Rainy season

YOUR HORSE'S HOOF HEALTH

TEXT: CHRISTINE PINNA, CABALLO BAREFOOT TRIMMING

It's been raining the last few days and finally, when there is a break, and the sun comes out, you head over to the yard, excited that you can finally have a ride. While tacking up, you give your horse's feet a good clean out to get rid of any excess mud and debris that may have collected in there while he has been frolicking in the rain. Suddenly you gasp in horror; his frog just came right off!

TIME TO PANIC?

Surprisingly, you don't need to panic. This will happen once or twice a year, usually as we enter the wet season and sometimes again when we enter the dry season. It is entirely normal and natural, and probably even necessary, although nobody really knows exactly why it happens. Where I live, it's mostly very dry with sporadic rain, and my horses' frogs will shed every time there is significant rain after a good dry spell. In response to this unique environment, they have become very good at quickly growing back thick frogs.

At the same time as this is happening, you may see white crumbly stuff as you are cleaning out your horse's feet. Some people mistake this for thrush; fortunately, it is just harmless crumbly sole that is shedding along with the frog. There is a good chance that at your horse's next trimming appointment, your hoofcare provider will gain deep satisfaction from removing any leftover built-up dead sole that is ready to come out.

TOP TIP

Before embarking on a ride, or in order to help your horse to feel more comfortable when he has to stand on three legs for your hoofcare provider, clean out his feet thoroughly if your horse's paddock is muddy. Mud and debris gather in your horse's hooves, putting excess pressure on the sole, and causing discomfort.

NUTRITION CHECK

This is also an excellent time to test out how solid your horse's nutrition is. If your horse's feet literally fall apart before your eyes every rainy season, he probably needs his diet looked at. A diet high in roughage with minimal low-sugar concentrates is imperative for growing strong walls, even on horses who aren't naturally genetically gifted in this department. In South Africa, our soils are lacking in copper and zinc, which directly affects the integrity of the walls. For this reason, it is important that our horses are supplemented with these minerals in the correct proportions.

LEARNING FROM THE PROCESS

The process of frog and sole shedding can, however reveal a few interesting things. Sometimes your horse, who is known to have very strong walls, may suddenly get a big chip out of his hoof. This usually means that the dead sole he was building up over the dry season needed to be taken out sooner. Your hoofcare provider must be able to identify when the right time is to do this as the dead sole can end up flush with the too-long walls creating a false impression that the walls are the correct length.

This frog can be safely trimmed

Breeds such as Friesians, Draft horses, Saddlebreds, Arabs and Boerperd typically have very strong walls and are predisposed to the above-mentioned issue. Some horses in these breed categories are unfortunately also bred to have upright feet unless the breeder puts in a good effort to avoid this by not risking breeding with mares and stallions with this issue. These breeds are also often really good at growing a lot of excess frog height over the dry season. This can confuse the hoofcare provider as the heels may look like they need to come down, but the frog is very thick, and one doesn't want to leave the frog standing proudly above the heels. While barefoot trimmers usually don't trim much frog or sole, these are two instances where one definitely needs to know when to trim these two structures to avoid these horses ending up with hooves that are much taller than necessary.

Horses with normal heels may also run into trouble in rainy season if the heels aren't addressed correctly by the hoofcare provider. With the absence of the normal frog height, after shedding, one might be tempted to lower the heels too much. It is important not to do this but rather to acknowledge that the horse needs a bit of time to grow his new frog back to its normal height after shedding the old one.

Frog in process of shedding after rain

COPING WITH RAINY SEASON

So, during this process, what can you as an owner do to help your horse get through it swiftly without a problem?

1. One of the biggest things we can do is to watch out for thrush and treat it as soon as you spot it. Of all the times for a horse to get thrush, the worst is when his frog is trying to grow back. If your horse's environment is dirty and he is on a high sugar diet, there is a good chance that his frog won't grow back into anything very robust, and he may end up with contracted heels. The frog has numerous important functions, including traction, proprioception, thermoregulation and blood circulation, so it needs to be large in relation to the rest of the hoof, healthy and contacting the ground in order to be strong and functional.

2. Another regular occurrence during the rainy season is abscessing so if your horse is sore get the vet. While the odd abscess isn't too much to worry about, a horse who abscesses repetitively may have something more sinister going on in which case one would want to rule out any liver, kidney and gut issues.

WIN WIN WIN

We are giving away three "Ultimate Hoofcare Kits" to the three worst thrush, contracted heels or seedy toe cases to help you get your horse back on track. This includes a 1l Hoof Hygiene Hoof Spray, 500ml Hoof Hygiene Hoof Clay, 1kg Back2Basics Immunohoof and R200 off a Scoot Boots order.

How to enter on Facebook or Instagram:

On Facebook:

1) "Like" our page on Facebook https://m.facebook. com/CaballoBarefootTrimming/

2) Post your photo under this link and tell us why you need our products

3) Tag three friends who also need our products

Or Instagram:

1) Follow us on Instagram @caballobarefoottrimming

2) Follow HQ magazine on Instagram @hq_magazine

3) Upload your horse's nasty thrush picture and give @caballobarefoottrimming a mention

4) Tag three friends who also need our products

Social media and competitions, not your thing? All Hoof Hygiene Range orders in November enjoy 10% off. For ordering information visit www.caballo. co.za/hoof-hygiene-range

The competition closes 30 November 2021