Opinions sought on these barefoot hooves

[starry23]

Please! If any knowledgeable barefoot folk have the time, I would really appreciate it!

Right Fore (please excuse staples and summer fly cream - I think she had been kicked in the field, vet was not long away after these photos were taken)

Sorry this one isn't the best, bit fuzzy and at an angle - didn't realise until I got home and got a proper look at them

Left Fore

Now to me it looks like she has had a tiny abscess on this one and the hoof looks a bit bruised in the photo - doesn't look quite like that when I look at it in person so not entirely sure whether it is this computer or photo quality

Left Hind

Right hind

Here is a summary of the current situation:
- she is a bit cow hocked behind
- she had medial colateral ligament damage to her right fore
- currently footy on gravel usually fine on other surfaces (we have had occasional periods of looking a bit pottery and I put it down to the grass as after being muzzled I've had little issue)
- with the appearance of that little abscess hole I'm wondering if there may be more lurking. How long do we think that could have been there for? (how long is a bit of string?) Apart from the little bit of footiness I'd have never have suspected abscesses
- until yesterday's injury we had been walking in straight lines (for about 2/3 weeks) with hoof boots on gravel and without on other surfaces
- she is hopefully getting trimmed next week if the farrier will get back to me, she is a little overdue
- currently fed a handful of soaked then rinsed speedibeet, a handful of Lucie Stalks with turmeric, linseed oil, black pepper and just over half the normal dose of ForagePlus Winter hoof health balancer. She was on this over winter at one point but then decided to stop eating it and I've only just managed to persuade her to eat some again with the addition of linseed oil (we've been on this for about 2 weeks now - and the possible abscess hole only appeared last week)
- she is muzzled for the vast majority of the day
- we do a bit of clicker training so she gets 4/5 equi-bites and then Lucie Nuts for treats.

I'd just like to know what people think. I've moved from a trimmer back to my farrier for various reasons and so I want to keep a closer eye on what her hooves are doing now. All opinions are welcome

ETA - she is sound on the straight in walk and trot and walk on a circle. Around 1/10ths (2/10ths on a bad day) lame in trot on a small (5-10m) circle.

 

[googol]

Sorry no comments as I'm just a novice! Hopefully this will bump a bit and ul get some well informed opinions

 

[starry23]

Thank you! You have also reminded me that I should say she has been barefoot behind for about 1.5-2 years now and barefoot in front for a year (however the first 3/4 months of that were spent on box rest!). I spray her hooves with a mix of cider vinegar, tea tree and neem oil every so often.

I'm a bit of a barefoot novice myself but I've been trying to do some reading up. I have some ideas about what is going on in some photos but I'd really like to see what others think and if they agree with me! I'm actually going to join in the abscess thread now as it has got me thinking!!!

 

[Ronalda]

Basically nice.

Fronts- heels high with slight underrun, event lines not parallel to coronet, toe would come back with cosmetic roll, some laid-over bar so bring bars down to level of sole concavity.

Hinds- some laid-over bar, wall surface integrity may show mineral deficiency, would benefit by cosmetic roll.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

No need to rinse speedybeet it is less than 5% sugars [unlike molassed nuts] and you will wash away some essential minerals. I find dengie no mol lo alfa very tasty to add to quickbeet.
Some are footy with alfalfa [lucerne], so i d try without to see if better.
All kinds of feet on Rockley Farm blogs, lots of good and not so good.
Main thing is daily check of walk [look and listen] must have heel landing not toe landing. Aim for self trimming by walking on tarmac 20-30 mins per day

 

[starry23]

Thank you both for your replies!

Basically nice.

Fronts- heels high with slight underrun, event lines not parallel to coronet, toe would come back with cosmetic roll, some laid-over bar so bring bars down to level of sole concavity.

Hinds- some laid-over bar, wall surface integrity may show mineral deficiency, would benefit by cosmetic roll.

