What would you do with these dreadful hooves?

MrsD123 said:
You have been a member of this forum for four years and presumably have had some interest in horses in that time and you have never learnt that horses who are lame [and have bad feet] are in pain?
GET A VET : regardless of your own opinion it is time "call it a day" and get this poor animal diagnosed by a professional.

TAKE ACTION
Buy three months supply of Hoof Pro and 20kg of Micronised Linseed [charnwood Milling]
Start off with 100gms of linseed and build up the minerals in accordance with instructions from Pro Earth
Add to 400gms [when dry] non molassed s/beet and a bit of non molassed chaff. Make sure it is fed wet as dry beet will swell up in stomach and may cause colic.
If , like justabob, you think that spending money on proper food is a waste of money, then maybe you should ask the vet how much it will cost you if if you have to "call it a day".
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I think you must have edited this 3 times now! There are lots of people who ask opinions on this forum, if you can't be pleasant don't bother posting.
 
JackDaniels1 said:
tiffany what do your girl's hooves look like? just out of interest
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I haven't got any recent photos but she's got flat feet and her heels are low. No splits or rings although she did this summer when we moved yards.

Took a while to find out it was navicular because she wasn't lame. Her paces changes in that she was slightly pottery, it was very subtle which I could feel more than see it. She was fine on hard and soft ground at vets on two occasions and it was only after having thermal imaging that we found a starting point.
 
JackDaniels1 said:
I think you must have edited this 3 times now! There are lots of people who ask opinions on this forum, if you can't be pleasant don't bother posting.
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I have edited it because you need it spelled out, and I have to be sure the message is clear.
You asked why you need a vet, I explained.
Presumably you think you are doing a good job, but that for some unknown reason it is not working. I have pointed you in the direction you need to go namely vet and management.
If you want to ride this horse or use it in any way you need to get the lameness issue resolved.
I would think that is obvious to most people, but most people would already have had a vet out to diagnose the problem rather than second guessing.
 
Pinkvboots said:
If you look though the growth rings are only on the bottom half of the hooves you may find they will get better once the rings have grown down and you get a healthy foot, i would do a lameness work up though just to be sure its not something else.
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I was going to reply along these lines. Upper hoof looks more consistent, without growth rings - although you won't really know how strong it is until its grown out more.
 
First i would do is get a old fashioned farrier out, they tend to know whats going on before anyone else and should be able to get you the right help. Barefoot trimmers are really a fairly recent addition and therefore a lot dont have the experience, not saying yours doesn't just in my experience. So get a farrier thats been around for years, get them to take a look and go from there. I think you will end up needing a vet if they say shoes say that she came with shoes and that did not help, you would like further investigation. As others said be firm. I cannot tell you if you need xrays, nerve blocks or what that would be your vet and farrier to advise best if they meet to discuss.

Problems with just following advise on here is you will have spent £1000 and still be no clearer on the issue as everyone has a different opinion, whether it be feed, supplements, xrays or nerve blocks. You need someone who knows horses to see this horse in the person, see it move, stand and all four feet before making assesment.
 
I don't think nerve blocks/xrays and a new feeding regime are mutually exclusive :p.

I would speak to your vet about how think it would be best to proceed, the feet are obviously not happy but that also doesn't exclude a problem higher up which is affecting the feet. How does she move on them? I'd imagine getting boots to fit well as they are would be problematic anyway.

Costs vary - if they end up sound on the first nerve block then that and a series of xrays was about £400 for us. I'm not sure I would want those feet shod before xrays either.
 
JackDaniels1 said:
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Photo's of fronts here (backs are better!) - been barefoot for just over a year now. Diet is out 24/7 on what would really be described as fairly poor grazing, has ad-lib hay (did have haylage last winter but swapped onto hay this winter), 1/2 scoop of speedibeet twice a day with a little veg oil.

For those of you who have read my previous posts, this is the horse who is very reluctant to go forwards (I hear you say 'no wonder' but this same horse who came to me with front shoes on and was still exactly the same and we did well if the shoes lasted 10 days without pinging off!) She is obviously lame trotting up on hard ground, looks sound trotting the field.

She is not doing anything at the moment, she is happy in the field. My thoughts are now to shoe and have the vet out. I know there are a decent amount of knowledgeable people on here so thought I'd ask what your thoughts were if this horse was yours......

PS - we have tried boots!
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if they were my horse (she had worst than these)

I would get the diet sorted out by D&H. Get a good farriers advice maybe two and have vet there also. Put on Formula 4 Feet or hoof mender. Get old macks or equivalent for hacking out to avoid motr splits. Take reg photos each month to watch the progress. Hoof moist or harder depending on what farrier says.
 
I've dealt with feet like these many a time. Usually it's poor mineral balance/excess sugar can also be hind gut upset. Judging by the diet fed and without having seen the whole horse I would first start with a decent mineral supplement from either forage plus or pro hoof. I wouldn't recommend any surface dressing.

There are examples of similar here http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/overweight-and-starving.html your horse doesn't have to be overweight to get feet like this, just have a mineral imbalance in their diet.
 
Get a cushings test as well as perfecting the diet, though the better quality of the top half of the foot suggests you've got that mostly right already, the slow growth suggests something is still wrong.
 
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