[HorseBliss]

I figured I'd put this here, as 2 of the 3 issues have to do with grooming IMO.

So the other day I went up to see Stanley. He was covered in sweat, not sure why. Musta been running around for some reason, just standing and grazing wouldn't have made him look like that. So I took him up to the other barn and hosed him off. When I was scraping off all the water, I noticed that he was bleeding. I've never seen these before, so I haven't a clue what caused it. But I'm almost thinkin it could be from flies. I dunno. But he had some like cuts on his sheath. He was very good about me lightly hosing them off. I didn't put anythin on em, as I wasn't sure what I could put on there without possibly irritating him to no end.


I brought the camera out today and got some pictures after our nice long trail. They look better today, but they still look ouchie.

Also, it seems EVERY summer he gets little sores under his belly, probably from kicking at flies. What can I put on them?

Finally, one of his feet look like it's just about to crumble and fall off. All 3 of his white feet have issues, but this one likes to give me all kinds of problems. I don't think his black foot has ever given me issues, except an abscess. We got him back on a hoof supplement about a month ago. I'm hoping that'll help later on down the road. He was off his other one for so long cos we can't freakin find it anymore. And it worked so well, his feet looked beautiful. During our trail today, I tried to take it as easy as possible to reduce and more stress on those stupid cracks than necessary. He could use a trim, I think it's been about 5 or 6 weeks now since his last one. The farrier they were using at the barn (who also did Stanley last time), told me to use Rainmaker on his feet. Is there anythin else I can do for him? Besides gettin him trimmed and just letting the supplement and Rainmaker *hopefully* work in time?




Left side. Looks like it peeled off a bit.



Right side





His belly



His right front



Just being cute. hehe.

[Native Winds]

Well none of the pictures showed up for me. So I will make do with the information. The "cratches" or tiny sores are more than likely from midges, no seeums and other problematic flies. The midges will irritate and drive a horse nuts especially when its hot, hot, hot and the horse sweats more. THe belly and sheath areas and the chest are favorite hang outs for those pestering bugs. I reommend Swat either in the original pink or the clear. I use Swat rather liberaly going down the ventral midline of the belly. It should be safe to use on the outside of the sheath. Thses little pest bugs like ears also. You may want to put a little dab of Swat on the ears as well. (just inside the pinea). If you just want to create a barrier from the bugs you can use corona (sticky and collects dirt), Desitin (same stickyness as Corona). Some of the nicks or boo boos are probably caused by the horse kicking up at his belly. Is this horse shod?

As far as the cracks, it sounds like a genetic thing. Supplementation and constant care can help with the feet. There are some realy good supplements out on the market today but if you are like me and have horses on a shoe string (right now i'm horseless) you have a budget. The best for the money I have have used and had realy good results was Sho-Hoof by Manna Pro. If my memeory serves me welll I believe that you get over 40 days worth with one 5lb bag. Farriers formula is also a good one, as well as Source HF (Source Hoof). I have never been a fan of Horseshoer's Secret however, others have seen results for the better. Then the list goes on and many are full of hooey on claims and some are not worth a plug nickel and you can get more results feeding dirt than the supplement itself. Oh and Nu Hoof by Select is a great product as well. The small tub of it is a 60 day supply but the 180 day supply is a better buy.

When it comes to topicals, I recomend Bear Cat from VAPCO (it is a bit pricey but a good product and you use it primarily on the coronay band. Its a growth stimulator and not a blistering agent.) I did a trial of the product on a horse that had laminatic changes and had a heck of a nasty crack in front that came from an old scar at the coronay band. After the trial I measured growth, crack width, waekness and etc, etc. There was definatly a good change and the scar that went down the front of the hoof was stronger and did not split up as far up the hooof like it had been doing. The split would occur about 3/4 down from the cornet band and then spread wide open before it hit the tip of toe. He was kept shod to decrease opposite forces from normal use to the split. After the trial, there was no new splitting untill the very tip (I could not get the darn owner of the horse to shoe the horse on a 6 week schedual, sometimes he wasnt shod for 8 to 9 weeks.) So there was a small compromiset to the trial. The end results where strong and more noticable hoof growth from the c. band. The scar at the c. band stayed closed through the 3/4 phase and continued down. A "growth ring" was noticable and I used that as measurement. The split was beginning to grow out leaving a scard up hoof but no dicernable crack or split. The owner let him lose a shoe (the one with the most problem) and would not replace the shoe untill next farrier visit 2 weeks from the time of loss. (in dead of summer and was stomping due to flies and etc.) THe hoof did split up again but was strong enough to keep from splitting all the way up to the c.band. The split went up about 1/4 the way up from the tip of the toe and stopped.

Rainmaker is a good CONDITIONER. I like it very well and have used it many times. Feibing's hoof dressing is also a good general conditioner as well as Hoofflex and Sole Pack. (Sole Pack can be usedeither just on the frog and c. band or all over the entire hoof. This will equaly help the hoof and its integrity. Its also good for mild cases of thrush. Contender is expensive but its also a good product. Its often used on TB race horses. THere are a number of topical dressings. Usualy you would use every other day or what have you. THe one product that I dont care for is Vita hoof. I have yet to see any thing come from that product. Horseshoer's secret has a Conditioner, its expensive and I dont know to much about it for nobody who used it seem all that crazy about it. It has a nice smell though.lol
If the horse is barefoot have the farrier to blunt the edges down some to keep the sharp tip from makeing it easier to break up. You may have to shoe the horse or put a grass tip on. (which unfortunatly arent that common any more.)

