Hey,
I haven't been around much and I only have about five minutes but I have a really important question.
As some of you may know, Indy did not have the greatest feet when I got him. His back feet are about as close to perfect as you can get but his fronts are horrible. Each have a vertical crack from bottom to top. The right one (when facing him) has two. The farrier and vet have both said that they are nothing to worry about (not deep, do not go past the hoof, no heat [and i check that constantly], no bleeding, no swelling, no abnormalities) but I am starting to get worried. He is getting SmartPak Farrier's Formula Double Concentrate once a day and I the vet also recommended a cream to help keep them from drying out.
He has been getting the SmartPak for about... six months now. He lives outside and it is rather muddy on one half of his field but I clean out/clean the outer hoof wall everyday.
They have gotten better and better on a monthly basis. However, he had his feet done on Monday and yesterday/today I noticed two things. One, his back feet seem to have been trimmed shorter then usual. Last time he had his feet done he was sore for about a week from being trimmed too short all around. This time he is not sore or ouchy or anything but they still look short to me. They are also shorter then the fronts which I have never noticed before. The farrier did however put the shoes on farther back (as directed by the vet) to support the heel more.
The other thing is that he seems to have split open the crack on his right front (when facing him). It is wider and deeper then it was on Sunday before he was re-shod. Granted it is not horrible but I had the vet out and she said that I should just keep an eye on it and make sure it didn't get worse.
My question is, what should I do about the crack?
I have wanted to go barefoot with him for a while but the farrier has said that it is not a possibility at this time as his hoof walls are to weak.
I want to bring in a professional barefoot trimmer and see what they say because Indy has gone barefoot for up to two weeks before (at the longest stretch) and he seemed fine to me. Does anyone know of any barefoot farriers in western CT that they can recommend?
I am really worried about the crack... it was finally getting better and now it's worse then before...
Thanks!
I haven't been around much and I only have about five minutes but I have a really important question.
As some of you may know, Indy did not have the greatest feet when I got him. His back feet are about as close to perfect as you can get but his fronts are horrible. Each have a vertical crack from bottom to top. The right one (when facing him) has two. The farrier and vet have both said that they are nothing to worry about (not deep, do not go past the hoof, no heat [and i check that constantly], no bleeding, no swelling, no abnormalities) but I am starting to get worried. He is getting SmartPak Farrier's Formula Double Concentrate once a day and I the vet also recommended a cream to help keep them from drying out.
He has been getting the SmartPak for about... six months now. He lives outside and it is rather muddy on one half of his field but I clean out/clean the outer hoof wall everyday.
They have gotten better and better on a monthly basis. However, he had his feet done on Monday and yesterday/today I noticed two things. One, his back feet seem to have been trimmed shorter then usual. Last time he had his feet done he was sore for about a week from being trimmed too short all around. This time he is not sore or ouchy or anything but they still look short to me. They are also shorter then the fronts which I have never noticed before. The farrier did however put the shoes on farther back (as directed by the vet) to support the heel more.
The other thing is that he seems to have split open the crack on his right front (when facing him). It is wider and deeper then it was on Sunday before he was re-shod. Granted it is not horrible but I had the vet out and she said that I should just keep an eye on it and make sure it didn't get worse.
My question is, what should I do about the crack?
I have wanted to go barefoot with him for a while but the farrier has said that it is not a possibility at this time as his hoof walls are to weak.
I want to bring in a professional barefoot trimmer and see what they say because Indy has gone barefoot for up to two weeks before (at the longest stretch) and he seemed fine to me. Does anyone know of any barefoot farriers in western CT that they can recommend?
I am really worried about the crack... it was finally getting better and now it's worse then before...
Thanks!