Wise HHO's what can i do with this??

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Arniebear

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Bear has really dry feet, ive been putting naf hoof moist on twice a day and he gets his feet soaked most days when i hose his legs off, also i flood his field by the water so he has to stand in water to drink plus he goes swimming once every 2 weeks! So basically he has wet feet as much as i can get them wet!! He's not one to stand still with his feet in a bucket... That would be play time to him!!

I shall upload a pic of his worst foot which has a crack all the way up the heal from the frog, he is due shoes in 2 weeks so will have all the dead frog bits cut off and sorted then! My farrier just keeps saying get his feet as moist as you can... Which i am doing!!
1BE8D3E9-94BC-4A63-B04E-CE792CB2F48C_zpsxpw2bxmv.jpg


But this doesnt seem to be getting any better, i have swapped today to start using cornicrescent hoof mosit for dry brittle feet but is there anything else i can put on it or give him to help it close up?! Its not really deep so i cant plug it with anything. I know good feet come from within, he only has a small handful of alpha a once a day for his supplements (msm and propell plus) other than that he's out 24/7 on good grass, atm i dont want to be feeding him anymore as he is still fat!! His feed will be reviewed in the next month or so when he finally comes back into full work!

So does anyone have any magic formulas that might work?!
 
IMO, the dryness is nothing to worry about, normal summer hooves, but the crack is stubborn thrush.
Sudocreme in the crack, as deep as you can, twice a day. On some horses with that sort of crack, I have found my index finger goes past the 2nd joint! And /or Mash cotton wool into sudocreme, and stuff that in the crack to keep dirt out, but change it frequently.
Don't worry about flaky bits of frog on the outside, and don't be tempted to cut the frog away- he'll end up sore!
 
I expect there are probably some bugs in there, I'd scrub it out with hibiscrub or salt water and then pack it with sudocrem, you can stick in a small bit of cotton wool to keep it in place if needed. It's worked every time for mine. I think an excess of sugar in the grass can contribute to thrush and similar problems. lol, x-posted with cragrat ;)
 
Thanks! Interesting you say that he was on box rest for 9 months and suffered terribly with thrush i thought we had sorted it but perhaps not!!

And no worries i dont cut anything away... I leave that for my farrier!!

Will stuff some sudocreme in there and see what happens!

Thanks :)
 
My farrier swears by cod liver oil - and it works very well on our two (one of whom is a shirexTB with very poor feet). Has the added advantage of being very inexpensive, too.
 
My horse had a very similar crevis, much like sheared heels, I brought some copper sulphate and mixed it with water in a spray and sprayed it on twice a day, cleared it right up, smells nasty in holes like that! Google the sulphate mixture as I can't remember the ratio, very cheap stuff!
 
We had a big heavy with thrush, I found the following to be helpful:
Squeezy sauce bottle (the sort with a nozzle, clean!) boiled water left to cool to tepid 3/4water to 1/4 cider vinegar. Helps to reset the pH so that your washing is getting maximum benefit.
Outside of that I like to rub a bit of coconut oil (the solid one) into the sole (not the frog) and outside of the hoof every so often. I think it really improves the condition of the hoof.

edited: I didn't make it explicit but the nozzle is to really enable you to flush the crack out. If it's super sore you can stick a bit of rubber tubing on the end and use that to get into the depths.
 
Agree with advice as above dilute hydrogen peroxide flushed in will kill bugs but make sure it's dilute or you will make him sore.

For moisture I'm loving Kevin Bacon hoof moist at the moment.
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions, it never crossed my mind it might still be thrush, i thought we had sorted that!!

In answer to any questions! No his feet arent smelly... Hence me thinking thrush was sorted! Although i havent stuck my nose in the crevis... So it probably does in there!! And no i havent poked anything in anywhere!! Im too scared i'll hurt him!! Also there is nothing oozing out at all its just simply a crevis surrounded by lots of dryness!

I will try a number of the suggestions in hope that something cures it! It cant be very comfortable for him :/ bless, will report back if something changes!!! :)

Thanks again!! :)
 
Your farrier said keep that damp? No wonder it won't heal, what planet did he train on????

You've already had good advice on how to manage it but I'd be very wary of what advice that farrier gives you in future.

I use 3% hydrogen peroxide to flush and sudocrem on cotton wool to pack. It's never failed yet :)
 
I suggest you start feeding a full on mineral supplement [pro earth or forageplus] all year round with 50gms micronised linseed per day. If you can get him off the grass for a few hours [clean bedding] and feed some soaked hay that would increase the fibre and reduce the sugar level in his diet.
I don't like studs, in fact I don t like shoes, they prevent the feet developing naturally. Cracks are not due to dryness, they are probably thrush and that is often diet related.
Have a few trips on the Rockley Farm blogs to see what feet should look like, [the after, not the before photos!]
 
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My boy has just spent 48 hours in horsepital partly due to something very similar! The black is thrush, well more accurately the side effects of a thrush infection. Thrush loves deep dark crevices like that! Mine has been treated initially with iodine soaked gauze packed in and then the foot dressed. Now its being miltoned and packed with sudocreme. I'm waiting for some cleantrax to arrive. Its really important to keep it dry. Thrush doesnt like clean dry environments, but it thrives in damp ones.

Is there anyway you could have the shoe off to Cleantrax it?
 
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