What really hardens hooves

[DabDab]

I'd use hoof stuff or field paste over sudocreme for infection protection any day (as a big sudocreme fan, half cover the horse in it and sulphur at times!)

Each to their own there are a number of things on this thread that I wouldn't personally go for either.

 

[JillA]

You can't really harden existing hoof tissue, you can only grow harder tissue with the right diet (low sugar, balance minerals and add the right proteins) and stimulate new growth by working on what is already there. A complete new hoof capsule will take months, so really you need to keep him comfortable while he is waiting.
Some of Pete Rameys articles are worth reading http://www.hoofrehab.com/Articles.html

 

[Tiddlypom]

The diet angle has been covered, and is the long term solution. Re the hoof boots, cavallos are good initially, and IMHO are fine for up to slow hacking. There are a few dedicated hoof boot suppliers who are super helpful and well worth getting in touch with. I've used Hoof Bootique and Urban Horse in the past. I recently got this box of 8 different hoof boot shells (scoots and cavallo treks) from Urban Horse for £45, £35 of which will be refunded on return. You use the shells to check for sizing, after sending photos and measurements of your horses feet for consideration. (I went for scoots all round).

The cavallo simples look clumpy, but my homebred loved hers, and regularly hacked out on the roads in them last year. Her feet were transformed after she was put on a suitable low sugar diet of Pro Hoof, salt and micronised linseed in a plain oat chaff, plus ad lib hay and/or grazing.

 

[Bubblewrap]

I bought a horse with hooves that came away and left huge bits of hoof wall missing. It's a long term solution, took two years to sort, but I feed appropriate supplement, and he is shod less frequently as possible so that the hoof wall has less nail holes in it.

 

[ycbm]

I bought a horse with hooves that came away and left huge bits of hoof wall missing. It's a long term solution, took two years to sort, but I feed appropriate supplement, and he is shod less frequently as possible so that the hoof wall has less nail holes in it.

You edited your reply to remove 'my barefoot ones can't walk across stoney paths either and will always choose to walk on the grass where they can.' I've decided to quote it in case people reading the thread think it's normal to take two years to sort out weak hooves. I would suggest that the reason your horse took two years to get better hooves is probably the same one as why your horses with no shoes on choose to avoid stones. Something is not right, and the first guess would be diet. If you want some help with that, people will gladly 'take a look' at your feeding and make suggestions if you want them.

 

[ycbm]

You can't really harden existing hoof tissue,

You can, that's exactly what formaldehyde/Keratex does.

 

[Frumpoon]

I'd be feeding for better quality hoofs, not painting things on.
My 75 year old farrier recommends a fibre only diet. Feed good quality hay/haylege through winter and don't feed cereal based feeds.
The horses at my yard are almost all barefoot, they have great grazing in the summer and in winter get adlib hay and haylege which is very good quality. Most are fed with fast fibre, a good balancer and a handful of plain chaff. We don't hose off feet or have an unnecessary moisture. When the horses come in for breakfast in winter they have muddy feet, within an hour the mud is dry and can be brushed off.

If transitioning to barefoot keep the horse on soft surfaces, and build up slowly to roadwork/forestry paths. If you really need to then biotin or oil added to the feed really seems to make a difference. Good hooves come from good feeding, so unless you need to energy from cereals stick to fibre only and see what kind of hoof you have in 4 to 6 months.

Also look at how the well the hooves are trimmed and balanced. Make sure toes are rolled well to reduce chipping and cracks and that you're not over trimming. Really reduce sugars in the diet to an occasional carrot or apple.

I've learned so much from my farrier who has trimmed worldwide and gives a very no nonsense approach to trimming. There are no hoof miracle potions, just good feed, trimming when needed and not expecting results in weeks. Hope this helps

All great advice so thank you all

Yes he's already only on a forage diet, I rarely feed straights or mixes to any of mine save to conceal medicines. He's on biotin but I will look at Pro Earth and some of the others when I head to the feed merchants today

I've ordered some of the red horse stuff recommended and will get the keratex stuffba well while I'm waiting for that one arrive

He's already in a danilon a day and I will look at the top chop zero chaff

So once again thanks everybody

 

[ycbm]

I know, doesn't it! There's not much on the market but Agrobs and Thunderbrooks are 2 you can use.

