Best product for barefoot hooves.

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zangels

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I am thinking of having my horses living out this winter and am looking for a somthing to prevent thrush and soggy hooves in general. With the ground currently heing constantly we and soon also muddy I want somthing to help to keep them healthy. Any recomendations?
 
Diet is more important than anything else. I've had horses living out 24/7 in mud be absolutely fine because they were on a good diet with decent minerals.

As an example the four I did this morning - rescues that had terrible feet when I first saw them a few weeks ago. All have improved dramatically despite living out 24/7 in wet conditions.

They have micronised linseed, Kwik Beet and a barefoot friendly mineral mix.
 
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Red horse products are fab! woudln't be without them for a topical treatment now :) although as said above diet is most important - low sugar/starch and a mineral supplement (pro balance is what i feed)
 
They are already on a barefoot friendly diet, they have pro balance, micronised linseed and unmollassed beet. They need something to help prevent the frogs getting soggy and thrush.
 
The only way to stop them getting soggy is to keep them off wet ground! I spray my horses frogs with a combination of Red Horses sole cleanse a capful of peroxide, topped up with water. Spray on and scrub with a small wire brush
 
What LucyPriory says is exactly right, IME. My horse lives out year round, and over the last few years, I have battled endlessly with thrush. Everybody said "it's because he lives out" (for various reasons, he can't stand in a stable). I have used every topical product under the sun - pastes, powers, gels, paint on stuff, spray on stuff... Still had thrush.

This year, I started feeding balanced minerals (used the Forageplus to start with, then got grass analysed and now make up my own). The thrush is gone. It has been horribly wet here over the last few weeks, but the frogs are still hard, clean and doing their job (and the rest of the hoof is a whole lot better too!).

As a preventative, I'm now slapping a bit of Red Horse Field Paste on his soles and frogs, but only a couple of times a week, where before I would be cleaning and treating every day. What goes into the horse appears to be far more important than what's applied to the outside ;)

ETA - used the ProBalance up to the start of last year - it just didn't seem to be enough. I suppose I could have doubled up the amounts? The Forageplus has about twice as much of the key minerals. I saw a difference in the frogs within 3 weeks of changing over last February.
 
If I see any crevices at all I fill them with sudocrem. Lovely smell, seems to work very well, I've cured a number of sheared heels using it. Good for cracked heel prevention too. Also fabulous for eczema in humans!
 
Echo the thread replies re: getting the diet right and especially the mineral balance at different times of the year. Granted, it will help to have a dry area for horses to come onto at some point, but this isn't always possible for alot of folk, so feeding him what he needs nutritionally to grow the best hooves he can makes sense to me!

I've not looked back since doing this and have 4 feet that are very much improved with good tight white lines too (which was a ****** for us, especially on the front quarters). This has now been eradicated and together with his regular trim, fingers crossed, we're onto a winner!!
 
Agree with Lucy P.

Just to say you can't ( or shouldn't) double pro-hoof or pro-balance as that would double the selenium (selenium qty is the same in pro earth and FP).
 
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