Left hind
If it will help I can add the copper and zinc. Cost is not a real issue per se, I mean nothing crazy but I just spent $1k on X rays and he’s already on a hoof supps, what’s another? Recommendations?
I should also say he is on 4000 IU Santa Cruz Natural E powder daily. All mine are when the grass starts to go in the fall.
It might be worth investigating this guy’s selenium status?
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If you are feeding 3 lbs of TC Balancer, I don’t think Selenium is the issue. That is more Selenium than I’d prefer to feed. TC Balancer recommends lower feeding rates than something like Purina Enrich because they use higher amounts of certain nutrients. I would be more comfortable feeding 3 lbs of Enrich versus 3 lbs of TC Balancer
What is the horse’s environment like? I’m not sure about the stringiness you describe but I’ve had these superficial vertical cracks develop in certain environments such as going from extremes like wet to dry frequently.
Yeah, high selenium can cause shelly, weak hooves.
Depending on the environmental sources here, my concern is selenium chronically too high.
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Man. What a puzzle. I’m wondering about selenium too. I’m hopeful you can get to the bottom of this.
3lb is a lot for any of those, especially Essential K with its high Vit A content. I’d rather see him on a label-appropriate amount for the nutrition, then add alfalfa pellets for calories (assuming an all/mostly grass forage diet), OR, switch to a regular feed and use the lowest feeding amount so you get nutrition with more calories
TC Balancer and Tribute EK are both 300ppm copper, which is 136mg per pound. Yes, that alone is above what’s required, adding in the 91 from the FFDS is even more, but see above on the issue of various metabolic efficiencies. I’m still not saying you DO need more, but you might, since nothing so far shows you’re really up in the high end where “more is just more”
ppm is parts per million, which is milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg is also how ppm is sometimes listed). Since there are 2.2lb in 1kg, just divide the ppm number by 2.2 to get mg/lb. 300ppm is then 300mg/kg which is 300/2.2 mg/lb = 136mg/lb From there, if you feed 3lb, multiply by 3, if you feed 2 ounces divide by 8
TC Balancer is 4.4ppm Se, which is 2mg/lb which is 6mg in your 3lb. Unless you’re in an area where forage is already quite high, that’s really not putting you into toxic territory at all. Generally, toxicity is in the 2mg/kg dry matter range. If he’s 700lb and eating 14lb of forage, which is 6.36kg, then his toxic range is around 12.7mg/day, double what the feed has, and it’s highly, highly unlikely his forage is providing another 6+mg. And, if he’s not experiencing any mane or tail issues, Se toxicity isn’t likely, as it tends to cause problems there as well as the feet, not just one or the other. BUT, at this point it’s something I would check - simply blood test, cost varies a lot, but worth it right now. If he comes back normal to high normal, then you’re fine, though I wouldn’t keep feeding 3lb of TC Balancer, and not even 3lb of Tribute EK not because of the Se, but because at 30,000IU/lb of Vit A, that’s 90,000IU. The upper safe limit is around 16,000IU/kg dry matter, which is 101,818IU when considering 14lb of hay, so it’s really pushing the upper limits. Tribute has been asked about that numerous times by several PhD nutritionists and they ignore it.
**yes, I know hay and grass are consumed “as fed” which includes water, so 14lb of hay is really a bit less than that on a DM basis. If it’s 85% moisture, then it’s really11.9lb dry matter, but I don’t know the moisture content of the hay here, so take that for what it’s worth. It also really should include the ration balancer amount, but I also don’t know that moisture content.
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Yes, I meant I don’t think the horse is selenium deficient. The feeding rates are all going to vary though between TC, Enrich and Tribute so depends a lot on what’s currently fed. I believe OP said they switched between the 3.
The problem is that both a deficiency, and a toxicity issue, cause the same symptoms. But generally, the issues don’t show up just in the feet, it also affects mane and tail.
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He has a fabulously thick mane and tail, no issues there.
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His environment is generally good/dry. I have basically put enough stone dust everywhere with wear that he never stands in mud.
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A selenium issue is probably not very likely, but given that it can definitely affect the feet, and can make them really ill (to dead 
) it’s not a bad idea to pull some blood and just check that box before moving on to other possibilities.
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