sassy - have you thought about doing this yourself? The feet are good enough that it wouldn’t take a whole lot of invested skill to do better by them. Now, if you need shoes, obviously that’s a different, bigger problem…
JB i’v done him before when i couldn’t find a good farrier,so yes i could do him again. The shoes part i could always resort to hoof boots,if needed.
He does have other issues he’s PPID & IR he is on pergolide.
I’m not talking about the dirt in the photo. But hey, it’s not gonna make or break my world if the OP takes my advice or not. It’s the internet, advice worth what ya paid for it…
[QUOTE=heronponie;8267603]
I’m not talking about the dirt in the photo. But hey, it’s not gonna make or break my world if the OP takes my advice or not. It’s the internet, advice worth what ya paid for it…[/QUOTE]
Horse has no thrush i clean his feet daily,so have no clue what you think is thrush or foot rot. Think id know if he had thrush,so think what you want i see those hoofs daily so think i’d know if he had infection in them…
heron - it’s just that we’re not seeing what you’re describing 
“rot” is not a term often used to describe feet unless it’s really obvious they are “rotting” - what do you mean, exactly? Where?
sassy, what’s he eating all together? His IR-ness may require different management to help improve his feet
He’s on tested hay,very picky eater so hard to find any kind of hard feed he’ll eat.
What’s the ESC, WSC, and starch? Is his weight such that he really doesn’t need more than forage?
Are you adding anything like Remission or Quiessence or SmartMetabo-Lean?
The ESC+ Starch is 8% got to look up what the WSC was. He’s on remission,vitamin E 2000 IU Ground flax 2oz i just put it in the remission and he eat its for most part.
No he needs more then just forage he’s thin right now,wont touch beet pulp. Everything i’v tryed he only eats for a short time,then quits eating it. Oh he also gets california trace.
Was raised on oats grass hay and a vit/min up until two years ago.
Will he eat, and can he tolerate, alfalfa pellets?
OK - I had a TB that had bad farrier work for years. I accept full responsibility - I was ignorant and the horse lived out in pasture and was not ridden and I thought it was normal to have slightly sore feet. Improved greatly when he got home and had great farrier trims. She does not take off any sole ever unless it’s actively shedding. She showed me how to rasp his feet in between her visits to keep them tidy. She felt like he might have pedal ostitis - did have xrays once and the vet was impressed at how good his feet looked for an older horse - just thin soles. He did well with either hard ground or slightly soft ground - terrible in persistent rain and mud. I did sole toughners intermittently and used hoof boots to ride when needed or rode barefoot. In the end he became persistantly lame and dispite my efforts (special hoof boots with pads) and bute I could not get him comfortable - he was in his 20’s - I decided to put him to sleep. He probably needed therapeutic shoeing which I had decided not to do with him because he lost shoes all the time and he hated being stalled, so no point doing xrays and prolonging his pain.
I won’t comment on your photos as I am far from an expert but if you are planning to keep the horse around a set of xrays (which I believe you said you have) and a trim/shoeing plan with a good farrier/vet is in order. If he is lame in shoes/pads currently sounds like perhaps the pads are putting pressure on his soles and hoof boots are not going to be much better. He needs something though to help him start healing his feet and a good farrier/vet are your best starting point.
That white foot is showing a lot of bruising, I would assume the others would be as well. Has he ever been treated aggressively and correctly for ulcers? That much persistent pain for over a year and you can pretty well guarantee he has them and the lack of appetite/unthriftyness generally could be attributed to that.
[QUOTE=Calamber;8268300]
That white foot is showing a lot of bruising, I would assume the others would be as well. Has he ever been treated aggressively and correctly for ulcers? That much persistent pain for over a year and you can pretty well guarantee he has them and the lack of appetite/unthriftyness generally could be attributed to that.[/QUOTE]
Yes he’s been treated for ulcers,its been since this march 2015 he’s been sore. Was sore over winter for a few months but got better,then came up sore again in march after he was shod with pads. Has pretty much stayed sore since,farrier kept trying to pare out concavity into his sole.
