On Max's first trim, just weeks after he came to me, we learned he had extreme water damage to all 4 hooves, dated to be back in January, and had white line disease (mild).
He came out sore after each trim. The farrier had to rasp to help shape the hoof, but no actual 'trimming' was done, because the hoof was too soft and there wasn't a whole lot there to trim, anyway.
I couldn't contain my excitement when I got him out of his stall post trim yesterday and he didn't misstep, cower, and limp his way around. He didn't hesitate to take the 5" step over the board at the bottom of his stall. He plopped right along as he normally does on non-trim weeks. I had a feeling he was going to have a better trim this cycle, as his feet had really held up well compared to weeks past. I wish I could say that I put some magic juice on the feet and they just instantly got better. It is my belief that his change in diet has a big part to do with how well his feet came out this time around. Maxwell has been transitioned back onto Cavalor FiberForce for just over a month now. I can't even say that it is the type of food as much as it is the right food for him. Seminole's Wellness Perform Safe is a great feed and I would never knock their product, but it doesn't work for every situation. Maxwell wasn't absorbing much of anything from that food. He was eating way too much and his loose manure was letting many useful nutrients just pass right through him without being absorbed. The FiberForce calmed his stomach, calmed his hind gut, and allowed his body to properly absorb the essential vitamins and minerals it takes to build a healthy hoof and a healthy body.
Maxwell is on no supplement for his hooves. The only things I do for his feet are keeping them clean, applying keratex to the wall as needed, and applying solefreeze to the sole as needed (mostly right after a trim, but used to toughen up his soles as well).
He still has a long way to go, but his feet are really starting to make some positive changes. I don't have sole pictures this time around, as I had already applied solefreeze to them prior to the photos, but I will try to get some this evening, if I think about it!
It's absolutely amazing what 71 days can do for a hoof receiving the proper care. (on a 5 week schedule) This is my favorite comparison of the 4 feet because it is the foot that had an old abscess line where one blew (previous to my owning him) therefore there is a good marker indicating how much growth the hoof has done! This foot also was the one that originally had the most damage from white line. We're nearing the end of damaged hoof wall at this point, and once that abscess line grows out, we should have a nice sound hoof!
The first photo of the right hind is kind of funky because Maxwell was standing a little goofy at the time. Obviously you can tell I hadn't gotten around to cleaning off the foot either. My bad. You can, however, still see the huge differences in the feet. He didn't have much of a foot 71 days ago back there. This foot has mostly been a good one, had mild white line, but seems to be growing out nicely and totally changing shape. I don't know a ton about hooves but I know enough to know he's making improvements! The only downside to the back feet seems to be his disappearing heels...To be continued...
The left front shows a good example of the ring. You can see in the top photo that the ring is pretty far up. All the hoof below that was weak from the water damage he sustained. In the bottom photo we see that part of the hoof gave way to that weakness. Thankfully this is mostly cosmetic, Maxwell was sound when it happened, and has stayed sound now a week after. It was just weak wall that happened to chip up, crack, and break off. Notice now, in the bottom photo, how low the ring is. It's end is right where the chunk of hoof stopped breaking. Another extraordinary proof of growth, and prediction of good things to come for this hoof. I'm thankful he stayed sound when this chunk came off. I'll be keeping it extra clean and hopefully we can rasp/trim the rest out at the next cycle.
The left hind was never a huge issue. At times it looked a LOT worse than it really was, due to chipping up, but it's nothing to write home about. Same issue with the heels, as brought to my attention by more educated eyes. I now see it as well. To be continued....unfortunatley.
So as you can see, I'm pretty proud of the foot progress Maxwell has made in 71 short days. I'm extremely anxious for the next 4-5 weeks to come so I can see what kind of hooves we have at that time. Our farrier is out at week 4 and 5 now, since there's a horse in the barn who requires a 4 week cycle, so we'll take a peek at week 4 and see whether we do them then, or wait until week 5. My only concern now, comes from the seemingly disappearing heels on his hind feet. I have a meeting set up with the farrier next week to further discuss our options, what we're going to do about it, etc. This doesn't take away from my joy to see a much healthier hoof on all 4 legs.
My hoof management hasn't been anything ritualistic or over the top. Keratex as needed, especially when I know it's going to rain during his turnout time, solefreeze for the first day or two after a trim, and as needed to help keep the sole strong, and just keeping them clean. In the beginning I had some struggle to treat the feet for white line, but thankfully we had some positive results alternating a combination of the white lightning liquid (adding vinegar) and white lightning gel. I really do credit the hoof improvement to Maxwell readily absorbing the nutrients his body and his hooves craved.
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