Staying ahead of foot funk - what would you use?

[Satin_Filly]

I recently acquired a crossbred pony and while her bare feet weren’t in bad shape, they were in need of a trim. Trimmed on Saturday 6/22 and there was not much to take off, but here we are 4 days later and she’s still tender footed. The farrier recommended “Durasole” as a hardener and then “regular use” of a disinfectant to help prevent thrush and white line because the horses in this area are prone to it. Prior to me, pony was in a stall and turnout about 50/50. Pony lives out now and so do the others. The farm is not muddy, located in VA and the soil is clay based so takes a while to dry out and then gets quite hard. Then we have the daily occurrence of dew and very saturated feet in the morning.
Obviously I’d like to stay ahead of what sounds like inevitable foot funk - after some reading it seems like Durasole should do the trick for the immediate soreness and perhaps Keratex Hoof Hardener would suffice as a good preventative and moisture “barrier”? Or perhaps the Keratex hardener alone will do the trick- I’m just not sure how quickly it toughens the sole and is like to remedy that as quickly as possible so we can get to work.

Interested in other product suggestions and how you stay ahead of this stuff.

TIA 🙂

[Scribbler]

I find clay soil to be quite healthy for hooves. It’s like a leave in clay pack everyday.

I’ve never used the formalin based hoof preservatives. I’ve used iodine sprayed on or Blu Kote Gentian Violet spray to prevent incipient funk.

But if the horse has sore feet after a trim you need to figure out why. Is laminitis brewing? How long has pony been barefoot?

IMHO a horse that is uncomfortable barefoot on soft arena or pasture footing has something going wrong.

If the pony is just uncomfortable on lets say trotting gravel trails, get hoof boots if you don’t want to use shoes.

[Texarkana]

I’d suggest a more knowledgeable farrier maybe? (Ok, that was snarky)

But “areas” aren’t just prone to thrush and white line.

You know what horses in the area usually have in common? Diet + farrier.

Also, Durasole is not the correct answer for a horse who is sore 4+ days out from a trim. Again, the guilty party is usually diet and/or farrier. The pony may be getting laminitic, or the pony was over-trimmed. If it is the latter, Durasole might provide some minor relief… yet the farrier also needs to be a little more concerned about preventing this from happening again instead of just pointing you towards products.

[Marla_100]

Well I’ll be the bad guy and say it clearly. Your pony is probably sore because you have an untrained farrier who most likely

took off too much tender sole. Does she look too short? Did he use a hoof knife? He obviously caused the soreness in

my opinion.

[lorilu]

Magic Cushion until not sore. It stays in pretty well without being wrapped. Here in wet Florida, I like Grooms hand, spray and occasional use of plain old chlorox in a spray bottle… diluted. Or Chlorox Cleanup.

[george]

Don’t mix Durasol and Keratex. Read threads on here for both before deciding what product you want to use.
if you use one of these products, don’t use a product containing iodine for at least a week. There are tons of products for “funk” usually thrush, but that is a separate issue from thin or soft soles. A little more information about the problem, living conditions, and current care would probably result in more helpful directed advice.

[Postandrails]

What are her frogs like currently? Any signs of thrush? A horse can easily be more tender after a trim if they already have thrush and the trim puts the frogs back in contact with the ground.

Photos would be handy to see if there are any obvious reasons why the pony might be sore.

[PonyPenny]

I have never had a pony be foot sore after a trim. How bad were the feet before? Do you have any pictures?

[specifiedcupcake]

If the farrier takes off a load of sole and shaves the callus off the frog… she’s gonna be sore. That’s my main issue when a “farrier” trims a barefoot horse. The trim itself may be balanced but their need to “dress” a hoof and shave off the entire bottom is not very productive if you’re not slapping a shoe on.

Common culprits are also diet and thrush. I love a bit of keratex if it’s been wet and soles are soft, or if I’m growing out nail holes removing shoes to prevent worse chipping, but long term use causes retained sole which can bruise/abcess/etc. They’re supposed to exfoliate a bit and replenish. Kinda like scraping the dead skin off your feet when you get a pedicure.

