Hooves didn't grow!

I am not a hoof person at the least - I've always just trusted my Farrier to do his job and left it at that.

It was until one day when my Farrier couldn't put a shoe back on Nelson after he threw a shoe, due to being in Texas - I had to find another Farrier to come out and do an "emergency" shoeing for me.

This Farrier who showed up, took one look at Nelson and asked me when he was last done, I said a couple weeks ago, he said that it looked like it was a couple of months ago.

During the time my last farrier was working on Nelson - during an 8 week period, he never grew NOTHING. NOT an inch of growth. It was to the point of Nelson loosing shoes because there were no where for the nails to go.

Nails were ripping through his hooves - it was aweful. I had no clue that something was wrong. My Farrier at the time told me "he is just a TB, that is how he is. He was born with these hooves and he will die with these hooves" and I left it at that.

So - back to the Farrier who showed up......he showed me everything that was wrong with his hooves. Wrong angles, no blood flow - all causing no growth, no strength and no health.

His toes were too long, no heels what-so-ever, thin soles - all due to incorrect angles and no blood flow.

Now that I've had this new Farrier do corrective shoeing, my horses hooves are
Amazingly better.

He has growth!!! SHOCKING - he actually has growth. His heels are coming back, his toes were pulled back drastically to where they should be in accordance to his pasturns, his hips and shoulders. He actually has blood flow, and his soles are thickened up.

To boot, he moves 100x better. He keeps his shoes on too boot and they are much stronger.

SO - maybe it is your Farrier causing the problem. No blood flow causes no growth.

MIEventer, that could be something to look into but I'm sure in this case it really doesn't apply. My farrier has been taking care of T's hooves for 14 years and she's never had an unsound day. He even suggested 9 years ago to let her go barefoot as her hooves were conformationally good to do so. Walka has had only this farrier as he's 11 years old and this visit he had the usual amount of hoof to take off. But, if I ever had any doubts about this farriers work, yup, I'd definitely look into someone else.

I'm glad my farrier didn't go through the motions of "trimming" T's hooves just to get paid. He always looks to the benefit of the hoof, not himself. He doesn't want to be paid if he didn't do the work. I feel he should at least get a "farm visit" fee for taking the time and gas to be there. I guess you can see that I truly trust this guy and respect his work and ethics. Plus he always takes the time to "teach" me about their hooves and because he's also a horseman (started barrel racing as a boy, went to reining, now cutting) he is such a wonderful source about horse handling ect.

I'm sure someone else on this forum may be having some issues with their horses hooves and because of your post and suggestions, will look with fresh eyes at the possibilities of the cause, maybe one being the farrier currently using. That's what I like about this forum. Even if I don't post, I'm always reading and learning.

Hi there,

I would assume it is the lack of moisture that is slowing down the hoof growth. If it is really dry, you should soak your horses feet at least once a day for 15 minutes minumum.

Hooves need daily access to water to maintain healthiness. Your horse has the benefit of being barefoot therefore able to help with circulation throughout the body better than if she had shoes. Plus you said she is aging, so maybe her metabolism isn't as up to snuff as it used to be so that could, and probably is, affecting the hoof growth too.

Making the mud puddle in the yard will help but remember hooves grow from the coronary band down, not from the sole up, so make sure the whole hoof is able to submerse in the water.

Hopefully this helps!

My healthy 8yr old mare has slow hoof growth and she also naturally wears them down very quickly. She gets lots of ring work and long trail rides. She has had only two trims in the past year but never been lame or off in the slightest.