Best hoof supplement for barefoot horses?

[Jericho]

My mare has been barefoot for 4 months and has made the transition really well. We wear hoof boots on fronts if I know the hack has stony paths / a lot of road work and she is currently on handful of Dengie Healthy Hooves, half scoop of speedibeet and Formula 4 Feet. She is also on an acre of restricted grazing 24/7 and a slice of hay a day (as she is a bit of a fatty). Hacked once and schooled once a week.

Now I think we are over the worst I would like to swap the very expensive Formula 4 feet for something a bit cheaper, although to be fair a £73 bag has lasted 3 months and her general condition is very good and her feet are excellent with no chips and growing well and I liked the fact that it was a good all round supplement and good for lamis (just in case!) so I am a bit loath to swap to something else but purse strings dictate.....

Any recommendations?

 

[martlin]

equistro Kerabol is really good, costs about £35 for 100 days supply:
http://www.equistro.co.uk/ProductPage/Kerabol.html

 

[AngieandBen]

Is she on an acre on her own or with others?

If on her own, then that is a lot of grazing!!!

If she's overweight then up the work, she's barely doing anything atm, so cut out the feed, and NO hay! they just dont need it, or just give a handfull of soaked speedibeet with some magnesium oxide ( available on ebay)

 

[Maisy]

Is she on an acre on her own or with others?

If on her own, then that is a lot of grazing!!!

If she's overweight then up the work, she's barely doing anything atm, so cut out the feed, and NO hay! they just dont need it, or just give a handfull of soaked speedibeet with some magnesium oxide ( available on ebay)

I dont think the OP was asking for information on general diet, more something for hardening feet?? I could be wrong......

 

[Natch]

Does she really need a hoof suppliment? Sometimes I think we can overdo added extras. Why not spend the money on testing your hay and grass, and seeing what if anything is missing?

Personally if I were satisfied she were getting her normal RDA of vits and minerals (if not I'd use a mineral lick) I would just try slowly cutting down on the one you're using at the moment.

 

[whatawizard]

I can highly recommend foot and bone from silver lining herbs uk great for improving hoof quality and circulation to feet, my farrier was very impressed with my horses feet when i used it

 

[Sparkles]

Not a feed but I love Kevin Bacon Hoof cream, always worked wonders

 

[touchstone]

I think a lot of the barefooters use mag ox, brewers yeast, micronised linseed and seaweed. Personally I just use a general supplement.

 

[siennamum]

Is she on an acre on her own or with others?

If on her own, then that is a lot of grazing!!!

If she's overweight then up the work, she's barely doing anything atm, so cut out the feed, and NO hay! they just dont need it, or just give a handfull of soaked speedibeet with some magnesium oxide ( available on ebay)

Why on earth NO hay....

 

[fatponee]

I can thoroughly recommend NAF Pro Feet supplement. Has worked wonders with my TB's feet.

 

[Paint it Lucky]

Ditto Siennamum, hay is important, you should always make sure a horse has enough fibre. We don't know how much grass is in the paddock/how rich it is so can't really judge on overall diet very well.

OP, I would question whether your mare actually needs a hoof supplement, unless her feet are naturally poor then she should be able to cope with one hack a week, even if her feet get a bit worn down, they have a whole week to recover before the next one! I think you are prehaps being overcautious (obviously I could be wrong as don't know the whole situation), I would try her on no hoof supplement and for awhile and see how she copes. My horse is bare behind and just gets standard feed, no special hoof supplements and he does very well, he goes hacking 2-3 times a week with some roadwork and copes fine with it.

 

[Jericho]

Thanks for all advice. The one acre is very very short and to be honest it hasnt been fertilised for years nor is it particularly good grazing. The hay and speedibeet is to make sure she has enough fibre moving through her and I wont drop the hay as I think the fibre is essential.

My other horse is fed in the same field (although seperated and he gets 3 acres!) so she gets a token gesture of Healthy hooves/watery speedibeet with the Formula 4 Feet to make it a bit more than a couple of mouthfulls and more palatable plus its more fibre.

I do believe that she does need a good general supplement because grass is poor (and she doesnt do licks!) and hay isnt that great and I have heard so much about diet being really important for barefoot horses that I probably am being a bit over cautious, and just want to ensure she has everything she needs nutrionally.

What I really need is the selenium, mag ox,zinc, methione and biotin mix in a good general supplement (basically what Formula 4 Feet is)!

Oh and for Binky01 - I use Kevin Bacon as well, fab stuff!

 

[Holly Hocks]

I use seaweed. I tried every formula out there for growing and hardening feet. Hopeless and several hundred pounds down the drain. NAF seaweed is great - gets feet growing, and its cheap. I also use Keratex once a week on the sole to help harden the feet.

 

[wellsat]

Ditto on the hay. I tried for ages to get Daisy's weight down and we were most successful when i started feeding her soaked hay in the field to fill her up and keep her metabolism going. Starving a native is actually really counter productive.