Youngster with soft hooves, what can I feed her to help?

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Esme2015

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Hi there

My two year old filly seems to be chipping her hooves to the point where I think it is making her footsore. Her feet are trimmed regularly, and she is only on grass. Her sire didn't have the greatest feet and I am getting a bit concerned. What can I feed her that will help to toughen her feet? Is it normal for youngsters to have very chipped hooves? They look awful :-(

As it is summer, she is on two scoops of Stud Balancer and a handful of Chaff, and was also on Happy Hoof because I was left a bag, but that finished this week.
She has good grass.

Thanks for your help.
 
Without seeing then it is hard to say whether it is an issue or whether they are just chipping away because they are growing too quickly, the good grass and stud balancer may be too good and her feet growing more quickly than they should for the wear that happens naturally, all the horses here are growing their feet at a really fast rate this summer on just grass, the shod ones require shoeing more frequently and the barefoot ones are needing more trimming.
I would cut out the balancer unless or until her condition requires it, unlikely if the grass is good, and replace with a basic vit/ min supplement in a handful of something low calories, a basic molasses free chop or fast fibre/ speedibeet just to act as a carrier, one of the progressive earth supplements would be suitable for helping her feet and some walking out on roads or tracks may help condition them as long as she is not too sore to do so.
 
Methionine is the amino acid prevalent in hooves, and is a first limiting i.e. it isn't usually found in the main foodstuffs, so check ingredients or supplement. And biotin and zinc are important, as are minerals in general but you do need to know the levels she is getting so you can balance them. I have home grown haylage so it is relatively easy to have forage and soil tested, I realise not everyone can do that easily
 
Thanks guys, all really useful. I did wonder if it the was the hard feed that wasn't helping. She is cob cross x AQH? She is on Hi Fibre Lite as her chaff, so will have a look at some supplements to go with that. I know Progressive Earth so will check with them once I have had a look at the balancer contents today.
 
It's a genetic disease in Connemaras that literally makes their hooves fall apart. I would put your horse on one of the no iron, no manganese, high copper, high zinc supplements that many barefoot people use. Pro Hoof is sold on ebay. Forageplus.co.uk have a range on their website.
 
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