Farrier out Friday, horse lame Sunday. Had a toe crack in right front and farrier got a little too aggressive trying to fix it. Not quite ready to fire the farrier (yet) as I do think it was an honest mistake and he’s new to trimming this horse (2nd time) so wasn’t sure how he would handle it. He is aware, and came back out Monday to assess and was going to try him in hoof boots (he sells Easy Boot gloves) but said horse is a thin skinned chestnut TB with 4 high whites and he was worried about the boots rubbing him with all that pink skin. I’ve been wrapping with Magic Cushion Extreme, Cotton packing, and vet wrap which is helping some. Getting Bute on board today (would have started earlier buy mine was very expired so pitched it and vet dropping more today). Horse is on 24/7 turnout on soft/sandy ground/pasture. We’ve had rain, so ground is not hard. What else can I do? Super bummed as he’s young and green and we were finally getting in a decent program 
Shoes? You can also glue on the gloves and ditch the gaiters.
Hoping not to jump right to shoes if I can help it just because I don’t want the already vulnerable hoof wall getting nails pounded in. Horse was sound barefoot prior to this trim. But will do shoes if that’s the best option. Farrier wants to wait a bit though.
Simkie-do you mean glue on something like this:
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=ef10698b-9c0a-48f4-90cb-fc895f181787&sfb=1&itemguid=bd55246e-a555-414a-b1d2-9f80cb810559&utm_content=39160&ccd=IFH003&CAWELAID=120295250000101835&CATARGETID=120295250000429065&cadevice=c&gclid=CJuFmIuL3tQCFUOHswod2YAIsA
Jim Rickens Hoof Care it’s for sore feet. Been in the same predicament as you, its what I use.
There are different of hoof hardeners out there to toughen up the soles. I forget some of the brands that I have on hand but could give that a try. I had a farrier one time trim my horse so short on all 4’s that my horse was in a founder stance. Sore for 8 weeks and had to have vet out. He was never welcomed back as he said he wanted it to last a little longer. Could try an easy boot? Personally I would go with a shoe but my horse goes best in shoes anyway. May take your horse a few days or a week, all depends on the individual horse for the hoof to grow some again. Now have to be careful you don’t get bruises or an abscess. Good luck!
How lame/sore? Any digital pulse or heat in the feet?
Mostly it’s a matter of time. It’s good that he has such soft footing.
Durasole painted on his soles might help - clean dry feet, paint it on several times a day for several days. You might be too wet for that to be perfect, but it could still help some.
The bute is definitely a good idea.
Depending on just how much too much was taken off, and how quickly his feet grow, it could take as little as week for him to feel comfortable again.
I’m with the farrier on not jumping to shoes. At this point, the walls are beveled (I assume, and hope) and things are already sore, which isn’t going to help in trying to nail on shoes.
You could cast the feet if the farrier knows how to do that. Adding a little copper sulphate-infused soft packing against the sole should feel good, as well as protect against any thrush that might try to start. The downside is if the horse decides that makes things worse, then getting casts off is not as quick and easy as taking a boot off. But if it provides instant comfort, you could be back to riding a happy horse in a day.
It is a myth that white feet are softer than dark feet. I’ve had two palominos with white feet that were the consistency of flint. It’s not a myth that TBs can have softer feet. I’ve only owned one and he required shoes to stay sound. I understand not all TBs are like this but many are.
Some horses need shoes; some don’t. You may have just had the first communication from your horse that they need shoes; but maybe not. Hoof growth in most horses is pretty steady and in the summer stronger than in the winter. So as noted above you’re going have to be generous with Tincture of Time. Durasole, bute, soft footing, and easy work in hand at no more than a walk can all be beneficial.
I would not fire the farrier over this unless they want to get aggressive with a rasp or nippers.
G.
Agreed, I didn’t mean the hoof is softer, I meant the white legs and pink skin could make the boots with gaiters problematic. Even the wrap I did with vetwrap and cotton has made his skin a little pinker. Going to stop wrapping altogether I think and try the Durasole or similar daily painted on soles/toes.
Time - soft footing - bute .
- can take a couple of weeks -
Yeah, that looks about right. They used to be called glove glue ons. If your farrier uses the regular glove boots, he probably is familiar with the glue ons. There’s also a glue on easy shoe now, too.
You can still pack the feet if he is stalled at all. Don’t secure the packing by taping up that high, though. Duct tape around the hoof should do it, but it won’t last long in turnout, especially wet. But that would solve your skin irritation issue.
I think MC is a mess, especially for a barefoot horse. I’ve switched to Rebound hoof packing. Although I’m traditionally a Forshner’s fan, in the cold weather we can get, it’s too hard to handle. Rebound is somewhere in the middle, and if you wet your hand or glove, it won’t stick to you (unlike MC). You would still want to wrap over it for barefoot, but IMO just as effective and less messy. Hawthorne’s is also good but more tar like and stinky.
Hopefully the Bute will help, but it could take a couple weeks before he starts to feel better. Also be cautious when you do ride again at first. I was riding a sensitive TB in a similar situation, and after he came sound, when I’d ride, he would still do something occasionally that must have stung, because he would suddenly go 3 legged lame. Like, immediately hop off and grab the leg kind of lame. But there would be nothing wrong that we could see/feel, and it would quickly resolve. We wound up just giving him some more time. And that horse was shod.
If you’re concerned about the MC sticking or irritating, slather a good coat of Vaseline over the heels before packing and wrapping. It has definitely been helpful when I pack (especially) bare feet.
Thanks, just ordered Rebound via Amazon Prime so will start that on Thursday. Vaseline is a great idea, too-thanks all!
Venice Turpentine.
This…time, some bute, no riding.
I’ve never had a horse sore from being over trimmed…is the horse lame on all 4 or just the one with the crack?
If you want to try the boots apply a generous layer of zinc ointment over his heels and pink skin. It’s messy, but helps protect the skin.
Beware of getting his feet too soft.
I too would not necessarily fire the farrier over this, unless it happens again. I had a friend who accepted that her horse was ouchy for 2-3 days after every trim. She had another farrier look at the horse and the answer was “I can’t help without putting shoes on.” My response was that if the horse is perfectly sound for the required work for five and a half weeks out of every six, it’s not a horse problem it’s a farrier problem. The farrier I recommended listened to the history and trimmed the horse, who failed to be sore for the customary few days following a trim.
Could the toe crack be turning into a gravel?
Reducine is often used to stimulate hoof growth. Apply full strength once every three days.
http://www.equimed.com/drugs-and-med…rence/reducine
At the bottom of the page there are two products pictured the Reducine Counter-irritant is the one for hoof growth.
With white legs and tender pink skin, I would use it very sparingly, until the way the horses skin tolerates the product is known.
If you have a counter-irritant (or liniment) you like and use often you could massage a little of that where the hoof and hair meet. Increasing blood flow to the cells that produce the hoof wall is the object.
I know a couple people who swear by acupuncture for increasing hoof growth.
And of course nutrition is very important for hoof growth.
One of the nasty practices of the Big Lick Walker world is “pressure shoeing.” That is where the farrier intentionally trims the horse too short to cause lameness and then a shoe or stack is added. It doesn’t leave chemical traces and is sometimes hard to accurately diagnose.
G.
If you’re using the MC extreme, you could continue to pack the bottom of his foot with this and instead of wrapping with vet wrap etc., just take a handful of shavings (better if it’s small flaked shavings) and cover the bottom of his feet with that. From my experience, that tends to keep the packing in over night and falls out on it’s own later (sometimes as long as 24 hrs). I didn’t find it too messy either.
