Youngsters feet cracking

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sanchob

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I have a rising 3 year old that I've had for 5 months now she came with quite bad feet that needed a good trim. When she arrived she had a hole near her white line that my farrier told me to clean twice a day this grew out well and her sole looks good now, 2 cracks have now formed either side of where it used to be on the outside of her hoof and bent in so it looks like their is still a hollow area above the sole. She stands with the cracked one quite turned in my farrier is trying to correct this. She also has cracks on both back feet up to the coronary band one she came with and the other one has developed recently she always has quite bruised feet but my farrier told me this is common on white hooves. I also noticed today that she now has a small hole forming in the sole of the other hoof that looks like it may go the same way as the other one. Is their anything I could give her or put on her feet to strengthen them up a bit? Thanks
 
What is she eating at the moment? The thing about white feet is guff - they don't bruise any more easily than black feet, it is just easier to see the bruising.
 
At the moment she has 1/4 scoop of honey chop lite and healthy, 1/4 scoop of speedi beet and a vitamin and mineral supplement twice a day. She has wet hay but only soaked for 20 mins as she gets a cough, and is turned out for about 5 hours a day at the moment. I had her on LoCal for a month but she got so fat on it I had to take her off it
 
You horse is three years old and it is too late to change a joint which is not straight with trimming the foot. Your farrier can make it look straighter, but only at the cost of putting uneven strain on the hoof. In many horses, that uneven balance will cause the hoof to crack. This may be the reason for all the cracking, or only the obviously bent leg.

The other main reason for cracks would be that you have a mineral imbalance in your grazing or forage. High iron is most common, but it could be a lot of things. Many people report improvement in cracks by feeding one of the no-iron, high copper supplements that are sold by Forageplus or Progressive Earth.
 
sanchob said:
At the moment she has 1/4 scoop of honey chop lite and healthy, 1/4 scoop of speedi beet and a vitamin and mineral supplement twice a day. She has wet hay but only soaked for 20 mins as she gets a cough, and is turned out for about 5 hours a day at the moment. I had her on LoCal for a month but she got so fat on it I had to take her off it
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Get her straight off the honey chop - it's full of sugar. Best diet for horses, barefoot or not, is a low sugar one. Read ingredients labels and avoid anything with molasses in. If you want to supplement, go for equimins, pro earth or forage plus.

Don't listen to your farrier either about white feet - load of nonsense. They're no better or worse than black feet. It's a total myth.
 
I'd probably look at getting another farrier! I think what you are feedings sounds good for a barefoot horse, Honeychop lite & healthy is molasses free and low in starch. I use Silverfeet ointment on my barefoot horses, plus a biotin supplement. I do think a new farrier is top of the list though !
 
What the others say is right especially about the farrier correcting, but just additional, especially given what you have said about the history, do you think those cracks are brewing white line disease that has tracked up the hoof?/are you sure it definitely grew out well the first time.
 
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