Seedy toe treatment 6 weeks after removal

Peter from Hoofworks visted Archie today for another appointment. He was happy with my trimming except for a couple of pillars I hadn't rasped back. Now I know how to do it correctly I should be able to take them off easily. 

The gouge in Archie's front hoof has now completely grown out. His hoof looks great! I do need to keep the pillars rasped down so that the hoof doesn't crack again.

Today Peter removed the last bit of seedy toe from the rear hoof. Yay! Although there is still a gouge there is no bug present.

Seedy toe treatment 4 weeks after removal

Here are photos of Archie's front hoof 4 weeks after the seedy toe was removed. I trimmed his front hooves today and treated them with Bug Buster.

Seedy toe treatment 4 weeks after removal

Here are photos of Archie's rear hoof 4 weeks after the seedy toe was cut out of his hoof. I'm only going to file two hooves in one session for a while. Because I'm still slow at bare foot trimming, Archie loses patience with me when I try to do all four in one day. Today it was the rear hooves that were done.

Seedy toe treatment 2 weeks after removal

I have been trimming Archie's feet weekly and applying Bug Buster twice weekly.
In wet weather I wrap up his hooves in vet wrap to stop the Bug Buster from washing off.


Here are some photos 

The following photos are of Archie's rear left hoof 2 weeks after seedy toe removal...

The following photos are of Archie's front left hoof 2 weeks after seedy toe removal...

Seedy toe removal - left rear hoof

Seedy toe removal - front left hoof

Sensitive hooves - after trim - week 1

On the Saturday 18/09/10 Archie was a demonstration horse at a hoof trimming workshop. Archie had his shoes removed from his front hooves and a correct trim performed by Peter from Hoofworks. 

Archie is sensitive without shoes on his front hooves. This has been my main reason for shoes in the past.

This time we are working on strengthening Archie's hooves.

I am keeping notes on his progress.

Saturday 18 September 2010 

Barefoot trim

Sunday 19 September 2010

Archie is extremely sensitive and limping in both front hooves on grass and on hard gravel driveway. We walked very slow.

Monday 20 September 2010

Archie was cantering on the grass and showed no signs of sensitivity. However when walking on the hard driveway he was limping again but not as severe as Sunday.

Tuesday 21 September 2010

The sensitivity only appears to be on the right fore now when walking on the hard driveway. Today I took Archie up to the round yard and chased him around so he would trot freely. I noticed on this course sand surface he was limping slightly on his right fore.


Wednesday 22 September 2010

Got my file and Bug Buster liquid today. I practised my filing Archie's back hooves. I was surprised how much I remembered from the course. I was on my own and was able to work with no one holding his head. Very happy with this and keen to learn more.
Today I cleaned Archie's front hooves with metho and applied Bug Buster to the seedy to affected areas. I then wrapped his hooves in Vet wrap. It has been raining and the wrap will help the Bug Buster stay on long enough to be effective.


Archie was still sensitive walking on the driveway. Even when his feet were wrapped up.

Thursday 22 September 2010

Only the right foot had the vet wrap still on.

Archie is still sensitive on the driveway. We were walking on it with a long lead rope and I noticed he chose to step up on the grass.

I tried him in the round yard and I did not notice any sensitivity.

Saturday 24 September 2010

Today there was no limping on the driveway but he still chose to step up on the grass a couple of times. I'm guessing he still feels a bit sensitive on this surface.

Sensitive hooves - Archie's story so far

I have decided not to use vet's or farrier's names in this post.


Before I bought Archie, (18 months ago from Griffith NSW), I had a vet check done. The "NSW Vet" said he couldn't work Archie on hard ground because he just a barefoot trim done and too much had been cut off. He was sensitive. Archie was worked on the grass instead and was fine. The "NSW Vet" said Archie's hooves were healthy. He thought Archie would be OK in a few days. I purchased this horse and he travelled up to QLD with a transport company.

Six weeks later I had my first farrier appointment. My "Farrier 1" said  the "NSW Farrier" had not only cut too much off but she had also got the angles wrong.  Archie had had high heels and it was a very rough job. "Farrier 1" also said Archie's weight has been pushed forward giving him bad posture. "Farrier 1" corrected the angle.

