I have a 6-year-old barefoot Percheron mare and her hooves have started to chip, crack & flare recently. She's been on Horseshoer's Secret for over a year and she also gets flax seed. She's healthy and I don't know what could be causing these changes. The farrier is out on a regular schedule, 6-7 weeks, although, during the colder months, he stretched it to 8 weeks. Her feet were such a mess that I told him she couldn't wait that long anymore. Also I noticed that her trot is different. She used to bring her feet up nice and straight, but now she sort of flails outward with her front feet. I don't know if there's a connection or not, is there? Also, I'm wondering if my farrier has maybe changed the way he's trimming and that could be the reason for the problems. She has a crack that runs the entire length of the hoof on her left back. It's been there for quite a few trimmings and it concerns me. My farrier says it's nothing to worry about. She isn't tender or anything, but all the changes going on bother me. My farrier says she has good feet and there's no problem. I'm considering using Keratex Hoof Hardener and maybe the filler for the crack. Any thoughts on that? Any thoughts on anything I've written about? Help!
Lolly

If there is not any lameness, then you may not have a problem. It does sound as if you doubt your farrier, so you may want a second opinion. If another reputable farrier says that you don't have a problem, then it may all be just aestheics. However, I often warn people about not trying to fix something that is not broken.

As to the gait change, it is possible to change the gait with trimming, but not too likely, unless there were some radical changes made. I would avoid the crack filler unless you are going to show the horse, or if advised by a farrier. You may also want to consider Farriers' Formula. We have had really good results with that supplement, and we feed it to 5 personal horses. Good luck.

Chris, Thank You for your response. I had my farrier out early and her feet look absolutely beautiful again. I noticed he notched the crack out more than usual to take some of the stress off. Hopefully this will help. Also, her gait is back to normal, no more flailing outward. My farrier will be out to the barn on the 18th, regularly scheduled day, to do the rest of the horses there and I'm going to ask him if he'll come out every 3 weeks for my girl. I think the problem is that she needs trimming more often than the rest of the horses and the time between trimmings was just too long. I will avoid the filler. Thanks again.