Maintaining healthy hooves.

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Celtic Hill Farm

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What can i do to prevent cracks, and chips? Right now im just using a foot oil im going to apply every day. Is there supplements or anything like that?
 
I don't use hoof oil or such, what I do is roll/bevel the edge of the foot it helps keep the chipping and cracking down, I also make sure I don't go too long between trims, in the summer with some horses it can be as little as 4 weeks between trims.

Karen
 
my new Farrier just showed me what to do between trims to keep the hooves in check. He told me to file the hooves with ONLY the fine side of the rasp , and just a little every 3 or 4 days to keep everything looking good, and to keep cracks from forming.
 
My farrier bevels the edge to help prevent cracking. Last year I was using hoof dressing for what I thought was dryness, then later we had a wet period of time when I wasn't using dressing but all year I was plagued by white line separation and unhealthy thrushy frogs no matter what I did and how often I trimmed. I stopped any type of hoof dressing on advise of a natural horsemanship person who gave me some helpful advise, he told me to start spraying the feet with a dilute lysol solution to help heal and toughen the feet and protect from gravels forming. I started having my farrier do trims every 5 weeks so we didn't have long toes, and we started to turn the corner but progress was slow. The biggest and fastest improvement and difference is when I put about 4-6 inches of pea gravel in my paddock where the horses loaf at night, and OH MY what a transformation in the feet I saw after that!!. I saw turn around in about a month on the pea gravel! We had a terribly wet spring this year and my farrier says my boys now have some of the best feet he has seen anywhere in all his clients and he thinks it is due to the pea gravel and allowing the feet to dry out and get a break from the mud and wet ground. There is now no separation of the white line whatsoever , the feet are hard and healthy, they never chip and these boys can run and trot over hard ground with some rocks and they don't bruise or tippy toe or anything. The soles are perfect in depth and the frogs are awesome. The feet also stay in tip top shape for the whole length of time between trims and hold up to training and lunging etc. I am thrilled with their feet this year. Thought I would share what I did that made the difference. I would say, no to hoof dressing, yes to pea gravel and I do feed flax too just for good measure. best wishes...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
PS, I forgot to say that I no longer need the lysol solution and do not put on any hoof dressing, just flax, good trimming and pea gravel for almost a year now.
 
I was reading on another forum that I frequent that the hoof dressings do more harm than good. I believe they said they do something similar to clogging the pores on your face. Chances are you wouldnt smear your face with vasoline or olive oil to moisturize your skin, as it would make it hard if not impossible for the pores to breath. they said you are better off to either hose their feet off once a week, or let your water tank over fill once a week or so that way the horses stand in water for a few minutes when they are getting a drink.
 
I think the hoof dressing depends on the horse's hoof quality and the living conditions of the horse.

Some horses have soft feet, and putting hoof dressing on that will only ENCOURAGE cracking and breakdown of the hoof wall.

Some horses have dry, brittle feet... so hoof dressing can help.

I have a horse that generally has soft feet, so she gets trimmed every six weeks to prevent chipping. However, she does live in a box stall with a run, so during the summer her feet actually dry out and get very hard, so I do use hoof dressing during this period. You just have to work with the individual animal and its living conditions.

HOW you apply the hoof dressing will also make a difference. I personally only apply a very little bit to the coronet band and the heel. Not the whole hoof wall and sole. I do this every other day or every three days.

