Weather conditions and hooves?

[ravensgate]

Ok, this might be a truly **** question. I know that if you go through periods of rain and mud, you have a higher chance of thrush. So, what happens to the hooves when you are in a severe drought???? I am having a hell of a time right now. Seems like every day someone has a new chip out of their hoof. We are 10" below normal for rainfall for the year. Hasn't rained in over a month.

Horses are on Biotin supplements. I had a couple on Keratex, but I am not sure if that may be drying their hooves out further (cause they are still chipping). Their soles look hard and dry. Is there anything I can do? Nobody is lame or anything and the farrier is coming next week.

I have heard some say hoof oil is a waste of money. What say you?

Thanks in advance!

[Gary Hill]

I prefer horses feet to be dry compared to wet. A foot will absorb water if it is standing in it. The foot will soften and swell alittle and any little sharp object they step on can introduce bacteria into the sole or frog and produce thrush or abcess . Bruises show up also due to the softeness of the whole hoof. Excessively dry feet are of course going to have the complete opposite problems in that the feet will slightly contract but they are stronger in the long run. If you are worried about the feet being too dry, then I would let the water troughs run over and make a small mudpuddle they at least get their front feet in daily. The hinds seem to hydrate by stepping into f e c a l matter and it with its moisture do enough to help there.

[ravensgate]

I prefer horses feet to be dry compared to wet. A foot will absorb water if it is standing in it. The foot will soften and swell alittle and any little sharp object they step on can introduce bacteria into the sole or frog and produce thrush or abcess . Bruises show up also due to the softeness of the whole hoof. Excessively dry feet are of course going to have the complete opposite problems in that the feet will slightly contract but they are stronger in the long run. If you are worried about the feet being too dry, then I would let the water troughs run over and make a small mudpuddle they at least get their front feet in daily. The hinds seem to hydrate by stepping into f e c a l matter and it with its moisture do enough to help there.

Well good, cause I have been doing that so far. Of course, then they snort at the mud...heaven forbid they get their freakin feet wet. Jughead arabs.

Thanks for the advice and information. The hooves do seem hard...just chipping like crazy.

[caballus]

I agree with letting the trough overflow - I do that on a daily basis when the weather is dry (which isn't/hasn't been too often in New England for a few years!) in order to help moisturize the hooves. But, I might add something else to the equation as well. Hooves that are trimmed correctly will not chip in between farrier visits. (As long as the farrier visits are in reasonable timeframe of 5, 6 to 8 weeks; not 12 or more.) That is, of course, not absolute as it also depends upon the amount of movement the horse gets. Horses will self-trim nicely in dry environments when they're moving around alot either through exercise or self-movement. But if that is not happening then it is strongly encouraged to have the farrier trim the walls down to sole callous height and give a nice 45* bevel and mustang roll to the hooves. This will go a very long way in preventing chipping, cracking, etc. The walls are not designed to take on the horse's total weight bearing. They need to be able to share that loading weight with the white line. If there is wall that is excessively long then the leverage placed upon them during weight loading will pry them away from the "nail bed" (think of walking on your long fingernails. If they don't chip or crack to the point of solid connection they will then begin to be pried away from the nail bed. ... OUCH!) but if the walls are fairly strong then they will chip away, instead. Or, crack. So it's important to get the walls trimmed down sufficiently to avoid this.

--Gwen

[ravensgate]

I agree with letting the trough overflow - I do that on a daily basis when the weather is dry (which isn't/hasn't been too often in New England for a few years!) in order to help moisturize the hooves. But, I might add something else to the equation as well. Hooves that are trimmed correctly will not chip in between farrier visits. (As long as the farrier visits are in reasonable timeframe of 5, 6 to 8 weeks; not 12 or more.) That is, of course, not absolute as it also depends upon the amount of movement the horse gets. Horses will self-trim nicely in dry environments when they're moving around alot either through exercise or self-movement. But if that is not happening then it is strongly encouraged to have the farrier trim the walls down to sole callous height and give a nice 45* bevel and mustang roll to the hooves. This will go a very long way in preventing chipping, cracking, etc. The walls are not designed to take on the horse's total weight bearing. They need to be able to share that loading weight with the white line. If there is wall that is excessively long then the leverage placed upon them during weight loading will pry them away from the "nail bed" (think of walking on your long fingernails. If they don't chip or crack to the point of solid connection they will then begin to be pried away from the nail bed. ... OUCH!) but if the walls are fairly strong then they will chip away, instead. Or, crack. So it's important to get the walls trimmed down sufficiently to avoid this.

--Gwen


Yep, when she comes out I am going to make sure every horses feet are rolled. She rolled one of my mares that's prone to crack and chip and she held up strong at 8 weeks then as she grew out of course began to chip (went too long, I know). The other horses I noticed she didn't give them as much of a roll so I am definitely going to make sure that gets done. I do check the hooves right after the farrier trims them and they are trimmed level to the sole (well, a little bit over the sole maybe) and look great. I just switched farriers and this woman is night and day compared to my old farriers trims.

All of these chips literally JUST started happening as of a week and a half ago, on all 6 of my horses. So far I am only at 4 weeks since the last trim on 3 of them, and the other 3 went a bit longer between trims. She comes out next week. I might mention, that the majority of the chips popping up on everyone are all on the right hind in the quarter, except for one who has a chip out of the left hind (quarter area as well). I am used to getting some chipping on the fronts when they grow out but not on the backs.

I plan on taking my camera up when she comes so I can post pics of the hooves. I'd hate to love my farrier so much if she isn't doing a good job. I, being a measely horse owner, don't really know what all to look for.

[caballus]

Since you mention the qtrs ... Many will shorten the walls and roll them but leave the qtrs. the same height as the rest of the wall. If the sole has an 'arch' to it then the walls should also. This means a slight "scooping" of the qtrs when rasping so the hooves, when viewed from the sides, will have a slight "arch" to them along about the region of the quarters. That can make alot of difference! You can find out what to look for in terms of balance, etc. by an article on www.barefoottrim.com (yeah, its my site .. not trying to "advertise" it but the article IS very helpful) on what to look for in a balanced hoof ... enjoy and compare.

--Gwen