Please help! Thoroughbred keeps pulling shoes

Kynie

Kynie

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Good morning all,

My boy keeps pulling his shoes when out in the field. He is currently out with two pairs of over reach boots and shoes that are slightly shorter than they should be...

It has now got to the point where the farrier is struggling to get shoes back on as he has awfully thin hoof walls anyway.

Unfortunately going barefoot is not an option for him as he is extremely foot sore when shoes come off.

Any ideas would be of help!

Thank you
 
Try plastic shoes while his hoof wall heels. They are expensive and need replacing quite often, but if the hoof can't heal the farrier will have nothing to work with. Im sure others will suggest shoeless - I would too, but if you're not keen.... There are a lot of barefoot fans on here and they would help advise, i'm sure. Barefoot is the way to go....really:)
 
You can put hoofboots on over the top of shoes in the field.
Are your overreach boots large enough?

Or you could tie his back feet to his front feet over his back in an intricate pulley system so he cannot put his back feet far forward without moving his front feet out of the way? :P ;)
 
seconded, don't think you have to go barefoot if it's not the right route for you but i would certainly suggest addressing his diet and management if he can't grow a decent foot.

The hooves are a reflection of what's going on inside - same as us, if we eat the right stuff we grow healthy hair and nails. Same for horses.

Also think about ulcers - is he an ex racer? If it could be ulcer related, could his liver be drowned with toxins that result from the ulcer and he can't process them?

Loads to think about but it does depend on how you're keeping him atm and what you've addressed already. :)
 
When I first got my TB he used to need shoeing every 4 weeks religiously and would often pull them in the field inbetween, trashing his hooves everytime.

He did have ulcers and was treated for them so it is interesting about the point above (didn't realise that it could have implications on hooves but you learn something new everyday :D ). I did address his diet though and he was fed balancer, plenty of oil, fibre and also biotin for a period. My farrier now comments he has the best feet of any TB he shoes - grows good strong horn and plenty of it and holds onto shoes forever!

I did discuss plastic glue on shoes with my farrier but we persevered with change of diet and regular shoeing and he came right. Can you talk to your farrier about the options? I know some farriers are very traditional in approach but more and more these days will happily suggest alternatives.
 
I believe I have read somewhere that a high starch diet contributes to poor hooves. Not sure where though so maybe someone here could give some input.
 
undertheweather said:
I believe I have read somewhere that a high starch diet contributes to poor hooves. Not sure where though so maybe someone here could give some input.
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Depends on the circumstances really but if a horse has ulcers then anything cereal based isn't good.

Each horse is a seperate case really, it depends how they're brought up, what grass they take in, how much turn out, what they're naturally deficient in and what vits and minerals are present in the forage that's already fed - that's not to mention anything that's "wrong" inside the horse.
 
my old TB mare was the same as yours. I fed all sorts of hoof improvers and none of them worked. when she had a winter on haylage vs hay her feet strated to grow and hoof quality improved. I then started to feed Top Spec balancer (I don't give a lot of hard feed). That made a big difference to her hoof quality and she was able to keep shoes on.
 
Change your farrier! My horses rarely pull shoes off now I have an awesome farrier. Also look at feed supplements (I like Baileys Stud Balancer for TBs) and make sure his/her legs are kept warm to increase the blood flow to the feet which helps with the horn growth.
 
So the dilemma is that with poor hoof quality you will struggle to either nail shoes on, or go barefoot. If you improve his feet, you could do either. The way to improve the feet first and foremost is to address diet. Nailing shoes on also damages feet, of course, so to allow them to recover I would advise removing shoes and using boots and pads to keep the horse comfortable.
 
Thanks for all of your replies, he has had the same farrier since he was about three months old, and regardless of what was done by the previous owner and myself there hasn't been much improvement.
I would also like to point out that he is the only farrier that has the patience to try and sort his feet instead of just giving up, although he is running out of ideas now.

It seems that his heels have started dropping slightly and will need remedial shoeing just as soon as we can figure out what shoes he can have.

This is another reason that he cannot go barefoot. He fractured his stifle just over 12 months ago and was barefoot for most of that, luckily he didn't have to move much so wasn't too much of an issue, but seems to be part of the cause for his dropped heels.

And we have tried the keratex, the boots etc. He is also on pro feet, vitamin supplements, probiotics, magnesium and joint supplement...

