Question about a shoeing issue…

I used some two part epoxy stuff last summer, it held for a couple weeks is all

Some pics would be really helpful. Hard to say much without seeing. Keratex is an effective hoof hardening product, but might not address the root cause of what’s going on. With the chip-outs i’m wondering about your nail placement and size? Is the cracking superficial and stable or moving under load? Does it extend to the coronary band?

We had extremely good luck with the farriers formula that is a pellet form supplement that you put in the food once a day. The hooves of our two Belgians were horrible when we got them and our farrier recommended it to us. There was a big difference in the hoof by the next trimming. we didn’t feed the recommended amount and still had great success. Good luck.

Feed supplements can be of some benefit if there is a lack of the esential nutrients in the horses diet. I’m not too sure how much they really help but I don’t think they hurt anything either. A horses hoof is alot like a presons finger nail , it is produced at the hair line and grows out so any new hoof produced after starting to feed a suplement is several months away from the where the nails exit the foot. As for creams, lotions and such I think they are a waste of time and money. A GOOD / PROPER trim is way more important than any feed suplement or hoof dressing. Vertical cracks and the resulting chipping are caused by improper weight bearing of the hoof wall and is a result of the hoof wall being too long some where. Flares are caused by too long of a foot and improper ” balance” for lack of a better word. Lots of show drafts shod with scotch bottm shoes have awful feet because of the flares and cracks associated with the flares. Everybody thinks their farrier is the best but I would advise you to contact your state farriers organization an get a recomendation and give him a try. Good farriers are expensive, good draft farriers are very expensive and none of them can make much of a difference in one or two trimmings so it could be a fairly long , expensive , process to solve the cracking and chipping problem. Also remember that the trim is the most important aspect of a shoeing job, anybody can put a shoe on a foot but it takes skill and knowledge to properly trim a foot either for shoeing or for going barefoot.