Straights are cheaper by far. Oats and bran. And vegetable oil if you need more calories.

 

[soloequestrian]

Easyboot do a range of pads that go inside boots - you can get different levels of softness. It might be worth getting some of the softest ones to begin with to use with the boots for turnout.
Although it's very difficult to do if you're used to looking at neat shod feet, try to leave the feet alone until the horse is comfortable, even if they start to look raggedy or mis-shapen.

 

[Leo Walker]

Straights are cheaper by far. Oats and bran. And vegetable oil if you need more calories.

The cost difference between a decent grass chaff and oats and bran is minimal when fed in small quantities. Linseed is a much better option than vegetable oil and will work out more cost effective I would imagine.

Something no one has mentioned I dont think is salt, I feed about 40gms a day, more if hes sweated a lot. I find it really makes a difference to his feet. Biotin on its own might work, but you are much better getting a no iron mineral balancer. Copper and zinc play a big role in healthy feet. Depending which balancer you go for I'd be looking at adding extra magnesium as well.

Fast fibre is horrible stuff! Made up of mainly nutritionally improved straw, not something you want to be feeding. Its not even that low in sugar at 7.5% I think.

Gut health is important for good feet. Before I bought my pony he didnt grow any hoof and there had been issues with that. I got the diet and gut right and he grows lots of incredibly strong hard hoof now. So just something else to keep an eye on

 

[Kat]

I would really really recommend avoiding keratex or formaldehyde on hooves. You might succeed in making the hooves harder but you don't actually want hard brittle hooves. You want strong flexible hooves. Using a harder will not help you.

The red horse products are excellent. In the meantime apple cider vinegar will help both with thrush and bruising. And dettol or Milton can safely treat thrush.

Strengthen the hooves from within with a low sugar diet and a good supplement like progressive earth pro hoof, forage plus or equi mins. And buy some boots with big thick EPS pads for immediate protection.

The boots and pads make such a difference, mine had soft bruised thin soles and her shoes had to come off due to lameness. The vet wanted her kept in on a thick bed for weeks while the bruising healed. I bought boots because I wasn't happy with that strategy and the vet was gobsmacked ghats she was sound as a pound with them on. The vet had never seen them before, but it meant that I could hand walk and give turnout much much sooner which helped my horse grow stronger feet. I rode in them for a while too but now she's sound bare even for hunting now so I only put them on if I am hacking much further than usual or on tough terrain.

Good luck, it is possible to get there but it does require a bit of a change in mindset and a bit of work

 

[ester]

Each to their own there are a number of things on this thread that I wouldn't personally go for either.

I maybe should have said why, the hoof stuff is essentally zinc oxide cream so not that different but with added fibres and honey that makes it stick better to hooves. But true, I still don't understand why people continue to recommend biotin despite all the evidence to the contrary.

All great advice so thank you all

Yes he's already only on a forage diet, I rarely feed straights or mixes to any of mine save to conceal medicines. He's on biotin but I will look at Pro Earth and some of the others when I head to the feed merchants today

I've ordered some of the red horse stuff recommended and will get the keratex stuffba well while I'm waiting for that one arrive

He's already in a danilon a day and I will look at the top chop zero chaff

So once again thanks everybody

Frumpoon you won't find pro earth in the feed merchant it is on ebay only. You might find the equimins?

 

[stencilface]

Ester they now have their own shop

https://progressive-earth.com/

 

[ester]

Each to their own there are a number of things on this thread that I wouldn't personally go for either.

ah I will edit to say only online then

I don't think I have ever found anything barefoot supplement or hoof wise in any of my local stores in any of my locations yet!

