hoof supplements - ingredients and recommendations

charterline

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TB has soft, but good hooves. Has been on a hoof supplement for a few weeks, but just seeing what else is out there.

I’m sure there’s some guru on here that can tell me the “right” quantity and type of ingredients I need to be looking for.
 

Diddleydoo

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I'm not a guru but both of these balancers seem to be very well thought of on here. I use the Forage plus balancer and it really is worth the money. Everything else is falling apart but my mare has truly excellent hooves.

https://forageplus.co.uk/product-category/hoof-health-balancers/

https://progressive-earth.com/produ...-skin-and-joint-and-digestive-system-support/

The other thing to consider is what else you are feeding. Giving a great balancer hidden in a load of molasses would be counter productive imo. I don't believe in 'typical TB feet' I believe TBs are typically sensitive so if you get the diet spot on (low sugar, starch and cereal free) and use a great balancer you'll get the best hooves the horse can grow.
 

PoppyAnderson

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Look at equimins, pro earth and forage plus. Forget all the well known ones, like formula for feet, farriers formula, top spec etc. All full of filler and molasses.
 

tallyho!

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Yep. As above. Although I haven't tried it, I have seen some people have good results with equine answers 365...

The ultimate balancer though, is one balanced to your forage - you can't beat that.
 

only_me

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If they’re good but soft is it because of ground conditions? You’ve him already on a supplement but that takes time to work :)

Billy has awful frogs atm but that’s due to the weather & wet ground. Farrier was here this week and has said everything has bad frogs this year lol.
 

tallyho!

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Well there's bad frogs and adapted frogs....

A bad frog would be an infected one. Frogs change to adapt to conditions and you may not notice the gradual changes that happen if you continually slice them off.
 

only_me

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Well there's bad frogs and adapted frogs....

A bad frog would be an infected one. Frogs change to adapt to conditions and you may not notice the gradual changes that happen if you continually slice them off.

They’re not infected, I asked farrier to check as was concerned if there was something lingering. He’s a top farrier who teaches & is highly regarded so trust him explicitly. Has done a great job with yard horses & is in high demand, we were lucky to get him!
I don’t touch them, just pick out foot. Maybe occasionally spray but fields are so wet there’s not much point in doing anything else.
 

JillA

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My old TB has very flat feet and is on the Forageplus winter mineral balancer PLUS a fair dollop of additional whey protein and/or amino acids depending on the time of year. His feet are still flat but they are as hard as nails and ring like steel when they are being picked out - it has taken several months though, I'm sure someone will tell you how long it takes the hoof capsule and sole to grow out.
 

MouseInLux

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I use farriers formula, my farrier recommended it and my old trainer used it. My mare has gone from 4 shoes to two shoes and stable back feet on it. Our pony gets it too but only because we use it already (he’s gone from shoes on 4 feet to barefoot since we bought him6 months ago)
 
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