Keratex Opinions?

[cjwchez]

Hi

Just wondering what everyone’s experiences are with Keratex products? (the hoof hardener etc)

what are your & your farriers opinions on it?

 

[sbloom]

What are the issues you're facing? The products are all quite different.

 

[cjwchez]

What are the issues you're facing? The products are all quite different.

brittle feet during the dry summer months

 

[SBJT]

It’s bloody expensive. Vet suggested I switch to turpentine as it does the same thing for a fraction of the price. Apparently an old racing truck (?)

 

[cjwchez]

I use Kevin Bacons hoof moisturiser which is great and working a treat.

I’m just asking for opinions of the Keratex stuff as I asked my farrier about it and he advised to steer clear of it as it causes more harm than good

 

[SBJT]

It won’t help if the feet are already brittle you need something like the bioeq line. Not sure if it’s still called that but it used to be the Kevin bacon line.

Stupid predictive text

 

[cjwchez]

It’s bloody expensive. Vet suggested I switch to turpentine as it does the same thing for a fraction of the price. Apparently an old racing truck (?)

now you mention it, the Keratex hoof hardener smells very similar to turpentine! I wonder if Keratex is pretty much the same thing just with a bigger price label on

 

[cjwchez]

I have a cob with decent feet and during winter he doesn’t need shod but through the summer his hooves chip when we hack out so I get him shod. The Kevin Bacon stuff does seem to help but not to the point that he could go barefoot during the dry months (it’s all off-road hacking we do, so just hard mud really - no road work)

 

[SBJT]

From my limited understanding talking to the vets and farriers. The Kevin bacon will help with all around health as it helps to bring elasticity into the hoof wall which promotes growth. Keratex will do the opposite, dry out and close the space between the molecules, meaning that it helps with hardness at the expense of brittleness in the hoof because any moisture has been evaporated / removed, etc…

Of course I could be talking out of my ass.

 

[Rusky]

Hi

Just wondering what everyone’s experiences are with Keratex products? (the hoof hardener etc)

what are your & your farriers opinions on it?

 

[Rusky]

I was thinking of using Keratex as I'm not riding on roads so no shoes, but want the horse's feet to be hard enough on tracks. Farrier suggested Kevin Bacon treatment so I wonder if just using Keratex on frogs (diluted) and KB on rest of the hoof would be a good combination??

 

[sbloom]

Hoof hardener contains formaldehyde. Can you soak the feet daily, eg a wet muddy patch around the water trough? The barefooters usually have these things right, very few use Keratex and most look to moisture content, oil/wax products can only help retain moisture, if the hooves are just dry all the time then soaking them is very helpful. If hooves are breaking up around the edges it can be harmless self-trimming or something more serious like WLD which isn't always spotted until it's very severe.

@Rusky I would want to be 100% sure that you didn't have trim/conditioning reasons for slight footiness, barefoot horses will naturally show if the grass is high in sugars, if they have a little WLD or thrush etc, and look ouchy over stones, much more so than shod horses (in most cases).

 

[GreyDot]

You're not supposed to put Keratex on frogs, or on the coronet band.

I have had good results with Keratex this summer. He is barefoot and hooves were chipping - after 4 weeks of it, it's much better.

 

[Rusky]

Hoof hardener contains formaldehyde. Can you soak the feet daily, eg a wet muddy patch around the water trough? The barefooters usually have these things right, very few use Keratex and most look to moisture content, oil/wax products can only help retain moisture, if the hooves are just dry all the time then soaking them is very helpful. If hooves are breaking up around the edges it can be harmless self-trimming or something more serious like WLD which isn't always spotted until it's very severe.

@Rusky I would want to be 100% sure that you didn't have trim/conditioning reasons for slight footiness, barefoot horses will naturally show if the grass is high in sugars, if they have a little WLD or thrush etc, and look ouchy over stones, much more so than shod horses (in most cases).

Thank you, don't think he has WLD as farrier always happy with condition of the feet. I'll keep on with KB treatment.

 

[sbloom]

Thank you, don't think he has WLD as farrier always happy with condition of the feet. I'll keep on with KB treatment.

Farriers have been known, on a fairly wide scale, to ignore low grade white line disease and thrush, both of which can cause issues. Good idea to do some reading around the subject so you know what's going on.

@GreyDot unless things have changed then it depends which product, Hoof Gel yes, Hardener no.

 

[SpotsandBays]

I started using keratex a couple of months ago and am seeing some improvement on my youngsters feet.
(Hardener, moisturiser and the hoof balm)