Nightmare TB feet - please help

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Janetterose

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I bought my TB 3 months ago and his feet seemed nice although flat. He shed a couple of shoes o the front and then got a nailhole infection. I decided to leave both shoes off to let the horn grow and once they were looking better a podiatrist trimmed them and the farrier came today to shoe. However the poor boy is so footsore and his heels are so low that the farrier cant put his shoes on as he says they will just coome off again. My podiatrist has suggested letting them grow for a couple of weeks and then trying again. Whilst he has been barefoot I have been using Old Macs which has allowed us to work but I dont find them easy to use and they do encourage thrush so I am having to disinfect his feet every day. And he is really footsore.
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Does anyone have any ideas what I can use instead of a traditional shoe both in the short and longer term?
 
I had some issues regarding his gait which I thought was worth getting looked at by the podiatrist and she trimmed his front feet whilst she was there.
 
I'm sure I'll be corrected - but I can't imagine you have helped matters by having two different sorts of trims done on the horse.

Go down one route - and stick with that. Although a farrier would always be my preferred choice.

Sounds like he needs some time for the horn to grow. Also feeding a good feed balancer will help with the quality of the horn in the long run, which will assist with keeping the shoes on ultimately.
 
He is on TS Feed Balancer and extra Biotin. I have just had to change my farrier which hasn't helped matters. I guess I am asking about alternative kinds of shoes?
 
You could also try Hoof Power Plus, I've had good results with this, or one of the other feed supplements. You could try glue on shoes but they are expensive and it depends on how good your horse is with his shoes. I would stick with the farrier.
 
I have had terrible problems in the past with my tbs feet but they are in excellent condition now.I have used snp scientific nutritional products for last 18mths and my farrier says his horn is in brilliant condition.I couldnt keep shoes on longer than 2 weeks without them crumbling then coming off. The company are on internet with no delivery charges £27 for at least 3 months supply.We had to take back the toe quite hard because his heels were so low he was going lame and like yours was footsore ,taking back the toe encouraged the heel to grow.
 
There is no reason why your feed balancer on its own, at recommended levels, shouldn't improve your horse's hoof quality but remember, it does take 10 - 12 months for a the hoof to grow down from the coronery band. My old TB had terrible flat feet and associated intermittent lameness. My farrier shod him with plastic wedge pads that went across the heel then filled the sole of the foot with liquid rubber padding. This protected and supported his feet to allow the heels to grow whilst the filling also kept the pad and shoe still on the hoof so it was less likely to work loose.

I also used a hoof disinfectant for some time as my vet suggested that many horses have chronic bacterial infection a bit like mud fever or thrush.

Just a few ideas, anyway, but worth discussing with your farrier.
 
my TB has not had shoes on for over a year now - he had terrible feet beforehand and now they are like rock - I had to use Old Macs for a while and also watch him totter over stones, to and from the field (I felt so bad) but with my farriers advice, stuck with it and it was worth it. You may find that you have to give your horse a chance to grow some hoof, which may mean not riding for a while. I know that I rode intermittently dependant on his feet for a while. Your farrier is the best person to assess the situation - I trust mine implicitly and although I had doubts he has seen us through.
 
I have been using cornucresine for a good 4 months now, and the hoof growth and quality is really good-Now the good horn is almost halfway down and looks so different to the other half. Sorry dont know about which shoes dont know if that helps at all!!
 
I had dreadful problems with my tb's feet last summer, constantly losing shoes. Put him on Naf Pro Feet, saw new growth within two weeks, my farrier put racing plates on him (they fit flush to the hoof so nothing to tread on and pull off shoe) and we havn't lost a shoe for 6 months!
 
