If the horse is not eating well it will show in their feet," says Brunetti. When the ground is hard and the air is dry, I use a hoof conditioner secondary to feeding a hoof supplement most of the year to help with elasticity," says Brunetti. To help ensure your horse is drinking enough water, you may want to add salt or Apple Elite Electrolyte to his feed, which encourages water consumption. You want to apply the conditioner all over the hoof, up to the coronary band and to the soles and bulb of the heel.
When the hoof is too wet or soft you can see issues developing, as well as loose shoes," observes Brunetti. If needed, a topical product such as Horseshoer's Secret Hoof Sealant can help keep the moisture out. A sealant helps provide a barrier against excess moisture entering the hoof.
Sealant can be applied to the hoof wall weekly or as needed. The hooves must be clean and dry before applying sealant. Begin approximately a half-inch below the coronary band and continue applying down the hoof wall. Allow to dry between additional coats, if required.
Don't apply sealant on the coronary band or on bulbs of heels. For shod horses, Maki adds that if your farrier can "hot fit" the shoes, this is beneficial during wet seasons and conditions. Even for horses living in humid climates, hooves can get dry during warm months, so a hoof conditioner may be necessary for a period of time.
Whether a horse is barefoot or shod doesn't dictate whether you use a hoof conditioner or sealant. It really depends on the horse and his hooves," says Brunetti.
It also depends on how often the horse is being ridden. Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her husband near Salmon, Idaho, raising cattle and a few horses. She has a B. She has raised and trained horses for 50 years, and has been writing freelance articles and books nearly that long, publishing 20 books and more than 9, articles for horse and livestock publications.
Besides having her own blog, www. Got Healthy Hooves? Favorite Share:. Consider the big picture, from farrier care and diet to environment and genetics, when working to keep horse hooves healthy My horse is barefoot. Age Matters Two age groups that generally need more hoof care than the average adult horse are foals and seniors.
Get the Feet Moving Besides promoting good overall equine health, exercise also supports condition of the hoof itself. Burns says there are four reasons to shoe a horse: Protection If feet are wearing away faster than they can grow and becoming tender, they might need boots or shoes. This is sometimes a temporary measure. A shoe can help a weak hoof capsule hold its shape and get back to proper balance. Proper traction Horses in different disciplines require different types of traction.
Those that run and jump need more traction, while reining horses, which must be able to make sliding stops, need less. Gait alteration If a horse is interfering hitting opposing limbs with his feet as he moves , for instance, the farrier can use special shoes to prevent this. Some people also want to change or enhance a certain phase of the stride and alter animation, especially in some gaited breeds.
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If you continue to use the site, we'll assume you're okay with this. It is important to remember that because the hoof is protein, it is potentially biodegradable. Domesticated horses need a hoof conditioner that effectively replaces the periople. Tiny openings on the hoof wall, from cracks and nail holes, are the main pathways for infection from bacteria, fungus or other contaminants.
Your grandfather and his grandfather before him intuitively used a type of hoof conditioner called pine tar. This product acted as a precursor to modern hoof conditioners as it helped to retain moisture in the hoof wall. Pine tar, unfortunately, had its drawbacks, but Grandpa was on the right track. Later came various products that contained oils, and petroleum-based ingredients that were used with limited success to coat the hoof and fill in the nail holes.
Hoof conditioners that contain pine tar, salves and oils usually stay fluid wet after they are applied and breakdown quickly when exposed to the environment. These dressings are usually sticky, and as such attract contaminants instead of repelling them. These organisms produce enzymes and exotoxins that can break down collagen and protein in the hoof wall.
If you do not get disease of the hoof wall, the least that can happen is that the hoof can get soft and punky at the nail holes. If this happens, your horse will throw more than his fair share of shoes. Some of the modern day hoof conditioners were a spin-off from the field of dentistry.
Others tried fingernail polish to provide a cosmetic shine. These synthetic coatings, such as methyl cellulose fingernail polish and urethane polymers, can outperform hoof oils, salves and pine tar, but they have their limitations on hooves. Being impervious to moisture, these synthetic sealants do not allow the beneficial transpiration water vapor transmission to occur through the sole and frog where the hoof needs to breathe.
As a result, synthetic sealants can only be used on the hoof wall, not on the sole and frog where serious protection is also needed. The latest scientific methods have given us dual-action hoof conditioners that coat and protect the entire hoof capsule horn, sole and frog.
They are not synthetic substances that are made from petroleum chemicals. They last longer. They also contain scientific ingredients that provide the healthy hoof tissue with an antiseptic barrier against infection. Grandpa would have been proud to use these products had the technology existed in his day.
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