Tips for soft feet

["Tina Hicks" <hickst@nichols.com>]

I know some of you have a horse like Tony - well I would
hope not *exactly* like Tony for those of you that know him
:-) - anyway, his feet are prone to stone bruises, being
sore for a day or so after shoeing, etc etc...He was blessed
with flat and soft soles. Spent last year doing about every
other ride it seemed as we were always recovering from some
foot related malady. This horse bruised with pads on!

Anyway, talked to Roger R. at the convention and he offered
a very simple but important tip based on the fact that for
NATRC Roger can't use pads - tell your farrier not to trim
more of the frog and sole during shoeing than is really
necessary - apparently, that's often done more for cosmetic
purposes and/or out of habit than anything else. 

What will happen is the horse will develop some.....I dunno
what to call it - crust, horn, roughness, thickening over
the frog/sole which will provide some protection which is
how it's supposed to work <g>. In other words, let the
frog/sole shed a little more naturally. In addition, you
will start to see a little depth between the frog and sole
as the frog keeps some layers from shoeing to shoeing.

I am happy to say after just a couple of months of doing
this there is a tremendous difference in Tony's feet. The
soles/frog are tougher - for the first time ever he is not
wincing from just going over a small bit of gravel on the
trail. There is also a significant cleft/groove between frog
and sole - the sole is not flat to the ground anymore. I can
tell a big difference in his comfort level going down the
trail.

He will never have rock hard feet I know - but this one
little tip has made a huge difference. He is also on Biotin
- but has only been for 3 months and I understand it's at
least 6 months before you realize any benefit from that so I
am attributing this to simply not paring the frog/sole clean
during shoeing.

Hope this helps someone else's horse and thanks Roger!

Tina
hickst@nichols.com