Soft Hooves

[Maeshowe]

My TB has naturally rubbish feet - he was starved for 2 years and then he jumped on his own foot and split a quarter of his hoof off!

Now after 2 years of proper feeding, farriery and looking after his feet SEEMED to have been growing ok but with his last trim the farrier mentioned the horn was very soft.

Now I have read reams of articles on topical solutions to harden feet up but very little on what to feed them. For some reason I don't trust these general "potions" that claim to cure ANY hoof problem (the same potion can cure dry feet and soft feet - doesn't seem logical to me - could be wrong???) but I would be interested to hear what other people have used for this specific problem.

 

[spaniel]

My cobs feet were described to me as being like weetabix by my farrier. I found that icluding linseed in his diet has helped a great deal.

 

[sally2008]

I agree with your hesistancce to use anything which claims to increase hoof growth as the new growth is likely to be very soft. The only topical application I've found which does any good is Keratex Hoof Hardener.

 

[Maeshowe]

Yeah, I have Keratex Hoof Hardener and I'm starting to use it a bit more.

I think its because I was always told hooves benefited from diet more than topical. I was going to splash out on one of these mega expensive supplements but they seem to be a cure all. But my horse doesn't have laminitis or dry, brittle feet and that's what most of them claim to help with.

The linseed is an interesting one. Wonder if I should up the oil content in his feed?

 

[sally2008]

The linseed has got to be worth a try.

You've reminded me of a conversation I overheard a while ago between a farrier and a new client who's horse had particularly bad feet. She proudly told him that she was doing everything she could to improve their condition (although she'd only been having it shod every 12-14 weeks previously!), including feeding him Farriers Formula, to which he replied "Why? Does he like the taste or something?". Sorry, totally irrelevant but it made me chuckle.