So, Gina is our just turned 5 year old mare. She is allegedly papered AQHA, but came with the old 'lost the papers' story (Which knowing the mom of the former owner, who was a minor, that's entirely possible). So let's say grade.
She is a sorrel with white and/or striped hooves. I know white hooves aren't any tougher than black hooves, or less, no matter the wives tales.
24/7 turnout on 40 acres with a nice big, clean pond.
She's on pasture grass right now, mostly bermuda grass and free choice grazing. She has good hay available, a sulfur salt block (the yellow kind) and a mineral block (the brown kind). She (and all the others) get just enough feed every evening to keep them in the routine of coming when called and keep me in the routine of feeding. They don't get much, its more a reward for coming up when called this time of year. She is a good weight, in fact all our horses may be just close to being fat this summer - we had a good summer in terms of the grass not burning up from the heat, but now we're sliding into autumn, I have help now with people to keep them ridden and doing something beside's loafing, so their weight is coming back in line with where it needs to be.
We have not had an exceptionally wet spring and summer seasons. We did get more rain than usual in August, but that's incredibly relative... August is usually our driest month, so anything more than a few rainy days is a 'rainy' August - so she's not been standing around on wet ground.
She used to be kept shod (Before we got her), now all our horses are barefoot horses. They all get a visit from the farrier once a month, more often if needed.
Gina is my nightmare horse, the one I constantly have horrific dreams that her hooves have rotted off due to a completely preventable hoof problem. In reality, her hooves crack (Vertically), chip, split and peel, more than any horse we have. They also seem to GROW faster. She doesn't seem to ever have any problems with it, farrier said its all surface cracking, nothing that would cause lameness and they'll do that less and less as she gets older.
IN THE MEANTIME, and I will try to get pictures tonight - the farrier will be out Friday so I can show before and after pictures - what on earth can I do to help keep them from splitting or reduce it? It looks horrible and scares the dog out of me. Feed supplement? Biotin?
