Cracked hooves!

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goldie12

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I've only had my mare 2 months and she is barefoot. I had the farrier out the day after she arrived who commented on how good her feet are. She now has a couple of cracks that I have been keeping a close eye on, so do I feed her a hoof supplement or is the dry weather and hard ground to blame? We havent done any fast work recentky and Farrier is out again on sunday for a trim.Thanks
 
My boy has really good feet but all the dry weather has made them really dry out and crack slightly too. I have been using Pedimoist cream which I apply with a brush and I have noticed a big difference just from using it a couple of times.
 
Same here!

Thank goodness the farrier is coming out to shoe Leo tomorrow, his feet look awful at the moment.

Farrier came up last week to etch out a sandcrack :eek: (I've only had him two weeks!)

But his feet are really dried out and cracked, so using Kevin Bacon hoof oil, which the farrier has suggested and he is going to smooth off the other small cracks tomorrow.

I think the weather has got something to do with it, hard ground, cold then really hot cant be good for them!

Maybe ask your farrier to have a look at them when he comes out next just to make sure they are ok and just need some oil :)
 
Remember and use a good hoof moisturiser, not hoof oil as in the heat, if we ever get any more of course :) oil will dry them out more.

Have never used a supplement but have heard good stories about seaweed, and the usual biotin supplements. Supplements are really expensive though so best to get the right one and your farrier will be best placed to advise you!
 
Read some of the barefoot posts on here as they are very informative. Key to good hooves is diet, work, terrain and trim.
 
I'd not rush down the route of buying and trying hoof supplements. Not yet, anyway.

It's the hot, dry weather we've been having that's playing havoc drying the hooves out. My mare's feet are the same right now. If you can it might help to wet her feet daily - or soak briefly if possible. Then apply a good layer of a proprietary hoof moisturiser or just Aqueous Cream BP from the chemist which is often just as useful (and cheaper!) If the hooves have dried out and gotten to the stage of looking cracked and dry nothing topical is going to work a miracle to repair the damage. But next year you can anticipate the problem and start 'treatment' early, before the problem gets hold.

Also, hooves generally grow faster in summer and the hard(ish) ground naturally hardens the hoof so it doesn't wear down as easily - so it's often worth having your farrier out to trim every 5 weeks or so, if you don't already. It's better to keep dry hooves regularly trimmed to prevent any exess growth splitting.
 
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Hoof oils, creams etc are great, but if there is no moisture in the foot they won't do a lot (this is what my farrier told me years ago and I've stuck to it) he said the best time to put oils, creams etc on is when the feet are wet, this then locks in the moisture and obviously water is best way of getting moisture in there. A good way to get feet wet is early in morning walk horse through wet dew ongrass then slap a load of oil, cream whatever your using on! I've just started using leovet hoof gel oil, its brilliant- improvements after 2 uses :)
 
Kevin Bacon hoof grease is very good, it is made out of animal fats so nourishes the hoof. Only problem is dogs love licking it off the horses feet :eek: :eek:
 
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