whats with all the bad feet and lame horses!!

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Waltzing Matilda

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There seems to b a lot of horses about at the mo with sore feet, cracked or brittle hooves, under run heels, suspected navucular or lami. I know the grass has bin mad but what is going on?!!!
 
I was wondering the same thing. In my case my lad suffered collateral ligament damage due to bad shoeing which then led to an MRI which revealed mild navicular too. We're now barefoot and going nicely thanks to Rockley so all good for us.

Do agree that there seems to have been a spate of bad feet and lameness threads lately though. Maybe grass related?
 
Mmm, dunno, my boy's feet are AWFUL at the moment; can't ever remember his feet being so bad.

My farrier says it takes 9 months for a foot to grow down from the coronary band - sooooo..... mebbe its a case of looking back to last Autumn time to see what was happening around then? Dunno, but I'm just trying to play detective here.

Perhaps it was to do with the wet summer last year, coupled with a miserable wet damp autumn - which was happening when the feet were growing down, and maybe this is the reason?

And then - yet again, we had a very cold snap in the early part of the year didn't we, so perhaps that was something to do with it.

Now....... more recently, we're having a horrid miserable wet, damp & mucky spring/summer - and all of this is telling in our horses feet perhaps????

I don't know, am not an expert.

Any farriers on here that can enlighten?
 
I think that because of forums like this, people are getting more aware of what bad feet look like.

They've been there all the time, but people are waking up to the fact that they cannot just leave the health of their horse's feet in the hands of their farrier and need to take responsibility for themselves if they see things starting to go wrong.

In addition, there is an explosion of fat horses (and under-exercised) around and fat horses often don't digest carbohydrates well and that in turn often leads to poor foot quality.
 
Mayb the grass. Maybe people are increasing in awareness?? The latter would b great.

I got my mates a £10k horse with collateral ligament damage for £1 as was insurance writeoff after IRap and shockwave therapy! Going much better now barefoot! Well worth a squidler!!

Glad urge horsey if finding success eh barefoot too. I trained to do this and set up in business but.find it hard to get people on board and I have an old whiplash injury so can only trim well behaved horse. I seem to come across a lot a people that r trying barefoot as farrier won't come out any more fuse to behaviour!!

So I have kept a full time job and.just trim for friends although a local yard has just asked me to do pretty much all their horses and ponies!! They prefer the level of advice and guidance that get from an EP. Also horses feet r shocking so they have lost faith in local farrier.

Lots hope feverynines feet improve with the sunshine and dryer weather!!
 
I prob dont exercise my horse enough but I restrict her grazing and feed a fibre based feed and mag and sum hay daily. If I trim her regularly I have very few probs with her feet. She does have a crack on one hoof butility I couldn't get on top of it over winter as she was. Out 24/7
 
I agree with yorksg. Plus more common to turnout on small areas of rich grazing rather than large areas of varied rough grazing than years ago.
 
This is my forte!! I have only ever paid for 1 horse and that was 500 inc talk and rugs!! My friends horse was only 7 been they got it and 16.3/17HH warm blood. Beautiful horse. It's actually used to belong to a certain 'person shall remain nameless' but honestly I'm not a dealer from south Wales. Hes called Ted.

I had a couple of ponies and couple of tbs an.Irish job and 2IDxs. I have rehomed a couple for free once rehabed as couldn't afford to keep them long term. All barefoot!! Much cheaper when u can tri. Ur self!! Lol!! X
 
Sometimes I forget about how other people keep their horses and what they feed them as I try not to look if I can help it otherwise I get annoyed or worried and feel a sense of responsibility!

I'll help if people ask me otherwise Jon of my business is my approach now! X
 
Waltzing Matilda said:
There seems to b a lot of horses about at the mo with sore feet, cracked or brittle hooves, under run heels, suspected navucular or lami. I know the grass has bin mad but what is going on?!!!
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I wish I knew after months of on and off lameness with thin soles/under run heels I thought we had cracked it, we now have a abscess in a hind, wish I knew what I was doing wrong.
 
