soon no hoof left & descending P3

[teddysheep]

Please can you give some advice about our 23y 16.2hh ex-racehorse Jaffa. He had poor feet anyway when we got him (like a typical English Thoroughbred)but recently the situation has got a lot worse.
Hi feet are always chipping & cracking, he has very thin walls & thin soles. We have a very good farrier & now the only shoe he can put on is a glue on because there's nothing left to nail to. The situation now is that in both front feet there is a bulge around p3, the hoof is very ragged at the bottom & he has white line disease (its black where it should be white). My farrier has put Imprint shoes on for the last 2 shoeings because of the descending p3 but the situation doesn't look much better. As my vet says, its a catch 22 situation - we need the shoes off & to aggressively treat the white line disease but on the other hand my farrier doesn't want to leave him without them because p3 is dropping! Also, we cant use the hoof disinfectant with the shoes on (from Life data labs) because the farrier says it will get under the Imprint glue & take the shoe off - we cant win!

The only good thing in this is that Jaffa is not lame either in the field or on rides & is willing to trot & canter on soft ground. We just feel at a loss & the whole time Jaffa is getting worse.

He has been fed Farriers Formula supplement for 3 months with no visible improvement. His feed is currently a high fibre chop which is fully balanced, high fibre nuts & sugar beet (we are in the UK)

We'd be so grateful for any advice as we're very worried.
Thankyou

[cynthia-jay]

You didn't mention the type of enviromentals involved in regaurds to pasture stall and bedding among other factors effecting his hooves.( wet to dry conditions)
this combined with a balance problem may be playing havoc with the chipping and cracking you are experiancing. The choice of nails and where they were in the shoes may also be growing out.
I am not familiar with your feed program ,here in the States it is usually a grain/hay combo or a ready mixed feed.
Not only does the horse sound to have a poor hoof quality at this time but a possible balance problem as well.
best to you,
as always,
Jay

[dean selvey]

a bulge around p3, descending p3, how did you determine that without rad. im not sure that just because the whiteline is black and not white that you have a bad case of whiteline. enviroment is abig factor jay mentioned. i know there are farriers in the u.k. that have nbs exp. ask cody to refer one to you.

[Rick Burten]

If you have not already done so, you need to have your horse tested for Insulin Resistance and Cushings Syndrome/Disease.

I think you should quit riding him until you have a diagnosis and a management/care protocol inplace.

Aluminum or steel open toe egg bar shoes or open toe egg bar/heart bar shoes can be glued to his hooves, providing both support and access to the infected area. If the non-heart bar configuration is used, the foot, from the apex of the frog rearward must have an alternative method of support(impression material, Equi-pak, etc) added to the package to support the frog, bars, and commissures.

Feeding a supplement for only three months will not produce any positive results. It takes a year or more for most horses to completely grow a new hoof capsule and there is not much you are going to do for that which is already existant and growing down.

Your feed needs to be analyzed for nutrient content. You will most likely be best served by feeding a diet lower in carbohydrates /sugars and higher in protein, especially if your horse turns out to be IR or Cushings positive.

Rick