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Hi a little information first. I Have a late 2 year old named fuego and me and my farrier have both become concerned that his feet are not growing. He is a 2 year old APHA gelding who is halter/western pleasure bred. Registered name worthallthechrome if you want to look up his all breed pedigree. Anyways he used to grow great feet when we had him at our old barn he was stalled most of the time he ate alfalfa grass mix twice a day and was on 2.5lbs of grow n win by buckeye no hoof supplements and he had free choice salt and minerals.(age 3 months-1 year 9 months) this was his routine. Shavings we used were very soft(pelleted sawdust) and he was worked twice a day in a sand arena hoof trims every 6-7 weeks but we now moved him to a new barn and he's stopped growing hoof as much as he was (is now on a 12 week trim cycle and farrier only needs to rasp) he eats grass hay free choice and gets 5lbs of blue bonnet omega force in a grain bag he is also on absorbine flex+max joint supplements and farriers formula extra strength. He is on outside board so outside 24/7 he has access to grass and free choice minerals and salt the main part of his pen is a small gravel and turnout area has grass he gets worked in a sand indoor arena. Just wondering if any of yall have had hoof problems with some of your horses I understand he walks more on gravel but his mane and tail are growing amazing I just don't see any hoof growth... anyone randomly had a 2 year old that builds muscle, gets taller, super shiny coat, hair growing great but bad feet? Any tips or recommendations would also be great<3
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It sounds like he I'd naturally grinding his feet enough on gravel and the grass. He gets great nutrition from what I can tell and it doesn't seem to be a concern. Every quarter I've had has grown slowly growing feet except the appendix gelding. My mare now is a Paso quarter horse and her feet can go months without a trim or rasp. Some chips off normal if heavy flies. My racking mare though, her backs are great and her fronts notoriously split in the middle. I have yet to get them on a consistent enough schedule to slow it down. But the cracks always stop at a certain point. She was abused when I had to sell her. She wad gone for 6 years before I finally got her back. They did no farrier work except around a few times a year and didn't feed her the last year she was there. She was in horrible condition when I got her back, so it's understandable that her feet are still a work in progress when I can only afford to get trims around 5 times a year, her needing them much more often. If there was gravel in my pasture I'm sure it would help her more. Your boy sounds completely fine though. Nothing at all to worry about. He's not lame or hurting. Just doesn't grown fast hooves
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You also should consider what season it is. They grow slower in winter, faster in summer. I've got ~12 head of fullsize, half drafts, and drafts, and I trim maybe once every few months. One boy hasn't been trimmed in longer than that because he naturally has excellent feet that wear off very evenly and don't split or chip. When you say bad feet, are they splitting? Cracking? Otherwise, he might just not grow a ton of foot. Not an unusual thing.
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His feet aren't chipping or anything he just has low heels and his feet don't grow very well even in the summer his feet didn't grow very much at all The Lady of Fangorn said: You also should consider what season it is. They grow slower in winter, faster in summer. I've got ~12 head of fullsize, half drafts, and drafts, and I trim maybe once every few months. One boy hasn't been trimmed in longer than that because he naturally has excellent feet that wear off very evenly and don't split or chip. When you say bad feet, are they splitting? Cracking? Otherwise, he might just not grow a ton of foot. Not an unusual thing.
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Wings Of Glory said: His feet aren't chipping or anything he just has low heels and his feet don't grow very well even in the summer his feet didn't grow very much at all The Lady of Fangorn said: You also should consider what season it is. They grow slower in winter, faster in summer. I've got ~12 head of fullsize, half drafts, and drafts, and I trim maybe once every few months. One boy hasn't been trimmed in longer than that because he naturally has excellent feet that wear off very evenly and don't split or chip. When you say bad feet, are they splitting? Cracking? Otherwise, he might just not grow a ton of foot. Not an unusual thing.
Imo nothing to be worried about then. It wouldn't even be on my radar if it was my guy lol
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