Poor feet

[louisesmob]

Quick update, farrier came yesterday put other front shoe on. Says to keep walking him in water to moisten his hooves. Coming every two weeks, Once we can get the shoes to stay on, he will put some gel stuff and gauze under his shoes to help him with the sole problem. This costs 30.00 per foot, so no point until we can get the shoes to stay on as it will come off with the shoe. Got mates with hubbys on the lookout for rubber matting at quarries or pit belting! He has put a bit of weight on already, looks a bit better in himself, his coat is starting to have a bit of a glow, so fingers x. Enquiring about some physio for his back end, anyone know of any in South Yorks?

[louisesmob]

He is doing much better. Can actually walk walk now without looking like hes in agony. Been giving him farriers formula for 9days now but I believe it takes months to get into the system. Got some keratex putty and filled in cracks, been pasting liquid keratex on 3 times a week. He has put on 6 kilos since he came, he is 16.3 ID x and weighed 551k when he arrived here, looks much better, his coat is starting to shine a little and he is brighter in himself. Long long way to go with the feet, farrier coming every two weeks so he doesnt lose one, having to cold shoe him tho, cos he couldnt stand he heat on his feet at the min. Not bandaging them now, he is managing fine without. Double dosed with wormer, veccinated, poor horse, bet he wonders what hit him all of a sudden!

[lizzylove]

Sound like quite a lot of improvement in such a short time. How old is he? The keratex people when i emailed said to put the keratex on everyday for 6 wks and on the last week try to keep the hooves as dry as possible... obviously may be different in this situation. I've found the hoof putty quite good so far...really difficult to handle though - get sooo sticky!!

[JoM]

I am in North Yorks and my sister has used Jill Firth before for her horses back.

www.back-in-balance.co.uk/

Lovely lady and did a super job. I dont know how far she travels but she is worth a call. And she practises McTimmoney, which is fantastic.

We have also used Derek Lacy, who is also fantastic - but he is quite difficult to track down sometimes! He is also McTimmoney trained.

Try Jill Firth if you havent already found someone. Very good.

[louisesmob]

Tried to contact Jill but no luck as yet, must be a very busy lady. anyway, it says on the website that she covers S Y orks so should be ok. I think he has some slight rotation in his pelvis, as now he is putting on weight, one side is def filling up more than the other. He has put on 18kilos now, so not doing bad at all. Keeping the shoes on, farrier stilll coming every two weeks tho, and on second tub of farriers formula. He is walking much better and can walk on the stones now without too much bother. Coat is coming shiney now, and he is def more alert. Will keep you posted when I get hold of Jill the physio, he is such a nice chap, I am on a mission now to get him sorted if I can. Been putting the keratex on every day as suggested, and filled in the cracks with the putty sticking my fingers together in the process!

[debbiec]

Pressure is the stimulus for growth, so if you want to thicken the soles up you need to provide some pressure (but not too much!) Can you walking him on sand? Daily exposure to sand fo 10-15 mins will really help.

Nearly all the moisture in the foot comes from within ie nutrition. The outer wall provides great protection to prevent infiltration of water so I don't think soaking in water will help the dryness. You will also find that if the hooves are drying out too quickly they will crack even more.

I really can't say enough how important nutrition is to getting good feet back. Try www.justbespoke.com They are brilliant. They will find exactly what your horse specifically needs, so it's well worth a bit of professional advice to get the right thing now so you can start seeing improvements ASAP.

Good luck, I'm really interested to see how thinking improve for you.

Is there any chance of posting some pics? A shot of the sole flat on, the side of the foot and the front wall square on would be really useful.

Debs

[rebeccajane]

I agree about the sand - as you all probably remember (well maybe not it was a while ago )Ginger McCain only managed to keep Red Rum fit by using Redcar Sands to train on - his feet were so poor they wouldnt cope without it.

[alberta]

Not common to common belief about feet as we are so habitually ensconced in thinking the shod horse is liekly to have the best feet........the fact remains that shod feet interfere with the healthy mechanisms of the foot. Basically shoeing in the main cannot create healthy feet. Farriers are trained to accept that shoeing is a necessary evil so are not knowledgeably trained to cater for the unshod horse.

The best way to understand how to maintain healthy feet is to understand what factors in the environment can create healthy growth and condition of feet. A supplement or external covering cannot be the ultimate remedy on its or their own. It is the actual environment and consistency of that environments that hold the key to hoof health.

