Poor, cracked feet - recommendations please!

[JEH]

My KWPN has really poor feet, being very weak, no growth and toes cracking. He is stabled at night, out at grass during the day (well drained soil), has good varied food (haylage and hay), stabled on shavings and is fed ProFeet (Naf) and bluechip pro. I also put on Kevin Bacon's hoof dressing 3 times a week. As you can tell I have tried to give him the most amount of nutrients to grow some foot and get them stablised but no luck (over 6 month period). Anyone have any other recommendations?

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Have you actually pulled blood to see if he is indeed receiving adequate amounts of vit/min? It's not so straight forward with this stuff. For example the relationship between iron, copper, and zinc. Feed too much iron and the absorption of copper and zinc can be affected. Copper and zinc must also be fed in a certain ratio to one another.


And then there's the added factor of the horse. Mine shows low copper and zinc symptoms despite his blood test (adequate) so he gets a bit more than I would've thought. He's also a sweater and I think they lose zinc in sweat.

Also depends on what is in your hay/grass/soil.

Clear as mud.

 

[JEH]

Thank you

My farrier suggested maybe taking bloods which I may do now. For everything he is getting I can only think that he just cannot process some of the minerals needed for good feet.

He isn't much a sweater even after a lot of work so may not be the zinc but will ask the vet.

The hay/grass etc is good quality (other horses on it do not have problems) so must be specific issues to this one!

Thanks again

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Yeah, I think pulling bloods is a simple enough place to start.

It's interesting because all of the horses eat the same hay at the yard. Then in the turnout group they all eat the same grass. Most of these horses just eat oats and beet pulp, yet none show a deficiency of anything major, except my horse with the zinc copper thing.

There are others I don't pay so much attention to, so it's possible they could have issues too, but it just makes me think for a second. It's interesting.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would feed an all round vitamin and mineral supplement or balancer I feed progressive earth pro balance but there is one for hooves, both have zinc and copper which is good for healthy hooves then drop the naf supplement, I also wouldn't keep putting the Kevin bacon on stuff you paint on often stop moisture getting into the hoof which then causes cracks and breakage, in dry weather just put the hose on them for a few seconds a few times a week, shavings also draws moisture from the hooves so it could be just be that they are too dry.

 

[PurBee]

Nutrient absorption starts in the gut. It sounds like youre giving him the naf supplement and he’s got varied forage supplies, so his feet shouldnt be showing lack of nutrients.

So if we know we’ve got plenty of nutrients going in and nothing is happening, we have to look at gut health and the bacterial population of the gut, who do the work of breaking down the food small enough so it can be passed through the wall of the gut into the body for further distribution.

I’d try protexin gut balancer probiotics tub to start - give him the course of the tub daily as dose suggested on tub, it can be mixed in with his naf supplement. Its palatable, has a base of alfalfa powder (use anither probiotic if you know your horse cannot tolerate a tablespoon of alfalfa daily) probiotics and brewers yeast.
Its a good probiotic to introduce billions of gut bacteria into the gut and help nutrient absorption.

Another angle to consider would be gut parasites damaging the lining of the gut, if probiotics dont work. Look at your worming routine - get fecal egg tests done and tapeworm test. Use supplements to heal the lining of the gut if it has suffered parasite damage over the years. Do you know his history...worm history? The lining of the gut is self-healing quite quickly, but if there is a parasite burden, unrecognised, the lining doesnt get a chance to fully heal until parasites are addressed.

I would also experiment with stopping the foot grease product for 8 weeks. Grease and water dont mix and the hooves need to breathe, absorb moisture for elasticity of the horn, and release moisture. If grease is regularly applied, it will not allow that natural transference of moisture in the hoof capsule, and actually could be causing a hoof horn problem.
I’d only use hoof grease on a hoof that is having to deal with very wet paddocks, to prevent the walls absorbing too much moisture.
If its something youve always used you wont know if its helping or hindering the walls, so hence why its an idea to stop using it for a couple of months and see how the hoof horn does.