Rubbish Rubbish Hooves

Natalie_H

Natalie_H

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I am at my wits end with my TBs hooves. I know that they will never be amazing, but I have owned him for 8 years, and during that time, I have tried everything to no avail.

First farrier said take shoes off to allow hoof to grow & strengthen. So I did. Bought him some boots to make the transition easier, but after 3 months he was still painfully footsore just walking round a grassy field. Farrier proved to be difficult to get hold of, and refused to come out in between scheduled shoeing. So I got a referral from the vet for an excellent farrier who got shoes back on him. He has pretty much held shoes on every year since, but I am told by farrier today that they are extremely poor / weak. He was on farriers formula for 4-5 years. I changed this to NAF pro-feet as they were very bad last Spring too. I regularly disinfect with FF hoof disinfectant & apply kevin bacons regularly throughout summer, but they are still rubbish. There is no decent growth there at all. Farrier says he needs wider shoe to support the hoof, but there is not enough decent hoof wall there to do this at the moment.

He is never stabled, and the field has good drainage so he is never standing in wet for a long time. Any ideas what else I can try? :confused:
 
My sec d had horrendous feet when I bought him - the farrier recommended glue on racing plates (lighter than normal metal shoes), and whilst it was expensive, they worked a treat. His feet grew with no nail holes to react to.
Eventually we were able to switch to natural balance shoes, and although his feet were never fantastic - they were hugely improved.
Where in Kent are you? I'm near the Sussex border and know of some good farriers over this way.
 
im guessing your supplement already contains it but mine are on seaweed and thats been a huge improvement, they were never really bad but were quite weak and was quite often losing shoes and cracking, since the seaweed (fingers crossed) no problems since :)
 
Formula for Feet is by far one of the best sups on the market.

I had a new livery in with feet so bad he was facing been turned away for a year with a view of retiring him, however using Keratex and feeding double quantities of F4F 6 months on and he is away eventing. I use it on all of mine with great results (coupled with a fab farrier) so much so that my vet and physio comment on it. Good luck!
 
Natalie_H said:
First farrier said take shoes off to allow hoof to grow & strengthen.
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and...
Natalie_H said:
He has pretty much held shoes on every year since, but I am told by farrier today that they are extremely poor / weak.
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It sounds like the internal structures of the hoof and lateral cartilages might be weak? If this is the case then a barefoot regime will help imo. Sounds like your horse may well need reduction in work and support and some changes if you decide to go this route. Ask on the Forum linked above as suggested. Developing strong structure takes time ime, there is no magic potion. :)
 
My horse has lami few years back, was told to put him on Formula for Feet, his feet have been great every since, he never had brilliant hooves especially in the summer, I'd be lucky to get to 5 weeks in between shoeing, now he goes 7 and they look fine, he used to get chunks breaking off but doesn't get that now. I also used Kevin Bacon liquid hoof oil/dressing only cos the solid one is solid in the winter ok in the summer if you leave it in the sun !, if you can't get that I've used Effol liquid or the green stuff. Both have anti bacterial stuff in them.
 
pretty much what everyone said above.. but i used cornucresine (not sure about the spelling sorry) and it helped keep promote hoof growth and keep hooves moist in the summer :)
 
Spins said:
pretty much what everyone said above.. but i used cornucresine (not sure about the spelling sorry) and it helped keep promote hoof growth and keep hooves moist in the summer :)
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Forgot about that stuff, I used to love the smell, I used to put it on my nails hoping it would make them grow ha ha
 
My TB was exactly the same. I tried all the supplements, including double the quantity of Formula4Feet, which is VERY expensive. Nothing really made any difference, between shoeing her feet hardly grew at all. She was not a mare that had a lot of hard feed, she had good grass and good hay. Then one winter my hay was not so good, so I bought her seed haylage, the higher protein in that haylage suddenly made her feet grow. For her, that was all she needed, a higher protein diet. So I started to feed her Top Spec Balancer all year, with a simple chaff bucket feed and haylage instead of hay. Her feet improved tremedously.
 
