Typical TB feet!!

Sexy Sietske

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Aug 18, 2006
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Derbyshire/nottinghamshire
Well he comes tmoro, his feet are in a right state, missing shoes, glue holding some together, ect, ect. The farrier is not due out to us until 12th october and i realise that said horse can strictly by no means go that long without having something done to them. So I was thinking about getting him on boitin asap and getting the farrier out to take the rest of his shoes off and give them a trim and tidy up. Get some cornucresine (sp?) on 2/3 times a week and hoof moist daily (they are also very dry and this weather is doing them no favours) Then when the farrier comes on the 12th which is about 4 weeks have shoes put back on after they have had a chance to grow out some of the cracks, then the farrier will only have to make one routine visit instead of 2.

Any better ways of going about it? I will speak to my farrier about it see what his thinks but this seems the most logical way to me :)
 
boots maybe,keep him a bit more comfortable? is there an ep in your area? your obviously not averse to taking them off if youre going to do it as an interim thing so might be worth a go.

other things you could try - farriers formula, magnesium, seaweed, jelly, baileys balancer... but none of those will be immediate - boo! ;)
 
No, if im quite honest i would rather them come off and stay off (saves on vet bills when they get a bit playful :rolleyes: and already know the horse he is one to PLAY!!) I thought about boots too i dont think we have an ep in our area though. I thought about leaving his backs off and letting him adjust half and then go for the fronts when he is more comfortable. If its one thing I hate its waiting around for a farrier to come fix a shoe!!!
 
Get some boots and sole mate pads, its amazing how quickly that improves the feet and encourages them to grow and its amazing how cr*ppy a foot can be totally comfortable in them. They're great for riding in but can be used for turnout as well if he's very sore to start with. They can be used as the first step to getting him working barefoot, or just a few weeks in them could improve the feet so they are easier to deal with shod and the current damage has had a chance to grow out.

Cornucresine is good for making feet grow quicker but doesn't produce as good quality horn so would give that a miss. Soaking or at least scrubbing with borax or milton would be a good plan to make sure there's no infection (quite likely for feet that are a bit of a mess).

There are lists of trimmers on www.epauk.org, www.equinepodiatry.net and google for UKNCHP should bring up some good trimmers (they aren't EPs but they're very good).
 
I'm afraid you're unlikely to grow any cracks out in just a few weeks, if my experience is anything to go by fixing Tb feet is a major long term project :) Hoof boots and pads are essential if you want to try and improve the feet without shoes, which would probably be your best bet. The results of any supplementation will take at least 6-9 months to hit the floor and even then you may well still have weak feet prone to flaring. But if you have a decent pair of hoof boots then losing shoes won't ever be a problem again :p
 
echo Yann. its a MEGA task. and you need a remedial/v. v good farrier. AND if you have true thin soled TB feet with cracks then its likely barefoot will be painful for your horse. (can you tell my horse has dire feet!)

farriers formula is a great supplement.
 
Full length cracks take ages to grow out, and not all can be got rid of, but I've not seen one yet that can't be improved to the point it isn't much of a problem anymore. A few weeks wouldn't get rid of major cracks but would be enough to get rid of a lot if not all of the cracking around nail holes. Even a few weeks can improve a nasty crack if you get rid of any infection in it and have a good trim, the outer wall won't change a lot but the inner wall can heal without growing all the way down and that really helps stabilise cracks.

TB feet are challenging and may never make it to brilliant feet but a lot of TBs are capable of growing decent feet. One of mine is TBx and has amazing feet (at least she does now, they used to be horrible) and her TB mother had feet that should have been attached to a wild mustang despite having been utter cr*p when they were shod. Getting them sound over all surfaces takes a while but shouldn't take long to get to being comfortable in the field.

Friend's TB has recently gone barefoot, not out of choice but because she lost shoes and trashed feet too badly to get another set on, she was so sore she didn't want to move at all and not improving just being left to get used to it. As well as general TB feet she had two huge cracks in one foot, pigeon toed and feet really badly balanced and twisted. She had a pedicure and wore boots and sole mates for turnout for about 2 weeks, she was sound immediately in boots and pads, and she's now sound in the field even without boots and moving better than she has in ages, but she'll still need boots for work on hard ground for a long time.
 
all i know is the most true saying in this ENTIRE world is:

"No foot No Horse"

so much so that if i ever buy another horse i would not care if it had 3 heads and was pink with black spots....

as long as it had good feet!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
feet do take along time to put right, ive owned my gelding for 4 years now, and would say his feet have only been good for the last year, when i bought him he had huge cracks in his feet, very thin soles, and collased heels, but with a very good farrier, shoeing every 6 weeks without fail, biotin, and kevin bacon to keep to help condition i hope i have finally won the battle,
but it has been a long hard slog, but well worth it,
 
thats good la societe my horse has terrible front feet and I've got remedial shoes on but hes feeling sore again, I must keep positive going to consult him on monday, fingers crossed we can do something.
 
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