So after I have him trimmed and the shoes taken off, should I just put him out in the pasture,will his feet hold up or will they chip pretty bad and cause him to have sore feet, the pasture Is mostly grass.
He’s on a low starch and low sugar grain, blue seal sentinel ls, alfalfa/Timothy hay cubes and grass hay
He will probably be sore for a while because he’s got to have thin soles with toes and heels like that. You’re almost gonna have to pull the shoes and see how he tolerates it, then be ready with a plan B. But first you need to find someone else work on those feet. I wouldn’t let that farrier touch them again unless it’s to take the shoes off.
I want people to Prepare for shoe-pull day. To just do it now is cruel. Keratex Daily without fail. Be prepared with boots of any kind… I’ll even cut out pieces of garden kneeling pad to tape on.
Yes, they’ll chip. The hoof was is not connected to anything, so it’ll break off.
A good bevel on shoe-pull day and then continued tweaking of that wall at ground level will be needed.
I checked the PDF on Sentinel. It ranges from 17% to 23% Non-Structural Carbohydrates (NSC). That’s too high, especially when added to the alfalfa. See if Blue Seal offers a ration balancer, perhaps, that’s 15% NSC or less… less being better.
Note that you still need a farrier that can trim the horse properly, and frequently, if you try the barefoot route.
Agreed. Changing diet isn’t enough if your farrier still sucks. And even with a good diet and good farrier, you may still struggle.
I agree about the need for a plan before pulling shoes - good farrier, boots, Keratix, packing, time off from work, etc. And a long-term plan. If horse is not sound barefoot by XXX date…what will you do? (Assuming this is a horse is in work, where there is some expectation that it will be able to be ridden, and not just turned out on grass for the rest of the year.)
Right on. Do you want to give this horse time to give him his feet back? It won’t be a quick rehab without the whole picture changing… from feed, to movement, to hoof care practitioner.
Another thing to perhaps consider is getting some x-rays so you can see the full picture of what’s going on with this guy’s feet.
My mare has Foot Problems™ :lol: - A combo of not-great raw material to work with (shallow sole, thin wall), internal issues (minor issues with navicular bone), and farrier work that was not working well for her feet.
With X-rays, we were able to see exactly what was going on internally. I tried to work with my existing farrier on the issues but it wasn’t the right fit - so switched to someone new, got things sorted out. Even after the first trim, she was better, and now 8 months after starting down this road she is working super well, sound, and happy.
Having my farrier there with the vet while taking x-rays was the best possible thing we could have done. They were able to brainstorm different solutions and work together to get her in better shape.
Absent that - a better farrier and much shorter trim cycle is the place to start. 8 weeks is really quite long for most horses. It may seem like his feet “grow slow” but usually that means the heel is growing forward, running under, and the toe is creeping out all the while the angles are getting worse and worse. Not a recipe for a happy horse.
Good luck with your farrier search! Mine was no fun, but it was worth it in the end 
Please don’t let anyone convince you to take this horse barefoot. Definitely not now. Probably not ever. Doing so will cripple him.
What you need, as others have said, is a competent farrier to trim him correctly and show him appropriately.
No horse can go 8 weeks. The maximum is 6 weeks and some go 4 in the summer. Depends on the horse.
I also strongly recommend that you have your vet present at the same time as your new farrier.
This horse’s angles are so bad, his toes so long, and his heels so poor that he needs to have rads before the trim AND after the trim.
Be patient with him and make sure he’s comfortable after the first time with the new farrier.
His feet have been bad a long time, but it is what he’s used to. Even a fantastic, correct trim with shoes can make a horse sore. A good farrier will change things over a few cycles so that his tendons/ligaments/other soft tissue has time to adjust.
Good luck. Believe me, you will save yourself vet bills down the road!
There’s a feed that has less sugar and less starch, Seminole wellness dynasport, I was feeding it but it got expensive but I could go back to it,would this feed be better for his feet? He needs lots of calories so I can’t just take away the grain because he’s a hard keeper. I also orded the California trace mineral plus.
Nothing is going to help his feet until you get a different farrier.
There’s a new farrer coming friday, he’s a barefoot trimmer
Glad to hear that news. Please have realistic expectations. It will take multiple visits to correct these issues.
Great news that you found another farrier!
But, are you using a barefoot trimmer because you will take him barefoot? I agree with the prior poster who suggested that he get a good foot before trying barefoot. Especially if you are in rocky area. Either that of use some boots.
I once tried barefoot with my gelding, and he got so sore he colicked 3x over 2 weeks before I figured it out. (I know, I know, it sounds strange – but he wouldn’t colic on pasture, but sure as shooting colicked within a couple days of being on his DG stall. Reshod him and problem averted.)
Good luck
“DIET: NO Sugar! As low starch as humanly possible. Up the minerals, especially copper & zinc and check to make sure there’s no excess iron going in his body (i.e., water testing, all feeds etc). No more high sugar/starch grains. Simple, simple, simple diet. Free choice mixed-grass hay, pasture as tolerated”
I guess I must just be lucky. I breed, raised, trained, TBs, had lots of the same for others. Always fed a type of “sweet feed”. Always received compliments on the majority of our horse’s feet. Sure I had ones who’s feet were problematic. Born that way, Yes, there are management styles that help the situation. Some more than others.
But there is NO bases in Fact that low/no starch, no sugar is going to help let alone change things. I had the numbers to back up what I am saying. Along with numerous top farriers.
We had high levels of Iron in our water. Most rural wells do. But horse’s just like people do not, can not absorb Iron from water. Not my opinion by doctors and my vets.
“This horse must move. They hoof only grows as much as the body demands”
Not a lot of bases in fact with this either.
My current TB has terrible feet that have suffered through less than ideal farrier work across a number of farriers. I had him turned out on grass last summer and decided to try pulling his shoes…unfortunately I ended up with a dead lame horse with very little hoof. I moved him to a new local farm at the end of the summer and finally found his miracle farrier. We are still working on growing hoof and getting him correct, but he was sound in one shoeing. Mine is absolutely a 5-6 week rotation Horse and things start to fall apart if he goes longer. He notoriously pulls shoes if you get to the end of 6 weeks. His farrier also had me add DL-Methionine amino acid to his supplements
Much better!!!
I had a TB with miserable hoof problems that weren’t related to trims or farrier work. A fellow who was the president of the American Farriers Association suggested that I use Nu-Hoof Maximizer as a supplement, and it worked wonders on his feet after about six months. He went from constant thrush, shelly hoof walls and very thin sole to decent feet. This was years ago, but Nu-Hoof Maximizer is still sold. I can’t recommend it highly enough from my experience with it.
OP…something you can do is educate yourself to what a hoof SHOULD look like. So many feet out there (shod or not) are distorted. Also, IMO, 8 weeks is too long an interval, especially if you are trying to fix things.
New shoe job looks better. Now, stay on top of it.
Good luck.
Susan
I agree the updated photos are much better, but IMO the shoe can still be set back to help breakover and to support the heels more and I would go no longer than 5 weeks between resets, 6 being the very max but I think would be too long. You don’t want the feet getting really out of whack again before another reset.
Bell boots that are double thick at the bottom will help keep the shoes on so that he can be turned out. He needs to move.
@Callie1993 is this the same farrier?
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