Hoof Supplements

without knowing complete diet it is hard to help...

You're right, That would help[8D] Their diet consists of alfalfa hay (about 1% of their weight twice a day), fresh water and a handful of grain as a treat. They are out on pasture 24/7. Its just native grasses and pretty miniscule - not the lush green you picture when someone says pasture.

I had a problem with my horses hooves chipping and cracking. I have put her on Farrier's Formula and I would use nothing else. I have never shod her and her hooves look great. No issues with chipping anymore! Love the stuff. You have to use more initially then you cut the amount in half. I also use hooflex on her hooves if we are going through a dry spell. It comes in a tub and I slather it on once a week.

I personally am not a fan at all of any type of hoof supplements. My horse has never once had anything put on his hooves or had any type of supplements in any kind in order to help his hooves (not including Thrush medicine...of course I use that hehe).

I agree with your farrier. Floor the water trough over so the horse stands in it to drink. My horse didn't like walking in the mud at first, but when he got thirsty he walked in the mud to get water.

It's so doggone sodden here....  The ground stays saturated these days.  We get a few hours of sunshine.  Then we get another downpour.  It's crazy!  But I'll take it if I keep getting some sunshine.  SOOOOOooo,  BOSS is a win-win for us.  AND it's really making a difference in the coats.  I stopped for a while and just started back about a 2 months ago.  I'm pretty sure I'm seeing a line on their hooves from when I started back on it.

When I started having trouble with my horses feet cracking a friend suggested giving the horses gelatin. You can get it in the baking isle at your grocery store. Just plain gelatin. I gave them a packet a day untill there hooves look good then once a week. It works great for me.
 Iv also heard of people putting bacon grease on there horses hooves but iv never tried it 
 I have tried the goop that you slather on and I like it. I like the thicker applications. You may try to make something yourself to apply to his hooves. Like a mud pack or something.
 I live in Ga so we usually have the opposite problem but during the summer there hooves do have a tendency to dry out. I think I will try the mud thing myself as I like to do things with my horses as natural as possible.

Thanks for the suggestions. We ended up putting front shoes on one of the boys as he has a crack and L is going to be riding on the asphalt with him in some parades. Its been there for a while and never advanced, but I don't want to take any chances. I wonder if the mud pack would work. Would give the Girls and excuse to play in the mud!

I have been told by several blacksmiths and i also do agree that all hoof supplements are just expensive pee.. 

[quote=IGotYouBabe]

I have been told by several blacksmiths and i also do agree that all hoof supplements are just expensive pee.. 

 
Biotin is the main active ingredient in hoof supplements.  Many do not have enough Biotin in them to be effective and most people do not use the product long enough to be effective.  Hoof supplements take 8-12 months to see results.   Products should have a minimum of 20 mg Biotin but a dose of 60 mg is the dose that has been used, with success, in scientific studies (University of Edinburgh Vet School for one).  Biotin is very safe and larger doses (say 60 mg) can be tolerated without side effects. 

There is so much more to good hoof health then Biotin... the amino acid profile HAS to be there for the body to utilize the biotin, many times it is not biotin that is lacking but the amino acids

Peggy, weigh in on BOSS, please.  I don't know about the pee, but it sure spruces up the poo! []

[quote=PeggySue]

There is so much more to good hoof health then Biotin... the amino acid profile HAS to be there for the body to utilize the biotin, many times it is not biotin that is lacking but the amino acids


I agree!  I have never had any issues with feet.  As long as you feed a good diet that is usually all you need.  On occasion she gets hoof oil because it does get really dry around here but that is the extent of it.. or a nice mud bath for the feet LOL..

 
 
 
 
 
[BLOCKQUOTE]Cow Pie Girls


Any preferred supplements for hooves? Our guys are barefoot year round and we live in the dessert. Their hooves are becoming brittle. The farrier recommended flooding the water trough so they get some moisture when they come to drink, but "Mr. Twinkletoes", won't walk in the mud. Also its so dry here, the mud dries quickly and I hate wasting the water. We've fed BOSS in the past, it just made the hooves even harder and more difficult to trim.
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In 1998, I moved myself and three of my current horses from Western PA to  live in SoCal's low desert for five years --- where it can hit 103 or more by noon and sticking your head out the door is like sticking it in an oven set at 350.
 
What a wake-up call that was and what a strange mutant/metamorphosis my two Walkers hooves went thru.  The Arab was fine - evidently reaching back to his ancient desert gene pool to make that drastic climate adjustment - lol lol
 
Anyway, I discovered Mollimentum while I lived there.  It is a terrific topical for hooves.  It is grease-like and best put on with a two inch brush (that I kept in a zip-lock bag to extend it's use).
 
Mollimentum won't roll off hooves like liquid hoof topicals do when you live in the desert environment.  I still have some and will dig it out at the end of our summers when it's in the high 90's, if I need to.
http://www.tuttles.com/
 
Internally, I can't say enough good about Omega-3 Horseshine.  This stuff is fantastic for coat and hoof health.  It's gotten expensive but I only give everyone a heaping 1/4 cup twice daily.
http://www.omegafields.com/
 
I am not a fan of BOSS -- I am probably only one out of a million horse owners that thinks BOSS should be fed to those it was intended for - the birds.
 
BOSS is high Omega-6 which is not good for a horse that is even thinking about becoming insulin resistant as too much Omega-6 is alleged to exacerbate inflammation.
 
That being said, BOSS can be bought in the hull-less form but it's a lot more expensive.
 
The Omega-3 Horseshine does maintain the proper ratio of Omega -3's & 6's.  While I am always looking for a less expensive way out of things, buying BOSS instead of Omega-3 Horseshine isn't one of them -lol lol
 
Hope this helps