Archie had also been a little sore in the muscle at the front of his shoulder (could be related to the bad posture due to high heels). Sometimes when I'd been riding him he had a slight limp. So Archie had some Bowen Therapy (equine muscle release therapy). He had a massage and a couple of days to rest.


The limping continued. We noticed it occurring while trotting Archie in the sand arena. It had been five weeks since my previous farrier appointment. I asked "Farrier 1" for advice. He noticed that Archie's posture was still very upright. He had continued to carry himself with his weight forward. The front of the hoof wall (toe) and front of sole had excessive wear. "Farrier 1" pointed to the front of Archie's sole and said this is where he's sore. 


"Farrier 1's" solution was to shoe Archie's on the front hooves only. It worked. Archie stopped limping.


During Spring and Summer 2009 I made the decision to try Archie barefoot again. The sensitivity was back. I persevered for a few months worked him on the grass only and avoided hard ground and sharp rocks when ever I could.

December 2009, (front left hoof). Archie had been barefoot trimmed for a few months. The nail holes have grown out. Unfortunately, because of the wet weather and Archie now has seedy toe in a small crack.

I made the decision to put the shoes back on when Archie got seedy toe. This time I got a full set. I thought it would help grow the cracks out by re-enforcing the hoof. I was wrong. He still has seedy toe and cracks.


Time to try a new approach.

Hoof trimming and seedy toe treatment

About a week ago I attended a hoof trimming workshop run by Peter Laidley from Hoofworks Australia. I wanted to learn how to take better care of my horse's hooves. Archie was a demonstration horse at the clinic. Peter removed Archie's shoes from his front hooves and showed us how to trim them. Archie has seedy toe. It was present in the nail holes, a small crack and also in Archie's white line. I am treating this with a product called 'Bug Buster' (purple liquid) which is available from Hoofworks.


The Seedy Toe in Archie's rear left hoof will have to be cut out to treat properly. I have an appointment with Peter on the 9 October. To help others learn I have decided to take photos throughout the treatment. 


So, keep checking this blog to watch Archie's hooves become healthy and strong. See what a difference correct hoof trimming can make.




Here are some 'before' photos...

26/09/10 Rear left hoof, front view. Seedy Toe present in crack (before treatment)

26/09/10 Rear left hoof, outside view

26/09/10 Rear left hoof, inside view 

26/09/10 Rear left hoof, back view

26/09/10 Rear left hoof, bottom view (before treatment)

I have been practising my new filing skills on Archie's rear hooves.

26/09/10 Rear left hoof, bottom view with 'Bug Buster' applied.

Archie's seedy toe problems - the story so far

Archie scrambled in a horse float March 2009. On the left rear leg you will see a cut on his coronary band.

I didn't know it at the time but this cut was going to cause me problems in the future

(my focus was on the big cut on the other leg).

May 2009 the cut has grown down the front of the hoof and is now a hole on Archie's hoof wall.

The damage on Archie's hoof grew down the hoof and turned black. When it reached the bottom instead of growing out the weakened hoof split. Seedy toe was present in this split and "Farrier 1" attempted to repair this by cutting it out. This repair was unsuccessful.

(December 2009) Seedy Toe repair fail. The seedy toe had been cut out but the hoof wall had been left too long. The arched hole was filled with putty but this fell out within a day. The hoof wall was weakened and a big piece broke off the side. What a disaster!

March 2010, (rear hooves). My solution to fix the seedy to problem was to grow out the damage and give Archie a full set  of shoes. I thought this would reinforce his hooves and give them a chance to grow the cracks out. It worked for a while, but then I had a new problem - over-reaching and seedy toe in nail holes.

Every time Archie pulls a shoe off the farrier has to add an extra set of holes to put a new shoe back on again.
When a horse is losing shoes regularly the end result is a hoof that looks like swiss cheese. The hoof wall is weakened and seedy toe gets into the holes.

Welcome to my blog

Archie is a White Quarter Horse gelding. He has very sensitive pink skin that reacts badly to UV light, wet weather and insect bites. His hooves are also sensitive and he is being treated for seedy toe.


I created this blog to document Archie's progress while sharing information with others who may be experiencing similar health issues with their own horses.