What is the best thing to put in feet to stop snow balling up?....

Chloe_GHE

Chloe_GHE

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I am going CRAZY not riding and the horses are even worse, today I turned them out whilst I was mucking out and they just galloped round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round for 20 MINUTES!!!!

Needless to say they were very hot and very tired when they came back in! They aren't on much fizzy feed, and are getting as much TO as poss (approx 4 hours a day) but they are bored and so am I so.....I need to work out what I can stick in their hooves to stop the snow balling up so I can at least work them in the arena even if it's just lunging in walk!....

So far people have suggested....

engine oil
clipper oil
vaseline
butter

what do you use.....and what works best?...

A huge buffet of xmas goodies savory and sweet on offer so take your pick, but hands off the pigs in blankets! ;) :)
 
other suggestions on here (which I haven't tried yet) are WD40, and a sock on every foot (would have to be very durable socks...)
tbh if you put something across the base of the feet (e.g. duct tape) it'd make them even more likely to slip, i think. :( :(
a horse won the Grand National one year in heavy snow (only finisher I think) with 1/2lb of lard in every hoof, maybe that's the only solution...
 
lards not bad ,i use it on mine but he needs a whole packet each foot as they are so big :o and it does make a mess

there was a tip in H&H mag a few weeks ago recommending melting lard and something else together then letting it set but i can't remember what it was some one might know
 
Snowball rim pads is the best thing, however mine are in the draw rather than nailed to the feet which is a bummer

If I get them put on then the snow will go..... so what's it worth Gloucestershire peeps??

However I've also tried plasticine, which works very well as it packed out the concave shape. However its expensive and stinks of feet when you microwave it...

Also wondered if hoof boots would work well, but guessing you'd probably loose them in deep snow.
 
Jen_Cots said:
Snowball rim pads is the best thing, however mine are in the draw rather than nailed to the feet which is a bummer

If I get them put on then the snow will go..... so what's it worth Gloucestershire peeps??

However I've also tried plasticine, which works very well as it packed out the concave shape. However its expensive and stinks of feet when you microwave it...

Also wondered if hoof boots would work well, but guessing you'd probably loose them in deep snow.
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these look good where can you buy them in the UK?....
 
Chloe_GHE said:
hhhhmmmm.....I thought you just had to coat the underside of the hoof?.... sounds like some people fill in the frog space with it, is that right?....
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no that didn't work it still balled up ,iv'e been filling his feet with it
might have been stokholme tar it was mixed/melted with to make it stick better.

my instructor used to use used engine oil in hers she found the dirt helped it stick better ,she also used to use lard as eventing grease though :D so a bit old fasioned
 
So far i've tried vaseline and lard and neither has worked :(

I heard socks over the hoof is the best thing but can't believe they would be hard wearing enough :confused:
 
I honestly don't find it a problem. Mine are out for up to 12hrs a day, I've nearly 2ft of snow in the field, and only once in the last 4 weeks has one come in with snow packed in one foot.

I don't know why it is. Maybe something to do with the way they are shod? - Honest, they do have shoes on! :)
 
Britestar - its not a problem now as we have dry snow from very low temps

The problem comes when the temp rises and it starts to melt and stick together- probably in the coming days if the forecasters are right!
 
I tried WD40 the other day and it didn't work at all. Hoof boots work best for me but am gutted 'cos feet are due the farrier, so they're a bit long and I can't get the blinkin things on
 
I think it must depend on the shape of your horses' foot, the shoe and the type of snow because, I've got one pony with flat shod feet, and one who was shod in front when we had snow last year, she has quite concave feet.

The ice didn't ball in the concave feet half as much as it does in the flat footed one, and barely does in my unshod Shetland.

With Mrs Flat-foot I have tried mixing lard and veg oil together and plastering on a dry foot, a wet foot; baby oil, mixing everything with table salt.

Nothing makes ANY difference. :(
 
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there's a reason people in snowy parts of the world use snowball pads (we used to use full "bubble" pads but most people use the tube rim pads now) or take their horse's shoes off in the winter. In warmer/thawing snow pretty much none of the treatments are going to work for any length of time so it's not a reasonable expectation. (In the bad old days people used to make straw paths/rings and ride on that for the winter - works okay for slow work but beyond grim to clean up in the spring.)
 
TarrSteps said:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there's a reason people in snowy parts of the world use snowball pads (we used to use full "bubble" pads but most people use the tube rim pads now) or take their horse's shoes off in the winter. In warmer/thawing snow pretty much none of the treatments are going to work for any length of time so it's not a reasonable expectation. (In the bad old days people used to make straw paths/rings and ride on that for the winter - works okay for slow work but beyond grim to clean up in the spring.)
Click to expand...

where can I buy those in the UK?.....
 
This is the only place I've been able to direct anyone to here: http://www.stromsholm.co.uk/pages/products/?PHPSESSID=0297ec83eba44b3e55c167f8cd311ef0 (under "hoof care") but I wouldn't be surprised if other suppliers haven't wised up.

The catch is they aren't cheap and they do wear if you ride a lot on tarmac, apparently, (which no one does in Canada in the winter so I can't speak from experience). I also heard from someone here that their farrier was reluctant to put them on, but I can't see why as who would have enough experience with them to judge here? I will say some people struggle with them on horses already inclined to lose shoes as obviously they add thickness. In Canada they are also usually used with borium/small corks as obviously they don't help with ice/slipping.
 
Someone else told me the same thing - something about them being too flexible and working the shoes loose. Hmm. ;) I can't say to the wearing away but I guess I'm a bit surprised because the "tube" doesn't usually touch the surface but I guess that depends on the thickness of the shoe.

The rim pads are fairly recent and we all used to use the bubble pads but I can't say they'd be my first option. By definition you can't "pack" underneath them and I do remember lots of horses used to get thrush/soft soles even with very careful maintenance.
 
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