Only his front ones are shod since his back feet are perfect.

My boy is only 6 now, so any more help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
 
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Kynie said:
Thanks for all of your replies, he has had the same farrier since he was about three months old, and regardless of what was done by the previous owner and myself there hasn't been much improvement.
I would also like to point out that he is the only farrier that has the patience to try and sort his feet instead of just giving up, although he is running out of ideas now.

It seems that his heels have started dropping slightly and will need remedial shoeing just as soon as we can figure out what shoes he can have.

This is another reason that he cannot go barefoot. He fractured his stifle just over 12 months ago and was barefoot for most of that, luckily he didn't have to move much so wasn't too much of an issue, but seems to be part of the cause for his dropped heels.

And we have tried the keratex, the boots etc. He is also on pro feet, vitamin supplements, probiotics, magnesium and joint supplement...

Only his front ones are shod since his back feet are perfect.

My boy is only 6 now, so any more help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
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I had a mare very similar to yours, awful feet with run down heels and VERY thin hoof walls. I tried everything under the sun to get her right - she cribbed quite badly and colic'd at least once every 3 months - the colic would cause the feet to deteriorate even more.

Unfortunately at that point ulcers weren't really that well known about (this was at the time that cribbing was just a vice and not caused by anything!) but looking back at it with what i know now it was inevitable that she had probably quite bad ulcers :(

Does your boy exhibit any signs? Does he have a big "grass" type belly? Is he sensitive to touch round the belly - especially on the left side?

There are indications that pain can cause ulcers (see some of the posts on this forum over the past couple of days for more info, far more knowledgable input than i can offer) so maybe the stifle injury has caused something like that in your boy? If the collapsing of the hoof has happened since then, perhaps it's worth getting him checked out?

Is he insured?
 
if his heels are dropping, that's down to farriery. you need the toes shortened and the breakover point moved so that he brings his front feet off the ground faster. if your farrier won't do that, find one who will.
shoeing in front and not behind doesn't help either in that respect... the front feet are heavier (due to the shoes) so this (even if it a tiny difference) slows them down as they leave the floor and makes it easier for the horse to over-reach. pure physics.
a good supplement will help (biotin).
meanwhile, i'd have hoof boots on over the top of his shoes while he's out in the field... whatever it takes to keep them on. duck tape over the top of the boots to tighten them if necessary!
good luck!
 
Aluminium shoes glued on, thats what my TB has at the minute (and not for the first time) as she has awful hooves and cant keep front shoes on with very little to nail onto. My farrier is my best friend at the moment!!!
 
Short term, in my experience Keratex works (the hoof hardener).

It doesn't solve the issues longer term (which have already been discussed) but Keratex only works if you a) follow the instructions to the letter - clean, dry feet etc. and b) do it religiously. If you forget/can't be bothered just once - forget it, they'll fall off again. I've been there! You can use it until the management changes kick in and start to improve the quality of his feet.

Good luck
 
My horse was pulling his fronts off and I realised it had nothing to do with the state of his feet. I stopped riding him and had his shoes taken off. I then contacted a marvellous back woman who confirmed my suspicions that he had a massive twist through his frame starting behind his ears. The cause of which was an ectopic wolf tooth in his lower left jaw which had caused him to shorten so much in front he could not get his feet out of the way quickly enough.
3 years on tooth out, fit, competing and still shoeless.
 
Get a soil analysis of your grazing done to see if there is any specific deficiency shows up.

I know some folks rave about keratex but my farrier was not keen for me to use it when I was having issues with my horse's feet. Some people will swear by a certain brand of hoof application etc... and I haven't tried them all but FF supplementation worked for me. When I tried to swop once I thought problems were gone, things went backwards so now I stick to FF and,if I can, try to let my big lad have a few months without shoes over the winter months when he is not doing much to allow the nail holes to grow out.

Unfortunately the wet/dry climate we are having really does not help and it takes time to see if any management changes have worked in relation to hoof horn growth.
 
