Cracking hooves

[sammyantha]

My mare has fantastic feet and has never been shod! I want to keep it that way but I'm having trouble at the moment with the front, bottom edge of her hooves cracking. I can't really avoid hard ground as wherever we go, we have to go along lanes and some stoney ground. The farrier reckons it's ok but not ideal and that I should at least have her shod in front.

Any suggestions, she's gone 9 years with no shoes and ideally I don't want to ruin it by shooeing her! She has farriers formula, hoof oil etc. I've spotted the boots you can buy for them but I don't trust them not to slip.

[Shadowlark]

It SOUNDS like normal wear on the toe as it gets longer it's trying to wear off to shorter length. Can you get the farrier to round her toe off more? I keep my horses in a barefoot trim, and so thier toes end in something we call a Mustang roll - you can find photos at www.hoofrehab.com

[SJ wanabe]

You could try biotin I think that is really good!:)

[xox stace xox]

omg i was just going to post the same thread lol honeys feet are cracking well chipping really but shes been fine all winter think t the hard ground and stones i too was thinking of purchasing those boots it will be interesting to see the replies

[cc rider]

my mares feet are drying out and cracking on the rear unshod hooves. my farrier agrees its the dry hard ground. he suggested hoof moist so thats what i am putting on and waiting to see if it helps.

[SJ wanabe]

:eek: oh forgot to say that if you put hoof oil on make sur that you wet the feet first because it acts as a sealer so it stops water getting in or out!:)

[CurlyWurlyRach]

yes hoof oil isnt a good thing. hoof moist would probably be better.

[Yann]

Chipping and (short) cracks at the toe are just nature's way of trimming the hoof and can sometimes indicate too much length there. There's another nice little article at http://www.ironfreehoof.com/adressingflares.htm

A roll on the hoof wall on a regular basis will prevent this, Rio gets one and almost never gets any chipping despite working almost daily on stony and rough ground. See if he will let you have an old rasp and put one on yourself and keep it maintained, it's very simple.

I agree it would be a shame to shoe a sound horse that was happy without shoes that had never been shod. The farriers I've discussed it with would agree, I'm surprised at yours.

BTW most hoof boots give very good grip, particularly on dry surfaces, and all are better than plain steel shoes on smooth ones.

[sammyantha]

Wow, thanks for all the replies guys. I use both hoof moist, and oil as people have told me different things lol. I think the prob with the farrier is that I'm not really offering him value for money as all he has to do is rasp her hooves every 13 weeks just to tidy them up. I'd do it myself but am wary of asking him to show me how, also, she's a real fidgit!

The roll idea sounds like it will help, as it's not her hooves getting long, she only had them trimmed last week. I will ask next time farrie comes out.

Does anyone use the barefoot boots? Can you suggest a good brand? What are your experiences of them?

[Joyscarer]

My horse is shod but I have been worrying about her dry feet.

My farrier assured me that her feet were no worse than his other clients horses due to the hard ground. He then proceeded to take the mikey out of me for being a concerned first time horse mum and kept calling Joy 'Fluffy' and cudling her, the cheeky so and so! Put my mind at rest though :D

[LauraLou]

Luka is barefoot and she will occasionally chip. I have always been told its fine as its not going all the way up the hoof, literally just the bottom bits so like someone said above its natures way of keeping them trimmed. As long as its not a lot I think its OK. Been thinking about possibly putting fronts on Luka too actually, not sure though as I love her being barefoot! But loads more roadwork at new yard so we shall see how she goes x

[Yann]

Sammyantha, if you want to keep your horse unshod and performing well you might be better off with a specialist trimmer. Not all farriers do a particularly good trim for a working horse and because they don't commonly charge much it tends to be as you say not 'value for money' and low priority. A trimmer will generally cost you more but you generally get what you pay for in my own experience.

I use hoof boots on one of my horses almost full time and part time or not at all now on the other. Old Mac G2's are one of the most popular types and what I would go for in the first instance, easy to put on and off, good grip on wet grass and mud and quite flexible fit wise.

[mayoguinness]

Mayo's hooves do the same sometimes in the hot and dry weather so he gets half an hour in a hoof pool (pond, river ect.) to re-elasticate them and then he's fine and the cracks grow out:)

[jowyles]

I have lots of feet problems with my horse so I,
NEVER put oil on them - worst thing ever!
Use a moisturiser for hooves - currently carr day & martin but am changing to NAF hoof moist when I run out next.
Use Keratex to harden the hoof
Use cornucresine to promote healthy growth from the coronet
Feed Biotin
Soak the feet every now and again.
He has gone from loosing shoes every 2 weeks in summer and not having that great feet in winter to now having feet as hard as nails, he still has some dryness problems but as im at uni I cannot attend to them as much as I would like.

[gingeremmie]

What do you feed her? Nutrition is really important, more important than anything you apply to the foot as the hoof you see has already grown, so you can't change it's composition by painting stuff on it.

And I echo Yann about getting a barefoot trimmer to take a look if you're concerned. Your mare is obviously doing fine, so you have no major issues to address so you may find that one visit from a trimmer sets your mind at rest and you may be able to still have cheaper trims from the farrier.

[sammyantha]

Aha very interesting, thankyou everyone.

She currently gets two handfuls of Spillers 'response' mix, with speedi-beet and 'Moody Mare' supplement. I use the CD&M Moisturiser already and have just bought their oil too. Will get some Biotin and Cornucrescine and see how we go.

You're right about the trims - farrier charges me a fiver just to 'tidy her up'. I will see if there is a specialist trimmer round here, but I don't want one who does the trim that can cripple horses, the one where the hoof is cut right back, eww. Anyone in my area that can recommend a good barefoot trimmer??

[Yann]

There's a list here

http://www.uknhcp.org/locateapractioner.html

and also

http://www.epauk.org/findep.php

You would be in safe hands with trimmers from either list.