We rescued a completely neglected, pathetic, debilitated 2 year old colt yesterday. He has 2 club feet up front that have been trimmed only once in his entire life. He's a walking skeleton, a good 300 pounds underweight. He's barely able to stand, & has pressure sores and urine scald. He's a MESS. But, he wants to live, that much is completely clear. So we're doing what we can. His front hooves are BAD. The farrier trimmed off inches & inches of corroded hoof today, and said that the abcesses were the worst she's ever seen. It's not likely that he's ever going to be a barrel-racer with these feet, but if he can be pain-free most days, we'll consider it a success. So what I want to know is, what are your favorite supplements or additives for debilitated horses, and especially for hoof health? I read the archives. What I want to hear is your personal experiences with specific products or methods. (I do know about other aspects of care for fragile animals like this one. I just need supplement advice. Thanks.)

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), February 26, 2002

Answers

I have used Red Cell with good success.

Be careful to start slowly (I am sure you know this) so you don't overwhelm his digestive system.

Poor baby. I wish I knew where you were and I would come get him and bring him home.

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), February 26, 2002.

Yucca helped my horse with arthritis pain. I bet it would help his painful hoofs.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), February 26, 2002.

The colt will be just fine. Good food and green grass in the spring will help. Be very careful starting out with the feed. He hasn't had much and the supplements will complicate things greatly. The abcesses will heal and with proper hoof management he will be fine in a month or two. I've been a farrier for 20 years and have helped in many rescues. Keep up the great work and keep us all informed.

-- handy (nmhoofer@paulbunyan.net), February 26, 2002.

Been fortunate and never had a serious problem w/horse but we give our horses equine missing link. Started them ever since my sister gave me some for our arthritic dog who didn't want to put weight on 1 leg. After giving the dog canine missing link, she was running and playing on all 4 legs with the other dogs like she was years younger. Missing Link's main ingrediant seems to be omega-3 which helps humans alot also. I also agree with the farrier who said green grass and springtime will help but supplements can speed the healing process. If you do give them anything do start the colt on it slowly.

Good luck!

-- zeb (wrangler@jridgeranch.com), February 27, 2002.

Shannon, let me give you the link to Susan Garlinhouse's webpage: http://www.shady-acres.com/susan/

She is probably THE expert in equine nutrition, and you can email her and she would likely give you tons of advice on how to feed this poor guy.

Tracy

-- Tracy (zebella@mindspring.com), February 27, 2002.

Oh, poor guy he's had it rough. I use Blue Seal Minavite for vitamin supplementation, and BL Solution is a great alternative to Bute for pain relief without the danger of ulcers. There's biotin in Minavite but you might want to feed some higher concentrations to this horse to improve his feet. You've brought back a bunch of horses, Shannon, and know how to feed them but my favorite weight builder is beet pulp, I like rice bran too but it's pricey and I don't think it works any better.

I'm very glad this guy found you to take care of him.

Stacy in NY

-- Stacy (KincoraFarm@aol.com), February 27, 2002.

Shannon,Anvil Brand Shoe Company sells a hoof supplement called "Choice".We used it on a 4 year old colt that had abcesses,founder,contracted heals and the thinest walls you've ever seen. He literally had nothing for the farrier to nail to.We gave him a scoop in the morning and a scoop in the evening.It really worked amazing alot quicker than expected.There are products that sound like it but I've only found this particular one at Anvil. Their web is www.anvilbrand.com Their phone is 1-800-365-8202

-- sherry (cmv@netnitco.net), February 27, 2002.

Shannon, organic garlic, kelp and nutritional yeast powder, mixed in a ratio of three garlic to one of each of the others, is my "magic cure all" for ALL types of critters, the worse condition they are in, the higher the "dose" they get.

Horse in a bad way, one tablespoon twice a day in their feed, add a bit of veg oil to help it stick and stir well. All my critters here get this mixture in their feed every day, no ticks, no fleas, no skin and coat conditions, no worms, no hoof problems, no digestive problems, no "bad doers" any longer. My vet is amazed at how well it works and tells all his clients about it.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), February 27, 2002.

I second the Red Cell and also the advice to start very slowly with any supplements or "high powered" feed.

Since he is so debilitated, adding yoghurt culture or powdered asidophilis to his feed (or probiotic paste) may help his digestive system get back to normal.

Oil added to the feed will also help .. it provides easily used calorie to the diet and you can eventually feed up to 10% of the feed ration in oil ... I give my broodmares and horses in training a cup per day mixed in the grain ... but again, start very slowly.

One note of caution about supplements containing KELP ... kelp is extremely high in iodine and horses are very sensitive to iodine. It is easy to get toxic levels by feeding high-iodine supplements. If they are getting iodized salt, for instance, you do NOT want to feed anything with very high levels of kelp, or other iodine-containing minerals.

