Stockholm tar for barefoot horse?

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thatsmygirl

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I'm worried about winter, wet soft feet mostly on my tb so wondered if Stockholm tar on his frogs and soles would protect him a bit from standing in mud in the field and getting soft feet.
Also any tips for hard frozen rutty ground? How to cope
 
It aint gonna do a thing, except possibly cause problems given its seriously toxic ingredients.

Horses can live out barefoot in snow! You've mentioned this several times now and words dont seem to be convincing you so here are some pictures.... Putting products on isnt the answer - unless you listen to the propaganda of marketing companies...

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I have used stockholm tar on my horses when they are barefoot and it helps them have a stronger and firmer frog.

I tend to only use it for a few weeks after the shoes come off, while the feet are getting used to no shoes and after that the feet are fine on their own.

But then again, I am one of those awful people who put keretex on barefoot soles to begin with and also see an improvement so clearly there is no hope for me! :)
 
I've been painting neat iodine on my silly old TB's barefeet for the last few months and they have certainly hardened up. He actually walked from the field to the yard and back without boots the other day without looking too uncomfortable, which was encouraging as there is grass, mud, concrete and little stones to negotiate!
 
I've used it in the past and have always been pleased with it. Regarding possible toxic ingredients - I've yet to see a horse bite its 'nails', and its unlikely to absorb through the sole. It goes nice and hard, but is incredibly sticky stuff, you want a brush that will never be needed elsewhere, and probably a pair of disposable gloves as it has a tendency to get places you would rather it didn't - don't get it on your clothes as it won't come off either.
 
Thanks guys, so would iodine be better? And I can use that on soles and frogs. It's not waterproff is it? Really I would like something waterproff to save his feet in our dreadful field
 
I generally don't have problems with wet ground with my tb but he does come in overnight. I struggle more with the effect of standing in poo and wee when he's in.

If I was looking for something to use as a barrier which wouldn't cause problems I would look at the Red horse products. Maybe field paste

http://www.redhorseproducts.com/Hoof_Care
 
I have a pot at home.. how the FLIP do you get it out of the pot and onto the horse? I end up with a lump on the brush that simply will not stick itself to the hoof, it will stick to everything else, just not the blinking hoof!

ETA: Barefoot is BETTER in snow, the snow flies out and no balling, if winter goes horrendously bad I'll probably get Po's shoes taken off for just this reason as she lives out.
 
Dizzle said:
I have a pot at home.. how the FLIP do you get it out of the pot and onto the horse? I end up with a lump on the brush that simply will not stick itself to the hoof, it will stick to everything else, just not the blinking hoof!

ETA: Barefoot is BETTER in snow, the snow flies out and no balling, if winter goes horrendously bad I'll probably get Po's shoes taken off for just this reason as she lives out.
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LMAO you dont use a brush!!! Gloved hands and then dont try and flick your fringe out of the way else u end up with it in your hair/eyebrows/ears etc :o

The hoof itself has to be dry for field paste to stick, and I microwave mine in winter as if its in the car and gets cold it doesnt stick well. I dont bother in snow as it all balls up and comes out. They dont NEED anything, they are horses not microwavable toys that will melt in the snow....
 
thatsmygirl said:
I'm worried about winter, wet soft feet mostly on my tb so wondered if Stockholm tar on his frogs and soles would protect him a bit from standing in mud in the field and getting soft feet.
Also any tips for hard frozen rutty ground? How to cope
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You can certainly try it. I doubt it would do any particular harm as long as you keep an eye for thrush underneath.

However, I think (in order to reassure you somewhat) it's important to understand the reasons why the hoof may be soft in winter.

Most of us know that the hoof becomes hard in dry weather and softer in damp weather.

The Hampson/Pollitt Brumby study proved this observation when they took a horse from the 'desert herd' and a horse from the 'mud herd', swapped them over and watched the changes.

The 'desert' hoof went from short and hard to longer and softer.
The 'mud' hoof went from longer and softer to hard and short.

You may think that hard and short is always the desirable hoof - it certainly looks more pleasing to us.

However - think about the hoof in nature.

The hoof doesn't know it is going to get a trim every 6 - 8 weeks. It is designed to be self caring and self trimming.

If a horse is living in soft mud 24/7 - the hard and short 'desert' hoof would have no chance of being self trimming. It will be too hard to trim down in muddy conditions and would overgrow and be a threat to soundness (which means a threat to survival to the wild horse).

