Powder Gelatin for Hooves

lizijj

lizijj

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Ok, so I'm back from my amazing adventures with our friends on their QH ranch in the US. They have suggested feeding Powder Gelatin to my horse who has poor hooves. I'm cautious as gelatin is an animal product and it sounds a bit BSE to me. However, having done some research on the internet, there seem plenty of advocates for it. Both for price and result. Any ideas here in the UK?

Thanks :)
 
I tried that years ago on a TB Stallion who had rubbish feet. It didn't make a jot of difference. Frankly I wouldn't waste your money.
 
That's a vile idea imo.

Hooves just need sufficient levels of basic minerals, they don't need the ground up hooves of other animals!
 
I wonder whether agar agar would have the same effect... noone need worry about their horse not being veggie then ;) I've known plenty of ponies to eat sausage rolls clearly noone sent them the memo :eek:
 
Worse than feeding fish oil imo. At least fish are a completely different genus.

I've also known horses that will snatch a bacon sarnie. But then they also go mad for sugar cubes... The moral being that horses, like humans, don't always know what's good for them!
 
Its not something I would feed personally when there are alternatives.

Bute and vaccinations might be unpleasant but there isn't a natural alternative that is as beneficial to your horse's health.

Personally I'd feed micronised linseed and a good quality vit supplement and take it from there with hooves.
 
no but I would query whether it does actually do them any (and if so what) harm.

Cows and sheep etc are a different genus too, different orders in fact.. why does that make it ok :confused: or why is animal protein from a different phyla any better.
 
Eh, I reckon horse feet go into gelatin too. I think feeding the same species is particularly disturbing. But feeding any animal product is a nasty idea imo.
 
well clearly... I was more pondering where the cut off came if you could for instance guarantee different sources of gelatin so that they weren't eating the same species and if that made it any more acceptable to people. I don't feed it but I have fed other animal derivatives.
 
In my experience of hooves, the less stuff you add, the better they get. Bad quality hooves is usually from an excess of sugar and possibly imbalances in mineral consumption. Usually calcium. Looking into diet first may even save you wasting time feeding things your horse may not need.
 
Hi, he only eats forage and has a field mineral lick. No hard feed. Same as the others in the herd, but their feet are fine. He is 17 odd hands, so I wonder if it's his weight/height. He's not overweight. He suffers from cracks.
 
If you aren't feeding any hard feed he may well be mineral deficient, a mineral lick is no guarantee that he'll get enough for optimum health.

I'd try feeding a good all round vit and min supplement or balancer.
 
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