its getting to that time of the year in australia where everything goes dry and dusty, no moisture in the ground what so ever. it also doesnt help when the ground is sand and clay. The ground is extremely hard in some parts and extremely soft sand in other parts and our horses suffer alot from the dryness. we have tried many different types of hoof oils in summer but nothing seems to help. their hooves grow faster and because of the dryness and heat, and the longer hooves, their poor hooves crack and chip so much !! does anyone have any suggestions for the summer months for their hooves? We are thinking of shoeing them through summer but that costs alot and the horses dont do much out of the paddock in the form of hard work anyway, but i dont know. i hope someone has some good suggestions!?
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Hi HelpLoveHorses - our farrier trims on a shorter 6 week cycle in summer and suggests we overflow the trough and saturate the ground each day so that when the horses go up for a drink they get some moisture on their feet. Not sure how your dry season is for supply of water but if you can waste some this way it is some help for their feet. Good nutrition supplemented with additional biotin and zinc can help. One gelding gets worse than the others so I keep a rasp handy and touch up the edges every couple weeks for him.
Hi, please don't shoe as an attempt to solve chipping hooves. Take a good look at the Join Up ith Farrier lessons and the discussion we had on barefoot trimming thread - everything you need to know is there.
okay ill try the water trough overflow but as it is the water costs alot of money and it dries up so quickly, but ill try it. Im going to put front shoes on one of my mares anyway because she is going to be jumped and ridden alot more but okay i will avoid shoeing, ill take a look at the lessons and see what i can find out and do :)
As i said in the barefoot thread - chipping feet mean they are too long, they need trimming much more frequently to stop them breaking up; 6 weeks is too long between trims for barefoot unless you have a perfect foot!!! They need re balancing even it they are not excessively long. One of mine is pigeon toed so wears the inside of her front toes a lot more than the outside, so the outer toe gets pointy so needs trimming back regularly.
Is NAF Hoof Moist available in Australia? It is a hoof moisturiser NOT an oil; it put's water into the hoof to help the dryness if applied regularly, there are other moisturisers available.
Oil will do nothing for the dryness, it prevents the hoof from breathing.
Hi HelpILoveHorses
We don't get the extreme heat like you, but have you tried having a large container with a lid that you can get the horses to put their feet in daily to help give them a bit more moisture, then put the lid on to save the water from evaporating?
Mel
x
Our horses are mainly rescues and are prone to mud fever, laminitis etc so putting their feet in a water bucket daily might not help, but another reason why I can't is because there are around 10 horses on the property so I would have to put 40 hooves in a water bucket daily which I don't have time for, i will try it with one of my non rescue horses though once a week and see what happens :)
I thoroughly recommend Leucillin for mud fever, thrush & any wound care you need; It is Hypochlorous acid, see my website for details: http://www.bforrestsaddlery.co.uk/prod_desc_Leucillin.html?sno=298#.UsQSVtJdXTo
I only sell in the UK
It is the best new product for many years & is changing the way we treat wounds.
My Libby got kicked in the eye last year by Ebby & it was swollen for more than 6 weeks; 2 vet visits later (& £166 worse off) it was just the same then i saw an advert for a free sample of Leucillin & liked the look of it so i tried it; i sprayed her eye in the evening & the following morning i couldn't believe that her eye was back to normal, clear, bright, no swelling, beautiful which i why i got a trade account.
The vet asked if her eye was ok after her visit & i told her no & about the Leucillin - it was met with stony silence!
This isn't self promotion, i want owners to know how good this product is for the horses sake!
What did the vet treatment entail Beryl?
testing for ulcer, that was clear & giving me a tube of antibiotic ointment i was already using. the second visit was my usual vet, a different type of ointment, i can't remember what now.
it was the first, young vet that asked, not my usual vet.
Two of my horses had badly chipping/cracking hooves- my farrier taught me how to rasp and said if I do it weekly, no more cracks, and it works! Plus, it's a great relationship builder- all of them stand without halters or any restraint and let me do it, part of our grooming/spa time. All of mine are rescues, two were never handled when I got them, all seem to love their spa rasp sessions.
horizon213 absolutely correct. You have a very sensible farrier who works with you.
This is my point, you don't have to undertake the whole process yourself, but if you can just rasp round the sharp edges in between professional trims from your farrier, you will have super hooves without cracks which can lead to infection.
There is whats called the "Riders Rasp" http://www.ridersrasp.com/ on the market which is designed for this use & is designed to be used with one hand.
My part Arab mare will be trimmed standing free but her companion isn't so obliging but she was rescued with terribly painful feet grown up like Turkish slippers & used to be a nightmare to do but she is very very much happier about it all now, it's just that her temperament is that of a native pony & would rather not oblige if it's all the same to you! so she is tied up.
We had the farrier around yesterday and he is the best farrier I have seen, and the fastest! All of our horses which are normally bad with noises and picking up their feet were gems! And especially my buckskin who is a pretty harsh kicker, who just stood there and nearly tried to kick at all! He spends a little time with the horse before doing it also :) now on of the most sensitive, spooky, green horse with The worst case a cracking, flaring And chipping hooves I've ever seen has lovely nice looking feet and he isn't even sore :) we had front shoes on our Connemara because her front hooves were cracked off all the way back and also she is worked a lot, she had them for the first time and she was like she has had shoes all her life! :) we are going to have the farrier around a little more that usual just to keep trimming their feet back to normal :)
That farrier will be in massive demand once the word gets out!!
Yes definatly! We are trying to arrange him to come regularly :)
yes indeed, treat him well!!!!, they are worth their weight in gold!
Will he make your next appointment while he's there? That's probably your best way of getting him there regularly.
I'm glad you've found someone good.