What is going on with the black coloration at the hoof wall? Really concerned with this horse’s hoof capsule.
I’ll be curious to hear what others that know more will say, but my old guy has had this before and he’s still going strong. Maybe some shelly hoof wall there at the base has taken on some moisture and crap.
I did start the Eukele supplement with methionine, and the other two important hoof amino acids. Can’t go wrong to improve your hoof wall quality.
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I dunno 
If that was my horse, I’d be spraying the discolored areas and the entire sole with diluted copper sulfate. Maybe a clean trax soak?
This too.
Thank you everyone.
I put him on Biotin800 about 1 1/2 months ago. He had some hoof trauma after the move and I just wasn’t sure what this black discoloration was on his hoof. Soaking might be a great idea. I’ll ask my farrier about it tomorrow.
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Oxidation from the nails.
I wouldn’t be soaking feet, as there aren’t many good reasons to purposefully soften a foot, especially with shoes on.
How long since the last trim?
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As it happens, my mare has a little bit of similar discoloration on her “bad hoof” (RF) after her trim and reshoeing yesterday. The vet/farrier who did it rasped down a bad flare but didn’t want to get too close to the white line. She used copper coated nails on the shoe, which are supposed to have antibacterial properties. She wasn’t too worried about it, but it’s not as bad as OPs horse.
See the “Different shoes” thread for more info about her.
ETA posted the wrong photo; that was the RR. Here is the RF.
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This was just after the trim. He has been on a 5 week cycle.
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as long as the toes are, I’m wondering why these shoes weren’t set back for a proper breakover?
Yep, this is always a good idea if there are issues brewing
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The vet/farrier could not trim the toes back any further without getting into the white line. She is in steel rocker shoes (the “rocker” is on the outside; they are flat on the side that goes against the hoof.) This is “step 1” in rehabbing the toes.
(Oh and the black area was where she had a chunk out of her hoof, as seen in the following link.)
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good, the rocker isn’t apparent at all in the picture, glad to hear. It does still seem like the shoe should have been set back a bit, but if the rocker is far back enough that should do it.
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The rocker is this one: https://www.nanric.com/product-page/steel-full-rocker-shoe-each I’m working with Dr. Lordan from SRH in Ipswich.
The mare felt pretty good this morning, but it’s clear this is a huge change for her.
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Would a clean trax soak be softening? I thought those were mostly for cleaning ickies out of the whit line area?
that’s great to hear 
Be on the lookout for “lameness” that may really just be muscle soreness as she adjusts to a new way of moving. A lot of people think it’s all about the feet, when angles or breakover is changed, and just don’t understand that there’s a whole lot of muscle above that which is used to moving a certain way
You’re right, if that’s the sort of soaking you’re talking about, that could be useful. CT would be expensive for a regular thing, White Lighting would be cheaper, but CT certainly is very useful to get deeper into tissue
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