Hoof hardening supplement?

Solo1

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I've had my loan horse for two months now and we've had him shod twice. First was few weeks after getting him as noticed his hoof was crumbling and panicked we wouldn't get a shoe on him. Farrier put some filler on the gap and reccomended Kevin Bacon, which we've religiously applied once a day for 5 weeks and there's been a great improvement, his hooves have cracked less however they're really, really soft :-/

Had him shod again after 5 weeks yesterday, noticing his shoes were very loose. The nails of his shoes had slid down like knife through butter as he has an extremely thin hoof wall and therefore shoe had loosened. The farrier has been absolutely fab - he had to put nails higher to avoid the gashes already been made by the nails slipping, and spent 2 hours, constantly trotting up to check he hadn't caught his sole. Also on promise to come back and check if he does go lame, and to check clenches next time he's on the yard. He says they're literally the worst feet he's ever seen, soft and crumbly, but cracking has been helped. Horses owner knows he has crap feet...

Currently he lives out 24/7, and is fed a handful of hi-fi with 2 cups of Baileys Lo-cal balancer twice a day. He's on lush grazing and is a terrible, terrible do-er but is currently slightly podgy! Hoping to keep this as we go into winter... He is terrible in traffic due to a near accident, so doesn't do any hacking apart from walk down to field 500yds down road twice a day. He looks absolutely fab - coat shiney and eyes bright, he has so much energy and is worked reasonably hard so I don't think there's anything missing from his diet, but his feet are terrible! Are there any supplements out there that purely work on hoof and hardening, or help build up a stronger, thicker hoof wall?!

Cheesecake to all :)
 

liz4949

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I'm sure you will get loads of helpful suggestions but I can recommend Farriers' Formula. Using that and Kevin Bacon hoof dressing every day has made a real difference to my TB's rubbish feet!!
 

be positive

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I'm sure you will get loads of helpful suggestions but I can recommend Farriers' Formula. Using that and Kevin Bacon hoof dressing every day has made a real difference to my TB's rubbish feet!!


This.

Plus I use eucalyptus oil round the nail holes and in any cracks.this helps disinfect and harden the horn,apply hoof dressing on top.Recommended by several farriers.Also dont let mud dry on the feet.
 

Billykid

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Any advice much appreciated as mine as awful feet! Brittle, cracking, crumbling just awful :( Plan is to take shoes off this winter when he's not doing so much work and when we do go to shows it'll be on a surface.
Currently using cornicresine mosturiser and equihoof everyday (which he was on when we bought him, foolishly took him off it and then started it again in april/may when feet got worse) and was told by farrier to apply E45 cream (apparently its good). Have also been adviced to use kevin bacon?
 

Equestrianfriends

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Hi my horse hasnt the best of feet my farrier recommended me to use kevin bacon and it has worked fab, i myself considered using a hoof hardener but i farrier told me not to as it can make there hoofs brittle
 

Solo1

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Does anyone know how quickly Farriers Formula works? Someone said to me it takes about 6 months - I really need to get his feet sorted before we go into winter otherwise mud will just tear his shoes off they're so weak :(
 

be positive

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Nothing will really help until the new horn is grown down to the nailing area.
You will have to try your best to keep him shod regularly and they should improve. Farriers formula does speed up growth so you should start to see some improvement.
Do try the eucalyptus oil it does help harden around the nail holes.
 

Ginge Crosby

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my tb has same problem, he lives on biotin all year round. I can vouch for farriers formula too, but it is quite expensive; i've found biotin has the same results in my boy as farriers formula but at a much lower cost.

I took him off biotin in april when i roughed him off (i'm pregnant so he's not in work atm) but within 2-3 weeks his feet were back in poor condition. Put him back on it and within the same time period they were alot better, this may have been because it was already in his system though.

Can also vouch for eucalyptus oil, and also cornucrescine rubbed into the coronet band can help.

Maybe speak to a nutrition company and see what they think? Most have helplines that you can ring for advice.
 

thatsmygirl

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You can only work on producing strong hoof not what's already there so going to take you around 9 months before you have a full strong hoof. Please bare in mind you can not use farriers formula or such like with the balancer you are feeding. The lush grass won't be helping as the sugar within the grass is very prone to making hoofs Weak. If he was mine I would go bare foot to help his feet improve but not ideal maybe for you if he's on loan, up to the owner I suppose but shoeing really don't help their feet. If he was mind I would feed hi fi lite, seaweed, mag oz and brewers yeast.
 

VLHIEASTON

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Formula 4 feet, swear by it. I have the same with My TB, I slacked and stopped feeding it for a few months and I started not being able to get shoes on again.

I won't ever stop feeding it again! Just a handful is fine.
 
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