Hoof supplement - Feed mark or progressive earth..?

[utter-nutter]

Need advice, i fully admit i am painfully naive when it comes to supplements. Tried to rectify this and have searched through google, gone through this forum, have read veterinary journal on hoof health and composition, but think I'm even more confused Currently got 4 horses in medium/hard work (hunting) over the winter living out 24/7 bar the odd night.

Over summer the Irish draught (fully shod), and the 15hander (just fronts) feet go slightly brittle but grow well, come winter they grow lot less and become slightly 'soft'.
The barefooted TB feet don't grow much at all over winter, and by the end of last season he was naturally wearing them down quicker than they were growing, by last feb I stopped riding and hunting him for 2 months as he became foot sore, he has been barefoot for his entire life years and has brilliant feet, isn't 'footy' unless on really stoney ground, he's normally 100% on tarmac and all my riding at home is on grass so this hasn't been an issue, but obviously when out hunting we do go on the road so this is where his feet get 'worn down' ..(i am reluctantly pondering whether he needs shoes to tied him over during this period).
The cob (fully shod) has very good feet and but go slightly soft by the end of winter.
My farrier is bloody brilliant, in 10years I have lost 1 shoe (!!!!) including hunting every season and always had them out 24/7 and have never had ongoing lameness or leg issues and I thank alot of this too him and he agrees it would be a crying shame to put shoes on the barefoot one.
Feed wise, they are all on ad-lib grass/hay and during the winter months they have varying amounts of chaff/keyflow pink mash/and baileys no 21, they all look and feel fantastic (i don't want to hugely change this as finally found a hard feed which they all eat and go well on!)
As mentioned they all live out so understand the continuous wet footing of winter weather will of course impact the foot. Since being on progressive earth since june I haven't seen any improvement, am i being too keen? understand it can take 8-12months to see an improvement? last week the farrier mentioned he was struggling to 'find' hoof to hammer the nails into (on the 15Hander, but this has been mentioned about the cob and the Irish in the past)
In a nutshell, i need 'harder feet' and more growth. Ideally one supplement that would cover them all.. the progressive earth is very cost effective...but pointless if its not helping and I've just seen the 2-4-1 deal that feed mark are currently running...

Sorry for the ramble...

 

[utter-nutter]

p.s please ignore and spelling or grammatical errors, I'm borderline dyslexic and I struggle!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I’ve been using the Science Supplements Hoof Plus for my two over the last 6 months and the difference in their feet has been incredible. Previously feeding Forage Plus for three years with zero effect. Number 1 pony is barefoot and has EMS with the thinnest soles going and no 2 pony is a Connie with no growth whatsoever. Both now rocking seriously good feet and as a sceptic I’m very impressed with the stuff.

 

[utter-nutter]

I’ve been using the Science Supplements Hoof Plus for my two over the last 6 months and the difference in their feet has been incredible. Previously feeding Forage Plus for three years with zero effect. Number 1 pony is barefoot and has EMS with the thinnest soles going and no 2 pony is a Connie with no growth whatsoever. Both now rocking seriously good feet and as a sceptic I’m very impressed with the stuff.

thank you, wasn't aware of that one! i will have a look

 

[ester]

which progressive earth one are you using?
Do you have a consistent supply of forage or do you buy in from various places?

 

[TPO]

I personally prefer Progressive Earth Pro Balance +

If you aren't seeing the desired results it might be worth going up a level, so to speak, and feed the Pro Hoof or Pro Hoof Platinum. It is also worthwhile contacting Progressive Earth as they are very helpful and knowledgeable

 

[utter-nutter]

which progressive earth one are you using?
Do you have a consistent supply of forage or do you buy in from various places?

out 24/7 on 15 acre field and they always have ad-lib hay, is the 'pro-biotin'

 

[ester]

It's only because if you have several all essentially eating the same thing and not doing great with the current option a forage analysis might be worth doing.

Im not familiar with all the pro-earth options but the pro-biotin wouldn't be comprehensive enough for me.

 

[TPO]

out 24/7 on 15 acre field and they always have ad-lib hay, is the 'pro-biotin'

Ah, that is "just" biotin. You would probably be better with a pre mix like Pro Balance or Pro Hoof, especially during winter when goodness/vit e lower in the grass.

In summer I "drop down" to pro mineral which is a slightly lower spec as the horses are getting goodness out of the (green) grass.

 

[utter-nutter]

Ah, that is "just" biotin. You would probably be better with a pre mix like Pro Balance or Pro Hoof, especially during winter when goodness/vit e lower in the grass.

In summer I "drop down" to pro mineral which is a slightly lower spec as the horses are getting goodness out of the (green) grass.

ah! thank you, that explains a lot

 

[paddy555]

all our barefoot horses get equimins advanced complete. I know their feet grow well as I seem to spend most of my time trimming them.

 

[HelenBack]

I’ve been using the Science Supplements Hoof Plus for my two over the last 6 months and the difference in their feet has been incredible. Previously feeding Forage Plus for three years with zero effect. Number 1 pony is barefoot and has EMS with the thinnest soles going and no 2 pony is a Connie with no growth whatsoever. Both now rocking seriously good feet and as a sceptic I’m very impressed with the stuff.

Sorry to jump on this but do you mind me asking if you feed the Hoof Plus with anything else like a balancer or just on its own? I too have a Connie with slow growth and poor quality horn. He used to be on a pelleted balancer but I swapped him over to Forage Plus thinking I was doing the right thing for him and his feet went worse! I've put him back on the balancer now but have been wondering whether to add an additional hoof supplement as well and have been tossing up between the Science Supps and Feedmark ones. In theory the balancer should be fine as it has adequate levels of everything in it but I'm wondering if extra supplementation might be helpful.

 

[lynz88]

Digging this one up....which FP balancer have you been feeding and not seen any changes? I've put mine on the Winter Hoof/Skin and if I didn't see results, I was going to try the more expensive laminae one or their winter performance. The normal winter balancer was initially suggested but he really needs the vit e (which I also further supplement). He's been on it for only 2 months for a suspected copper/zinc deficiency as he didn't shed out his full winter coat this year and farrier had commented quite a lot about his feet becoming weak and not growing much at all over the winter and spring (he didn't make any remarks the other day). I did notice that he did start to shed out a little bit after about 6 weeks and YO said he thought that his coat was looking a bit darker but his coat still generally looks sunburnt and frizzy. Farrier has commented about his feet growing (albeit in the wrong way and am now heading towards barefoot rehab) so can only presume that the balancer has been helping. Have just bought another 5kg bag to see as I'm thinking 2 months isn't a fair chance

 

[Tiddlypom]

I've put mine on the Winter Hoof/Skin and if I didn't see results, I was going to try the more expensive laminae one or their winter performance. The normal winter balancer was initially suggested but he really needs the vit e (which I also further supplement).

Just be aware that the vit E added to the FP Winter Hoof/Skin is synthetic vit E - I asked FP directly about this and they confirmed it. Synthetic vit E has half the effectiveness of natural. It's also quite a low dose, though I can't recall just what it is.

It's more effective to add natural vit E separately - FP's natural vit E is more cost effective than PE's.

 

[lynz88]

Yes it is synthetic - I had asked them as well and is why I supplement with their natural vit e in addition as it is just not enough for mine.