suddenly (or not so suddenly) terrible hooves?

[ChampChomp]

Hello,
I’ve owned my pony for almost all of his 22 years of life. I have been pretty young that whole time and honestly not that informed on hoof care besides keeping them clean and watching for anything ‘off’. I’ve never been told by a farrier that he has bad hooves, and he’s never been lame, had issues, lost a shoe or even a nail his whole life. Except now!

For college he was leased out to my old barn as a lesson horse for 4 years. I kept in contact with them and visited on holidays - but nothing big ever happened to him health wise so I barely ever heard from them for 4 years. He just remained a sturdy short stirrup easy keeper to my knowledge.
I just had the opportunity to move him out to the southwest where I live now, 5 weeks ago. He seemed fine to me - nothing glaring, other than the effects of being an elderly lesson horse for 4 years had on his body (his poor poor topline…) and the fact he was a bit pudgy. Nothing outwardly wrong with his feet. He came with some feed - but I switched it maybe 3 1/2 weeks ago now because it ran out and I didn’t think he was getting much nutrition from it. He came from the east coast where he mostly ate grass year-round - and lived in a much more humid and wet environment. According to the schedule given to me by the lesson barn - he had a farrier do his feet only days before he was shipped out, and was on a 6-8week (mostly 8 week) schedule. So I didn’t think to get the new farrier here in the SW out to see him yet.

and now as of maybe a week and a half ago - the nightmare started. We had a particular hot and very very dry period of a few weeks and my horses hooves felt it. Around the nail holes little cracks started forming - nothing big or major yet. No loose nails, no chipping or crumbling yet. I put hoof care oil on them everyday and made sure to wet his feet (just a spritz) every other day. Seemed to work for a bit. I texted his old farrier on the east coast a picture, and he didn’t seem concerned. I still was worried, so I decided to text the farrier to come out a week ago - but knew it’d be a wait as I was obviously a new client - but didn’t really stress any importance as I thought it was all under control.

Pretty much immediately after I texted the farrier - both of his hind feet just… deteriorated. Both got a huge crack right along all the nail holes pretty deep. Not ‘emergency he’s falling apart’ deep, but ‘oh that’s NOT good’ deep. I just hoped the farrier could come out soon and we could talk about it. I was interested in pulling his hind shoes anyway, and I figured they’d need pulled regardless with this nonsense going on. They didn’t widen or deepen in a week but the damage was done. Shoes still attached and not loose amazingly. Noted that his front feet were just fine cracks-wise.

Barn owner texts me because I guess the farrier showed up and could fit him in, to tell me how awful and terrible his feet are. All 4 shoes need to come off. Hind hooves cracked horribly, front hooves at the exact wrong angle (long toe, heel bulbs getting low). She said he’s had terrible hoof care, nutrition, and his age doesn’t help. We are meeting today so I can hear what the farrier talked about - and what to do moving forward. But I am (I hope) understandably very upset that so much was wrong. I didn’t have him for 4 years - I have NO idea if his hoof care was adequate. So much went so so wrong so quickly. I don’t know if it’s the climate change, his poor nutrition, the sudden move, years of neglect or me royally screwing him over in just a few weeks - that’s wrong. I’m not trying to say this isn’t my fault, as I should have known and noticed, but I have no idea how much of this was in my immediate control or a result of my care.

I don’t know if anyone has any advice as far as hoof care going forward - dealing with suddenly extremely dry hooves, etc. but I’d really appreciate it. Or if you have similar stories of it all going downhill so fast (but yet, not)… I think it would help my poor pony and make me feel better

[Scribbler]

First your barn owner is a drama queen. None of this needed to go in a text. It’s not an emergency.

Second, you need to be in communication with the farrier, directly. And be there for appointments.

Third, you need to self educate fast on basic hoof care and angles.

I am sure there is nothing wrong with his feet that a few trims won’t fix. You can post photos here for comment.

It is totally common for heels to run forward in mediocre lesson horse shoeing and absolutely normal for hoof quality to change when you change climates. Don’t let this cow bully you into thinking you caused all this in 3 weeks.

It’s not unheard of when you move into a new barn for the manager/ owner/ trainer or just general barn bitch fellow boarder to do a big negative rant on care up to now because that destabilizes you, makes you anxious, and establishes a power dynamic where you seek their help. A friend of mine sent her horse to full care for one week and the barn owner/ self taught trimmer pulled this on her when there was nothing wrong with her horse at all. He just wanted her trim business. She was really pissed off and gives him a wide berth now.

[BatCoach]

@Scribbler

First your barn owner is a drama queen. None of this needed to go in a text. It’s not an emergency.

Second, you need to be in communication with the farrier, directly. And be there for appointments.

Third, you need to self educate fast on basic hoof care and angles.

I am sure there is nothing wrong with his feet that a few trims won’t fix. You can post photos here for comment.

