Fari's hoves have continued, over the last month, to improve in shape and depth. One thing however that I think has been causing some sole sensitivity has been feeding SS red grass nuts. He seems to be so sensitive that even 1kg added to his feed each day, because he was needing extra energy, has affected him. It will be interesting to see how quickly his hooves become less sensitive now I have ceased feeding this.
S x
Sarah
Went competing at the weekend and walked Fari over the rather awful car park. Last time out during SS Red Grass Nut feeding he was very careful. This time after 10 days off this food he appeared not to notice the stones in walk. It would seem the grass nuts were the culprit.
S x
Wendy in France
After a very dry spell, we've had horizontal rain for 5 days and are back to muddy wet conditions. Lutine seems to be very sound and level still, landing heel first in the muddy conditions. She doesn't wear any boots or pads once the ground has softened. I have a narrow track, along the top of the paddock between the barn and the water buckets, that is lined with limestone hardcore and Lutine has been gimping the odd step along that when she stands on a big stone. But she tends to put the foot down, put the weight on it and then hops off it and puts the foot somewhere more comfortable. Seems sensible to me!
Feedwise she's on 2 x Kwik Beet, Anti Lam and 0.5kg Cool Condition cubes per day, with 600ml of oil (EPSM diet) split over those two feeds, plus ad lib organic hay.
cptrayes
Jazz's feet are growing in much tighter and better quality and increasing in concavity since his tie-back opertion - see my thread for details and photos. He has the tightest white line I've ever seen the only way you can tell it is even there is the slight colour change from his white horn and white sole - though in theory the foot at ground level is far from his "best" foot. He has always been and continues to be, sound on anything. He's jumping well, training at 3 feet now and about to go higher in the next few weeks.
Zip has stunning concavity, maybe even too much, and three of his feet have fairly deep clefts in the central sulcus, though very much "open" and not infected in any way that I can find. He appears sound on any surface, though as a baby he hasn't been tested with anything too challenging yet - mind you, I've just realised that most people would count an hour on tarmac as "challenging" for an unshod horse, and he manages that as if it was geltrack .
The field is as wet as I have ever known it, but they are in a dry barn from 6 til 9. Neither the restriction of movement or the wet ground seem to have affected either of them. I pick their feet out when they come in at night. Their food is oil, minerals, limestone flour and cheap horse and pony cubes, with unlimited access overnight to quality seed-grown ryegrass first-cut haylage. The grazing is an unfertilised wildflower meadow.
C
rose
my girl is blooming, her feet look great and she is sound on most surfaces. This is after a rough summer of on and off sensitivity on hard surfaces, so much so that i had to give her 8 weeks off work as she was so sore in the early spring which I attributed to lgl as she is prone to laminitis and some rather aggressive trimming in my view (i've changed blacksmiths since then). This was despite virtually no grass all summer.
She is feed 1kg unmolassed alfalfa and 2 kg dry weight unmolassed sugarbeet, D&H complete balancer and added magnesium and sunflower oil. She will also get hay once the grass drops back more.
She looks great and has lots of energy!
evie
despite the fact that my horses are now living in coronet-deep mud almost 24/7 (i put half of their hay on a small dry island, the rest is scattered around to encourage movement), sooti has FINALLY stopped avoiding stony tracks in favour of grass/mud!
hera's soles have gone splat, having been in the middle of developing some nice concavity. it happened about 3 weeks after breaking out onto the grass for a night, not sure whether it could be the aftermath of that. only other thing i can think of is that the bale of haylage i had last week maybe came from a different field/batch as it definitely smelled more like haylage (is usually pretty much wrapped hay). she's sound, but doesn't have much grip on the mud at the moment - need to get some new pads for her boots and start using them again.
Melanie
Mia - rock crushing as usual, canters over pointy stuff for fun and makes me wonder if she has any feeling in her feet at all
Roxy - Doing great, very occasionally finds a pointy stone on top of tarmac she decides not to stomp on, otherwise very comfortable, generally rather 'on one' to ride, and quite happy to trot on some of the nasty bits of nearby track, goes from just about canterable to Evil suddenly and brakes don't work!
Jay - Got a bit footy for a few days recently because she was turned out on sand and concrete and she's not used to it. Recovered and got used to it pretty quickly and pretty good really considering she was a cripplepony when we got her a few months ago.
