Hoof Armor
If you’re on Facebook, consider joining the group Heartland Scoot Boots and speaking with Stacy Pratt, the owner. She’s a wizard with Scoot fitting and delivers fantastic customer service. She’ll also tell you if she doesn’t think they’ll work.
Hoof Armor is also a good option, I’ve seen it work super well for some horses and seemingly not much for others. It won’t do much in terms of immediate comfort like a boot will, but it will help with building sole and you can use it under boots/shoes/glue ons.
I have nothing but empathy for you–I have SO been where you are and it sucks. I also learned how to trim and glue myself after farrier after farrier just butchered my horse’s feet. It’s a horrible place to be.
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Thanks, it really is a rough spot. Just with everything - it’s so hard to tell what is my imagination vs real, and it’s even harder when I don’t have a team of really good trusted pros on call. My vets are good for basic things, but I have to fight and beg for a Lyme test or hoof balance X-rays. The farriers in this area run the gamut, but the good ones are haul-in only or absolutely full to the brim with work.
I’m swiping at his toes and trying to help things along that way, but it gets so exhausting trying to keep up with everything when I can’t really hand the reins (lol) to anyone and trust 100%. That sounds a little silly typing it out but it’s true! It’s so easy to get stuck analyzing everything and not actually DO anything!
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I have so much empathy for your situation.
I also have a NQR horse. My mare is an OTTB, I posted about her in the racing forum to try to find any connections to her past hoping to glean some medical history, no luck there. I’ve finally decided to retire her early at 9, and I’m having a hard time not getting my hopes up about her ever being more than a pretty, money hoovering, pasture ornament. She very athletic, looks so sound in turnout and on the lunge, and even flexes the best she’s ever flexed, but then put a saddle and rider on her anxiety/pain behaviors come roaring back. (Note, I’m not looking for well meaning suggestions here, I’ve done almost all of my due diligence regarding vet work ups including back X-rays, various joint injections, robaxin and mesotherapy, saddle fitting, different shoeing and stabling setups, consistent body work 🫠 and months of hand walking over various terrain and ground poles. I’m out of money to chase down solutions.)
TLDR; I’m sorry you are in this cycle of rehab, ride, rehab, ride. It truly sucks and takes so much emotional energy to stick with it.
I hope you find a resolution to your current situation and are able give yourself kindness and all the slack in the world.
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I’m sorry about your mare. But you are very kind and I appreciate the camaraderie, if nothing else.
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At one time I had 4 barefoot riding/in the process of “breaking” horses. The only way I could keep up with their hooves was to use the rasp EVERY TIME I rode/trained. I also used the hoof knife on the soles lightly.
Since I saw to the hooves every week at a minimum I could keep ahead of the growth and I could keep the horses sound. At my lesson stable many years ago I was still able to rasp some, which I did because I got sick and tired of my barefoot lesson horse being sore for my lesson after they got trimmed. That was a good situation, the farrier got to correct my work every 6 weeks or so. I never got cussed out by a farrier for the condition of the hooves and the horses never got foot sore.
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This is essentially what I am doing. Rasping at least two times a week. I don’t take much, just rolling the toes and keeping ahead of any chips.
I’m thinking of trying some white lightning or other thrush soak, he’s got some little cracks that could be fungal/bacterial or whatever it is. They could be mechanical, but I don’t think a soak will hurt.
I’ve also found a hoof topical that my old BO swears by - it smells like a dip can but she’s seen a huge difference in her retirees so I’m trying that on his soles for a while.
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Well, my horse has devolved into full on Witchy Mare. Which usually means his belly hurts - I’ve seen improvement with upping his Nexium dose but he’s still uncomfortable.
I bought a BoT quarter sheet the other day, so I threw his saddle on and loosely girthed it down to see if the sheet fit; he was ANGRY. No reaction to grooming and he’s happy to walk out on the line (and rip around the pasture) but clearly something is up. Also, his hooves are distorting pretty fast in some… interesting directions.
Anyways, I have the vet coming out in two weeks to do hoof X-rays and a general lameness exam; I mentioned the KS and that I’d like to do something to manage the issue. I think if he’s painful in his body he will hold himself weird and distort his feet, and also chronic pain might be the reason he gets ulcers if you look at him wrong. He’s a big feedback loop of rage right now.
Are you sure he is sound right now?
Leg sound - yes. As in, not limping, moves pretty evenly.
But, something is up. So that’s why I’m having the vet out for an exam - starting with hoof balance xrays and working our way up.
Note: I’m not riding him, if that part wasn’t clear. Or lunging or whatever. Just grooming and handwalks and the occasional cluck-trot around the round pen to see how he’s moving.
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He’s also gone off his AM feed the last week or so - I say gone off, more like isn’t finishing it. He’s happy to graze, eat his safe starch hay, and is pooping/gut sounds fine. We’ve had a gnarly weather snap, so I’m chalking it up to that, but keeping an eye on him. He will finish it if they leave him in longer to eat at PM feed (horses only come in for meals, but stay in a little longer at night).
Still, all of this is why I called the vet today and set up an appointment. To be fair it took this horse a solid month to settle in at the last place (there’s a thread out there about it, my BO was about to haul him to the vet school for a neuro workup he was being so strange, and then BAM 100% normal 
). A lot of it sounds like gut problems to me but I don’t know. We shall see what the vet says.
He probably is not moving evenly if he is loading his feet in a way to cause unusual distortion.
Okay. Let me clarify, again.
“Moving evenly” meaning no single leg is landing shorter than the others. He tracks up with both hinds, and no short striding in front (relative to the other). No weird paddling or swinging one leg differently than the other. He’s even, but evenly kinda meh until he gets booking it around his turnout.
What he does do, is toe out on all 4 a bit more than I think he used to. What I cannot tell is if the flaring and distortion is due to trim or something higher up causing him to stand looking sickle hocked and toed out.
Hence, vet.
Edit: swinging not swimming