My TB is like this she is on Seaweed which has been great, otherwise feed anything that is good for the coat condition, like Bailey's Outshine etc..... something that improves coat condition works the same on the hooves. Her feet are really good now. :D

Good Luck. x
 
I really sympathise because I'm in a similar situation. My TB has good quality feet but no hoof growth and very thin hoof walls. He has to wear over reach boots all round in the field because if he manages to pull a shoe off and take some hoof with it, there is nothing to nail a new shoe on to.

Have been down the hoof boot road but he didn't move properly in them and I didn't like how they fitted him.

I came to the conclusion that NAF Pro Feet and Better 4 Hooves did nothing for him and I now feed him Spillers Original Balancer which has hoof improving ingredients and for the last month he's been on Global Herbs Supahoof. My farrier's really pleased with how they're looking but unfortunately has said that nothing is going to change his internal foot confirmation as such. He also advised not to use Natural Balance as they need quite chunky nails to fit.

Good luck and let me know if you find a wonder hoof growth product!
 
My TB is barefoot with no footiness in winter but come Spring she gets footie if I do not supplement her with magnesium oxide, it makes a huge difference with her. "Feet first" is an excellent and helpful book on the matter of hooves:)
 
I had a nightmare with one of the pony's feet all winter (they just seemed to be disintergrating no matter what I did or fed). I called Keratex to try and get a bit of advice. I spoke to a lady called Rosie, she had lots of ideas and suggestions to help (she was a fount of knowledge). She even emailed me a few days later to see how I got on. I am sure she wouldn't mind if you called or emailed her. Rosie - rosie@keratex.com
http://www.keratex.com/contact

Hope that helps!
 
Thanks for all your replies.

Mister Jay - we are near Tonbridge. Farrier is pretty good - they are the referral ones for the area, but do PM with any suggestions.

Malibu2 - I'm going to check for seaweed as I am not sure if it contains it. Certainly worth looking into.

Amandap -
It sounds like the internal structures of the hoof and lateral cartilages might be weak?
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Yes - this is absolutely the case.

If this is the case then a barefoot regime will help imo
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I don't think so. The first farrier who suggested this had him crippled for 3 months. My horse was miserable. He just stood in the field shelter all day & lost condition. Had to get a referral from the vet to get a farrier who would come out in between scheduled shoeings as he was so bad. New farrier shod him straight away & the change was unbelieveable. They have kept shoes on him due to the level of care & attention they given over the last 4 years.

BigRed -
the higher protein in that haylage suddenly made her feet grow. For her, that was all she needed, a higher protein diet
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I think you may have hit on something here. My horse has a number of intolerances. He is allergic to wheat, barley, rye, oats, linseed, peas, and soya. Therefore his diet is very low protein. What a nightmare.

Fatponee -
My farrier's really pleased with how they're looking but unfortunately has said that nothing is going to change his internal foot confirmation as such
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Yep - this is what mine says!

Thanks to everyone else I haven't mentioned too. Lots of very helpful suggestions & links to sites etc. I really appreciate it. :)
 
Another vote for formula for feet and cornucrescine applied every other day, my TB had very poor feet when I bought him and after trying a variety of supplements find that although they are still slow growing they don't crack or bits fall off. Over Christmas he even managed to go barefoot on one foot for about three weeks when the farrier could not get to me through the snow.
 
Natalie, I think it would be worth getting a second opinion from another farrier. I think you should also look on that barefoot site because even if you keep shoes on you will pick up some really good tips about feeding for good hooves.
I'm fairly local to you, but all of mine are unshod and cared for by a barefoot trimmer, so I'm not help on finding a farrier. I will say though that I took on a horse from your area who had been looked after for years by some highly recommended farriers and his feet were terrible. Underslung heels, they had been chasing his toes with shoes for some time. So I think it's always worth getting another opinion. In fact, the barefoot sites will also give you some useful info about hoof performance and balance, and hoof balance applies just as much to shod as unshod horses.
 
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