Tips for frail hooves
Hi all!👋
My 6yo standardbred boy has always had quite weak hoof growth and frail hoof walls, especially his rear hooves. His mother and aunt have had the same issues, so there's a genetic component to this. He also had very weak pasterns as a foal and has ever since been a bit too low in his rear for my liking. His frogs seem to take a lot of weight, and a few weeks ago I saw some cracking and puss in one of them. Thankfully, I caught it early and managed to intervene in time to avoid any infections or such. He has never been sore thankfully, but I worry that he might get issues if I'm not careful. He's had soles with silicone on, but they only last a maximum of a week before they are torn to shreds. Pear shoes and other frog protective shoes don't exist in his size unfortunately (because his hooves are massive). I've had homemade ring shoes on him, but they mess up his gait too much. He's reshoed before races with aluminium shoes, but has quite wide normal iron shoes at home. He recently managed to lose one rear shoe while in his field, so he has barely anything to nail in on his right outside. :/
I currently let him have wet felt boots at night to add moisture as well as some hoof "cream" that's supposed to help with growth. Does anyone have any other tips for stronger hooves?