Hello, I have had similar problems with my horse, this was also compounded by the fact he is an overreacher so not only do shoes drop off but he also pulls them off. Was lucky if they stopped on a week. His hooves also split in the summer when they dry out, nightmare. I have stuck with the barefoot route as I can at least ride that way, hoofboots protect him from overreaching and protect his soles which also get bruised easily. His hooves have improved, he coped with recent frozen ground and he he worked barefoot this summer, something I would never have belived possible with him. He has boots on in the winter as he can't cope with stones when his feet soften up in the mud. Farrier has recommended Keretax hoof hardner in the summer to prevent cracks and has said that hoof supplements only work if horse is lacking something so if horses is getting a good diet anyway they wont make much difference. I feed simple systems so didn't bother with supplement. Hope this helps.
 
Old Macs = thrush. I haven't heard this before. I know lots of people love their Old Macs and compete in them doing endurance, etc. You could put a suitable pad inside the boot which will both support it and stimulate growth and make it softer while the foot is not in good condidition.

I agree that you should stick to either a trimmer or a farrier.

I should stop using strong disinfectant, it gets into a cycle of the more you use, it kills the tissues and the more the thrush feeds on the dead tissue. You need something gentler that will allow the new tissue to grow, yet will not allow the thrush to return.

I find borax (buy from Boots, it is a household cleaner) dissolved 2 tablespoons per 5 litres of warm water and in a spray bottle sprayed onto the feet every day is a good thrush cure/prevention. Start of by giving the feet a good scrub and soak in the borax solution, and then keep using it when you clean out his feet everyday, just a good spray. It doesn't work instantly, but it is cheap and easy.
 
Hi Janetterose,

I had the same problem with my latest re-hab ex-racer, who had ''typical TB feet'' and wouldn't keep shoes on for more than a few days. She lost them so often I even bought a metal detector to find them in the field, lol !

Her feet got so bad that she was so sore that she refused to allow herself to be shod, so in desperation we had to look for alternative solutions, and with a combination of initially using hoofboots, and improved hoof function, she is more sound than when shod, and now happily hunting and competing barefoot.

I am glad that we persevered despite the "thoroughbreds can't work unshod" comments that some professionals expressed - with good barefoot trimming they certainly can !

Echo Orangehorse for Borax, and Frankie for simple system feeds - have used both with excellent results.
 
My mare has typical TB feet and after about 4 years of experimenting with supplements, the best I have found so far is Formula4Feet. Really has made such an improvement and she actually kept her shoes on for the whole 4 weeks where as prior to using F4F, I was lucky if she kept her shoes on for a week!

Stupidly her shoes were taken off a few weeks back and I am now living an absolute nightmare (see posts in veterinary) but that is another story.
 
i'd try Farrier's Formula in the long term to improve the quality of horn. fwiw,
i'm using Marquis Supergrip boots on my wb, only for hacking out. you can rent them for 2 weeks first to see how you get on. might be worth a try. but i guess they do the same thing as the old macs... my lad's not had thrush from them, but they're only on for an hour a day, rest of the time he's barefoot in a muddy field, and the farrier says his feet are the best they've ever been, much stronger than when he was shod...
 
U need to speaking to your farrier not asking random ppl on the forum, ur farrier is the expert after all!

My tb was crippled by alternative trimming, my vet was horrified. Such a drastic change to they hooves is very painful and is something that needs to be done gradual
 
My TBx has terrible feet - she got very bad last spring and I ended up giving her five weeks off for her feet to recover. I keep her unshod at the mo but will need to start shoeing when we start roadwork.
 
if he's foot sore - have used keratex hoof hardener on my TB's soles twice a week and he is a lot less foot sore. I also feed him formula 4 feet. He can now walk over stones with no footiness.
as far as shoes go - find a good farrier (no matter the cost) and ask him. mine is expensive but fantastic and always looks at aran walk and stand and shoes him accordingly and takes his time. if i have any problems he will listen to me and alter the shoes as he thinks fit.
good luck
 
My TB also used to lose shoes for a pastime, if she went 3 weeks without parting company with a shoe it would be a miracle. I used Biotin and Keratex Hoof Hardener for about a year, which made marginal improvements. I then switched to black sunflower seeds and *touch wood* she now has much stronger hooves. Not lost a shoe in ages and happily in a 5 week routine for being shod (doesn't sound much but it had been somewhat irregular before!)
 
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