If you accerpted that long-term use of shoes generally causes loss of hoof mechanism, blood supply, quality of horn and therefore internal structures you would be accepting what horsemen and women in days passed understood as truth. That is for a period or periods annually the foot needs to be freed from shoes so as to recharge, re-health itself. During these times of the horse being focused as a vehicle of the leisure industry many have feet never rested.

Yes, many may cope with that kind of treatment, but is that to say that they are comfortable having the truth of what they are realistically feeling being masked by the use of shoes and some with very imbalanced feet? How can an owner ascertain what constitutes a balanced foot if they have never known what that maybe could be if always relying on a professional? This is a thought that struck me some years ago. I made a choice for no shoes for my small herd of horses and found benefit. For others just a 2 - 3 month period shoeless on accomadating conditions could mean a great deal of difference to overall hoof health if long term barefoot is not a viable option.

[admin]

I too am a great believer in bare feet - especially if you can't keep shoes on, constant reshoe-ing will just damage the feet more and more.

I have a friend who uses Boa boot very effectively with her sensitve barefoot horses. They have nothing on in the stable, but for walking to and from turnout they use the Boa's. SHe's also made extra thick pads to go in the bottom of the boot to help with sensitive soles.

Good luck with this lad.

Olviia

[louisesmob]

Just an update, Ramblers feet are not much better. He has pulled a shoe and bruised his sole badly and it was starting to bleed. I have Gamgee padded it and vet wrapped it , gonna try a boot tomorrow till farrier can get on Mon. He has had 3 tubs of farriers formula, but not sure how long you have to feed it to see any improvement., Other people have said try formula 4 feet cos that is better, anyone tried it?
I just get him looking better, and then the whole process starts again when he loses a shoe. He has them done every 4 weeks max, but the ground is so hard at the min with no rain,. that they are all throwing shoes. I put keratex on every other day, and he has a pond to stand in in the field . Any ideas?

[akehurstannabel]

I use formula 4 feet for Holly. Can't say I have really noticed any difference but to be honest apart from the obvious her feet are pretty good. When her feet were really sore i made her neoprene boots to make life a little more comfortable on hard ground. (She had to walk on concrete from her stable to the indoor school) But she is pretty sensible and puts up with all sorts f strange goings on with her feet! Don't lose heart it's still early days. Jo x

[debbiec]

If you're spending out on suppliment like that then I can highly recommend getting professional help tailored to your horse by a good nutritionist. Roger Hatch at Trinity Consultants is excellent www.justbespoke.com I always see a huge improvement in horses I refer to him.

If the feet are cracking then you may have a case of white line disease. Most of the moisture in a foot comes from within (ie nutrition). The cracking you see is rarely because the feet are dry, and soaking doesn't do all that much to help the situation as the hoof wall is designed to prevent infiltration of moisture and it's really good at it's job. A bit like washing you hands doesn't do much to help cracked skin. (rough analogy there but I've been outin the sun all day and it's the best I can do )

Keratex is good while you are using it but you can ind that the hoof wall cracks when you stop using it as it has become used to the extra help.

I hope that helps
Debbie

[louisesmob]

Hi thanks I have e mailed Roger so just waiting for a reply. I have put him in a softish paddock with hay, and he then wont have to walk on any hard stony floors. Farrier coming Wed but his foot is so bruised I am not sure he will get a shoe on. May have to go for glue on ones. Rambler seems really down at min, was picking up great, but seems off it again, could be he is in a lot of pain with his foot. Tried bute but he wont touch it!

[debbiec]

If his feet are that bad maybe you could try some theraputic pads that are used in boots, to return enough structure so the farrier has something to nail to. If the feet are too weak to hold a shoe on then the problem will only get worse. Could he have some time out of shoes? (looks like he's spending much of his time out of shoes anyway if he's losing them!) Even thin soled horses can be made comfortable without shoes while their feet heal. Obviously your farrier is the best person to ask as he can see the feet, but it's worth a suggestion, he may not think you're open to the idea so not suggest it.

The other advantage to pads with boots is it will protect his sole where the shoe doesn't.

Debs

[louisesmob]

Will ask farrier on Wed. Not going to give up on him thats for sure, although he did try choking on a bit of feed tonight, had to massage his throat and mamanged to clear it. I always wet the feed too, I think he is just a self destruct horse!! Cant get hold of Jill Firth by the way, she did txt me to say she was going to sort out a date, but that was a month ago. Anyone know of anyone else that is a back/physio person?