Major Hoof Problem.....

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SecretSquirrell379

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My Appy has not got the greatest feet in the world. Last year we had terrible problems with her feet breaking bits off hoof off and she lost quite a few shoes. Her feet are soft but brittle if that makes any sense.

Last November we had her shoes taken off and she has been barefoot since. Her feet improved amazingly and I use G2 Old Macs to ride out in. I was really please with them as was the farrier. Over the last couple of weeks as the ground has been so hard her front feet have started to chip away again. She is on Keratax Hoof Formula in her food and I have been putting hoof moisturiser on every day as well as well as Keratax hardner on once a week. Her feet are now in a really bad way and she is lame. She has two big chunks out of both hoofs
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I have of course rung my farrier a couple of times. The first time he said that I was doing all that I could and just to keep an eye on them (she was not lame at that time) and then I spoke to him yesterday when she went lame and have asked him to come out and see her. We discussed the possibility of shoeing her on the fronts to give the feet some protection and I asked if maybe some rubber between the shoe and her foot would take some of the impact away from the hoof and maybe help. He said that the rubber would give too much and probably cause more damage as the nails would be moving. He has suggested silicone between the shoe and her hoof though. I have never heard of this but trust my farrier completley and know that he will not rip me off. Problem is he can not come out until Monday morning
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I put her Old Macs on her yesterday afternoon (she is out 24/7) to give her feet a bit of protection until he comes but they can only be on for 24hrs at a time so they need to come off later today. They will be off overnight tonight and go back on tomorrow morning for 24 hrs and so on.

Has anyone had any experience of the Silicone or any advise they can offer. I am really worried about her and hate seeing her hobbling about.

Thanks

Tricksy
 
Some years ago rubber type shoes came on to the market, albeit briefly, and one of the liveries had her horse shod with these as he became quite footy in the summer when out competing a fair bit.

They cost a fortune and were a bit of an experiment for both the owner and farrier. What we found is that the rubber does not give enough support to the hoof wall and encouraged splitting. They also took too much grip especially on tarmac and didnt allow any form of tiny slippage when the hoof hit the road so ended up jarring the legs.

Nice idea ut it didnt work. Pony went on to have silicone pads which I honestly cannot say did very much apart from make the owner feel as though she was doing something to help.
 
No advice regarding the sillicone - however Amy, who has the most wonderful feet, is starting to get cracks and broken bits. This has to be to do with the weather which has been so, so dry lately.

It would be inclined to make sure the old macs are off overnight, as this is when she will naturally get moisture on her hooves from the dew in the grass. Having the boots on for periods of 24 hours will prevent this.
 
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Some years ago rubber type shoes came on to the market, albeit briefly, and one of the liveries had her horse shod with these as he became quite footy in the summer when out competing a fair bit.

They cost a fortune and were a bit of an experiment for both the owner and farrier. What we found is that the rubber does not give enough support to the hoof wall and encouraged splitting. They also took too much grip especially on tarmac and didnt allow any form of tiny slippage when the hoof hit the road so ended up jarring the legs.

Nice idea ut it didnt work. Pony went on to have silicone pads which I honestly cannot say did very much apart from make the owner feel as though she was doing something to help.

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Bugger
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I was hoping that they would be a miraculous remedy!! I have discussed the rubber stick on shoes with my farrier before and he was not impressed with them at all, he said that they are very expensive and offer no support as you say.

I was after something that gave her shoes but took some shock out of the impact so it didn't travel to her hoof. I just need new feet for my neddy really
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No advice regarding the sillicone - however Amy, who has the most wonderful feet, is starting to get cracks and broken bits. This has to be to do with the weather which has been so, so dry lately.

It would be inclined to make sure the old macs are off overnight, as this is when she will naturally get moisture on her hooves from the dew in the grass. Having the boots on for periods of 24 hours will prevent this.

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Good thinking, i will take them off overnight and just put them on during the day. I know that its the weather making her feet worse, the other liverys are having cracks and broken bits too when they don't normally have any problems at all.
 