So we can consider that the softer 'mud' hoof is actually a clever adaptation to the environment.

You can see different hooves in comparison to their conditions here
http://www.tribeequus.com/easternusa.html
http://www.tribeequus.com/dartmoor.html
http://www.tribeequus.com/plainshorses.html
http://www.tribeequus.com/burros.html
http://www.tribeequus.com/mongol1.html

http://www.thehorseshoof.com/Art_WHModel.html

So what does this mean to you?

Living in mud over the winter WILL create a softer hoof. That is inevitable and there's nothing (short of relocating to a dry climate) that you can do about it.

But don't mistake a softer hoof with a weak and unhealthy hoof.

A soft, chalky sole isn't necessarily a thin or weak sole.

However it also follows that it is unfair to expect a horse who lives in mud to happily hack out on concrete at the weekend comfortably. The general rule of thumb is for the horse to live on the surface he is to work on.

So options are to ensure the horse has access to a gravel/hard area to stand on rather than the mud/do enough work on hard surfaces to keep the hoof tougher/simply pop a set of boots on/confine work to soft ground only.

Again, the diet is key. Good diet = healthy tissue. Micronised linseed is of particular value - it's a polar lipid which basically sits in the hoof wall, retains moisture and repels excess water.
 
You are worrying because the stakes are high for you and you are facing the winter and environmental conditions that you cannot control.

But there are a few things for you to keep in mind.....

1) Your horse is already exposed to the same conditions due to the weather we've had all summer.

2) You have just invested months of care and diet into growing a healthy hoof on your horse and you can reap the benefits of that now.

3) If there are problems - you can't change the weather but you CAN tinker things to help him deal with it.

Just do the best you can and TRUST the hoof. Given half a chance, they are pretty good at looking after themselves ;)
 
Thanks Oberon, yes I am worried as he has no other options apart from staying bare but am happy so far with him.

I'm taking the shoes of my mare as she's having the winter off and hoping she will than be ok in boots, ( 6 bare than :) ) she's been with me for 10 yrs and iv taken her backs off a couple off times but never the full set. Will it be ok to take of the set now going into winter? I know people might say yes easier than summer with the grass but tbh I seem to get more problems in winte with footy horses. Don't think it's the wet grass more the deep mud I get
 
thatsmygirl said:
Thanks Oberon, yes I am worried as he has no other options apart from staying bare but am happy so far with him.

I'm taking the shoes of my mare as she's having the winter off and hoping she will than be ok in boots, ( 6 bare than :) ) she's been with me for 10 yrs and iv taken her backs off a couple off times but never the full set. Will it be ok to take of the set now going into winter? I know people might say yes easier than summer with the grass but tbh I seem to get more problems in winte with footy horses. Don't think it's the wet grass more the deep mud I get
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Address the diet as usual and then go for it.

Mud may be considered the enemy in terms of hoof hardness and for thrush - but it is also nature's memory foam mattress. It also packs into the hoof and creates a natural pad to protect a weak sole ;).

My old boy has never had that perfect heel first landing on hard ground - despite being barefoot for 9 years and having all the 'right' diet and hoof care.

But in the soft mud in the field, he is really happy to land heel first....and I love to see it :o.

If you wanted to - you can always invest in some pea gravel for them to walk on.
 
Thank you Oberon. Especially since I went from one bare to all bare. Loving it by the way. The horses are doing so well but this has been one of my worries. Also since we went from pretty dry ground when we first started the transition to swap after the last couple of days. They kind of looked like they were "swimming" until they get to their grazing spots which aren't so bad. But I did start to panic about "soft" foot. Especially since when I get them walking on the hard concrete they're fine.

Terri
 
Equilibrium Ireland said:
Thank you Oberon. Especially since I went from one bare to all bare. Loving it by the way. The horses are doing so well but this has been one of my worries. Also since we went from pretty dry ground when we first started the transition to swap after the last couple of days. They kind of looked like they were "swimming" until they get to their grazing spots which aren't so bad. But I did start to panic about "soft" foot. Especially since when I get them walking on the hard concrete they're fine.

Terri
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'Soft' doesn't necessarily mean unhealthy ;).

A healthy hoof will usually take care of itself just fine.

We are brought up to believe that hooves need our intervention and must be protected by us or terrible things will happen.

It's hard to adjust to the perception that we should feed the horse right and then just trust them to get on with it :o.
 
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