Dump the watering trough so that the horses will have to step into the water when they drink.

[HorseBliss]

Thank you very much! I'll try to upload the photos on here and see if that helps.

He is barefoot. And the cracks most certainly have to be genetic, as my other TB has the most beautiful feet. *sigh* I used to give him Hoof Power, ever hear of that? My old farrier recommended it to us, and I just loved it. Right now he's on some generic biotin supplement from Southern States. I'll look into the others you mentioned.

With the weather around here lately, I don't think I'll need to pour out water from the trough. It's raining right now, and it's suppose to rain more this week. lol And I'll definitely look into the other topical stuff.

[Native Winds]

The hoof picture came up. They dont look dry but the one crack closer to the front might be coming from a small scar on the c. band. You have what looks like a bit of flaring going on in the quater section. That crack might be from stress since its at the apex of the flare. Has he ever been lame on this hoof? Is this hoof soft or about medium? He does have some crumbling at the tips but it looks like he might need a bit of a trim, I would be inclined to keep him at 5 to 6 weeks between trims. (I think you mentioned that.) I would try Sole Pack liquid hoof dressing by Hawthorn. It will toughen up the hoof with out making it hard. It contains iodine and pine tar. It creates a nice balance between hard and soft nice medium range. I have used it with good success. Your farrier might want to put a searing notch in one or both cracks to aid in release of stress. I dont think these cracks are detrimental and rather shallow (doesnt impinge upon sensitive laminae) However with every crack one must keep and eye on such happenings for every now and then can create problems. I have never heard of Hoof Power. It may be sold in your reagion (I dont know what state you live in.) Hooflex does better on harder hooves as well as Rainmaker but Rainmaker does well to aid in new growth and it does help maintain a good moister balance. Feibings is more like a general conditioner like you would use on hair. No frill no thrill, does better on harder dry hooves. Like I say I cant tell you much about Horseshoer's secret conditioner but you might want to look at it. The price is what turns my head the most. Here it's 25 dollars.

About biotin, Horses synthesize biotin themselves....its just that some horses do it better than others and is usualy a genetic thing. I also recommend a supplement that contains methionine and lysine. Look into Bio-Plus Powder by Equine America, Master's Hoof Blend by Vita Flex. You dont have to have the highest amount of biotin to do the job. A good balance of biotin, methionine, chelated zinc, lysine, even a bit of probiotics can do the job very well. With biotin alone you can get supplements that have as little as 15mgs/oz to some with 50mgs/oz and even higher. Master's Hoof Blend has a good blend of such ingredients and from a good maker. In Country Supply (horse.com or 1-800-637-6721 or check out HGS) its about 62 dollars for a 128 day supply. Nu Hoof by Select for a 128 day I beleive is about 50 dollars give or take some.

You might also want to look at Platform Hoof Formula. I am not familiar with the product as far as use but a few ppl seem to like it. For a 45 day serving cost about 30 dollars.

THere is alot of that stuff out there and it can be confusing thats for sure. I tend to stick with the products I know and I might venture out to check new ones after much research.

[Native Winds]

Oh wow the second pic came up. I would wash, dry and apply something like I had above. Looks like midges and other darn pest. Poor horses have the toughest time in hot, humid thick summers. I say he is sweaty just standing out there if its humid where you are. The humidity yesterday was 82% here. It was stifling. The Temp was 95. Makes you feel like a slug.

[jhalton]

Poor man he must be driven crazy - horrible critters! Native Winds has given you excellent advice. Just wanted to say what a handsome guy he is!

[HorseBliss]

^ Aw, thanks.

Yeah it's been awful here the past like week. Mid to upper 90's, and sometimes the humidity is just unbearable. I swear there is never a day in the summer here that it's not humid. I'm in MD by the way. And we were gettin the hoof supplement from some place in KY, but I guess they closed. And we found another place, but they never got back to us.

Thank you SO much for all the help. I'll have to write all this stuff down and see if any of the tack stores around here have any of this stuff first. I need to make an order to Country Supply soon, so if no one around here has anythin, I'll look there.
I don't really do anythin with him anymore, so as far as I can see, he's not lame on it, nor has he been. When I did ride him today he seemed fine, but obviously ouchy on the rocks. I need to buy him a pair of boots. His feet don't feel terribly soft. I'll try to get a picture of the underside of that foot tomorrow when I go up.

Stanley thanks you tremendously as well.

[sheryl15]

He is a lovely boy..hope you get it sorted out...you have been given some very good advise from the other posters.

Sheryl
www.highlandparkshowhorses.com

[Native Winds]

You may have to bite the bullet and pasture shoe him. (shod in front and not in back) But that also can create problems. Just work with your Farrier and Vet and see whats the best idea for your horse's situation.

[htrjpr11]

Those are deffinatly bug bites and the sores that you are talking about under his belly are probably a reaction to the bug bites not from kicking himself. Also I use peanut oil for my horses feet I have one horse who was a rescue case and I have yet been able to put shoes on him but if you put the peanut oil on before you turn him out in the morning and when he comes in at night you should see a difference in no time! Rain maker is good as well but I have since switched to the peanut oil works a little better as a moisturizer. It would help to if you could give him a supplement in his grain like farrier's friend or something along those lines