Andrea
 
My farrier bevels the edge to help prevent cracking. Last year I was using hoof dressing for what I thought was dryness, then later we had a wet period of time when I wasn't using dressing but all year I was plagued by white line separation and unhealthy thrushy frogs no matter what I did and how often I trimmed. I stopped any type of hoof dressing on advise of a natural horsemanship person who gave me some helpful advise, he told me to start spraying the feet with a dilute lysol solution to help heal and toughen the feet and protect from gravels forming. I started having my farrier do trims every 5 weeks so we didn't have long toes, and we started to turn the corner but progress was slow. The biggest and fastest improvement and difference is when I put about 4-6 inches of pea gravel in my paddock where the horses loaf at night, and OH MY what a transformation in the feet I saw after that!!. I saw turn around in about a month on the pea gravel! We had a terribly wet spring this year and my farrier says my boys now have some of the best feet he has seen anywhere in all his clients and he thinks it is due to the pea gravel and allowing the feet to dry out and get a break from the mud and wet ground. There is now no separation of the white line whatsoever , the feet are hard and healthy, they never chip and these boys can run and trot over hard ground with some rocks and they don't bruise or tippy toe or anything. The soles are perfect in depth and the frogs are awesome. The feet also stay in tip top shape for the whole length of time between trims and hold up to training and lunging etc. I am thrilled with their feet this year. Thought I would share what I did that made the difference. I would say, no to hoof dressing, yes to pea gravel and I do feed flax too just for good measure. best wishes...
Ditto

Good post, Shorthorsemom
 
okay, thanks guys. Aura i belive had separation of her white line, which i do think was because oft he wet season. but now that there trimmed she is doing better. when i apply the hoof oil i just put it at the top and make a "line" over the hoof and let it drip down, i don't paint it on so her hoof is covered.
 
Chipping means it has been to long in between trims and the horse is self trimming. Cracking can be caused by a number of things. Hoof dressings will "clog" hooves so to speak and not let them be hard and dry which is what you want. My filly gets trimmed every 2 weeks in summer and every 4 in winter and she is just on pasture not in use. This way she never gets to crack, chip or get overgrown. She grows very fast and her growth lines are very even. I only have to do a slight rasping each time which is easier on me and shorter for her.

A bevel and a more natural trim does promote less chipping and cracking and healthier growth. White line separation is from flare in the toes from not being trimmed soon enough and the toe grows faster and puts torque on the foot. I have been trimming my girl for over a year now since the trimmer that the breeder had was not up to par in my opinion. He is good for a pasture trim, but for a mini or a horse that isn't getting shoes on it wasn't good. So I read up on Pete Ramey and natural hoof care, studied with my friend who is a barefoot trimmer and started trimming my girl. It has been over a year and her feet are so healthy and happy.

To maintain a healthy hoof it starts in the diet. Grains high in sugars and starches are bad. They can cause many metabolic conditions and the hoof suffers. Also keeping horses in small areas where the hoof can't move around a lot like a wild horse would is also bad. If a horse is kept in a small lot or stall daily 30 minute walks on gravel if able to or pavement help to maintain movement, blood flow and growth. There is a lot of information out there to help learn more about natural hooves, but it can be a timely process with constant learning. But with the effort it is actually easy and becomes a daily part of horses just like feeding or showing.

Now I have seen some show hooves get to dry from all the polishes and such. For those what is usually best is to overflow your water trough or make a mud area for the horses to stand in for a little bit a day. The mud and water help put what moisture is needed back in, but not to much. And again your not using chemicals to help.

I frequent many websites and horse boards and try to learn all I can, I know I don't post here much but I am still new and soaking up all the info I can. I get frequent critiques on a hoof board and am learning more and more each trim. So far my filly has rock hard, not sore, ground covering hooves that make most big horses in my area jealous. My vet was just out to pull coggins and he asked who did my horses feet. He was surprised when I said I did because he was wanting the name of my farrier to pass out to other mini owners in the area that had been looking for a good one. He was amazed at her feet and how nice they looked. He spent 5 min examining each hoof and commenting on how healthy and good looking they were. I was glowing!! I am a constant doubter and that just set me fears aside and I will continue to trim her like I have.

It is all about reading the hoof and the horse. I hope this helps anyone that may be curious about barefoot natural hooves. It is different than a pasture trim and not all "barefoot" trimmers are the same. But I have found that it is the easiest and best way to maintain a healthy, happy hoof and horse.
 

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