Feeding for rock crunching hooves!

[ForeverBroke_]

Morning all,

With summer not too far away I am looking to get ahead of my horses feet problem whereby they suddenly dry out and crack and fall apart as the season changes. My farrier has recommended a balancer, but in the past I've not found these to particularly make a difference so I wonder if I'm missing the mark. I've also tried numerous lotions and potions to put directly on his hooves, but again no major difference.

At the moment he is fed just Fibre Pencils and Pure Grass as he is exceptionally sensitive. I am thinking of losing the fibre cubes and adding in a balancer of some description as he could do with losing some weight as it is, but any recommendations or advice would be great

 

[The Trooper]

You need to remember that a hoof takes 9-12 months to grow from top to bottom so I am not sure how much of a difference you would notice this summer.

I swear by micronised linseed for feet and coat, my farrier is also a huge advocate of Kevin Becon's hoof dressing to help keep the hoof moisture content where it should be.

 

[be positive]

Equimins has a good spec, the one here with poor feet is on the hoof mender and this has made a difference fairly quickly to how well they grow.
https://www.equimins-online.com/en/all-products/65-equimins-hoof-mender-75-supplement-pellets.html

Just seen they offer a 12 month guarantee, if not improved by then you get your money back.

 

[Leo Walker]

I'd stop the fibre pencils and check the sugar and starch in your grass chaff. It really needs to be under 10% combined. I'd def switch to equimins. It made a big difference to mine when I swapped. I'd also add 40gms of salt and a small amount of linseed. 50gms seems to be the level where it improves skin and coat etc but doesn't cause weight gain.

 

[ForeverBroke_]

I'd stop the fibre pencils and check the sugar and starch in your grass chaff. It really needs to be under 10% combined. I'd def switch to equimins. It made a big difference to mine when I swapped. I'd also add 40gms of salt and a small amount of linseed. 50gms seems to be the level where it improves skin and coat etc but doesn't cause weight gain.

Ah, this is interesting. Mine is looking like its definitely over 10%. I'll have a shift about all round potentially then.

Will have a look at the Equimins.

 

[ycbm]

You need to remember that a hoof takes 9-12 months to grow from top to bottom so I am not sure how much of a difference you would notice this summer.
.

Typically five months or less in a working barefoot horse. I think the OPs horse is shod, though.