Hoof Supplements - which do you rate

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andreo

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Hi my farrier has just told me that my 4yrs old Warmblood need a hoof supplement as his feet are very brittle, they weren't great when I got him last July but as I put him on blue chip due to his condition they seem to improve, but he is not on this feed anymore and so his hooves seem to be suffering. I thought of just going on the Farriers Formula, but thought I would ask you all your opinions first of which you think work the best and are good value for money :)
 
different horses seem to react differently.

I was using naf profeet but for ease when he wasnt getting any hard feed switched to formula 4 feet (essentially the same as farriers formula) and his feet noticeably deteriorated. He has been back on the profeet for the last 9 months and they have never looked better, good growth no flakiness anymore (he used to get a chunk come off where the nail holes were) so will be staying on it.

The liquid I find to be more palatable than the powder which doesnt go down too well ;)
 
Mine have Formula 4 Feet. It has made a noticeable difference to them and they all have good hard feet now - especially my cob who had laminitis 2 years ago - has amde the world of difference to her already hard/fast growing feet.:)

With any supplement it will take time for the difference to show as it takes approx 9 months for a hoof to replace itself - so changing supplements after a couple of months won't help. Try something and stick to it for a while before you and your farrier can decide if it is making a difference.:)

If you phone the manufacturers of Formula 4 Feet they will send you a sample for your horse to try - no point in buying it if he won't eat it.:o

Should say I have a cob, WB and Section A on it - all have great hooves now - no chips, no lost shoes etc etc :cool::D
 
Ask your farrier, mine is an old school boy and says you can throw your money away if you want!!! BUT the only thing his seen a differnce with is ProFeet. My both boys are on and it defo has made a difference BUT also you do have to look at your total management and feeding routine. Defo no quick simple fix
 
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thanks Kick-on, farrier isn't someone who normally says to feed supplements, but he has said farriers formula, or any other biotin product. He has a good diet of ad lib good quality haylage, molichaff calmer, D&H stay power museli, sugerbeet, garlic and multivitamin supplement.
I will need to look at the pro feet stuff as there have been a few mentions of this now. Thanks :)
 
I give another vote for Pro Feet - boy has been on it for almost 18 months now - no more throwing of shoes and farrier reports much better hoof quality - now if only i could sort out his low heels.... advice?
 
I really rate the Better 4 Hooves supplement, it gives the highest concentration of biotin and protein on the market along with many other differetn ingredients and per day is also the cheapest, a 3 month supply is about 49.99 the NAF is considerably more expnsive and i have found equally if not better result with the B4H, its not available through retail stores you can either get it at farrier supply stores or online, hope that helps, i think as said its very individual?
 
inkiboo said:
I give another vote for Pro Feet - boy has been on it for almost 18 months now - no more throwing of shoes and farrier reports much better hoof quality - now if only i could sort out his low heels.... advice?
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Take his shoes off! (if he has any on!) My TB at 12 yrs old is finally beginning to lose his underrun heels after 6 months barefoot. I am no barefoot preacher but boy do I wish I did it when I first had him 6yrs ago. He has different feet. He is on no supplements other than a balanced diet but he has some good quality horn growing,no more cracks or holes.
 
The only thing that helped my mares typial TB feet was using external topical products - I put eucalyptus oil (as recommneded by my farrier) round the bottom half of the hoof ie the nail holes and any little cracks and then put either Kevin Bacon Hoof dressing or Effol dressing on the whole hoof including heels, frog etc. Has made the world of difference, the horn is strong and flexible and she holds shoes well, clenches don't rise anymore and they used to after only 10days.

I started this regime daily last August and the difference was immense straight away.

I also started her on TopSpec balancer in September as she decided to eat it having not touched it for 9months but the difference can't be from that as it's much too soon.

Might be worth trying the eucalyptus oil as I found it really helped the exisiting poor quality horn and is a lot cheaper than supplements!
 
I am a big believer in Biotin for healthy hooves. So look for a supplement with a high level of Biotin in or just feed straight biotin as it is probably cheaper than many branded supplements. There is a lot of scientific evidence to back up its positive effects.
 
I am a big believer in Biotin for healthy hooves and there is a lot of scientific evidence to back it up which is a nice change for supplements! Go for something with a high level of biotin or just straight biotin which probably contains more bioavailble biotin and is cheaper than branded supplements.
 
I recently asked the same question as my TB was losing shoes on a weekly basis. Previously had good feet (for a TB) but he just had no horn growth this year so it was impossible to shoe him.

For the last month, I have been feeding biotin and the feedmark hoof supplement and putting topical treatments on every day. I alternate between cornucrescine and kevin bacon and you can see a visible difference in the quality of the hoof (dont look dry and flakey) and there is about 1/2 inch of new growth.

Not sure which one works, I was just desperate to get some growth so literally threw everything at him. Now we are able to get a shoe on, I will experiement to see which supplement works. However I definitely think the cornucrescine and KB stuff helped the accelerate the growth. Also, I scrub his feet with water every day, and in summer use NAF hoof moist every day instead of the cornucrescine and KB stuff.
 
just repeating what many others have said but we find that good diet with something in it for hoof quality (topspec comprehensive feed balancer works well for us) + some sort of dressing (kevin bacon oil) is the way to go (our chap is a WB with typically pants hoof quality if you do not take care of it!).

I think hoof quality its a bit like skin moistorising in people - no point slapping on loads of expensive cream if you are not drinking enough fluids and living off McD's all the time! ;)

mosspe
 
I have got TB with terrible feet i used to give him farriers formula as his previous owner said she gave it to him but as his feet looked so bad and where very brittle with hardly any growth i took him off it to see if i was wasting my money and i was his feet were better when i took him off farriers formula and gave him nothing, but i now use kevin bacons hoof ointment on them and they are so much better than they have ever been. My farrier can always tell if i havnt been using it as much as i should and moans at me for not using it.
 
When I bought a mare with feet like this -
feet008.jpg

feet006.jpg


I was recommended Formulea 4 Feet and it made no end of difference to the quality of the horn that has grown down, they are much stronger and healthier now. The only supplement she gets now is Brewers Yeast - and regular trims! I must remember to take more pic's of them now to show the improvement of the horn and shape.
 
Now it's onto dry season over here I asked my farrier what to use and he recommended LARD!!! Said it's wonderful. Have to see if anyone sells it nearby.
 
a horse which i used to loan was a TB and had very bad feet. he was on biotin for years and just was not making a difference and his feet did not seem to grow and when he pulled of a shoe half of his hoof would go with it. in the end i used Equmins hoof mender powder which was brilliant and really made a difference to his feet. But as other have said, some things work for one horse and not on others, but would recommend this.
 
another vote for formula 4 feet. my mare,s feet started cracking when we had the last very dry summer. i noticed a change after 8 weeks and i have kept her on it thru the winter. i didnt tell my farrier and he commented on how strong her feet were at the end of the summer and asked if i had changed her feed. the only change was formula 4 feet so i am really pleased with it. she gets half scoop of happy hoof,cortaflex and half scoop sugar beet as her only feed.she is a fussy madam with feed changes but has found formula 4 feet very palatable and will eat it on its own. hope this helps but i think it is trial and error to see which works best on your horse....
 
My TB's feet used to crack all the way up and looked quite scary not to mention that he could never hold his shoes on. He's been on Formula4Feet for a year now, and I alternate cornucrescine and effol and his feet have never been better. Has lowish heels, not as bad as when I bought him, but a lot of TB's have this problem. We actually manage to go 8 weeks between shoeings now.
 
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