Hoof Problem and Question

[SunshineAcres]

I have a Haflinger gelding that I recently purchased. My friend bought his teammate. Both ponies hooves were horrible. I took them to my farrier who trimmed both of them. We figured they hadn't been trimmed in a year or so. My pony chipped his hooves off so they weren't long, just in desperate need of tidying up, including his frog. My farrier said his hooves are really flat from lack of care/trimming and should correct itself over time. The other thing he pointed out is the dark area between the white line and hoof wall is very wide. I'm not sure what that means. He explained that it is exposing his lamina. Is that possible?? He also said he might abcess because of it. Has anyone ever heard of this? My pony is tender footed now after his trim. I need more information. Thanks.

[Shelly Taylor]

This is exactly what I started with. I purchaed a POA that had no hoof care for probably a year and with regular trims the hoof wall seemed to close as she grew out and the flat footness seemed to go away. But then poof! major hoof cracks in both front feet. Same ferrier so I couldnt say he was doing anything different but I did a little research and found that certain supplements can or could cause this in some horses/ponies. (Just google hoof cracks and you will find some good stuff).
Anyway I like a natural hoof and no shoes preferably so for two years Pony seemed to do fine with regular trims but I started her on supplements just an all around type about a year ago and I think this may have started the problem with the hoof cracks. My ferrier says she seems to have some flex in her sole but they are hard as rocks to the touch. Unfortunatley Pony's last trim my ferrier trimmed her short trying to trim out the front cracks so that put all the pressure on her frogs and then I ended up with a two legged pony. Very pathetic so the salt iodine therapy followed that and I had to cushion her with gauze and tape for two weeks and SOOOOOO I ended up with front shoes. Her cracks are not getting better a matter fact they seem to be traveling up. Its been two weeks.
Any way getting back to your pony I feel you are in good position with yours to work through the hoof wall and flat foot with trims just beware of supplementing after you get them corrected. If there is any advice out there for front cracks please feel free to jump in.

[SunshineAcres]

Thanks for the info! I have him on a general vit/min supplement. Should I discontinue this or possible add a biotin supplement??

[jaimebaker]

Just based on my experience, it sounds like your pony has experienced some laminitis in the past (not necessarily full blown founder, but possibly). The white line is stretched and there is bacteria getting in it from it being stretched is what it sounds like from your post. Because of the stretched white line, the toe needs to be kept short to tighten it back up....even if it's possible. As far as flat feet being from poor trimming/lack of, yes it's possible but there are many other reasons for it too. And no, it won't always 'correct itself'. Depends on why the horse is flat footed in the first place. The reason I know is because I have a mare who foundered about 10 years ago. Her white line stays stretched no matter how short we keep her toes. Because of that, bacteria will get in there and create a dark area that will create a trench if you take a hoof pick to it to dig it out. She's flat footed due to the past founder though she rotated very, very little. And because of the stretched white line, she gets toe cracks...again no matter how short her toes or how much of a roll/bevel to the edge she gets. That and genetics (her dam had crappy hooves too). She has to stay on a Biotin supplement or her hooves fall to crap. But she will always be flat footed. She wasn't before the founder, but she is now and has been for years, no matter what I've tried (and I've tried many different things to try to get concavity back to her hoof).

Supplementing Biotin isn't going to hurt. It certainly isn't going to cause a horse's hooves to crack:eek: If the horse's hooves begin to grow at a faster rate and you don't have the farrier out in a timely manner, then yes, they will crack. You have to feed Biotin for at least 3-4 month before you can really see a difference in the new hoof growth. Horses can take anywhere from 6 month to a year to grow a whole hoof out so you have to feed the supplements for a long time to really see an improvement. You may notice a growth spurt in the hoof, but you won't know if the hoof is healthier until it's grown down quite a bit.