It is totally common for heels to run forward in mediocre lesson horse shoeing and absolutely normal for hoof quality to change when you change climates. Don’t let this cow bully you into thinking you caused all this in 3 weeks.

It’s not unheard of when you move into a new barn for the manager/ owner/ trainer or just general barn bitch fellow boarder to do a big negative rant on care up to now because that destabilizes you, makes you anxious, and establishes a power dynamic where you seek their help. A friend of mine sent her horse to full care for one week and the barn owner/ self taught trimmer pulled this on her when there was nothing wrong with her horse at all. He just wanted her trim business. She was really pissed off and gives him a wide berth now.

Great advice here. I would contact the farrier directly and do what he/she recommends. Going from humid, damp east to dry SW can certainly effect hooves. I’m sure there are other management changes (levels of turn out, ground hardness etc) even aside from the feed change to factor in as well. Farrier might recommend hoof supplement or topical salve to help with condition. If BM is making you doubt the farrier, get a second one out for a second opinion, but I would be cautious in just going along with what BM says. BTDT.

[ChampChomp]

@Scribbler

First your barn owner is a drama queen. None of this needed to go in a text. It’s not an emergency.

Second, you need to be in communication with the farrier, directly. And be there for appointments.

Third, you need to self educate fast on basic hoof care and angles.

I am sure there is nothing wrong with his feet that a few trims won’t fix. You can post photos here for comment.

It is totally common for heels to run forward in mediocre lesson horse shoeing and absolutely normal for hoof quality to change when you change climates. Don’t let this cow bully you into thinking you caused all this in 3 weeks.

It’s not unheard of when you move into a new barn for the manager/ owner/ trainer or just general barn bitch fellow boarder to do a big negative rant on care up to now because that destabilizes you, makes you anxious, and establishes a power dynamic where you seek their help. A friend of mine sent her horse to full care for one week and the barn owner/ self taught trimmer pulled this on her when there was nothing wrong with her horse at all. He just wanted her trim business. She was really pissed off and gives him a wide berth now.

Yes, of course I need to meet with and talk to the farrier directly. I had texted him and we worked out a ‘maybe I can fit you in before next week’ but then randomly recieved all this during work on a Thursday. They also know I work from home so could’ve been there within 20 min…

This really makes me feel better… I mean I KNOW I need to get educated on hooves - I just falsely thought my education could start 5 weeks into re-recieving my pony when I talk to the farrier in person.
So far this barn has been ok - I’m well used to the bully tactics of the big hunter barns of the east, and decidedly moved west to a trail ride and chill barn for a reason. I think the BO is just gruff over text… but yes it freaked me out. There’s already been numerous times we’ve talked over phone/text and I’ve left feeling like ‘she hates me’ and then in person she’s nice as can be.

I just was so concerned I could do all this in such a short period and WAS a terrible neglectful owner… Thank you

[Redlei44]

Is he lame?

Agree with @Scribbler - this is not a 911 emergency worth panicking about, as you’ve described it. Horse needs a change, you’ll do that for him, done. Not uncommon at all to need to switch things up as the climate changes. Sounds like you’re already considering diet as well. Remember that it takes a year to grow a new hoof. Slow and steady is good here.

[ChampChomp]

@Redlei44

Is he lame?

Agree with @Scribbler - this is not a 911 emergency worth panicking about, as you’ve described it. Horse needs a change, you’ll do that for him, done. Not uncommon at all to need to switch things up as the climate changes. Sounds like you’re already considering diet as well. Remember that it takes a year to grow a new hoof. Slow and steady is good here.

Not lame at all - in fact, with the new feed and excerise plan he’s been feeling & moving better than when he was 12…

[DinkyDonk]

Stomping flies on hard dry ground will make any horse’s feet look like crap in short order.

[candyappy]

Surprisingly many horses spend their whole life with long toe/ low heels and never take a lame step in their life. It is a huge change going from a wet/ humid climate to dry/ arid and of course the feet are going to show it pretty quickly. Let the BO say what she wants, pretty much ignore her and just deal with and listen to the farrier. Hopefully he is a good one.

It doesn’t sound like either you or the place he was at while being a lesson horse did him any major harm. He was worked, shod regularly and obviously well fed . All you need to do is tweak his care a bit to cater to his age/needs and he will probably continue soldiering on just fine for years to come.

[Scribbler]

Some people are inadvertently toxic on social media but nice in person. They don’t have enough self awareness of how they come across in writing and will over stress points in am attempt to be clear.

I would suggest minimizing texting with this person, and talk in person. Tell her you prefer to chat in person and you don’t like texting or whatever. Don’t engage in any back and forth by text at all just say let’s talk when I’m down there.

I suspect barn owner is less knowledgeable than she pretends because a more knowledgeable person would know it was not an emergency and that reshaping the hooves will take several trim cycles.

