Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Horse Hoof Tips In This Horrible Hot Drought!


                     This is the state my horses' feet. Jeremiah was just here less than a week ago and  about 4 weeks prior to that, but we've NO rain at all. I mean the dogs weren't even remotely interested in the hoof cookies.........too tough and hard.


            In my 12 years of continuous horse ownership, I have never seen such dry or tough hooves. So, Jeremiah give me a tip, besides keeping a constant wet area they have to pass through daily, which isn't an option for as I am worried about our water table and well.


The tip is to on a daily basis or at least as many days a week as possible is to brush the bottom of their feet, frog and heel bulb too with mineral oil.


This is Kola afterward, that was eight feet to pick and then eight feet to lift and brush with mineral oil. I will be more efficient next time.


Also I received another Absorbine product to test, Ultra Sheild Red and it works great. Keeping our flies at bay. THis Absorbine Red works for up to 7 days 24/7 at repelling flies and mosquitos, I have to say that I highly recommend Absorbine product and have never been dissappointed.


Above is the state of our pasture. I can assure you that it is NOT dirt, but dead, dead pasture. It's like a tinder box out here. I won't even pull the mower to bring weeds down for fear of starting a grass fire, although even the weeds are struggling and I noticed that some of our trees are failing as well.


I also have made it a point to to keep the sun shades/fly masks on the girls and since eaarlier I was a naughty Horse Mom and negleted to sunscreen pink noses, I've been slathering the aloe cream. They are none too impressed. I must admit they didn't mind the mineral oil at all, probably made their feet feel a little better.

23 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh my Gosh! I have the exact same problem! I am not sure where you ladies live, but I am in Casper WY and my ponies poor hoofs are just terrible. I have started treating with horseshoers secret and I try to flood the pen everyday at least a little. They take turns in the pen and on the pasture so everyone gets a little mud time and grass time.
I am lucky in the sense that I have what I call "Wyoming Swamp grass" which is an low area which must have a spring under it or something. The grass stays fairly green and as long as I manage carefully how many horses I let graze at a time, it seems to grow fairly decently. My neighbors actually have a little natural pond on their property, but it isn't a nice pond. Its all sulpher and icky white goop this year. I think my grass is really just an extension of their "pond", but hey at leat there is some moisture in the ground. :)
It is pretty awful here in Wyoming. The lack of rain is making hay pretty scarce and we are all scrambling to get enough before winter. I am glad I found this blog and am going to follow it regularly. I have started one of my own called herdlife.blogspot.com. Feel free to stop in a visit.
Cindy

Unknown said...

Oh my! I have the same problem. I live in Wy and my ponies hooves are just terrible. I flood their pen and treat with horseshoers secret. They take turns between the pasture and the pen so they all get a little mud time and a little grass time. Its the only way I can keep them from eating all my pasture down. It sure is growing very well this year.

Unknown said...

Well I cannot tell if my posts are going through or not. If I am repeating myself I am sorry

The Equestrian Vagabond said...

great advice on the hooves. it's the same here. I think it last rained in 1969.
- The Equestrian Vagabond

Callie said...

Yes, it's been a nightmare, we've finally gotten a little rain & my pasture is beginning to make an appearance.

John and Regina Zdravich said...

We are in teh same situation here in Northwest Indiana. My horses hooves are also cracked from the combo of being dry and stomping to get rid of flies. We try to keep the fly repellant on them as much as possible. I can't wait till this summer is over. I like the mineral oil idea -- will have to try that. Thanks for the tip.

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Equine SS said...

That's a great idea to use mineral oil. Much more cost effective than hoof conditioner! I have a feeling I'll need some this month. No rain in the forcast :(

Bob said...

I completely understand where you are coming from. The drought is terrible and my horses have been suffering for it. Thanks for sharing this information!


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Spur Cross Stables said...

OMG! We have the same problem. Will try this out, thanks for your post!

Simply Marvelous said...

This drought is a disaster. I curious, without pasture, are you buying hay? Right now, in So. Calif. we are paying $29.00 a bale for Timothy and $21.00 for a bale of alfalfa! Curious what it is other places. Thanks for your recommends.

Callie said...

WE've had some rain since those pics were taken so my pasture did regain enough for them to nibble or occupy, but that's all I ever use it for. It's not big enough to support the horses entirely so I always supplement with hay. I just payed $6.50 a bale delivered.Small bales.

The Equestrian Vagabond said...

I like to let the water trough overfill and leave a little river of mud they have to stand in when they're lustfully watching their buddies eat grain over the fence rail. (Ok, fessing up, I always forget to turn the water off, and the trough overflows, sometimes for hours... but it has the same purpose of getting some moisture into their feet, right??)
- The Equestrian Vagabond

Callie said...

Merri, I usually do the same, especially when cleaning troughs, however, I have had to be mindful of the well. Our tables our low because of the drought, so I want to spare any extra. We've had periods of rain since this post, so my pasture has perked up, but I think our area is still like 5 inches behind normal.

James said...

Hi – Will you please post a link to your Blog at The Horse Community at vorts.com? Our members will love it.
Members include: Horse Owners, Breeders, Trainers, Experts and Lovers.
It's easy just cut and paste the link and it automatically links back to your website… it’s a win win. You can also add Photos, Videos and Classifieds if you like.
Email me if you need any help or would like me to do it for you.
The Horse Community: http://www.vorts.com/horses/
Thanks,
James Kaufman, Editor

Strawberry Lane said...

Hi Callie,
I left a message earlier for you from my "Simply Marvelous" blog.

After 3 years out of cyberspace, I'm again opening the barn doors of "Strawberry Lane". You were such a help during the rescue of the starving horse saga ... so will bring you up to date.

Thanks for your recommendation for fly spray. Now, to go back and see what you have been doing the past 3 years I've been away.

Unknown said...

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KimTaylor@Saltriver said...

Hi Callie,
your blog is very informative which provide helps or tips to the readers. Even here in Western Australia, Many horse owners have the same problem in their horse's hooves. Thank you for sharing your tips!

KimTaylor@Saltriver said...

Hi Callie,
your blog is very informative which provide helps or tips to the readers. Even here in Western Australia, Many horse owners have the same problem in their horse's hooves. Thank you for sharing your tips!

Orville said...

Came across this by accident,had a galvanized stock tank that had a slow leak in it we kept in the pasture. With three digit temperatures out here in Colorado this last summer,I was grumbling about how much work it took to keep the stock tank in the pasture full of water.

It wasn't until the horse shoer came by and asked what was it we are using to keep there feet so moist.

As it turns out standing in the water to get a drink was a good thing. All that work to keep the leaky tank full seemed worth it all of the sudden.
Orville

Roger said...

Hi,
We would like to link swap with you. Please add http://www.FarrierSecretsRevealed.com to yours and we will add you to ours. Many Thanks. Roger

AQHA APHA lover said...

Is the Absorbine Ultra Shield Red an oil based fly spray? I have not found anything that works longer than it takes to evaporate :-( The oil based Pyrhana is as good as I've found, and it's definitely hardly worth recommending. I live in the South, maybe our bugs are more persistent LOL??

Callie said...

I can't tell if it's oil based, but I'm going to guess that it is as you can also use it as a wipe on as well. It also sticks to me when I spray, Takes a fair amount of washing to get it off. It has worked well for my horses and as this summer was one of our most dry and hottest we've had on record, we produced a lot of bugs, but I am also very good about removing manure and have used the organic fly predators year after year. I didn't use those this year, but I think I still have some doing some of the work too. Hope that helps.