Snow Packed Hooves?

[poniesrule]

My little fuzzballs are in a paddock with an open barn, but they prefer to stand outside, out of the wind instead of inside of course... drives me crazy. We have snow and frigid wind chills (ugh) & they are constantly getting snow packed in their hooves. When I go to feed, I have to pick & chip away. I've been going 3 times a day, seems worse in the mornings & later evenings. My filly was literally 2" taller this morning. I hate watching them try to walk because they wobble so much on the snow pack & I just know something horrible is going to happen. Does anyone have any tips to help prevent this? I read somewhere once that spraying pam cooking spray would help, anyone else heard of this?

 

[appy2d]

Have used pam before with my big horse and shoes. worked great.

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

Crisco rubbed onto their feet works well and conditions too

 

[eagles ring farm]

I have also heard both of the above

spray some type of oil-and snow doesn't stic so easily

never tried it though

 

[amysue]

The snow sticks and balls up worse when the hooves need trimmed as the excess horn createsva lip for snow to stick to. They sell a product called mushers secret for sled dogs that works wonders. I use Vaseline for preventing snow balls as it packs in there nicely. If they continually ball up you can make booties out of vet wrap and duct tape but be careful as they can be slippery once the snow packs to ice.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

I've never had trouble with this until now. Our occasional snow doesn't hand around long. But this winter! We've been in the single digits for 2 days. I tried to clean out their hooves this morning and could not budge the snowballs withe the hoof pick. Do you think I should put their feet in a bucket of warm water, clean the hooves, then apply the shortening? I don't think it's going to get out of single digits again today.

They were trimmed two weeks ago, so I can't blame that.

 

[poniesrule]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I will head out to the barn with my baking supplies this afternoon

 

[poniesrule]

I've never had trouble with this until now. Our occasional snow doesn't hand around long. But this winter! We've been in the single digits for 2 days. I tried to clean out their hooves this morning and could not budge the snowballs withe the hoof pick. Do you think I should put their feet in a bucket of warm water, clean the hooves, then apply the shortening? I don't think it's going to get out of single digits again today.

They were trimmed two weeks ago, so I can't blame that.

I hear ya! It's been NUTS this year, & we don't have near the usual amount of snow. I've actually had to use a small hammer to dislodge the iceballs. I would worry about warm water freezing? And water tends to repel shortening, so you would have to dry the hooves off (I would think).

 

[Marty]

Yes I learned my lesson years ago, all of the above is great. Those snowballs will pull tendons and wreck a horse faster than you can say "snow". Another tip is also to go behind the pasterns with some Vaseline there also where snow packs in and keep a glob in there to avoid sores.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Went out to do the Pam thing. Their hooves were clear; I guess they've been running around so much today the packs fell out. Maybe at night they are not so active, so this morning it was a problem.

I cleaned them good and sprayed on the Pam, so it will be interesting to check them this evening.

I had read about this in past years, but forgotten. Glad the topic came up again!

 

[candycar]

I have used a hairdryer to get the snowballs out of their feet before. Now I treat with olive oil or pam before it gets too snowy.

 

[Foxhaven]

Our guys are put up every evening so it hasn't been too bad... plus we put used sawdust from the bedding in the barn yard. REALLY helps with the moisture management, their hooves have been better with snow since we started doing this. Holds down the mud when it melts too.

Our donkey on the other hand requires regular hoof picking. Deep crevices around the frog.

 

[poniesrule]

Good idea on the used bedding. I could shake some of that out on the heavy wear areas like to/from the water.... Never thought of that! I will probably never say this again, but I'm glad the wind blew yesterday, a lot of the snow has disappeared out of the paddock haha!

 

[Foxhaven]

There is much to like about pellets for bedding. We use the same stuff we burn in our stove (no additives, just compressed sawdust). The sun breaks down the urea in the soaked bedding in a hurry, and it gains a second life as moisture management outside. Not NEARLY as impacting as pine shavings when spread in the pasture after stripping. Breaks down pretty fast. If super cold, where they pee it clumps and freezes which makes it even easier to remove too.

Sam the donkey is quite suspicious of it if we don't soak it sufficiently to cause it to break back down to sawdust.... he is not into 'different' in any way.

Needless to say we don't change bedding unless it is above freezing. Seems to last about a month or so between strippings, with occasional addition of some pellets as needed (with a spray of water to break them down).

Oh yeah, less than $5/bag, two bags per stall, cheaper than shavings in the long run. A LOT cheaper.

 

[MindyLee]

Im glad im a farrier. If I see this in my own herd, I can go out and fix it in a minute With a quick lite trim and rasp.

Lol!

 

[Baptism]

We had this problem a few years back with my daughter's 4H pony. We tried spraying silicone, packing with Hooflex, Lard, spraying with Pam. Nothing worked and it was important we did something because the snow pack was giving him Laminitis. The first winter we had to give up and keep him in the barn in a large area and treat all winter for Laminitis with Bute and herbs. (Turned out the Herb mixture worked surprisingly well.) Second winter we put shoes on him with pads. That worked perfect. The next winter he wore Easy Boots. I tied fluorescent survey tape onto them so I could find them in case they fell off. Both winters we were successful at avoiding Laminitis. We finally had to sell him to a home farther south that didn't get 9 months of snow! Long story short, if you don't watch the snow pack the uneven pressure could cause Laminitis. So far none of our other minis have had any problems.