 

[JillA]

Forageplus are really helpful, started and run by Sarah Braithwaite who was (is?) a very good trimmer. She has extensive knowledge of feet and is usually happy to answer queries, by phone or webmail/email, or their Facebook page. Worth a call, their products aren't the cheapest but might save you money by targeting the most beneficial ones

 

[ycbm]

I would really really recommend avoiding keratex or formaldehyde on hooves. You might succeed in making the hooves harder but you don't actually want hard brittle hooves. You want strong flexible hooves. Using a harder will not help you.

It the right circumstances it has proved beneficial to many horses and owners. That's why it continues to sell at a hugely inflated price as Keratex after decades. Temporarily, hardening the sole can improve comfort and hardening horn can limit excessive wear of hoof wall which is too soft.

 

[ester]

are you aware of hoof armor ycbm? I don't think we can get it over here.

 

[meleeka]

It the right circumstances it has proved beneficial to many horses and owners. That's why it continues to sell at a hugely inflated price as Keratex after decades. Temporarily, hardening the sole can improve comfort and hardening horn can limit excessive wear of hoof wall which is too soft.

I used it on my Cushings mare and it did help. I only painted it on her soles which were visibly soft and you could actually push them in. Obviously long term diet and controlling the underlying cause worked, but for a short term solution it was good.

 

[splashgirl45]

Add in a hoof supplement- NOT formula for feet either. Only 3 makes are recommended - Equimins, Pro Earth or Forage Plus.

i can only say that i used formula4feet and my mares hooves improved dramatically, so much that the farrier asked me if i had changed her feed as her feet were so much better ... the only change was f4f ..i then stopped feeding it for about 2 months and her feet started getting brittle again, so once again used f4f and the feet improved so i kept her on it for the rest of her life. it may not be scientific but it definately helped my mare , i can only recommend something that proved to work for me....remember our horses are all very different in what works for them!!!!!

 

[Frumpoon]

I got some keratex today as well to try.

I'm not expecting it to make feet brittle, I don't think it necessarily follows that a substance that hardens also makes tissues brittle. I've seen human tissues that have been suspended in formalin for many days weeks or months and yes the keratinous fibres are tougher but they are most certainly not brittle

 

[Andalucian]

are you aware of hoof armor ycbm? I don't think we can get it over here.

I have an endurance customer using it for the longer competitions, seems to obtain it no problems.

 

[cowgirl16]

I have an endurance customer using it for the longer competitions, seems to obtain it no problems.

What is hoof armour?

 

[DabDab]

http://www.hoofarmor.com

I've only used it on one horse, so can't claim to know much about it really, but it did do what it said on the tin for that horse (obviously in conjunction with other stuff though so...)

 

[cowgirl16]

Thanks for that DabDab. Interesting!

 

[ycbm]

What is hoof armour?

Glue. It looks like a good idea, I wonder if epoxy resin would also work?

 

[oldie48]

Hi I'm not an expert on hooves but my farrier who is a master farrier, frequently cites the weather conditions as being very relevant to the conditionof my horses's feet. I came across this article which I thought is worth reading. It also agrees with my farrier who makes a cream that I put on the hooves which I think is lanolin based that helps to stop the hooves getting water logged in very wet weather.
www.thefarrierypractice.com/.../the-effect-of-climatic-conditions-on-hoof-horn-wetdr...

 

[ester]

I have an endurance customer using it for the longer competitions, seems to obtain it no problems.

Ah interesting I don't ever seem to see it mentioned on UK sites, but it would seem to me that it might well serve a purpose at times.

 

[JillA]

duplicated

 

[JillA]

Hi I'm not an expert on hooves but my farrier who is a master farrier, frequently cites the weather conditions as being very relevant to the conditionof my horses's feet. I came across this article which I thought is worth reading. It also agrees with my farrier who makes a cream that I put on the hooves which I think is lanolin based that helps to stop the hooves getting water logged in very wet weather.
www.thefarrierypractice.com/.../the-effect-of-climatic-conditions-on-hoof-horn-wetdr...

The link doesn't work, but I found out long ago that barriers to keep moisture out also keep it in, and much depends on the conditions. You don't want to seal moisture out in dry weather, nor seal it in in wet. I reckon horses have long since evolved to cope with either very wet or very dry conditions without too much human intervention