Dry, cracked hooves

[zen]

Are there any moisturizers that are better than others? I dry to constantly keep some mud in front of the water trough, but one of my horses does also have a bad stifle so I'm hesitant to keep things too muddy, plus with this heat and sun it dries in no time. Regardless, their pasture is very dry and my farrier has told me their hooves are cracking because they are very dry and need a conditioner. Any recommendations or will they all help the same way? Last time they were trimmed, a week after they already had CHUNKS breaking off. I do need to learn more about hooves and trimming, I admit it, but I really want to at least help moisturize them in the meantime.

[ChocoMare]

With all due respect, hooves SHOULD be hard and dry. The cracking is the hoof's way of telling you "I'm out of balance/flared/long/etc." Usually during the warm/hot months, hooves tend to grow more rapidly, thereby, requiring you to shorten the trim cycle to keep them in balance.

All the goos, goops, salves, balms, moisturizers do is set up an unhealthy environment for the hoof (basically you've just created The Ultimate Yeast Open-24/7-Buffet :winkgrin: :lol:) and make money for the manufacturer.

Would love to see ground-level pictures of these feet.

[zen]

I'll try and get some pictures tomorrow. We had a horrible farrier who repeatedly made our horses lame and had us convinced that it was our fault. This guy has only been out here twice and has been trying to show me things that he is trying to fix, but I am embarrassed to say that I just don't know enough to understand all of it. I'm trying to learn, but I guess I'm just a sucker for believing what people tell me. :no: That's part of the reason I'm posting this... trying to finally be a good owner and understand what's going on down there. I have seen a massive improvement in their movement and soundness after the first time, I was just concerned when they were breaking off so quickly. I questioned this, since they weren't cracks running vertically from the floor to the coronet band, but were chunks breaking off horizontally. He said that he couldn't remove too much because of how the previous farrier was trimming them.

[ChocoMare]

Good!!! That tells me your current guy is right on track: slowly coaxing those hooves back into balance as the hoof allows. He's cleaning up what the previous person did. While he's doing so, you may "help" him by having him come out to trim at 3 week intervals.

While I trim my own, during the warm/hot months as their growth rate increases, I trim every 2 1/2 to 3 weeks at the most. Any longer than that and they'll "Tell" me they're out of balance and will flare.

[zen]

Whew. Thanks. Good to hear. He's been a godsend with one of our older guys. He has severe arthritis and his knee is fused so he can't bend his leg to pick up. He's my sister's horse actually so I wasn't very familiar with his feet. This new guy said that his bars were grown out so far that they were pushing into his frog. He's been out twice to trim all of them, but in between he's been out 2 other times to take a little off of him at a time. He was out today and after doing his front two he was getting pretty sore on his knee, so he's coming out next week to finish the other two. He definitely loves the horses!

[gasrgoose]

We use Effol green hoof ointment and have be very pleased with the results. He previously had developed cracks and the hooves were dry and brittle. He is out at night and in the barn during the day. I think going from the moisture in the ground/grass in the spring morning to the dryness of the shavings in the stall was sucking the moisture out. We now put the ointment on in the evening before he is turned out and in the morning when he comes in for the day. The hooves look healthier now and so far no more cracks. The hooves are still hard, but they definately are a little more flexible and moist. No problems with the above mentioned yeast buffet. We have been using it around two months.

This is not to say the farrier couldn't have shod him poorly. But we have had the horse for 1 1/2 years with the same farrier and no problems. Then this May, during a very wet spring he had cracks on three hooves.

[wildlifer]

With all due respect, hooves SHOULD be hard and dry. The cracking is the hoof's way of telling you "I'm out of balance/flared/long/etc." Usually during the warm/hot months, hooves tend to grow more rapidly, thereby, requiring you to shorten the trim cycle to keep them in balance.

All the goos, goops, salves, balms, moisturizers do is set up an unhealthy environment for the hoof (basically you've just created The Ultimate Yeast Open-24/7-Buffet :winkgrin: :lol:) and make money for the manufacturer.

Would love to see ground-level pictures of these feet.

I 100% agree. I don't believe in putting slop on the outside of the hoof. If the hoof health truly is not there, he is not getting enough from his feed and I would recommend a good supplement. Sounds to me though, like trimming imbalance is at fault here.

[zen]

I 100% agree. I don't believe in putting slop on the outside of the hoof. If the hoof health truly is not there, he is not getting enough from his feed and I would recommend a good supplement. Sounds to me though, like trimming imbalance is at fault here.

What supplement do you recommend? He gets nutrena senior.

[LMH]

With all due respect, hooves SHOULD be hard and dry. The cracking is the hoof's way of telling you "I'm out of balance/flared/long/etc." Usually during the warm/hot months, hooves tend to grow more rapidly, thereby, requiring you to shorten the trim cycle to keep them in balance.

All the goos, goops, salves, balms, moisturizers do is set up an unhealthy environment for the hoof (basically you've just created The Ultimate Yeast Open-24/7-Buffet :winkgrin: :lol:) and make money for the manufacturer.

Would love to see ground-level pictures of these feet.
:yes:

[IsolaBella09]

One of our horses is on Farrier's Formula, and he has excellent feet. I like Rain Maker or Effol for the outsides, but I apply it only when necessary. I like to keep my horse's feet dry.

[wildlifer]

Zen, I've had EXCELLENT results with both Super Bio-Zin and (more affordable) SmartHoof.

[Hampton Bay]

I use SmartHoof on one of my horses and I have really noticed a difference. Not only are her frogs more full, but she gets thrush less easily, and her tail is thicker too. I've used other hoof supplements in the past, but always discontinued they as they never helped. This one actually does.

I also don't use dressing to keep moisture in, but I will use something oil-based when the ground is too wet, to help keep the moisture OUT. For that purpose, and for the thrush my mare occasionally gets in said wet weather, I like HoofHeal the best.

But on the SmartHoof, I haven't touched my bottle of HoofHeal more than twice in 6 months.