HELP! chunks ou of hooves

[baybabe]

bought an in foal mare a year ago feet really bad dealer had cut hooves back so short to disguise problem, anyway spent the past 11 months on biotin hoof moist, kertex, farrier trims every 6 weeks they started to look great, two weeks ago they fell to pieces small chunks out of each one. where am i going wrong!!! , farrier thinks corrective shoes asap are the way to go as weve tried growing and triming, dont want them cut back to short so she goes lame, white line disease and seeded toe could be a possibility. any ideas anybody? do you think i should trust my farrier?

[Bay Mare]

Does the farrier roll the toe? It could be that the hooves are self trimming as the outer wall hits the ground.

Another thing to consider is infection. If there's WLD it's also possible for chunks to break off.

There's absolutely no reason that WLD can't be managed barefoot with the correct management.

Obviously we can't see the feet so probably the best thing to do is do some research, maybe get a second opinion from a properly qualified barefoot trimmer and then see what can be done.

What was the underlying problem?

From a personal point of view I wouldn't use Keratex in the long term. It's ok as a short term measure but I'm sure that I've read recently that it can damage the keratin bonds which can cause small cracks to form in the hoof wall. I think that it was a vet from the Royal D.ick vet school if I remember rightly.

I believe that Keratex is formaldehyde based. Let's just say that I wouldn't be happy using formaldehyde on a regular basis!

Whether or not you should trust your farrier is between you and your farrier. PERSONALLY I would look for a second opinion before I went down the corrective shoeing route but then I'm a bit of a barefoot anorak anyway ;) I wouldn't be happy putting a youngster in shoes unless I absolutely had to as their feet are still growing.

[baybabe]

at first we put it down to foaling and lack of care as her horn was very soft and brittle and i thought she was very underweight for a pregnant mare she was barely showing at all and you saw every rib and her back bone was very prominent,no muscle tone at all, the vet has done blood tests all normal and my vet farrier and myself all put it down to itll take time. now my farrier is gonna ask another farrier for a second opinion, oh and he does roll the toes and she is never on anything harder than grass, she has alot more energy now because she is alot fitter and healthier and but there is no sign of her striking her feet when she walk/canters etc. it seems to seperate slightly from the white line before it breaks thats why infection was suggested. whoooo sorry such a long post without pics its hard to describe.:)

[MelanieD]

Have a look at the feet from underneath, is there much length of hoof wall beyond the sole? Just thinking maybe the farrier is leaving them a little bit long to try to avoid the chipping off making them too short and the feet are then chipping because they're trying to get rid of the extra length.

If there is infection in the hoof wall then shoes are the last thing you want. No shoes and having the white line open to air is the best thing for infection there. Soaking or scrubbing with borax or soaking with clean trax if infection is bad and quite deep should help.

Is she totally sound? Sometimes a bit of chipping between trims is nothing to worry about and just little bits of excess length chipping off.

Can you get pics to post? Side on and front from ground level and a pic of the sole after a thorough clean are the most useful ones.

[Daffy Dilly]

You could try feeding seaweed. It made a huge difference to Daffy's feet, he went from losing a shoe a fortnight to the farrier moaning about how hard it is to get the shoes off. He isn't barefoot, but even I can see a massive improvement in his feet in general.

[Boffin]

My experience is mostly with racehorses who are in general chacked very closly every day and yet many of them are having far more hoof problems than normal this year. Some of the farriers put it down to the very hard going last year working its way down the foot combined with the alternating wet/dry conditions this year.

I know what Bay Mare means about 5% formaldehyde, which is basically all Keratex is, it tends to make a rather brittle hardness which will crumble in some conditions, but is a good disinfectant. Its a standard DEFRA recommendation against foot rot in cattle.

Have a look at http://www.fnesaddles.com/Hooves-Barefoot.shtml. Les mostly goes barefoot but will use shoes where necessary. The interesting thing though is that in the last few years since he was enduranceGB champion he hasn't had a single vet failure in competitive endurance rides due to hoof problems and he rides a lot. He has some alternative hoof treatments that obviously work well for him even with the heavy work his horses do. He is very open to contact & discussion.