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  Discussion on Shelly hooves
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 30, 2000 - 9:00 am:

It has been very difficult to grow a healthy foot. The horse is a 6 year old Appy gelding. Each hoof has a soft, shelly horn. We have tried Farrier's Formula and various other supplements, but no successes to date.
Wide shoeing adds protection from constant chipping and tearing, but the shoes are subject to tearing off, causing even more damage. This leaves limited area for nailing and adds to a difficult cycle.
Many theories have been tried over the past two years - too dry a paddock, too wet, too hard a surface. We have tried soaking in Epsom Salts, spraying with a mixture of formaldehyde and iodine. The latter helped to harden somewhat.
This is a very talented horse with a brilliant future if he can produce a stable foot.
Where can we turn now?

Posted on Thursday, Nov 30, 2000 - 3:11 pm:

Try Crossapol. Your farrier should have it. It is the same as Keratex but 1/2 the price. It really works. My horse had the same problem and had to be shod every 4 weeks. He is now being done every 5 weeks and the farrier is delighted with his feet. I can't say enough about the product. After a couple of weeks even I noticed the difference. His feet are great. I wish I had know about it earlier.
Carol

Posted on Monday, Dec 4, 2000 - 10:04 am:

Hello Simon,
Though you list a lot of things done you do not give time frames and order of use. Some of what you have done is obviously helpful and some obviously hurtful (feet never need to be chronically wetted). How can you evaluate each change if you are changing many things at once?

So...I return you to the good basic foot care as delineated in the article Care for Horses: Hoof Care: Care of the Hoof: an Overview. Follow the instructions in there and you will have better feet but it may take over 6 months to see results: onced damaged, horn cannot repair.
DrO
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