MDB
Well-Known Member
Posting in here because of traffic.
Ok people advice and help needed.
This is about my rescue mare who had fistulous withers and was nearly PTS.
Having been on a quest to educate myself all things hoof, I have been on a very steep learning curve over the past few months. I discovered that my mare had thrush and contracted heels. She came a year ago to me barefoot. We don't know any other history.
She is in a small, barely any grass, paddock with field shelter overnight with ad lib hay. She is out in a large field grazing for six hours roughly in the day. She gets 100g of a local horse feed, primarily as a base to mix for her hoof supplement and linseed oil which we started three weeks ago.
I have been checking her hooves twice a day for three months now. We are on top of the thrush now and her heels are slowly de contracting. Yesterday I noticed gravel in the white line of both front hooves, in the quarters area. The affected area was about 1-2cm long and 2mm deep. I picked out the gravel, packed it with hoof stuff and left her to it. Today, the affected area is 5cm long on both, and the same depth.
The only things that have changed recently (in the past couple of weeks)
1. We have started getting our winter rain. This part of Spain has more rain than he UK in winter. The ground is wet and muddy.
2. She started her hoof supplement.
3. We started riding her again after an 8month hiatus because of her wither wound. She is ridden on a mix of road and mud tracks, she has a heel first landing and is not footy. We have built up from 15mins walking to 45 mins.
I am pretty gutted and worried. What can I do? I do not have access to good barefoot trimmers and for the past few months have been bevelling the toes and walls every two weeks, nothing more, and this seems to maintain her as she seems to self trim very well.
Please can you all give me some advice as to what could be th cause and what I can do?
Thanks a lot.
Ok people advice and help needed.
This is about my rescue mare who had fistulous withers and was nearly PTS.
Having been on a quest to educate myself all things hoof, I have been on a very steep learning curve over the past few months. I discovered that my mare had thrush and contracted heels. She came a year ago to me barefoot. We don't know any other history.
She is in a small, barely any grass, paddock with field shelter overnight with ad lib hay. She is out in a large field grazing for six hours roughly in the day. She gets 100g of a local horse feed, primarily as a base to mix for her hoof supplement and linseed oil which we started three weeks ago.
I have been checking her hooves twice a day for three months now. We are on top of the thrush now and her heels are slowly de contracting. Yesterday I noticed gravel in the white line of both front hooves, in the quarters area. The affected area was about 1-2cm long and 2mm deep. I picked out the gravel, packed it with hoof stuff and left her to it. Today, the affected area is 5cm long on both, and the same depth.
The only things that have changed recently (in the past couple of weeks)
1. We have started getting our winter rain. This part of Spain has more rain than he UK in winter. The ground is wet and muddy.
2. She started her hoof supplement.
3. We started riding her again after an 8month hiatus because of her wither wound. She is ridden on a mix of road and mud tracks, she has a heel first landing and is not footy. We have built up from 15mins walking to 45 mins.
I am pretty gutted and worried. What can I do? I do not have access to good barefoot trimmers and for the past few months have been bevelling the toes and walls every two weeks, nothing more, and this seems to maintain her as she seems to self trim very well.
Please can you all give me some advice as to what could be th cause and what I can do?
Thanks a lot.