Hoof Supplements - 3 shoes in 3 weeks!

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Peggs

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I've been using biotin, but in the past 3 weeks I've had the farrier out for 3 lost shoes. We've lost the odd shoe in the past but not to this extreme.

Is there any supplements anyone would recommend?
 
Peggs said:
I've been using biotin, but in the past 3 weeks I've had the farrier out for 3 lost shoes. We've lost the odd shoe in the past but not to this extreme.

Is there any supplements anyone would recommend?
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Have you changed anything in their diet? If there's any deficiency in their diet that could be the issue with them. As for supplements biotin is the only thing I would recommend. I would personally stay away from marketed products that claim to give your horse shiny healthy hooves as generally they do more damage to your horse than good. Hope I helped
 
The horn that the nails are going into is about 8 months old so a reflection of what was going on with his diet then rather than now, often they become weak and brittle at the end of the summer, drying out then getting wet regularly is not good for them, along with the autumn flush of grass that can speed up growth so they need doing more frequently, I don't like to leave longer than about 5 weeks over the summer/ autumn between shoeing.
As for supplements, biotin alone is not going to do much, a horse generally has sufficient without requiring it supplemented, look at his diet in general, high sugar and starch will weaken the horn, a decent balanced mineral and vitamin supplement aimed at providing the correct amount should help, look at the barefoot threads for ways to improve the hoof, he may not be barefoot but a healthy hoof is a necessity for any horse and having the correct diet is the best place to start.
 
Thanks will have a nose!

He has constant access to a vit and mineral lick which he does help himself too. I understand that the hoof will be old growth, which is why I was questioning the biotin as it doesn't seem to be working and the growth there should also be when the grass was good in the summer (Probably should add in his vit and mineral supplement now the seasons are changing!! :/)

Was going to start using some Keratex hoof hardener as I found it to work well with my tb and maybe just take the shoes off for a short time to allow for better growth to grow down as he's losing chunks of hoof wall every time a shoe comes off. He isn't foot sore when he loses a shoe so I'd imagine he would cope ok.
 
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