whats good to use to improve bad quality hooves?

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lisa_lou

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Need something (nothing really expensive ideally!) to strengthen and encourage growth on my youngsters hooves and improve quality and reduce cracks. He hasnt had the best start. can anyone reccomed anything thats good?
 
Cut out sugary/starchy feeds and feed a supplement like pro balance +.

That's what I did and it's made a huge improvement in my youngster's feet. I have now started to feed pro balance to her mother as she has flat soles.

ets: the pro balance seems expensive, but it lasts a long time, so works out good value.
 
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Low sugar diet, high fibre and pro hoof or pro balance, micronised linseed and salt. My tb's feet have improved immensely.

It's also benefited him by all round good health, correct weight and even temperament. Too much grass = crazy horse! The totally psychotic days which I used to say he'd had too many red bulls and blue smarties are no more.

His feet were soft but chipped and cracked, one particular deep crack which has grown out, he had almost persistent thrush which I treated constantly but never quite cleared up has gone.

Oh and he's sound!
 
echo the others... DIET is key.

What are you currently feeding?

The general rules for healthy hooves are low sugar and low starch which means NO Mixes, only Mollasses free Chaffs, and no 'full fat' sugar beet.

I would be feeding a small amount of speedi beet with either pro hoof or pro balance from progressive earth (on ebay) with some micronised linseed added. then add lib hay. That is all.

Make sure feet are picked out at least once, if not twice a day and that the soles are scrubbed with dilute Milton (1 part milton to 3 parts water) on a daily basis to begin with and then reduce to every few days to keep any nasties at bay... he will more than likely have thrush.
 
My lad is barefoot, and his feet have never been better that they are now - no splitting, cracks, just solid hoof. He gets Topspec Lite and Linseed Oil.

I tried lots of other balancers, but this just seems to be the right one. :)
 
Of course a good diet is the first thing , after that I have tried many things and one that for me wins hands down is farriers formula.
 
whisp&willow said:
Cut out sugary/starchy feeds and feed a supplement like pro balance +.

That's what I did and it's made a huge improvement in my youngster's feet. I have now started to feed pro balance to her mother as she has flat soles.

ets: the pro balance seems expensive, but it lasts a long time, so works out good value.
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Ditto. I'm afraid you get what you pay for with most supplements. Minerals aren't cheap unfortunately so if a supplement seems cheap it probably has low levels and padding.
 
Sometimes, it's not what you add but what you leave out ;) Some horses have real problems with "good" grass, and this shows up in their feet. Restrict the grass, or find different (less fertilised, rougher) grass and the hooves can magically improve.

So low sugar doesn't just apply to what's in the bucket, but what the horse is eating the rest of the time as well.
 
He is on a good diet, just has herbal mollichop and stud cubes and sure grow. Lots of hay that isn't bad but not brilliant either and our fields arent particually good grass. I will try some biotin and pro feet. Thanks guys
 
'Hoof First' by Horse First is a fantastic supplement; it improved my boy's feet hugely, in conjunction with a good diet. His feet were very brittle and cracked. Within a few months the new growth was evident and his feet now look great. It is pricey (£45 a tub) but it lasts for about 3 months.
 
pinklilly said:
Low sugar diet, high fibre and pro hoof or pro balance, micronised linseed and salt. My tb's feet have improved immensely.

It's also benefited him by all round good health, correct weight and even temperament. Too much grass = crazy horse! The totally psychotic days which I used to say he'd had too many red bulls and blue smarties are no more.

His feet were soft but chipped and cracked, one particular deep crack which has grown out, he had almost persistent thrush which I treated constantly but never quite cleared up has gone.

Oh and he's sound!
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That is it , micronised linseed is great .. 100-200 grams for a 400-550kg horse in light to medium work, 1-2 coffee mug... you will have the most marvelous fat coronary band in about six weeks, skin will improve, and coat.
You should see an event line in a few weeks showing where the diet improved, in time the hoof capsule will also tighten up.
I also feed non molassed sb plus minerals, he gets 25 - 40 gms per day, less in summer, but he still gets half a mug of linseed and his minerals, though I feed Fast Fibre in summer.
He is barefoot, and I want to make sure he has the best diet I can provide.
I throw in a handful of Dengie non molassed chaff every feed, as it is another fibre based product and has some tasty bits in it.
Minerals £30.00
Non molassed sugar beet [quick / speedy beet] £12.80
Dengie chaff £12.80
This should last 35-45 days
 
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lisa_lou said:
He is on a good diet, just has herbal mollichop and stud cubes and sure grow. Lots of hay that isn't bad but not brilliant either and our fields arent particually good grass. I will try some biotin and pro feet. Thanks guys
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Suregrow is 12.5% starch, sugar not stated, but contains molasses. Mollichaff herbal is loaded with molasses, and stud cubes tend to contain around 20% starch and also molasses.

I'm afraid this is not a good diet. For hoof health (and general gut health) sugar and starch needs to be kept to a minimum. All of that needs to go, and be replaced with horse-friendly alternatives such as unmolassed beet, micronised linseed and a good quality supplement such as Pro Hoof, imo.
 
TwoStroke said:
Suregrow is 12.5% starch, sugar not stated, but contains molasses. Mollichaff herbal is loaded with molasses, and stud cubes tend to contain around 20% starch and also molasses.

I'm afraid this is not a good diet. For hoof health (and general gut health) sugar and starch needs to be kept to a minimum. All of that needs to go, and be replaced with horse-friendly alternatives such as unmolassed beet, micronised linseed and a good quality supplement such as Pro Hoof, imo.
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I agree, absolutely no molasses...no no no !!!!
Also, biotin is over hyped, on a good balanced diet, horses manufacture biotin in the gut.
Cut out the cereals and educate yourself about a plain [no molasses] diet based on hi fibre, micronised linseed and minerals.
Manufacturers will over hype anything as long as it is profitable.
Some actually call one feed "Competition Mix" and yet there is a very similar product which has a less fancy name, and is £2.00 cheapr, same company.
You need to know the energy level of your feed, I like to keep low, certainly nothing more than 11.5 joules per kilogram
Don't start me on "Pasture Mix" or "Happy and Healthy"
 
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OP does he need stud cubes AND Suregrow?

Suregrow is a complete balancer, a lot of people on here swear by it. I don't feed anything else with it except mag ox. My rising 2 yo has fab feet, he's had nothing else since 6 months old and I've put the others on it even though they're older. The new CB mare had rubbish feet; thrush and a big crack, which have come right since changing her diet to forage, Suregrow, mag ox and regular roadwork.
 
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