If you are pulling his shoes in a hot dry place you might want to get him boots, even padded boots, for the transition.

[IPEsq]

If he’s getting good feed now and a better trim, things will improve. But please don’t wet his feet unnecessarily. That will not help with the cracking. You can use a hoof oil with some toughening agents like containing pine tar, venice turpentine, iodine. If you need to bathe him, the more water repellent the hoof oil the better (to keep the feet from getting wet). Maybe look into fly boots or something like that for the rest of the summer.

[Elsari]

@DinkyDonk

Stomping flies on hard dry ground will make any horse’s feet look like crap in short order.

May want to get him some fly boots if he’s stomping at flies. All that pounding adds up.

[Rosewatt]

There’s already been numerous times we’ve talked over phone/text and I’ve left feeling like ‘she hates me’ and then in person she’s nice as can be.
Why does this sound like the BM at the previous barn I was at. Hope it is just a failure of communication for you. Anyways…

As has already been stated, your case is not an emergency and I seriously doubt you contributed much at all to your horse’s state of hooves. It takes approximately 1 year for a whole hoof to grow out… 3 weeks is a very short time in comparison. The climate/other changes are certainly contributing more to his recent issues.

I’d definitely have an overall look at his nutrition, which will not only help long-term with hoof quality, but also your horse overall. Hoof quality and nutrition absolutely go hand in hand, so instead of just a hoof supplement, I’d actually recommend looking at everything, where possible. Hay analysis and a blood test would be best, but I know that is not always possible to do in every situation. Alternatively, you could do some reading and get to know what vitamins/minerals are high and low in your area, then look for a complete vitamin/mineral feed/supplement that fits those general high/lows. Hoof supplements can be great, but they also can potentially cause imbalances that compete with base nutrition, depending on what is in them and thus, can reduce efficiency or even counter absorbance of other minerals in the diet. And they are just more efficient when put on top of a balanced diet anyways.
There are some very knowledgeable people on here that could help you out there. Keep in mind that since the hooves take months - year to grow out top-bottom, It will be a matter of months before there is a perceivable difference in hoof quality. I’d particularly take notice to protein, amino acids and Copper:Zinc: Iron balance to help strengthen the hoof wall connection. Of course, there is much more than just that to look at

The long toe and low heels is unfortunately common in many farrier trims… it would also be exacerbated by longer trim cycles. Many horses actually benefit from shorter cycles and it can be easier to correct angles that way. I would shorten the cycles (<6 weeks) if possible to help back up the toe and allow the heel to come up.

Don’t worry too much about not knowing much about hoof care and angles. You’ll learn, but it will take time. And if you are looking at some books for it, then you might like “the essential hoof book: the complete modern guide to horse feet - anatomy, care and health, disease diagnosis and treatment”. Lots of information in that one.

[stargzng386]

@ChampChomp

Yes, of course I need to meet with and talk to the farrier directly. I had texted him and we worked out a ‘maybe I can fit you in before next week’ but then randomly received all this during work on a Thursday. They also know I work from home so could’ve been there within 20 min…

Please nip this in the bud NOW or else this will get significantly worse. The farrier should have called or texted you to schedule an appointment and if could squeeze you in should have contacted you and discussed this over the phone if you couldn’t make it there in time. Did he already pull all shoes and do a trim? Saying he just magically fit you in and here’s what your horse needs now through the barn owner is a tactic of the barn owner to control you, your horse and his care. You are the owner, you are the customer and the farrier is the provider. The only way the barn owner needs to be involved is when the farrier gives you a recommendation and you are asking the barn owner to make a change in feed, management etc. I specifically have my own farrier and vet where I establish that they are to contact me and me only or else they’ll lose my business. Obviously if there’s an emergency they can contact the barn owner. Honestly I’d fine a new farrier who you can go out and meet especially since you have the flexibility of wfh to be there with your horse each trim/shoeing. That’s the best way to learn more about your horse’s feet and ask questions to your farrier and build a good working relationship.

[gypsymare]

Take a deep breath.

Don’t worry about his feet being dry. Dry is good. Dry is hard. Dry after coming from a super wet environment will cause some cracking but it was the prior excess moisture that was the problem, not the current dryness. Balance up the trim, the diet and treat any fungal issues and he’ll adjust. Apply keratex hardener to the walls and durasole to the bottom and forget the water. BIG cracks usually have some funk going on behind them. Make sure all areas of white line disease are resected and treated.

With such a lack of top line and extra pudge I would assume he may have been in a nutrient poor diet that also affected the hoof quality.

Don’t beat yourself up. You can’t change the past and there’s no good in ruminating over it. The dry climate will take some adjustment for him but he’ll have harder, tougher feet than ever before.

Oh I miss the Southwest!!