Belgian mare with big cracks

[jddance8598]

I am new to this so bear with me please. We have a 16 yr. old, 18.2 hh Belgian mare that is from an Amish farm. She is a wonderful horse, but has terrible cracks and her hooves are flared. We were told that she had shoes on before that cause the hoof to flare so that they have better footing to pull the farm equipment(???). I had one farrier who told me I had to get rid of her because there was no fixing them. My husband has been filing them once every week or two and they are looking good for the most part. Our regular farrier was injured so we are waiting on him. The biggest problem is the cracks some of them have chunks missing.... does anyone have any idea how we can help her? She is not in any pain as far as we can tell. She loves to get out and pull our cart and hear her hooves on the concrete.... (we try to keep her in the grass). Any suggestions on what to do please let me know. Thank you.

[Forgewizard]

Are you new to horses? Or just new to this forum?

Yup, I've heard that same absurd statement about draft horses needing splatttered hooves - so they don't sink into the plowed ground; and that the chips and chunks give them traction. It is a LIE! Period.

A draft horse hoof needs the same alignment and shape as regular horse- just the draft hoof is much larger!

Photos would really help. But you may be surprised that allowing her to travel on the concrete will actually trim her hooves quite nicely for you. As long as she isn't showing signs of lameness or is always trying to get OFF the hard road and onto the grass, let the concrete abrade her excess hoof.

But ideally you need a draft horse farrier to look at her hoves ASAP! Just letting her wear her own hooves down without them being properly aligned and levelled and balanced can create tremendous problems you DON'T want to deal with!

call your hurt farrier to see if he has a stand in, or knows an interim farrier that can tend to the horse until he gets back on his feet.

Regards,
Kim