Need Help Preventing Ice Balls

[mylilchix]

We've recently gotten a Shetland pony. We're in the midst of a cold, snowy snap and ice balls keep collecting in his hooves. How do I prevent this from happening? I've been cleaning them out daily and the farrier is coming out this week for a trim. Any advice in the meantime?
Thanks for the help!!!

 

[currycomb]

try spraying some cooking spray on the bottoms of his feet, or anything greasy. a good trim will help

 

[escherer20]

Does he have shoes? I honestly can't remember ever having a pony get ice balls that was barefoot. If he doesn't then a trim should do the job. Sometimes horses will get ice balls for just a short time and then they fall out. I have never worried about my ponies. Cooking spray or shortening does help.

 

[promiseacres]

My minis get them regularly with wet snows...:/ keeping them trimmed should help...(well not all off the but ones with smaller.hooves seem to) I have heard of but never tried the oil...

 

[sawfish99]

Pull his shoes. You will fix a lot more problems than just the ice balls.

 

[goodhors]

You probably are not using him enough to justify getting him shod.
But if you don't mind the expense, they have snow-rim pads that are
put on hooves, between the hoof wall and shoe, that DO work well
for keeping snow out of the sole. The pad is a tube that runs inside
the shoe edge and flexes each time animal steps down and kind of
prevents snow from packing in the sole. We also have pin studs on
shoes with a collar, "ice stud" model, for traction. You NEVER want
plain shoes on your animal on snow, cold ground or ice. He is likely
to slip and fall or injure himself as the cold steel slides on the cold surfaces.

There is also a "bubble" type snow pad, but they will get dirt and mud
underneath, as the ground changes from snow to mud and back again.
So animal ends up walking on a hardened bubble, not flexible like it
should be. Think Tennis ball half under your foot! With no flex, the
bubble pad doesn't throw out the snow packing either.

On bare hooves, you can do the lard on sole, cooking spray, vasaline,
but they only last for short times, less than an hour most times.

Ask Farrier if he can add a bit more "cup" to the sole when he trims, so
it is easier to "flick" the packed snow out when pony moves. If pony
only ever moves slow, walks quietly, they are just unlikely to have
enough movement of the leg to get the flick action going and lose the snowball.
Our horses run and play, trot briskly about, so they are throwing snow
every stride, hooves stay clean on the barefoot ones. The shod horses
also flick out the packed snow with the snow-rim pads inside the shoe
edges. Losing the snow really has a lot to do with how lively the animal
moves around. My old horse needed me to chunk out her hooves daily,
since she didn't run or play much at her advanced age. Especially if it was
a wet snow, good for packing into weapons for snow fights! We have a
tool called an "ice hammer" which is from old times, made to remove
hoof snow build up. Works great with that pointed end, removing hard
packed stuff my hoof pick won't touch. Pointed end used carefully just
chunks out the icy build up.

 

[mylilchix]

Thank you for the great advice. Lil Bit doesn't wear shoes; he just has very deep frogs, especially on his front hooves. Our farrier is coming out Friday for a trim, I'm hoping he has some suggestions. He wasn't having any problems until the temps dropped below zero, and it started to snow. With the cold weather he's standing around more, and my kids haven't been going out to ride him. I've tried cooking spray, but that only worked for a short time. Every morning I've been going out, melting the ice with warm water, picking him, and then drying his hooves with a towel. Our weather is supposed to warm back into the 40s this week, so I'm hoping that alleviates the issue. Thanks again for the help! I thought I knew a lot about horses, but this was a new one for me!
Sonja

 

[sawfish99]

Barefoot horses should clear the snow on their own as needed. Snow packing in around the hoof isn't normally a problem for the horse. I would like to know what you mean by "deep frogs". A picture would be great. That could be a separate problem, or not, depending on the actual situation.

Your primary problem is likely related to the fact that the pony is just standing around. This is related to your other post of the pony being alone. The pony is more likely to move around with another pasture mate. And yes, I think that is a good idea. Horses are herd animals and the companionship is important to them. Another smaller pony would probably be good for your setup.

 

[mylilchix]

I'll see if I can get a picture of Lil Bits front hooves. He is in need of a hoof trim, but the interior of the hooves is deep almost like a bowl. The problem is starting to alleviate itself now that the weather is warming. He does stand around a lot during the day. I have started spreading his hay into smaller piles around his pen, so he has to move to get more. Unfortunately, the recent snow has covered the grass patches he liked to get to. Hopefully, now that we're getting back into the 30s and 40s, my kids can ride him more often. It's no fun playing with the pony in below zero temps! I am still looking into getting him a buddy. Thanks for the help!

 

[sawfish99]

Hooves are supposed to have concavity to them, like a bowl. Flat hooves are actually unnatural.

Where are you located?