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Expert
Posts: 2685
   
| I have a young horse that has soft feet. She is coming 3 so I have only ridden her a handful of times. She hasn't come up lame or anything, I can just tell she is tender. We took her trail riding (dirt) a few weeks ago and she broke off pretty bad. The farrier trims her every other trip and just shapes her every other trip because her hooves break off. I have decided I am done riding my babies (2yos) for the year and will get back on in the spring. My question is do I put her on a hoof supplement now to try to keep from having to shoe her in the spring to ride her, or just plan on having to shoe her? Have you ever had a supplement that kept you from having to shoe on with soft feet? I spoke with the woman I bought her from (as a weany) and she said her dam had soft/ tender feet. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2604
Location: Texas | Best thing to do is keep the hooves dry. Keep them off the pasture when the grass is wet, including wet from overnight & morning dew. Moisture makes the hooves soft. And use Keratex Hoof Hardener.
Edited by TBone 2017-09-30 10:58 AM
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Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| Balanced nutrition. Just like our fingernails, they are often the canary in the coal mine of internal dietary issues.
My understanding is that most horses produce more than enough biotin - but what they usually lack in is the micro’s needed to use that biotin properly. I’d have to look but I believe manganese, copper, and zinc all make that list. We feed Platinum Performance to cover these and others. While all of ours had pretty good feet before we started feeding it, they’ve only gotten better.
If she’s chipping IMO she needs a better mustang roll put on her hoof wall when she’s trimmed. If the wall isn’t rolled under well enough this can also make them sore - very similar to your bending a fingernail back, only every time they take a step or hit a rock. Make sure he’s only paring off sole as it naturally sheds, I’ve noticed a lot of shoers often take some sole even when just trimming whereas a barefoot trimmer never touches the sole unless it’s shedding. |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | yes and no. So many people want miracles and they aren't dealing with a nutrition issue. Biotin does wonders for hoof growth and there are several herbs that help promote blood flow. But if you are dealing with neg angles, coffin bone issue, bad shoeing/trimming then nothing you feed will help. If you just need some extra growth, then yes I truly believe Biotin helps. THE even added a new product to their line that is pure Biotin. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I agree on the right nutrition for a healthy horse, I use the Biotin 50 that I buy from Valley vet..  |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12842
| Yes they work but you need to understand that they need more than just biotin AND it takes almost a year to grow a new hoof. You have to grow a completely new hoof to see the results. My favorite is FINISH LINE HORSESHOE. |
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Expert
Posts: 1695
Location: Willows, CA | Hoof Supplements are a confusing thing because of the difference in hind gut function that different diets make and how that effects the horses ability to make or need added biotin. A proper forage based diet with limited added starch will allow the hind gut to make all the biotin that a horse needs. In this case, you could add biotin until it comes out the other end in kilo blocks without changing hoof condition because the horse already has all it can use. With a balanced diet, Lysine, methionine and zinc in combination have worked the best for me. I formulated and manufactured the first Hooflex+ formula for Absorbine. At the product launch I was asked if there was any fillers in the formulation, as I am known for "fully functional" formulations that contain none. I replied that there was one in that formulation, Biotin, since no one will buy a hoof product without it. I did not feel though that it contributed significantly to the effectiveness of the product if used with a proper forage based diet that used limited grain based feeds.
Edited by winwillows 2017-10-02 2:14 PM
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Do hoof supplements work?