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Cracking lifting sole

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  walkinthewalk 
#1 ·
hello everyone!!! i sooo need advice. my boy has never had cracked soles. he may have gotten chips from a shoe coming off, but nothing like he has gotten in the past few months. he recently got his hooves done ( he has always worn shoes) and when the shoer picked up his hooves they were all layered of cracks. its hard to explain.. the best picture i can give you is.. remember those commercials about using a certain conditioner for your hair... well picture the first picture where the hair is all splitting with layers of splitting and all jaggy then the next picture the hair is all smooth :lol:lol well that is how his hooves are!!!!!! they are not just cracking on the sole, but like layering and cracking more!! i have put conditioner on his walls, but never worried about his sole, until now. i put conditioner on it all last week and earlier this week, but when i picked up his hooves today, one of the soles is doing the cracking again!!! what am i not doing... the ground he lives on is rocky and solid (except his stall :)) i take care of his stall, but he gets let out everyday for all day to run free on the property. i need to know what to do. does he need to be on supplements? the shoer said nothing about it, just that i should "soak it":-|
 
#2 ·
Hi,

Sounds likely to be just retained dead sole to me. If his feet are perpetually locked into shoes and the farrier doesn't remove the excess, then it does tend to build up.

Perhaps it's been particularly dry there & soaking his feet will soften the dead material to allow it to come out more easily. For the health of your horse's feet, don't put topical goop on them, unless you occasionally want to pretty them up for a show or such. Diet & nutrition are important factors of healthy hooves, so yes, an appropriate supplement to balance your horse's diet is a good move.
 
#3 ·
My area is in Severe Drought status - our pastures were the same color as peanut butter until last week.

We've had at least five inches of much-needed rain and that started all my horses frogs and soles shedding.

The those huge bars that developed in just a few weeks (mine get trimmed every four weeks), started to soften up and break over. I had to cut them at the "bending over" point because the farrier's visit was still ten days away for two horses; I trim the other two myself.

He is probably going to shoot me for poking my hoof knife in his part of the hoof business but everything wanted to shed and I wasn't about leaving bacteria and fungus grow under those layers.

So ditto what Loosie said, except my horses are all barefoot and sole never gets trimmed unless it's showing it wants to shed and needs some help with the process:)
 
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