Thanks, I did think her heels looked a little underrun in front. I think the event lines are a bit all over the place from various issues (ligament damage/change in fields/grass growth before muzzling etc) but hopefully (well once we are off antibiotics and painkillers) we'll be able to get back on track. I'm hoping now we are back eating ForagePlus this will help iron out a few little issues. Can I ask what about the wall surface integrity might show a mineral deficiency as I'd be interested in keeping an eye out for it as her hooves grow.

No need to rinse speedybeet it is less than 5% sugars [unlike molassed nuts] and you will wash away some essential minerals. I find dengie no mol lo alfa very tasty to add to quickbeet.
Some are footy with alfalfa [lucerne], so i d try without to see if better.
All kinds of feet on Rockley Farm blogs, lots of good and not so good.
Main thing is daily check of walk [look and listen] must have heel landing not toe landing. Aim for self trimming by walking on tarmac 20-30 mins per day

Thanks. It might be a mental thing but I feel better for rinsing the speedibeet. I know it is already low sugar but the less sugar she is getting all round the better and as she is getting the ForagePlus stuff I'm not really concerned about rinsing out minerals, I'm not sure that she'd be getting much from just a handful anyway.

I have been told about the alfalfa but the footiness doesn't seem to coincide with being fed alfalfa. She was being fed more alfalfa than she is currently getting with ForagePlus at one point in winter and she was rock crunching and sound so I feel any current problems are unrelated to the alfalfa but more the lack of minerals (hence the reintroduction of ForagePlus) and the changes in grass. I don't like feeds like Dengie because they tend to add rape seed oil and fenugreek to their feeds which are (from my understanding) inflammatory and an appetite stimulant respectively so not really something I want to feed to a horse that will probably be more prone to joint problems and is a good doer (read binge-eater!) in the extreme. I might have a look out for an alternative to the simple systems stuff. The fibre cubes don't have molasses in them only dried alfalfa.

I do like looking at the rockley blog.

She lands heel first all round but more pronounced on her fronts.

We will be aiming for more self-trimming but having just started walking out a year after the original ligament damage we were building up slowly. Unfortunately now she will have at least a week if not 2 off before we will be back out walking again because of this kick wound. We'll get back to that eventually!

 

[Ronalda]

"Can I ask what about the wall surface integrity might show a mineral deficiency as I'd be interested in keeping an eye out for it as her hooves grow."

I say this because I'd seen this flakey wall before where new growth was corrected after feeding Progressive Earth Hoof Pro. The balance of minerals is a complex subject as minerals interact with each other and compete for absorption into the metabolism.

Caroline T. knows all about this stuff and I would be very interested to read her thoughts on flakey walls and the mineral connection.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I like micronised linseed as a supplement [50+gms for a horse], which is good for joints and skin, linseed mash is a traditional feed after a hard day's hunting.

 

[starry23]

"Can I ask what about the wall surface integrity might show a mineral deficiency as I'd be interested in keeping an eye out for it as her hooves grow."

I say this because I'd seen this flakey wall before where new growth was corrected after feeding Progressive Earth Hoof Pro. The balance of minerals is a complex subject as minerals interact with each other and compete for absorption into the metabolism.

Caroline T. knows all about this stuff and I would be very interested to read her thoughts on flakey walls and the mineral connection.

Interesting! I'll keep an eye on it as the new hoof grows in, she has only been on forage plus for a few weeks now so it is probably too early to see if it is making a difference but hopefully I can keep her on it this time. Strange though how it is only her hinds that are showing it.

I like micronised linseed as a supplement [50+gms for a horse], which is good for joints and skin, linseed mash is a traditional feed after a hard day's hunting.

I feed linseed oil. I'm a bit worried about feeding micronised linseed because my horse is a bit fussy and doesn't like powdery feed. The linseed oil seems to have been key in getting her to even think about eating her feed with the forage plus balancer and I'm worried that if I change that she'll stop eating her bucket! I might see if I can get a small bag of it so I'm not wasting much money/feed if she decides that it isn't to her liking. Are there any important reasons why would you feed micronised linseed over the oil? She is a good doer so I'm worried about the weight gain effects of the linseed as she is not and probably never will be in a great deal of work because of her injury.