Yes other foot is just as bruised. JB he come up sore if fed alfalfa pellets so its a no go. silverdog thank you for you input hopefully my horses out come is a better one.
Is that white foot a front foot?
If you have the knowledge and time to trim him yourself, I’d be taking it over asap. As JB said, feet look generally simple enough, but that white foot needs… more foot. More properly balanced foot with bars addressed and sole left alone. The heel bulbs also look a bit underdeveloped, as if the horse isn’t using his heels well.
If you can get the diet sorted so that the horse is eating a minimalist yet nutritionally sound diet, and at the same time address what’s wrong with the feet (time will address a lot of that if you keep them balanced) I can’t see why he wouldn’t come around, at first glance.
I don’t see the signs of thrush/rot the heronponie sees, but if the horse isn’t using the back of his foot it is very possible he’s got something going on there. A few soaks wouldn’t hurt, might help.
Benefit to doing it yourself… you get to tweak weekly if necessary.
Good luck with him. Farrier frustration sent me down the road of learning myself years ago, and I continue to be so glad I did.
re: the alfalfa pellets, you might be surprised what he will tolerate diet wise once the feet are sorted out. I have a mare that was a crippled mess if she even sniffed alfalfa. Now that she’s home she’s on tim/alf cubes soaked twice daily and not a hint of inflammation. If the alfalfa will help him with weight/ulcers, don’t discount them forever, just until you get the situation in hand.
[QUOTE=Pehsness;8268588]
re: the alfalfa pellets, you might be surprised what he will tolerate diet wise once the feet are sorted out. I have a mare that was a crippled mess if she even sniffed alfalfa. Now that she’s home she’s on tim/alf cubes soaked twice daily and not a hint of inflammation. If the alfalfa will help him with weight/ulcers, don’t discount them forever, just until you get the situation in hand.[/QUOTE]
Thanks,even when he’s not having lameness issues he cant have alfalfa.He’s cushings and IR & very sensitive to starch or high sugars. I can sure soak his feet for thrush wont hurt him.
Honestly i see no thrush in any of his feet. I’am taking over trimming him i have the knowledge to do so.
the white foot is his front foot dark foot is also front foot. where can i find a good hoof knife?? He’s had poor farrier work now for over a year, so i have last farrier’s mess to fix now.
I learned with and still use the F Dick knives. Still using the first set(s) (they’re addictive) I bought years ago, though the blades are getting thin on some of them! 
I haven’t had to buy knew ones in a long time, but when I did I think I just googled them and ordered them, paid about $30/knife.
Blade and handle style are probably things that you need to test out before setting on one you like… but I’ve never bothered trying anything else (except the cheapies from TSC, not worth it)
[QUOTE=Pehsness;8268805]
I learned with and still use the F Dick knives. Still using the first set(s) (they’re addictive) I bought years ago, though the blades are getting thin on some of them! I haven’t had to buy knew ones in a long time, but when I did I think I just googled them and ordered them, paid about $30/knife.
Blade and handle style are probably things that you need to test out before setting on one you like… but I’ve never bothered trying anything else (except the cheapies from TSC, not worth it)[/QUOTE]
Thank you,knife i have now is not great.
I love The Knife.
I wouldn’t be soaking these feet. You can apply some thrush stuff if you want, but I’d limit it to the central sulcus area as that is really the only place I see where things could be hiding.
One of the great myths is that alfalfa is high in sugars. Here’s a link to papers presented by Standlee. Look for the “Low Forage Options” paper further down on the list.
http://standleeforage.com/nutrition/information/nutritional-papers
If may be some other reason he can’t have alfalfa, but high sugars shouldn’t be one of them.
But, it IS true that some IR horses don’t tolerate alfalfa, possibly due to the fructans.