All are in at night and out on sand, concrete and mud (if they decide to be brave and get their feet wet) in the day. They are eating haylage and the very occasional blade of grass that dares pop up through the mud. Buckets are safe & sound, speedibeet, salt. Plus some sunflower oil and gastri-x added to Mia's.
Nic
All the regulars (Ghost, Bailey and Felix) are rock-crunching - interestingly all mine are alos getting SS red bag grass nuts - in Baileys case about 4kgs/day -and despite her being the most dietary-sensitive of our horses, she has retained awesome hooves. Just goes to show they are all different...
The other horses are mostly fine - Charlie is good on everything and working hard; Conto is great over stones now, as are Jack and Lucy. Monsoon has a problem on her RF at the moment - on the cannon bone not in the hoof - and is fine on level hard ground but struggles on the field, but she is the only one who is causing concern at the moment (!)
N
sarahh
Boy has now been barefoot for a month and is thriving on it. i'm a VERY lucky girl. no problems from day one.
Every time we hack out he's taking off some more toe, so he's showing me the length he'd like his feet to be!
Haven't been over any surfaces that have upset him yet, stones, tarmac, concrete, gravel...all ok. Still cantering off with me down the road...new trick from first barefoot hack...bad Boy!
Did our first barefoot showjumping last week.My little sister came a repectable 3rd in her class, i was a dismal 5th in mine. but no stumbling as we had in thr past.
Finally got over the Boy not eating food by changing from Speedibeet to Fibrebeet. even the dreaded seaweed is slurped up now!
So all in all happy Boy and happy mum. feel rather guilty really!
Nic
Naughty Boy I am smiling though because he is such a sweetheart and it sounds as if he is having lots of fun
At the end of the day, his success and soundness is all down to you being such a brilliant owner and making him eat his greens Glad you got creative and managed to persuade him...
Must admit it seems longer than a month since I saw you both - eek, time flies!! Can't wait to see you in Jan, and I'll take lots of piccies for the website if you don't mind
Nic
sarahh
You can definitely get pics of his feet. Tried to convince my mum to take some action shots, but she decided it was too cold and she was off home ... wimp!
Terry
Don't you just love this frost, killing all those nasty mud borne bugs!! My gang are as rock crunching as ever, in fact like sarah h they are being a tad naughty when out hacking which isn't fun when you are bareback!!
Just out of interest is anyone feeding Allen & Pages new product, Fast Fibre?
I have introduced this in stead of Speedi Beet and it is going down well, takes 30 secs to soak and nutritionally on the processed side of things looks better than speedi beet.
Terry
Yann
Rio is doing rather well, but I'm not sure if moving back on to the summer pasture has set her back a little. Her feet are clean and concave and the frogs have stayed solid this winter rather than falling to bits like they did last year. I'm still plagued by slightly tatty heels on both horses though. She's now at the stage where she seems to be able to at least walk happily over anything albeit carefully at times with me or her sharer on her back, and flying with my lighter daughter on, which is routine.
Tess is doing well too by her standards. Her feet have stopped flaring and continue to develop concavity again. After spending all summer battling flare she's just gone the best part of 6 weeks between trims without a problem. Both horses have been on Equimins Hoof Mender Supplement and bits and bobs of SS for 3 months now and I certainly think it's helped Tess in particular. I still think it'll be some time before she can be ridden over anything difficult with naked feet but now she has her wonder boots it doesn't really matter
Tally
Hi Terry - never heard of Fast Fibre but sounds interesting ! will try to find out more.
Mine is on Speedi beet and Alfa oil. Have tried the new "Fibre beet" but it takes far too long to soak esp if you don't have access to hot water. I have the same problem with the Lucie bix mind you.
Apart from hoof concavity I have also noticed a change in the frog. Instead of it being quite fat and hard, it now has a pronounced central sulcus (that I need to hoof pick) more so in the front than the hinds.
Terry
The Fast Fibre is excellent, it takes 30-60 seconds to soak in cold water, really stops horses bolting the feed. It is excellent for our youngster as it stops him throwing his feed around as it sets quite solid like porridge which is a challange for him to munch his way through.
Terry
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Glad you got creative and managed to persuade him...