Any cheap supplements that will improve hoof quality?

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wench

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Just after any suggestions really... Potentially after something cheap and cheerful. I am of course aware of biotin
 
I've been using TopSpec Healthy Hoof for one of mine. Was recommended it by my farrier to help with sand cracks and it's improved his feet to a point where he won't need the vet treatment he was going to have because they're improving so well with the supplement :)
 
Calcified(it doesn't have any calcium in despite the name) magnesium from an agricultural supplies is cheap and corrects one of the key deficiencies causing poor hoof quality.
 
I just use biotin in my horses feed. He gets that in his morning feed everyday. Changed them from having surface cracks to looking lovely. Of course the farrier did help but they hardly ever split now either whereas when I first got him they cracked all the time really easily.
 
I tend towards dried seaweed as a supplement to aid with good keratin production (though H really gets it for his mane - which he rubs in the winter - rather than his hooves per se).

It works for H, and it's not terribly expensive if you're on a budget, though I don't think I know many people outside Highland or Shetland Pony-owning circles who use the stuff (ponies that live on Scottish islands tend to have seaweed as a decent chunk of their forage, especially in winter, and people who keep them elsewhere often keep up the practice to at least some extent).
 
I'd say the pro mineral from progressive earth would be the most cost effective. It has reasonable levels of the main minerals you need and is cheaper because it uses the sulphate forms of copper and zinc rather than the bioplex versions which are in their other blends. I might add brewers yeast to that as a pre biotic and source of amino acids. That's pretty cheap too.
 
Not a supplement per se, but I feed Dengie Healthy Hooves, and both of my boys are ridden barefoot on a diet of that and Fast Fibre.
 
I use seaweed and mine has solid hooves that rarely need anything doing with them, just a little file to tidy up the edges once in a blue moon! She just has that and chaff so think it's working and is really cheap.
 
Sodium as it helps the horse absorb the minerals, straight magnesium oxide from pro earth also straight bioplex zinc and copper, also from pro earth.
The bioplex is dearer but is absorbed better, the pro mineral seems to have a lot more zinc than copper and (could be wrong, I often am) I always believed they should be fed in similar amounts.
If you're trying to keep costs down then just sodium and magnesium oxide.
 
LD&S said:
The bioplex is dearer but is absorbed better, the pro mineral seems to have a lot more zinc than copper and (could be wrong, I often am) I always believed they should be fed in similar amounts.
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Should be roughly 2:1 Zinc to Copper - it's the same ratio as the other Progressive earth products (and Forageplus and Equivita) just a different form.

That the bioplex is better absorbed is theoretical and many people have good results with Equivita which uses sulphates too. And it's not just that it's more expensive per kilo but as the Bioplex form provides 12% actual Zinc compared to 33% in the sulphates, you need more and this can cause palatability issues.
 
criso said:
Should be roughly 2:1 Zinc to Copper - it's the same ratio as the other Progressive earth products (and Forageplus and Equivita) just a different form.

That the bioplex is better absorbed is theoretical and many people have good results with Equivita which uses sulphates too. And it's not just that it's more expensive per kilo but as the Bioplex form provides 12% actual Zinc compared to 33% in the sulphates, you need more and this can cause palatability issues.
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That's interesting, the Pro Earth Pro Mineral has 3:1 zinc to copper ratio, Is that because it's sulphate?
 
It has the same amount as the pro balance which uses bioplex. The forage plus and equivita balancers have a similar ratios. The quantities are given in how much of each mineral is provided in a scoop or daily dose.
 
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Interesting how many people use supplements. Mine live on grass, weeds and twigs, and their hooves are 100%... even those who came to me with bad ones.
Time, minimal trimming and plenty of exercise on the road seems to do the trick, unless there's something very special about nettles.
 
I believe the correct zinc: copper ratio is 3:1

I feed the sulphate for cost reasons and it works fine according to my blood tests.
 
pennyturner said:
Interesting how many people use supplements. Mine live on grass, weeds and twigs, and their hooves are 100%... even those who came to me with bad ones.
Time, minimal trimming and plenty of exercise on the road seems to do the trick, unless there's something very special about nettles.
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Mine too :-)
 
pennyturner said:
Interesting how many people use supplements. Mine live on grass, weeds and twigs, and their hooves are 100%... even those who came to me with bad ones.
Time, minimal trimming and plenty of exercise on the road seems to do the trick, unless there's something very special about nettles.
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This. Some concrete in the stable seems to help too if they're spending a lot of time in there, ie not a bed/rubber mats right upto the front. The things I found to make a difference feed wise were swapping from molassed chaff to alfalfa chaff and feeding a general vitamin/mineral supplement when they're on restricted rations. Grass seems to make the hoofs grow faster.
 
ester said:
I think it depends on the grass pennyturner ;)
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Almost certainly. Mine is very rough, unimproved, and never fertilized. Even the Shetland doesn't need to be restricted. Not that they only eat the grass... they love nettles, brambles, willow, hawthorn and anything else they can reach!
 
At home in somerset we had unimproved, unfertilised old lay but a lot of it grass. In wilts it grows a lot slower, supports a bigger range of plants including plenty of moss as the soil depth isn't great before you hit the chalk and without fertilising it would really struggle to do much. It is also chock full of calcium!
 
ester said:
I think it depends on the grass pennyturner ;)
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And the horse I think too. I don't have to feed my mare minerals and she has great feet. Gelding on the other hand needs them to help his feet and keep winter abscesses at bay.
Probably not dissimilar to people who have great hair/nails regardless of their diet, and then some have poor quality and need to supplement with zinc or multi vits/mins..
 
pennyturner said:
Almost certainly. Mine is very rough, unimproved, and never fertilized. Even the Shetland doesn't need to be restricted. Not that they only eat the grass... they love nettles, brambles, willow, hawthorn and anything else they can reach!
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So is mine. But it is also sky high in manganese and in iron and off I didn't supplement copper and zinc most barefoot horses kept here would be footie all spring summer and autumn.

There's grass

and there's grass.
 
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