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no advice im afraid just lots of good luck .im sure your farrier with do every thing to make it alright

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Thank you, I hate seeing her hobbling about
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I've found silicone pads sometimes work but more often put pressure on the sole. Worth a try though.
Also have found 'Show mix' from balanced horse feeds much better for feet than any supplements, not that thats much use this week!
 
That is the problem, the supplements take so long to show any effect. If my nail breaks I go the the nail bar and have a new one put on....I can just see peoples faces now....me dragging Cropi through the High Street to get some new Acrylics put on !!!LOL
 
I can give you the full low-down On silicone! I had the low-down on it off my farrier yesterday - (mine is lame too, but a different thing, & silicone wont really help my fellow!)

Basically its like a tube of gel (looks like filler.) Your farrier puts a net over the hoof, then injects the gel on the base of the hoof, then holds the foot for about 10 minutes, in which time it will go hard & set in the hoof. I think they then put a tradtitional shoe over the top.

Should reduce concussion to the foot and sole. However will cost you about £35, then regular shoeing on top. Leaving you with a shoeing bill of about £85 every 6 weeks! But my farrier said it was well worth it, if it would work!
 
God this sounds just like everything Ive tried with Willow.
Before you comit to sticking nails in her feet and undoing all the good youve done by having them off, have you thought of glue on shoes (plastic about £35 per pair) just for the summer months?

I did this with him and it worked quite well, although a bit expensive it was bearable for April to October.

The other thing I did was turn him out in Old Macs (although youre not supposed to) and he was fine like that during the day. You have to keep them and the feet very clean or they will rub but if she's only out during the day I'd try that first.

You could also try Equithane in the metal shoes which is probably what he means by silicone. It's applied into the hoof after the shoe's put on and sets hard, it should add about £30 to the cost of the shoes. It works well but again I'd only do it for the summer months as it tends to make the soles sweat and soften in the long run.
 
you could try hoof putty, you put it into the cracks and leave it to harden with time it falls out and by that time the hoof has grown enough to be without putty note:you can ride when the putty is hardened
 
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I'm being ripped off then!! My farrier charges £35 per hoof on top of regular shoeing costs for silicon (equithane)
 
i bought my horse 5 years ago and he had major problems ! he had basically been left in the field to rot and his feet were terrible, it may be a simple solution but i swear by it, i feed mine naf biotin ! works like a dream ! he gets 4 scoops a day (same size as your average garlic scoop) in his feed and i wouldntgo back ! i stopped feeding it for a month and his feet started chipping, now hes back on it and his feet are brilliant !
 
Last year my TB had loads of time off in the summer because of his dry, brittle and yet soft hooves. After loosing numerous shoes, we ended up having glue on racing plates and turning him out for 8 weeks with no work just to let his hooves grow. Finally we were able to nail shoes back on and glue them too.
We tried every conceivable supplement and lotion/potion - but none seemed to help. The glue ons saved him from being an absolute cripple, to being comfortable when turned out.
They were not cheap tho, 70 quid (ish) for a pair - apparantly the glue is very expensive. Good luck!!
 
Jemayni - that sounds exactly like the stuff that my farrier is talking about, he mentioned a net etc. He said that it was really good but did not push it as it was so expensive. I personally don't think that an extra £35 is too bad at all, nothing in fact if it helps her feet
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CustardsMum - I have spoken to my farrier about the glue on shoes as well. He does not think they will work for Cropi as they don't stick very well and she has so much hoof missing there is not a lot of hoof to stick it too. I have put her out in her Old Macs today to protect her feet a bit. I had a good read through their website and you can turn out in them but they say not to leave them on for longer than 24hrs due to bacteria etc

Chunklovescooks - Unfortunatley she has not got cracks but blinking great big chunks missing out of her hoof
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Ben&Jerrys - My farrier has said that it will cost about £70 for the shoes and silicone. He apparently does not make any money on the silicone at all, that is cost price

Dane07 - I used to have her on Biotin, she was on it for over a year but I didn't see any improvement at all in her feet, I have found that what works for some does not work for others
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Mogsy - The thing is I don't mind (within reason) how much they cost if they work, my farrier has poo poo'd the glue on's for the reasons above, I am just running out of options and have a very sore horse
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I need a quick but permanent fix!!!
 
