Posted by Lisa on February 11, 2003 at 16:04:57:
My four year old paint gelding has something strange going on with his coronary bands / hooves. The coronary bands are really flaky and scaly. All 4 feet seem to be affected. The skin here looks white and crusty. His hooves seem to be growing at a normal rate, however new growth is very soft. His hoof wall does not seem to be hardening as it grows out. This soft growth extends about 1.5" - 2" down from his coronary band. There seems to be a ridge here, then normal, hard hoof wall down to the bearing surface. He is shod routinely (every 6-8) weeks all the way around. He is not sore or off at all. I use him for dressage and trail riding. He is ridden on soft ground about 3 days per week and trail ridden on various terrain on the weekends. He is out on grass 24 /7 with coastal bermuda supplementation during the winter. He eats 4.5 pounds of a 12% protein pelleted feed twice daily. He is on Focus WT as he is a difficult keeper. My vet is coming out on Friday, however I'd like some input from those here too.