Nutrition for the Hoof

[mintano]

I imagine this has been done to death…but here I am posting about it anyway!

My 16yo OTTB has pretty crappy feet and they have been this way since I bought her as a 4yo off the track. She has 4 shoes with rim pads up front and lives outside 24/7(started living out 24/7 about 5 years ago). For a few years I had her on Farrier’s Formula with no real difference, the biggest difference came with the farrier switch about 8 years ago.

Her feet are at their best during non-fly season (obviously). When the ground gets hard and the fly stomping starts her feet FALL apart. Shoes will fall off if she goes longer than 2-3 weeks and her foot just crumbles. At another’s suggestion I started her on Reithoof September 1st so she’s going on 7 months on it. I haven’t really noticed any difference in her feet, they haven’t gotten worse but I started the Reithoof in September, which is when her feet usually turn around anyway.

I have been hemming and hawing over different things to do with her, she rarely gets ridden so I’ve toyed with the idea of transitioning to barefoot. Dilemma there is that her feet are so weak and she is VERY sensitive in her sole. She will get sore if she doesn’t have the rim pads. I have in the past taken off her hinds shoes with some success but over time they just wear down to nubs. About 2 years ago a friend of mine leased her for a time at a different farm. No idea why but her hind feet blew apart and she got massively bruised in both feet so hind shoes went back on. I’ve had her back for a year and a half now and her hind feet still aren’t right. When I get a chance I’ll get some pictures of what they look like. She also is quite pigeon-toed and as a result the shape of her feet is a bit warped making me wonder if that will be another factor. On top of all these issues I wonder about going barefoot seeing as she has had shoes on for about 14 years as she raced as a 2yo and she’s always been shod with me. I worry that trying to go barefoot after all this time would be impossible.

I have no problem leaving her fully shod for the rest of her life, but certainly my wallet would be a lot happier without having to shell out $250 every 2-6 weeks depending on the condition of her feet! So I come to COTH for opinions, suggestions and ideas!

Edit: Realized the title isn’t really what the post is about but would love to hear about opinions on nutrition for the hoof as well!

[csaper58]

It takes a year to grow enough hoof to see if a supplement is making a difference. So you may be expecting results to soon. I find that eliminating sugar from the diet, providing proper nutrition, and keeping moisture in the foot at a consistent level are all very important.

[Muppet]

Diet definitely plays a big part, as said by csaper58. I’ve seen amazing results by cutting out sugar and having them on a fairly plain diet with a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement. Foot supplements are a tricky one but in your case I think it could be worth persisting with one to see if it will help.
I think it is possible to transition to barefoot but be aware it can take some time to get her sound and comfortable barefoot. I feel like a lot of horses with bad feet just have the problem masked with shoes but it’s not really treating the problem. A friend of mine recently transitioned her horse after being in shoes for about 10 years. His feet were also falling apart and he had some painful months with a lot of care (especially daily soaking) but now, 6 months later, his hooves are in amazing condition. I think the key is to use a proper barefoot trimmer, not just a farrier. It’s so hard to know what is best for them!

[Frizzle]

http://www.naturalhorsetrim.com/FEEDING%20THE%20HOOF,%20Dr.%20Kellon.pdf

[ryansgirl]

My OTTB mare is on Reithoof - for about two years now. We had to deal with laminitis so you can only imagine what her foot looked like when this happened (only one front foot was affected). That along with an amazing farrier (who I switched too after this happened as she is highly recommended from a well-respected equine hospital) you can’t even tell the difference in her feet. She is barefoot and doing great (knock on wood!). It does take awhile to see a difference in hoof quality - a good year typically to grow out completely so it takes time.

Have you tried putting fly wraps on your mare during fly season? Those are a huge help and basically stops all foot stomping. My mare wears them daily once fly season starts and is much happier!

[Flash44]

Agree that it is diet related. Hoof wall is made of keratin, which is a protein, so you need plenty of top quality protein. A good fat source will help maintain the pliability of the hoof wall. I get skinny ottbs in with crappy feet, and they always turn around within 60 days on a diet of good hay/pasture, Triple Crown Senior (6-9 lbs a day) and flax. And I pull shoes.

