Monty Roberts Equus Online University | Monty's Horse Training Post: Contracted heels

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Horse Care and Comfort

Contracted heels

By:

jschu2

Date:

2020-Nov-29 at 03:38PM

Hello,
My daughter's (leased) horse a beautiful 20 year old Arabian. He goes lames after farrier visits for anywhere from a few days to 2 weeks. Have tried different farriers but no changes. He has contracted heels in both front hooves. Lameness is getting worse. Horse has a history of pinning ears and biting chest when being ridden. Horse is NOT a trail horse...my daughter shows at local fairs and shows. He is lunged and ridden (when not lame) on average 5-8 hours a week. Horse lives outside, not in a stable. Wondering if this horse can be helped in anyway. I'm not particularly horse savvy but I'm trying! I'm wondering if Cavallo boots and/or a supplement like Equinety might help? Any Monty lessons I should watch first for help? Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

kazkids 2020-Nov-29 at 05:20PM

As a hoof care provider in training, I’ve been finding that contracted hooves tend to have a common source, and it’s not usually the trim- it’s a thrush infection. There is a deep central sulcus trench at the back of the frog, isn’t there? When this happens, the frog contracts and loses its mass, making the entire back of the hoof collapse on itself. Treat the thrush first, Today or Tomorrow mastitis treatment is great, mastitis is an infection in the cow‘s teat that is the same bacterial strain as thrush, fill in the trench, frog and bars with it and cotton pads or balls torn into smaller bits to keep it in for a while. This should be repeated at least every other day. Another option is to soak the hooves in CleanTrax mixture, but the horse should be good with wearing boots and wraps for this procedure. One more thing I have found to work is Apple Cider Vinegar to kill bacteria. There are other products out there, so it is a matter of finding what works! Once the thrush infection is treated, you should see more frog mass returning to the hoof and it should begin to look less and less contracted.

kathymw 2020-Dec-06 at 01:58AM

Hello, we bought a gelding with thrush. Our farrier suggestion Tomorrow’s Cow applied every day after picking the feet. He told us to use half a syringe for each application. He came back six weeks later to do the feet and suggested using it every other day. Six weeks later he said once a week. It really does work.

Kathy