No Foot, No Horse ??

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Gentle_Warrior

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Is anyone elses horses feet a complete mess at the moment ? I am close to punching some unsuspecting sole !!!! H has always had pretty crappy feet, so is on Farriers formula feed supplement and has Plusvital painted on ever day to moisturize.

He was last shod 5 weeks ago today and he has lost a huge chuck out of his front Hoof. When you lift his foot, you can see the ground where you should normally see hoof !!! He gets shod every 6 weeks. His back feet are lovely, well pretty good anyway. His other front is on the way to loosing a chunk too

Can you get a horse shod every 5 weeks??? Will obviously speak to farrier but am looking for opinions. Last month we had the same sort of issue where shoe had come very loose and again it was at the 5 week mark.

I am now doubtful if farrier will even be able to put a new shoe on him. I have tried him shoeless at the back but he was too uncomfortable, and he does a lot of road work so needs shoes.

Would clips on the front shoes help ?, although I dont think there is anything for the clip to go against - but I am not a professional !!!! LOL

I am at a loss of what to do with him, except cut him off at the fetlock and see how it all grows back !!!
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You can definitely get them shod every 5 weeks (if you can afford it lol). If his shoes are loose, or hoof is breaking away, best to shorten the time between shoeings.

Used to have mine done every 4, and a friend has hers done every 3!!!
 
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Can you get a horse shod every 5 weeks???

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The answer is yes you can. My horse is shod every 5 weeks
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I wish I didn't have to but I do as he wears out the shoes & they also start to work loose. Fortunately Farrier's due tomorow but at the moment all his shoes are 'pinging' I think the weather has made the hoof dry out po much that there is a slight gap between hoof & shoe at the moment.

As for 'clips' etc, you need to speak to your farrier about that.
 
Thank God someone else is going through what I am! I have an absolute nightmare with my chap. Since moving him home in February he has lost shoe after shoe, abscesses etc. I have been having the farrier shoe him every four weeks, but no, he loses the shoe after two weeks. He is on Newmarket hoof supplement from the vets, and is currently going barefoot because I can't bare to lost any more shoes as its takes chunks away of the hoof. He is going for xrays in a couple of weeks so he can really be assesed why this is happening. Its so frustrating but there really is no quick fix.

Does your horse live out? I have found mine much worse since being turned out/living out. He won't keep over reach boots on either, he just tears them off with his teeth!

I am just dreaming about the day he has perfect feet!!!

Good luck, you are not alone...
 
Yeah he does live out, but keeping him in is not an option - he is a big lad and gets very withdrawn and moody when stabled for even half a day.

He has also been sound since living out !! I just can't win. I remember his feet being better when he was stabled though.

I do hope it does not end down the expensive vet route - thankyou for confirming I am not alone !!!!
 
I have just solved (touch wood) two months of lameness with a vet visit, which resulted in xrays showing a total foot inbalance from her shoes. amazing as her feet always looked so good!

She was shod with natural balance shoes last night and they do not have clips around them at all and my lame horse is no longer lame!

In the long run, it may be worth while ensureing the balance of the foot is correct as a starting point to make sure everything else has a better chance.

I would also reccomend seaweed and biotin which are brilliant for strenghening hooves.

and on how often we have to shoe... it depends on the season... it must be bang on 6 weeks in the summer - sometimes 5 as they grow so fast and i can do 7 weeks in the winter as her toes never seem to grow that quick!! Not sure if anyone else has that??!

Good luck anyhow x
 
My TB has poor feet. She is shod every 5 weeks because I do a fair bit of roadwork and also her feet tend to split and crack and the shoes would not stay on for another week.

I have tried pretty much all the hoof supplements and none work for her. My horse's feet do not grow much, at each shoeing there is often very little to trim off. The only time her feet really grew was last winter when she was eating Rye Grass Haylage. This quality Haylage is higher in natural vit and mins than regular hay. 8 weeksago I started to feed my horse TopSpec feed balancer in the hope that what she is missing is basic vitamins and minerals rather than needing a hoof supplement.

At her last shoeing the farrier was able to trim a decent amount of hoof and thus nail into new hoof.

In the Summer, especially if you do a lot of fast work, their hoofs disintegrate faster. I was told that standing them in a bucket of water is more beneficial for moisturing the foot than painting on products.
 
Hi,
How long did you leave your horse's hinds off? It took my gelding about 5 months before he was able to work without being too foot sore, I used the Old Mac boots whilst hacking and bare in the school. 2 yrs on he has the most solid natural upright back feet and I only have shoes on the fronts now, these are always done every 5 wks. I hack him 3 days a week at present for 1.5hrs each time so he does enough road work to keep his hinds self filed.

The other thing I would watch is your horse's diet etc, any thing with high sugar content is really bad for the feet ie lik-its in quantity (my horse used to eat 1 per day if he could) high molassed feed and certain wormers too. My farrier is a remedial farrier that has a surgical clinic and used to hold lectures etc, after loads of trials with horses in his clinic and working with a couple of Vet specialists they found that the laminae wall changed dramatically (much weaker) with high sugar content diets also with horses that had been on double dose type wormers. I have fairly recently bought another horse who came without shoes but wasn't actually a bare foot horse (hell of a difference) he became really foot sore and off work for 8 wks so I put fronts on him and used my old mac boots for his bare hinds then I disregarded his diet sheet that the previous owner gave me and started him on Speedibeet (unmolassed) absolutely NO chaff I just finely chopped with scissors a big handful of previous years hay to bulk out and a no nonsence fibre nut with nothing added. My farrier told me to use seaweed or kelp and no mints, carrots, treats etc. We are now onto our 7th month and the difference is unbelievable, I am hoping next spring we can take the fronts off too and be completely barefoot as it changes their paces dramatically without the restriction of shoes. Hope this helps you a little.
 
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