Wussy Feet.. what else can I try?

[Meredith_Clark]

I have a lovely 6 year old warmblood I’m fortunate enough to have a lifelong free lease on. He’s massive (17.3) and a tank, and I adore him. He’s been here since Spring.

I own my farm which is mostly OTTBs and a few quarter horses, he sort of sticks out like a sore thumb, but I’m mostly finding I need to manage him differently. I’ve been having issues with abscesses and bruising and I can’t seem to get ahead of it.

His feet aren’t great, low soles, crackly. He wears shoes on all 4 and had pads in the spring but my farrier wanted to take them off for a while. He gets SmartHoof Ultra and I’m now keeping him in at night (I’m in Maryland so it’s wet and muddy during the day and then everything freezes leaving ruts and divots at night)

I’m working on a bad abscess in his front, but when the vet checked that one she said he’s got some bruising on his hind feet too

At this point in the year I can’t do much about his turn out, everything is muddy and I fear putting down stone will just hurt his feet more. I really thought my years with OTTBs had made me a crappy feet expert but I can’t get his feeling better!

Any tips?

[wsmoak]

No results to report yet but my farrier asked me to try Jim Rickens Foot Formula #1

(Not for bruising, just because he’s got a couple of cracks that we don’t want fungus and crud getting into. But it says it’s also for bruising so… it came to mind.)

[IPEsq]

What else does he eat? It sounds like he’s got poor quality hoof at the moment and the wet/freeze conditions are not helping.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

Diet, diet, diet… can you test hay? what is his current diet? Low starch, low sugar diet is important for healthy feet and in most cases you need to at least supplement copper and zinc. Stay away from hoof supplements that have added iron. A few really good ones are California Trace, California Trace Plus, Vermont Blend and Hay Harmony. No topical is going to grow him a healthy foot, that all comes from diet.

Some pictures like shown below would be nice lateral shots as well as shots of bottoms. Setting the camera on the ground helps get an accurate lateral view of the hoof.

Is there any white line separation or thrush? Those would need to be treated as well. The Oxine soaks in the white line disease article will also treat thrush and any abscesses that have drained.

https://www.hoofrehab.com/Diet.html
https://www.hoofrehab.com/WhiteLineDisease.html

[S1969]

Pictures would help. Why did the farrier want to take the pads off?

My mare wears pads, but not usually in spring/summer when the ground is generally dry and predictable. The most necessary time for them is late fall, going into winter, because of freezing/thawing mud and ice. That’s a sole bruise waiting to happen.

[NaturallyHappy]

I’ve had good luck w Keratex Hoof Hardner.

[Akogler]

IME of many many years, the combination of Source and Equine Leg Magic make feet. You can practically hear them grow.

Just regular Source. ELM cam be ordered by phone, Dr Kelley has a website witha lot of good information about the product. I first heard about many years ago on UDBB and was so impressed its my go to. I put all clients on it and have many friends who have seen impressive changes. Its not expensive. Very rarely a horse doesnt like it but its worth going to some trouble to get it in them…applesauce, whatever. The have to grow out new wall but butt his combintion grows feet/wall/sole better than anything else on the market.

[JB]

Yep, let’s dig into his diet, and we always love good (good!) pics

Make sure the camera lens is low to the ground so you can get perpendicular to the middle - not top -of the dorsal and lateral views

[Meredith_Clark]

Thanks everyone !

I’ll take proper photos of his hooves this evening, but this is him (attached).

He eats 2lbs of Purina Impact Professional Pellets and 2lbs of Ultium twice a day. He gets a multivitamin supplement, and added Vit E. He gets free choice horse quality hay.

The feet problems have always been around, I lease him from his breeder so she knows him inside and out, but they’ve gotten worse this fall (this is the first fall he’s at my farm and the first fall he was out 24/7).

[Meredith_Clark]

This is us at his owners farm… NOT mine!

[Meredith_Clark]

This is a body shot (from this summer) at my farm.

[Meredith_Clark]

This is “his spot” at the hay feeder. We made a heavy use pad around it this summer so it’s not as muddy as some spots, but this weather has been miserable !

[BoyleHeightsKid]

@Meredith_Clark

This is us at his owners farm… NOT mine!

Handsome boy!