If you actually have thrush (which CAN make barefoot horses surprisingly sore) I like Red Horse products. It’s basically clay or spray with eucalyptus and tea tree oils and it does a bang up job on anything that’s not bloody/rotten. I use the spray (sole cleanse) a couple times a week when i pick feet and ride, but prefer the clay (field paste) in the winter because it stays on longer. Also ironically I find NOT picking the hooves all the time in the winter helps, because they pack it full of clean field clay, the inner layer dries up and it just stays cleaner- better than picking, then the horse stands in poop, and then the poop stays in the hoof daily. I pick maybe once a week just to check up on frogs and sole in the winter as long as they’re going out because they’re a bit cleaner in the field than the stable.

[Satin_Filly]

Thank you all for the responses. Before we fire the farrier, let me fill in the blanks. Pony is a project, and doesn’t come with much history, so bear with me. She is just 4, I have had the pony and have been at this farm for just 10 days including today. I don’t know anything about said farrier. Everything in this scenario is new. When I received pony she needed a trim (but not horribly overdue) and also probably needs about 75 lbs put on (she is 14h). There is a very good chance her diet has not been spectacular. Again I don’t have all of the history.
Presently her diet is Blue Seal Dynasty Show and 24h pasture (fescue). I don’t see any evidence of foot funk. I’d like to keep it that way. The farrier said “she has nice feet, but they’re out of balance so I’m going to correct that”.
I really don’t think pony is laminitic. I DO think the farrier trimmed her too aggressively. I’ll get some pictures today.

[Obsidian_Fire]

The original, yellow Listerine (generic) works really good for anything ‘funk’. Venice Turpentine works good painted on the soles for toughening them up.
Aside from that I’ve used Hawthorne Sole Pack (the liquid kind, not the “pack” kind) I just paint it on with a brush all over the frog, heel bulbs, central sulcus area, etc.

[Natalie]

I like Farrier’s Fix oil for slightly sore feet that don’t have any significant thrush but are prone to it. You can paint the whole foot with it (including the sole).

For a full-on case of thrush, I had the best luck with No Trush powder when the culprit was interminable rain/mud. In drier conditions, Today/Tomorrow (cow mastitis treatment) is a perennial go-to that will usually nip it in the bud quickly.

I’ve been using Pure Sole hoof mud for a few weeks now whenever it’s been a bit wet/boggy–unless it’s super muddy, it tends to stay in for 2-3 days and is easy to apply.

Obviously, as everyone else said above, diet and good trimming will go the longest way towards getting a really healthy hoof (which you know). Of course, some horses just aren’t that comfortable barefoot, but you said you got her barefoot…which would also lead me to blame the farrier. The only time I would expect a healthy (no laminitis or whatever) horse to be foot sore days after a normal trim would be if you’d also just pulled shoes and the ground was particularly hard.

[Texarkana]

I am not necessarily trying to throw your farrier under the bus, but the more you add to the story, the less faith I have in your farrier.

The best farriers I have ever known are very skeptical of hoof products. There’s very little they would actually recommend.

The fair to middling farriers seem to recommend products to the point where you wonder if they own stock in all of these companies. They also seem very quick to blame the horse/owner/environment for any shortcomings in the hoof. You hear the same red flag statements from them repeatedly:
“He just has genetically bad feet.”
“You aren’t doing XYZ, that’s why his feet are bad. Try this product, that product, and this other product.”
“The bacteria/fungi that cause hoof funk are just in the ground around here.”

Just food for thought… it can be so hard to evaluate the quality of farrier work, especially since it can take several cycles to see changes. Podiatrist Dr. Debra Taylor (who I just love) said in a talk that most vets cannot distinguish a pathological hoof from a healthy one. If most farriers are trained to follow the same less-than-ideal practices, and most vets can’t tell when there is a problem, it doesn’t bode well for us horse owners!

[Scribbler]

@Satin Filly

Thank you all for the responses. Before we fire the farrier, let me fill in the blanks. Pony is a project, and doesn’t come with much history, so bear with me. She is just 4, I have had the pony and have been at this farm for just 10 days including today. I don’t know anything about said farrier. Everything in this scenario is new. When I received pony she needed a trim (but not horribly overdue) and also probably needs about 75 lbs put on (she is 14h). There is a very good chance her diet has not been spectacular. Again I don’t have all of the history.
Presently her diet is Blue Seal Dynasty Show and 24h pasture (fescue). I don’t see any evidence of foot funk. I’d like to keep it that way. The farrier said “she has nice feet, but they’re out of balance so I’m going to correct that”.
I really don’t think pony is laminitic. I DO think the farrier trimmed her too aggressively. I’ll get some pictures today.

