Hoof care question for the horse people

[Athy]

Hey, folks, horse hoof care question.

As you all know, I have a 10 year old Thoroughbred. He had a gravel about six year ago that had to be removed by the vet - very deep, very infected, stall rest for 6 months, pretty awful. He was recovering from it when I bought him in 2004. Well, in spite of regular shoeing, supplements, and general fussing, the crack just won't go away. It runs from his coronary band straight down the middle of his hoof.

I decided to have the crack clipped together and have the fissure and the clips epoxied over in hopes of having the crack grow back together from the coronary band down. The farrier assures me that will pull that crack together, new growth outward.

Anyone had anything or tried anything like this for a cracked hoof? Your experiences? Thoughts???

Thanks in advance!

Athy

[Elaine]

Haven't had this kind of problem (knock on wood). Call Alain Seheut 410-274 5252... say you're friends of Steve and Judy Edgar... let him look at the horse. But first call me and I'll "splain" (and we may need to call Steve and Judy for a more current number for Alain, it's been over 6 years since we lived in the MD area). Alain and Gayle (GF) are up near Monkton / Butler (can't remember the name of the town where their farm is)... he's a farrier, he's THE FARRIER... there is none better.

[doberdogsfd]

Athy.....It has been a long time for me, but I remember that the clips help. The farrier may be spot on with this one.

I managed a Saddle Horse barn for a long time and they have foot problems!
What kind of grain mixture is he on?
The surface with those guys has a lot to do with how many problems. Hard surface pounding tends to make them worse. Saddle horse people freak when the horses gallop across frozen pasture. Yikes!

Cheryl

[Athy]

He's on basic 10% sweet feed - nothing fancy there. His hay is generally timothy, orchard grass, sometimes a smidgen of alfalfa. Basically, we keep him on low protein because otherwise, he's too crazy. We supplement the feed with Grand Complete.

He's on a fairly level grass pasture. But he can be a bit hot headed, especially if I am late with dinner. In fact, this latest crisis came about a few months ago when I got home late from work and his dinner was 45 minutes later than usual. He was furious with me, whinnying, bucking, spinning and he managed to tear the shoe off his bad foot - along with a nice sized chunk of hoof.

I really think his crazy pasture behavior isn't helping the situation but I sure can't keep him in a stall.

If you've had good experience with the clips, that gives me some hope. His other (non-cracked) front hoof is strong and looks great - of course his hinds are good. I think if I can just get this damned gravel crack sealed up, we might be okay. But I have never ever seen a gravel do this to a hoof.

He's been appreciably more sound since the procedure. Which is great but I sure hope that darned crack is growing out :(

Athy

[doberdogsfd]

It may just be a wait and see situation with the clips. Give it time to grow out.
Having always spent my life with TBs or WBs, the Saddlebreds were just a different kind of experience!
Those horses rarely get turned out, especially in show season. They rip off crazy amounts of foot when they loose a shoe. Ugly stuff.

Let me know.
Cehryl

[Athy]

Well, we have good news... and bad news.

On the good news side, it appears that the clips may be working. I can see where the hoof is trying to grow out from the coronary band without the crack. This is a good thing.

On the bad news side, that damned crack is an open door to bacteria and we managed to get a really bad abscess in the hoof right before Christmas. The vet cleaned it out and he's been in his stall recuperating. We're giving him bute and antibiotics twice a day. Vet is coming back today to check up on him.

I bought him a pair of Boa boots. I'm wondering if these might be a good alternative for shoes for him while the hoof and the abscess clears up (after I can stop bandaging and he's off stall rest of course).

Anyone had any experience with the Boa Boots??? They look to be a big improvement over the Mac or EZ boots...

Athy

[Athy]

Just thought I'd let you all know that we were able to put a shoe on Martin this week! Woo hoo! After the bad abscess, the vet had to cut away a lot of hoof for the abscess to drain. We kept him in the stall from December 21 to late February, cleaning and re-wrapping the hoof daily. From late February until now, I've been putting the Boa Boot on him (on in the morning for turnout, off in the evening in the stall). At long last, he's grown enough hoof to have a shoe nailed on! We did put pads on both front feet as the hoof is still tender from where the vet dug the infection out.

The nail clip did grow out and really seems to have helped. We may put another clip in for the summer to help keep the crack pulled together as it continues to grow. That solution really did help. He's not 100% sound yet but I'm going to ask at the next vet visit if we can do some light work with him, walking only on soft ground. We'll see.

I can highly recommend Boa boots. They are based on snowboard technology and they stayed on his feet with zero problems. Without them, I don't know what we would have done. He was losing his mind in the stall and with the Boa boots, we were able to allow him pasture time without having to worry about him losing the boot and ripping that hoof up even more. Email me privately if you'd like more information on them - they are a great product.

Athy

[Elaine]

That's great news Athy. I didn't realize that he was in work with you, great that all the effort paid off.

Here's a link to a boa boot, for those who've never seen one.
http://www.easycareinc.com/Our_boots/Boa_Horse_Boot/Boa_Boots.aspx

[Athy]

It was truly a familly effort - every morning at 6:30 and every evening at 6:30, two of us had to walk down to the barn to either put the shoe on or take it off. And that didn't include cleaning or soaking time. It was very time and physically intensive but I am very happy to have my boy feeling and looking healthy again.

I just hope he remembers what a bridle and saddle are!!! It's been close to a year, between the crack opening more last summer, then the abscess. I think I'll have Mary, the young rider, give him a whirl first :D

Athy