What do you moisturise with? My TB has terrible hooves. As per my farrier's advice, I put Kevin Bacon's on every day that it is very dry. It has actually made quite a difference. It won't improve hoof quality, but it has definitely prevented further cracking and they look a lot better
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Do you put the Keratex on the outer hoof wall or just the soles? If the outer hoof wall, then that will most definitely be what is making them crack up (or at least assisting them!)

I would be inclined to not use the Keratex or only on the soles and ask your farrier to roll the edges of the hoof (like the barefoot trimmers do), as this will help prevent cracking and chipping.

My mare has a barefoot trim and we don't get much chipping, the odd little bit and I just rasp it round so it can't chip more in between trims and it works for us. She has nothing put on her feet, no creams or potions - putting anything on the outer wall is a bit of a no no with the barefoot trimmers.
 
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Do you put the Keratex on the outer hoof wall or just the soles? If the outer hoof wall, then that will most definitely be what is making them crack up (or at least assisting them!)

I would be inclined to not use the Keratex or only on the soles and ask your farrier to roll the edges of the hoof (like the barefoot trimmers do), as this will help prevent cracking and chipping.

My mare has a barefoot trim and we don't get much chipping, the odd little bit and I just rasp it round so it can't chip more in between trims and it works for us. She has nothing put on her feet, no creams or potions - putting anything on the outer wall is a bit of a no no with the barefoot trimmers.

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I put it on the outer wall and sole. Her feet are really soft but brittle and dry if that makes sense. I have only used the Keratax twice this year, last week and this week so maybe I need to knock that on the head straight away?? I will see what the farrier says on Monday. I doubt if just those 2 doses would of made a lot of difference as they had started to break off before I put the Keratax on.

My farrier does roll the edges of her feet and they have been doing really well until we have had this dry spell, I am gutted, they were looking great
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Im having the same problem this year although my boys not lame thank god... the main reason it happens it because the ground is so dry so ive found soaking each hoof for 10 mins in the evening really really helps. Just pop her hoof in a rubber feed skip and give her a groom while you wait! hope her feet recover soon before you feel forced to go back to shoes.
 
I had problems with my old geldings feet, over the years we tried everything for his brittle feet, keratex, pads... everything, in the end I use to paddle him in the stream everyday in dry weather and used cod liver oil as a hoof dressing and my farrier use to put eucalypsus oil in any cracks, it sounds odd but it worked for him, alright wasn't perfect but kept his feet the best they ever managed to be.
 
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I will give that a go tomorrow, sounds strange though! Do you just use plain water?

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Yup just normal tap water! if you go onto yahoo groups and join the barefoot group you will see that many barefoot people do it although ill admit i am a bit lazy and only manage it once a week but it makes a huge difference!
 
A few of mine haven't great feet but not as bad as your horse sounds. One of the ponies was forever losing shoes and eventually I changed farrier who said that his feet were like putty they were so soft, he recommended I put him on biotin, (the pure form if you have a good chemist around, the brands are never 100% biotin) and within a month his feet were like concrete and he hardly ever loses shoes now. Another horse I have went lame with thin soles so I got gel pads put on him, they're like a thin pad that goes between the hoof and shoe and there is a gel cushion in the middle which goes under the sole, I think they're called hoof trax and are from an american company, they cost 20 euro for 2 pads, there was no extra cost from the farrier and hopefully they should last 5/6 months. They've made a huge difference to my horse but I don't know if they would help your horse. I also bring them all down to stand in the river a few times a week and then when I come home I put cornicrescene on to seal in the moisture.
 
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