I've had similar problems with my TB, only had him a few months but had farrier out almost every week initially for lost shoes. Very thin hoof walls and flat feet (typical TB) so every lost shoe meant a bruised sole and a few days off work!
He's been on farriers formula since I got him and can already see the difference in the new hoof growing in. Will just take time for it to grow down to where it will make a difference to nail holes.
Farrier advised not to use keratex hoof hardener (something to do with avoiding "formalin", look it up - too much like chemistry so gave me a headache!). Instead he advised to paint on a mix of linseed oil(from diy store) and iodine, equal parts of each every day. Don't know the science but it seems to work. Just let it dry in a bit before turning out in field or it just rubs off on the grass.
I've also taken to patching up any little gaps or old nail holes with hoof putty, he had alot of filler in his feet after pulling the shoes off and taking big chunks of foot with them. With all this wet/dry/wet/dry weather the filler tends to crumble out a bit so i just patch up the holes with the putty (leave the tin in hot water first or it never comes out) it hardens really quickly once on the feet and cools. I know keratex have a hoof repair product that is more like the farriers epoxy resin but i couldnt find anywhere locally that had it in stock and the putty seems to do the trick.
So far we are at 2 weeks since farrier so this is the best we've had yet. Aiming for 4 weeks. Fingers crossed!
 
I have great results with several horses using Keratex Feed Supplement. Start with double dosage for the weight of your horse. It will not happen instantly but after 3 or 4 months you will notice an improvement. I have also used Keratex hoof Hardener on one horse and I have no idea if it helped as the horse was on the feed supplement as well!

I restrict turnout on wet and muddy days but am lucky enough to have access to a horse walker so can keep them sane.
 
kerilli said:
if his heels are dropping, that's down to farriery.
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The farrier is really not the problem, it's the lack/inexistance of hoof wall which is very soft and crumbles.

I feel I must point out that my farrier is a saint and have seen him work miracles, but he is slowly running out of ideas that could help which is why the post on here.

Alfami said:
Short term, in my experience Keratex works (the hoof hardener).

It doesn't solve the issues longer term (which have already been discussed) but Keratex only works if you a) follow the instructions to the letter - clean, dry feet etc. and b) do it religiously. If you forget/can't be bothered just once - forget it, they'll fall off again. I've been there! You can use it until the management changes kick in and start to improve the quality of his feet.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Thanks Alfami for this, will look at using Keratex again.

Doncella said:
My horse was pulling his fronts off and I realised it had nothing to do with the state of his feet. I stopped riding him and had his shoes taken off. I then contacted a marvellous back woman who confirmed my suspicions that he had a massive twist through his frame starting behind his ears. The cause of which was an ectopic wolf tooth in his lower left jaw which had caused him to shorten so much in front he could not get his feet out of the way quickly enough.
3 years on tooth out, fit, competing and still shoeless.
Click to expand...

Thanks Doncella, I have had physio out to him just in case and she found nothing wrong.

PooJay said:
Does your boy exhibit any signs? Does he have a big "grass" type belly? Is he sensitive to touch round the belly - especially on the left side?
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Thanks for your input on this PooJay, I will bear this in mind and keep an eye on him but can't say that I have noticed such changes...
 
Is he pulling his shoes being silly in the field? Could you set up some sort of Paddock Paradise/track system in his field so he still has plenty of grass but has less room to get up to speed for silly antics?
 
I have the same problem. As the hooves are typical TB, my farrier has been using aluminium shoes, as the nails are much finer. He still suffers after having the fronts done. He has been sore for nearly three weeks now, the vet saw him and said 'too much shoeing'. What can I do, I am so worried and hate seeing him limping around. Without shoes he is also hopeless. He has a good diet and is on Formula for Feet (since April) so still early days. He is an ex racer, could it be ulcers?? How would that affect his feet? Mmmm,:confused:
 
Kynie, my understanding is that good farriery promotes hoof function which can improve horn quality way more than you might think. I'd not necessarily go to a farrier known for keeping shoes on as often as not that means shoeing tight to the heels which means no expansion room for the hoof and frog, and therefore declining function.

I would strongly consider going barefoot with boots, if you can, for a period to allow his feet to improve but whatever you do you definitely need to look to hoof balance provided by your farrier and diet.
 
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Chester has similar poor quality hind (white) feet and over the summer we use Equicasts. The farrier bandages them on and nails to them. They set rock hard like a plaster cast. Worth a try ?? http://www.equicast.co.uk/

This year we have started feeding him Bloom Gelatin in his feed (from Ebay) and that seems to be having a positive effect on the hoof quality.
 
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