 

[Casey76]

Linseed oil needs to be stored in a cool dark plance, and will go rancid very quickly. Micronised linseed is stabilised and takes forever to go off. You can buy smaller quantities from Progressive Earth on ebay, and it doesn't work out too much more expensive than if you bought a 20kg sack.

 

[starry23]

Linseed oil needs to be stored in a cool dark plance, and will go rancid very quickly. Micronised linseed is stabilised and takes forever to go off. You can buy smaller quantities from Progressive Earth on ebay, and it doesn't work out too much more expensive than if you bought a 20kg sack.

I didn't realise that, luckily it is stored in a filing cabinet in a cool barn so I don't think I'll have an issue with that thankfully but that is good to know and something I'll keep an eye on if we happen to get any warmer weather. I was just wondering about the nutritional values? I'll have a look as see if I can get a sample or buy a small bag from somewhere (will look at progressive earth first) just to try her with it. Thanks!

 

[Brightbay]

I didn't realise that, luckily it is stored in a filing cabinet in a cool barn so I don't think I'll have an issue with that thankfully but that is good to know and something I'll keep an eye on if we happen to get any warmer weather. I was just wondering about the nutritional values? I'll have a look as see if I can get a sample or buy a small bag from somewhere (will look at progressive earth first) just to try her with it. Thanks!

Your friendly local barefoot obsessive can oblige And yes, it seems to keep for ages. The bag we have just now has been in quite a warm barn for several months, and is still absolutely perfect. We get the 20kg sacks, and they last for ages - I use it as a base to mix up my custom minerals, and Murph gets a handful a day for his ulcers. We also have copra if you feel the urge to try that too Both quite high fat, so fatty J only gets the tiny bit that's in his mineral mix during the summer.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Micronised linseed is less processed, it is the small seed from which the oil is pressed, so it has fibre, and more nutrients, just ask for a sample or buy a smaller amount from Feedmark or similar., its not powdery, more like a fine oatmeal.
I would keeep it where mice can't get at it, but that applies to all feeds.

 

[starry23]

Your friendly local barefoot obsessive can oblige And yes, it seems to keep for ages. The bag we have just now has been in quite a warm barn for several months, and is still absolutely perfect. We get the 20kg sacks, and they last for ages - I use it as a base to mix up my custom minerals, and Murph gets a handful a day for his ulcers. We also have copra if you feel the urge to try that too Both quite high fat, so fatty J only gets the tiny bit that's in his mineral mix during the summer.

You have everything! If you don't mind giving me a little bit to try. Do you think the Copra is more palatable? Anything that helps encourage her to eat the minerals that doesn't contain stuff like molasses is worth a go IMO!

Micronised linseed is less processed, it is the small seed from which the oil is pressed, so it has fibre, and more nutrients, just ask for a sample or buy a smaller amount from Feedmark or similar., its not powdery, more like a fine oatmeal.
I would keeep it where mice can't get at it, but that applies to all feeds.

I have fed it before but with the balancer being powdery I think anything that wets the feed down (so the oil) and adds flavour is a bonus. I'm definitely going to try the micronised linseed though. We'll see if my horse likes it.

 

[Gloi]

I'm definitely going to try the micronised linseed though. We'll see if my horse likes it.

If he doesn't I can recommend using it when baking bread - Yum

 

[Auslander]

If she doesn't like her feed powdery/gritty, you can soak the linseed in warm water, and it turns into linseed jelly - mine absolutely love it!

 

[starry23]

If she doesn't like her feed powdery/gritty, you can soak the linseed in warm water, and it turns into linseed jelly - mine absolutely love it!

Oh I think she'd like that! How long do you soak it for?

 

[Auslander]

Oh I think she'd like that! How long do you soak it for?

Not long - I stick a scoop of linseed in a bucket, pour approx a scoop of boiling water over it, and it's ready to feed within the hour. They all adore it - even the one who used to turn her nose up at micronised linseed