[nicz2cu]

My geldings hooves are starting to get soft / chalky almost. I had his shoes pulled due to the beginnings of white line/ thrush.

His dietary intake is .......4 # Strategy split into 2 meals daily, plus 1/2# BTW once daily. He was getting BOSS but is an easy keeper so to speak and was gaining too much weight. Is there anything I can put on his feet to harden them up or any additional supplements I need to be giving him.

I can't post pictures because I haven't mastered that area yet. He's due for a trim next week. I read somewhere, maybe here that a horse that was not being trimmed correctly was prone to keep thrush. Correct me if I'm wrong. I also use White Lightning for the thrush and white line, is there something better out there or should I have his feet packed and shoed with the type of shoe ( can't remember what its' called ) that keeps the packing in until this clears up. It also looks to me like he has contracted heels.

I know that it's hard to give me a concrete way to go w/o being able to see what I'm talking about, but any help will be appreciated.

One other thing, how do I go about finding a farrier that specializes in corrective trimming / shoeing in my area. There are many out there ( I'm in GA ) but I need someone who's really got credentials if that's the word I'm looking for. I mean, I can find a backyard trimmer ( no offense to anyone ) on every corner but I feel that I probably need to get someone who has plenty of experience in this area.

[Dawn]

Does he have thrush and/or white line disease? What part of the hoof is chalky? The wall or the sole?

The diet isn't so great. If he's maintaining well on that then all you really need to do is drop the Strategy, double the Born to win, and add the BOSS back in. That would probably help his feet by itself.

[tbtrainer]

You can paint his feet with turpentine, that will help toughen his feet up. I would suggest a supplement of Biotin to help with his feet.

[nicz2cu]

Originally Posted by Dawn

Does he have thrush and/or white line disease? What part of the hoof is chalky? The wall or the sole?

The diet isn't so great. If he's maintaining well on that then all you really need to do is drop the Strategy, double the Born to win, and add the BOSS back in. That would probably help his feet by itself.

I'm sorry, I should have stated the sole. Should I add a little alfalfa pellets. They have free choice bermuda hay as the pasture is bare.

As far as having both, thrush yes. White line is improving according to farrier so I guess I would have to say yes to both for the time being.

[nicz2cu]

Originally Posted by tbtrainer

You can paint his feet with turpentine, that will help toughen his feet up. I would suggest a supplement of Biotin to help with his feet.

Does the turpentine help with thrush and if not, is it ok to use that after applying thrush medication?

[Dawn]

If the sole is flaky, that's fine. It just means that it's dead sole that is shedding. Excessive shedding could mean that more sole needs to be removed when the hoof is trimmed or that the hoof needs to be trimmed more often. Most horses exfoliate fine on their own.

What is the cause of the white line disease? That must be addressed before it can be cured.

[nicz2cu]

Originally Posted by Dawn

If the sole is flaky, that's fine. It just means that it's dead sole that is shedding. Excessive shedding could mean that more sole needs to be removed when the hoof is trimmed or that the hoof needs to be trimmed more often. Most horses exfoliate fine on their own.

What is the cause of the white line disease? That must be addressed before it can be cured.

I'm not sure of the cause. I came with it when I bought him, didn't know that until I had his shoes pulled. He was a lesson horse and always had to wear shoes on his front feet according to the owner due to slightly poor feet and lessons in the arena on a regular basis.

Also, my farrier never removes any sole when she trims. Is that normal procedure, my other farrier ( before he had his heart attack ) would remove sole when he trimmed. I hated to lose him as my horses farrier because he was great and I never had these problems then.

[JBandRio]

If your horse is an easy keeper, 4# of Strategy is way too much. The BTW is a ration balancer, and at 1/2/day you might as well not feed it. If I were you I'd drop the Strategy altogether and feed the 2lb of the BTW that's recommended. That will give you the nutrition you're looking for and reduce the calories. Strategy is about 1500 cal/lb, so that's quite a few calories you can drop right there.

You may find that his thrush issues get better off the grain. Might not, but some horses just can't have any grain.

Whether or not a farrier/trimmer removes "sole" depends on exactly what's going on. The white flakey exfoliating sole doesn't HAVE to be removed everywhere, and in most cases it's good to leave a little. But it has to be removed in particular locations so the farrier/trimmer knows where to trim the walls down to.

If you're in Ga, you are lucky as there are quite a few barefoot trimmers there if that's the direction you want to go. Go to www.aanhcp.com and see if there's anyone close enough to you. Cindy Sullivan is down there and travels quite a bit, though I have no idea if she's taking new clients or not.

As for farriers, I can't help you there.

[tbtrainer]

As far as getting rid of thrush, you should get some Koppertox, Thrush X, Thrush Buster, etc.. there are a lot of good topical products out there on the market.

Take some cotton, soak with whichever thrush rememdy you choose, and take a hoofpick and stuff the cotton down into the hoof. Reaply untill the thrush is gone. You can also use Betadine for this.

I paint my horses feet with Reducine, and never have a problem with thrush.

I have seen severe cases where the farrier actually burns out the thrush with some sort of sulfer. Have only seen it done once, so really dont know the specifics.

[nicz2cu]

Originally Posted by JBandRio

If your horse is an easy keeper, 4# of Strategy is way too much. The BTW is a ration balancer, and at 1/2/day you might as well not feed it. If I were you I'd drop the Strategy altogether and feed the 2lb of the BTW that's recommended. That will give you the nutrition you're looking for and reduce the calories. Strategy is about 1500 cal/lb, so that's quite a few calories you can drop right there.

You may find that his thrush issues get better off the grain. Might not, but some horses just can't have any grain.

Whether or not a farrier/trimmer removes "sole" depends on exactly what's going on. The white flakey exfoliating sole doesn't HAVE to be removed everywhere, and in most cases it's good to leave a little. But it has to be removed in particular locations so the farrier/trimmer knows where to trim the walls down to.

If you're in Ga, you are lucky as there are quite a few barefoot trimmers there if that's the direction you want to go. Go to www.aanhcp.com and see if there's anyone close enough to you. Cindy Sullivan is down there and travels quite a bit, though I have no idea if she's taking new clients or not.

As for farriers, I can't help you there.

Thanks ever so much for the link. Could I add something designed for hoof supplement or do you think the BTW will be sufficient ?