-- SFM (sportpony@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002.

Feed him the best quality alfalfa you can get your hands on. I have had great success with a product called AlfaGro for putting weight on youngens. If that is not available Equine Jr is very good. I feed the AlfaGro per directions and the Jr I feed about 3 pounds per day.

For vitamin supplementation I use Calf Manna, also sold as Stock Builder. Its palatable, easy to give and I've had great results with it.

For ALL hoof related problems I have run across, except founder,adding linseed meal to their diet at 2-4 cups per week has resolved them.

-- Stacia in OK (OneClassyCowgirl@aol.com), February 27, 2002.

I don't generally do supplements, but horses that were under lots of stress from competition (eventers and jumpers) were given Calf Manna and Red Cell. Just go easy on both, till he's used to it. For hooves with abcesses, we would soak the hooves in warm water with epsom salts to draw out the abcess. Works really good and it must feel good to the horse as ours quickly found out and so didn't try to remove their hooves from the five gallon bucket. They would just stand there and munch their hay and soak their feet. We would have to remove their legs from the buckets. But the abcesses always came out quicker that way.

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), February 27, 2002.

Re: Kelp supplement warning? "Source" has been an all around best seller for many, many years as a hoof and coat and general condition improving supplement and it is nothing but Norwegian harvested kelp powder. Too much used beyond the the recommended rate of feeding would/could be unwise, but that would apply to any nutritional supplement as well, not just kelp.

The amount that would end up in the finished ratio of product I suggested would not be any greater than the daily recommended dose suggested by "Source".

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), February 27, 2002.

I've dealt with feeding up a few starvation cases over the years. The first I used a product called 'Velvet' on, altho it was later renamed to 'Vigortone Premix 5'. I had trouble finding it, and started using Stride instead. I've had great success with it, and my farriers have all commented on the great condition that my horse's feet are in.

If it were my animal, I would hold off for a while on supplements and deworm first. Ask your veterinarian about doing a fecal exam to see what kind of internal parasites you may be dealing with, and since he is debilitated, get single dewormers to use, rather than broad spectrum one-shot types. Then I would go with a good quality mixed grass hay, unlimited free choice, but I would hold off also on the alfalfa, any grain, or lush spring pasturage with a horse this debilitated. Green grass is very good for putting weight on, but given the state his digestion is likely in, I'd severely restrict his access to pasturage to half an hour at most initially. The last thing you need now is colic, or lamanitis. Beet pulp is a good start at supplementing -- it is nutritionally somewhere between hay and grain, and has a good calcium/phosphorus ratio for horse feeding.

After that, my own choice would be Stride, at about a third the recommended rate to begin with. We used Clovite on a herd of really debilitated (wormy, starved to dying) horses due to the higher cost of Stride (and since we were dealing with over a hundred horses)-- however, for my own horses, Stride has been my supplement of choice for years, and my horses have no hoof or health problems.

I've used the hot water epsom soaks on abscessed hooves too, as well as hoof bandaging after the soak using Black Drawing Salve (Ichthammol) packs on the soles, padding well with cotton, wrapping over it with Vet Wrap (not over the coronary band or foot, only around the horn of the hoof), and then duct taping around the edges to prevent cutting through. I'd have to cut these boots off daily to resoak, but the do a good job of providing a barrier against dirt working its way into open abscesses and speeds up healing.

Homeopathically, for hoof abscesses that you are having trouble healing,& very deep, Myristica 30x is the recommendation. Dose three times a day until the abscess is drained and healed.

Alternately, Hepar sulphurica 30c is recommended for painful abscesses when the horse resents any pressure. Dose 3-4 times daily until the abscess opens and drains.

Silicea 30x is for reducing scar tissue and cold absecesses. One or two doses a few days apart to decrease scarring, and once a day for an abscess.

Remember in supplementing to avoid mixing Vitamin E and Vit. C into feeds with supplements that contain iron or copper, as these minerals interact and destroy E and C.

Also don't mix vitamins into any feed containing alkaline electrolytes (particular bicarbonate of soda) -- they too destroy the vitamins. Adding mineral oil will prevent their absorption.

Club feet are a whole different set of problems. A foundered foot can often look like a club foot. In addition to a superior farrier, you will probably need to have a veterinarian look at his feet. The causes of club feet are varied, as is the treatment. It is very possible that this horse has suffered severe laminitis and founder and it has distorted the hoof walls, and detachment of portions of the hoof freqently occur as a result, with the side effects of abscesses. Your veterinarian should be able to x-ray and see if there is rotation of the coffin bone in the foot that will require specialized care by the farrier. If the tip of the coffin bone has tilted down, this can lead to demineralization (pedal osteitis) and permanent pain. As young as he is, if you get at the problem now, he may eventually grow out much more normal hooves and be able to do light work, depending on how severe the case is.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), February 28, 2002.