Is there a reason for feeding 2 different complete feeds? Normally you would make up any holes in nutrition by feeding a complete feed w/ a ration balancer if you’re not feeding at the recommended lbs per day of the complete feed… or all forage with a ration balancer to fill in holes in the diet…

The Impact is about 17.5% NSC and the Ultium is 17.5% while that’s not really high but a bit higher than I prefer. How is he as a keeper? Do you think he could do well on a hay/ration balancer diet? The copper and zinc in these feeds is pretty negligible for what they require a day, especially to balance out what is probably an abundance of iron in the diet.

What vitamin/mineral supplement is he on?

[S1969]

@Meredith_Clark

This is “his spot” at the hay feeder. We made a heavy use pad around it this summer so it’s not as muddy as some spots, but this weather has been miserable !

So he’s barefoot now? I can’t see shoes, anyway.

So his not so great feet have gotten worse being out 24/7 and with pads removed and possibly barefoot?

If that’s the case, I would put him in shoes with pads for the winter.

[BoyleHeightsKid]

@S1969

@Meredith_Clark

This is “his spot” at the hay feeder. We made a heavy use pad around it this summer so it’s not as muddy as some spots, but this weather has been miserable !

So he’s barefoot now? I can’t see shoes, anyway.

So his not so great feet have gotten worse being out 24/7 and with pads removed and possibly barefoot?

If that’s the case, I would put him in shoes with pads for the winter.

OP sounds like he’s in shoes without pads.

[S1969]

@BoyleHeightsKid

OP sounds like he’s in shoes without pads.

That’s what I thought but I don’t see shoes in this picture. But maybe the mud is hiding them.

[Meredith_Clark]

Thank you! I adore him

So in the morning before work the horses are fed on the fence, he’s in a field with 2 very easy keeping quarter horses. They are his minions and he loves them.

I’m a full time teacher (of human children- math) and have a lesson program of about 30 students (human children-how to ride horses). My husband helps but is not yet a full-fledged “horse person” For management purposes it’s easy to tell my husband “give everyone a scoop”, they all get the same thing on the fence line and life is good (the Purina Impact)

When I feed in the evening he gets the Ultium for the extra calories as well as his supplements. That’s when I bring him in, clean his feet, etc.

I wouldn’t call him a “hard keeper” but he’s not as easy as his qh buddies. He tends to get a ulcer-y under stress and that is being treated as well.

He is on MVP Mega Cell and SmartPak’s vit E and SmartPak hoof supplement.

[Meredith_Clark]

He is not barefoot… he is in 4 shoes with no pads. The mud is hiding them. I’ll take proper photos tonight !

[BoyleHeightsKid]

@Meredith_Clark

Thank you! I adore him

So in the morning before work the horses are fed on the fence, he’s in a field with 2 very easy keeping quarter horses. They are his minions and he loves them.

I’m a full time teacher (of human children- math) and have a lesson program of about 30 students (human children-how to ride horses). My husband helps but is not yet a full-fledged “horse person” For management purposes it’s easy to tell my husband “give everyone a scoop”, they all get the same thing on the fence line and life is good (the Purina Impact)

When I feed in the evening he gets the Ultium for the extra calories as well as his supplements. That’s when I bring him in, clean his feet, etc.

I wouldn’t call him a “hard keeper” but he’s not as easy as his qh buddies. He tends to get a ulcer-y under stress and that is being treated as well.

He is on MVP Mega Cell and SmartPak’s vit E and SmartPak hoof supplement.

It’s very easy to see why you adore him

So for him to get the required nutrition from either feed, depending on how much work he’s in he would need (let’s say he’s in “moderate” work) 8.5 lbs of the Ultium a day or (since he’s a big boy) 7.75lbs of the Impact a day. I’m guessing since he’s only getting 2lbs a day of each, following the feeding guidelines for either of these feeds would be too much for him. Are you set on Purina and do you feed the recommended 2oz daily serving of the MegaCell? Maybe you could prepare his ahead of time to keep things easy for hubby. This guy seems to need more support in different areas than the QH’s. And maybe we can save you a little money by switching to Vermont Blend (or similar) in place of the megacell and the hoof supplement.

I do think it’s a good idea to keep him in at night to give his feet a chance to dry out. Once we see what you’ve got going on we can help you further.

[Meredith_Clark]

He gets 4lbs of the Impact in the AM and 2lbs of Impact and 2lbs of Ultium in the evening. So 8lbs total grain. He also gets soaked alfalfa cubes now when I bring him in.

Sorry if that wasnt’ clear with the amount of feed!