Thin soles what causes them and how can they be "cured" thoughts please.

[mightymammoth]

Hi,

As title really can anyone offer any advice please?

Thanks

 

[sbloom]

Totally with moorman. An interesting case study:

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/horse-of-week-zan-flat-footed-thin.html

 

[Andalucian]

Echo Moorman - absolutely.

 

[mightymammoth]

Thanks for the comments- moorman have you any suggestions re nutrition at the minute he has pro hoof supplement, micronised linseed,and pure fibre balance chaff as well as a joint supplement and Dodson and horrel equibites.

 

[mightymammoth]

Forgot to say thanks for posting the links both

 

[Brownmare]

My tb had soles so thin you could flex them with thumb pressure. Now her feet are so tough that she is comfortable barefoot on the roughest ground.

All I did was get the diet right (minerals balanced to forage and minimal sugar / starch) and give her time. I built up the exercise gradually with boots then reduced use of boots and hey Presto! Decent hooves

Someone who was recently shown a photo of her hooves didn't believe they could be from a tb

 

[amandap]

Here's Pete Ramey's article on soles. http://www.hoofrehab.com/horses_sole.htm

 

[moorman]

I am not a great believer in recommending diets per say, but I would always try and get an owner to think about getting back to basics.
Their will be loads of owners on this site that will have ideas on what name of food to feed.
I like to first find out two things
1) What could the horse be eating that it should not
2) What could be added to its diet that could help

On the first question I usually find that there is to much soluble (prepared) food in the diet that will often have ,sugars, binders, additives for preserving the product, things that may cause problems in the rear gut if not used before
To the second question I find there is usually a shortage of basic minerals and there supportive partners, magnesium is one of the main elements missing in my area.
I like to get any horses I am working on to be fed as basic a diet as they can, making sure this includes everything it needs to help kick in the self healing system.
I am not a great lover of composite foods or preparations, The best horses feet I have ever seen belonged to a horse that worked hard to find dried grass and fresh water.
The weird thing is if you gave that horse the choice it would eat a high sugar diet and get all the ailments that would go with it.
Non of us like eating what is good for us, horses are no different

 

[mightymammoth]

@ moorman that's very true. Thanks for the advice and suggestions everyone

 

[Delta99]

My TB also had soles so thin that you could flex them with your thumb.

I changed farriers about a year ago and the soles are really strong now so I guess foot balance does have something to do with it.

I did not change the diet as I had previously tried most things, Farriers Formula, Pro Feet etc with no change whatsoever.

 

[mightymammoth]

My TB also had soles so thin that you could flex them with your thumb.

I changed farriers about a year ago and the soles are really strong now so I guess foot balance does have something to do with it.

I did not change the diet as I had previously tried most things, Farriers Formula, Pro Feet etc with no change whatsoever.

thanks. I've changed farriers and have seen an improvement but there's still a long way to go

 

[Pale Rider]

As far as I am concerned all thin soles are manmade
Healthy blood circulating in a well balanced foot that is able to function as naturally as possible will not have thin soles
I have had so many ‘thin soled’ horses referred to me over the years and the most common denominator was imbalance within the hoof capsule.
This often showed itself as long toe low heel, leading to poor blood supply to the relevant areas.
In nearly all cases they are curable.
In the early days my first approach was to get the hart bar shoes out and try and relieve the heels of some pressure and to get the brake over back to its correct place.
Since changing to the barefoot system I find not only do the feet improve quicker but also they stay in a better condition on their own.
This does involve a lot of commitment from the owner and is definitely not the easy way out, but well worth it in the end.

N.C.T = Nutrition, Condition, Trimming ( in that order)

Fig 12 on this page is a typical thin soled foot
http://www.rockfoot.com/why.html

Excellent post.