Well, now you know this pony doesn’t tolerate aggressive trims. Sometimes it’s better to change balance over time. What did farrier think was wrong with balance?

If you know the pony was trimmed aggressively there is your answer. It will take a week or two for her to feel comfortable. Meanwhile your best bet is hoof boots. They are always good to have for barefoot horses, there will be excursions and seasons you need them and then times you don’t.

The foot funk is a red herring. IMHO there is something I call “imaginary thrush” that some barefoot trimmers keep as an all purpose excuse if they make your horse lame. They will take off too much sole and then have you applying apple cider vinegar or polysporin into infinity when the frogs are perfectly healthy, or just soft from rain.

[Marla_100]

If pony was overgrown, there’s nothing wrong with doing what looks to an untrained eye as doing an aggressive trim- meaning significantly shortened hoof. Within healthy parameters. That shouldn’t make pony sore.

But if in being “aggressive” untrained, unskilled trimmer digs out too much protective sole, well, there’s your problem. He may have used a knife or a rasp to take off too much protective sole.

The hoof is generally quite forgiving unless trimmer ventures into tender, nerve filled sole and does not know how to “read”
the hoof and the subtle physical clues of “What not to trim or take out too much of”.

See Pete Ramey’s blogs on this. He harps on this all the time. there is no reason for a pony/horse to be sore after a trim.

[Scribbler]

I also think that a big change in angle can make some horses sore for a few days, even if the trim itself isn’t too short. And a horse with fairly long walls can be sensitive to rough ground (not exactly sore) for a week or so after a trim as it adapts. That’s why it’s good to keep the trim up to date, so the horse gets used to more pressure on the sole.

But the OP has only had the pony ten days. We don’t know that the horse has been historically tough footed, or that she was ever ridden on trails barefoot.

I think OP should invest in some front hoof boots, which will make life so much easier.

Another question: have you considered that you could be seeing incipient laminitis since you have put a pony out on 24/7 pasture in early summer?

[Satin_Filly]

Im trying to get a picture to upload from my iPhone, but I continually get an error message.
To my eye the soles have a nice cup shape and it looks like the sole was not pared and not much wall was trimmed. The frog, however, looks like it was trimmed quite a bit. I know some farriers like to make them look “pretty” but I know enough to know that the frog usually is best left alone on barefoot horses (unless you have a good reason to trim it). I’m not an expert on feet and I leave that to the professionals who are and try to stay out of their way and not tell them how to do their job. That being said I realize there are varying degrees of skill and opinion and we’ll have to talk about not touching her frogs next time.
Meanwhile I have pony that is still a bit ouchy doing more than walking in the ring and the footing is unforgiving and obviously I can’t do any work like that. She comfortable in the field and is in general while walking around unless she steps on a small stone. Perhaps she will need shoes anyway due to the footing but I’m hoping not.

[S1969]

Ehhh……I’m going with the aggressive trim and/or possible laminitis.

There is no need to “stay ahead” of foot funk that your horse doesn’t have. I have super heavy clay soil and don’t even pick my horses feet on a regular basis…and no thrush or white line disease, ever. Not even after record setting rains this spring in New York.

My farrier trims all my horses’ frogs - to remove anything that can snag or encourage bacterial growth. He also takes dead sole off all my horses, who are all barefoot except for one. That is not a bad thing, or a “farrier” issue, or not knowing how to do a barefoot trim, and has never resulted in any of them being sore after a trim.

So…I would ask the farrier why he thinks the horse was sore. If the horse has thrush, ask him to show you where it is. Because yes, that can be painful. But if the horse does not have thrush now, a trim should not make it sore - unless the farrier is conducting some significant therapeutic change and presumably he would have forewarned you.

I would definitely consider diet. Pony + sore feet + summer = often is laminitis from pasture. 24/7 pasture can be pretty dangerous for many horses. A normal trim can definitely make a laminitc horse seem more sore.