wish I'd book marked the information.
 
Pat10 said:
...and that's why aqueus cream is good - water is it's main ingredient.
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recent studies show that this is not the case - but I can't refind the article.

The hoof functions best at a certain % of water and that if more or less the structure is compramised.

In summer feet need to be oiled daily to protect feed fromrapid dehydration - which is made worse if you soak feet.

In winter the same applies but this time to keep the water out.
 
My horses feet used to crack in the dry weather, I put him on Formula for Feet and took a while but they are now great and he never looses shoes and they don't break really bad anymore. I use Kevin Bacon as well but the solid ones a pain, the liquid one is much better
 
fitzaud2 said:
hi peteralfred,
Could you go into more detail diet wise, if you dont mind, am very interested in what you should be feeding for their hooves. My sister has a horse that is an absolute nightmare with his hooves, she spends so much on trying to get his feet right, her farrier is her best friend at this stage as it's a weekly visit to put back on a shoe. I'd love to be avle to go back to her with solid info on feeding totry andsave her some money on all these supplements she's buying!!!
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Make sure the horse is getting enough vits and mins, biotin, as I've previously said Formula for Feet is great, you wouldn't have to feed any other supplement as its got everything in you need, Alfa A lite or Alfa A or Alfa Oil will help & Kevin Bacon on the feet.

It won't happen quickly but should see some results in a few months
 
i'm going to start listening to my welsh more!!

reading what people have said about water being good for their feet-right now when its baking hot most of our other horses have cracked feet etc the IDxTB has very little front hoof i am surprised he is still sound!
anyway, the reason i should listen to her is that recently she's been tipping out one of her water buckets to make a big muddy puddle and if you refill it she leaves it-and then she quite happily stands in her ponymade puddle and soaks it up i spose! and her feet have improved since shes started doing that. genius! :rolleyes:
going to start 'watering' the others hooves me think....
 
moana said:
Keratex is ONLY suitable for short term use, as it does damage the hoof if used long term.
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^^ Hmm, but then how can anything put on a hoof damage it long term, when hooves are constantly growing out and being trimmed off? That doesn't make sense to me if I'm honest (sorry).

If you have a footie horse or rubbish feet, whatever works, works. Products won't hurt the horse will they, the UK market is too strict for that. Diet and a good farrier is best and anything else after that will help make the most of the feet after that.

Having said that my last horse grew good feet on fresh air so I was lucky :)
 
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