The biggest problem you are facing is wetness. Water will make the hoof expand, and the hoof will contract when it dries out. Think of a piece of wood that constantly gets wet, then dries, and eventually becomes brittle, warped, cracked. That is what is going on with your horse’s hooves. I’d paint hoof oil on her feet at least once a day to help maintain pliability.

[missyclare]

Hey Frizzle…

Can you post that link again? Not working and this is the information that the OP really needs to see.
I have probably read this article in the past, because I’ve been a student of Dr. Kellon’s and have been barefoot trimming for 20 years, but I would still like to see it and so should everyone else here.
If anyone ever gets the opportunity to hear Dr. Kellon speak, the answer is yes, with perked ears and full attention…on any subject she’s speaking on.
Good post! Just gotta get that link working, cause I know it will be gold.

[Frizzle]

MissyClare, the link works for me when I click it. Is anyone else having problems? The article is called Feeding The Hoof.

[mintano]

Thank you all for the replies, and Frizzle, for the link, am reading it now and saving it!

Csaper58 - I did figure I am probably hoping for results quicker than they will actually show. The Reithoof can only do her good so I definitely will be keeping her on it, the real test will be when the hot weather comes. By then she’ll have almost been on it for a year so hopefully we’ll see results!

Muppet - I imagine transitioning to barefoot for her would take lots of time and care, not fun for us or the horse along the way but worth it in the end! We often have racehorses retiring at the farm and some handle going barefoot better than others (obviously). Haha. Not sure if that’s the route I’ll go, going to talk with my vet and farrier about it. My boss is my vet and my horses live at the clinic so she’ll have plenty of expert care if I do decide to go this route.

Ryansgirl - I have heard really great things about the Reithoof, it’s probably the best hoof supplement I’ve seen with regards to the amounts of biotin, methionine, lysine etc. And you really can’t beat the price! I finally tried fly boots towards the end of last summer (stupid me not thinking of it years ago…!) and I think they definitely did help. They will be going on the minute the stomping starts this year!

Flash44 - Wetness is a BIG problem. Where she lives outside they have 2 fields, to get from one to the other they have to go through a stream so her feet are constantly going from dry to wet even more so than most horses who live out…

Missyclare - The article works fine for me. Haven’t read it yet but it’s just what I was looking for in regards to learning about nutrition for supporting the hoof!

[Cindyg]

I posted about this on my horse’s blog recently. Lots of good information in the comments under the picture, including links to Dr. Kellon.

[mariah]

Although it will be a fragile process to go barefoot, you will likely see drastic results. One of the big hindrances of a shoe is not allowing the blood to flow as nature intended in the hoof. Once the heel and frog make contact with the ground again and get blood circulating in the digital cushion and lateral cartilages, this will likely make big changes for overall health. Try some hoof boots or alternative shoes, like the EasyShoes, to make the transition easier. The boots will also help to keep the hoof from extreme wet-to-dry conditions that occur this time of year.

[JB]

Shoes do not hinder blood flow to the foot when the foot is trimmed properly and the shoes applied properly.

A frog doesn’t need to make contact with the ground in order to have the stimulation it needs. Pads can do make sure the frog gets proper stimulation without constantly applying pressure.

About the worst thing with even the best applied shoes to the most well-trimmed feet is constant moisture, or a regular wet-dry cycle. Regular expansion and contraction of the nail holes leads to issues in many cases. Being water-logged all the time isn’t good for any foot, but when you add shoes it can exacerbate things.

Without pictures it’s impossible to have any opinion whether this horse’s issues are possibly dietary, obviously farrier-related, possibly genetic, etc.

I don’t know any boot that will keep a foot completely dry in mud season. Boots also tend to hold moisture, so even in situations where a boot simply has to be on 24x7 or close, it takes a lot of work to keep things dry enough - lots of Gold Bond-like powder, some time to physically dry out, etc.