Diet is good I think?? Couple of handfulls Pure feed fibre balance, micronised linseed and pro hoof plus Dodson and horrel equibites (for vitamins) and supplease gold for joints. Grazing is ok but is shared with another 15 so is kept in check. He is shod at present in *whispers-* egg bars in the front. I'm working towards barefoot by trying to sort diet first but we've such a long way to go :((
 
Would barefoot be useful for coffin joint problems too.Also WB has a slight twist in nearside front foot which causes him to dish.He has been intermittantly lame and has now popped a splint on the cannon bone of that leg.I have read a lot of threads which suggest barefoot is the way forward but i have no other experience other than what people post on this forum.
 
victoria1980x said:
Diet is good I think?? Couple of handfulls Pure feed fibre balance, micronised linseed and pro hoof plus Dodson and horrel equibites (for vitamins) and supplease gold for joints. Grazing is ok but is shared with another 15 so is kept in check. He is shod at present in *whispers-* egg bars in the front. I'm working towards barefoot by trying to sort diet first but we've such a long way to go :((
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Sounds like you're doing all the right things, it may be your horse is particularly grass sensitive?

As for all the poor feet around, I suspect that if everyone on here posted photos of their horses' feet we'd see more bad than good :( Perhaps I'm just pessimistic though.

Wundahorse - from what you describe I'd think that barefoot could definitely help. It's important to do the research and go in with your eyes open in order to give your horse the best chance of growing better hooves, however :).
 
A warm winter and a looooong wet and warm spring is what the bloody problems is.

:mad:

Goddammit! It's a nightmare trying to manage a b/f horse atm, i've spent £200 on supplements this month (it will last for 60 ish days though) and my poor mare is out at 6am in and in 12 -1pm. On soaked hay to keep the pork off and with supplements to supplement the soaked hay! :rolleyes:

It's driving me mad! I would give anything to have my own place, if i did i'd dig the blasted field free of grass and my poor horse could forage in the bushes and for hay and not have to stand in her stable all day eating through double netted haynets waiting for me to come up and do something with her so she's not bored to distraction. I would do anything for a day off riding/exercising her, I'm knackered!

I dread to think what's going on under shod horses shoes at the moment...:eek:
 
Couldn't we do that nocturnal and start a thread off just horses feet and get loads off pics up so people like me who are fighting to save my lad could learn. I think it would be v interesting
 
In GreyDonk's case it's probably largely to do with conformation . . . he is very upright, with small/boxy feet. Prime candidate for navicular.

In many ways he's lucky that he's now in such a low mileage home . . . means his ridden career will probably be several years longer and vet reckons we can keep him going into retirement.

P
 
Mines got natural balance shoes,his toes are cut back and his heel raised,and expensive gel pads at the instruction of the vet,so would it be beneficial to consider going barefoot for him to aid the healing process.It is difficult as vet advises remedial shoeing and does not believe in the barefoot approach.It seems to me that many forum users have had good experiences of barefoot and i do wonder if that is the best option for our boy.
 
Wundahorse said:
Mines got natural balance shoes,his toes are cut back and his heel raised,and expensive gel pads at the instruction of the vet,so would it be beneficial to consider going barefoot for him to aid the healing process.It is difficult as vet advises remedial shoeing and does not believe in the barefoot approach.It seems to me that many forum users have had good experiences of barefoot and i do wonder if that is the best option for our boy.
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The remedial shoeing you are getting is an attempt to recreate a natural hoof.

NB shoes were actually invented by a farrier who went into the desert and observed natural mustang hooves.

The cut back toes are to try and improve break over - but BF hooves are naturally much, much shorter than shod hooves and so have a more natural break over.

Heels raised - if you look at the farrier, Moorman's postings, he says raising the heel artificially actually LOWERS the heel. Shoes remove the caudal hoof from being part of the action. So the caudal hoof (internally and externally) can often become weak and contracted. The raised heel is an attempt to provide support to the caudal hoof and the tendons.
It doesn't need support - it needs development. Taking the shoes off and letting the horse use the caudal hoof will develop it quick smart.

You are putting a sticking plaster on the hooves.
That's not the same as making them healthy.

You will find not many vets will recommend BF as an option. Insurance companies want us to 'do something' and vet's aren't comfortable going along with a more 'wait and see' option prescribed by a bunch of hippies on the internet :D.

Traditional view is that sick hooves need more intervention or they will break down.
BF view is that sick hooves need less intervention or the horse will break down.
 
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