[carriekinz]

It's very dry and hot here on the Prairies and the horse's hooves are suffering. My mare's frogs look "dead"...very contracted looking--squished together, like they are shrinking--and rough. Not a month ago the farrier said her feet looked very nice and I asked if I should put something on them and he commented that there's enough moisture in the pasture so they should be fine. Over the last month it's gotten progressively dryer and hotter and here we are with hooves that look unhealthy.

After reading up on hoof health and getting advice from friends...I've tried the following. I've let the trough run over but my horse won't stand in the wet parts Instead she'll crane her neck an extra foot to slurp a drink to avoid putting her royal foot in the terrifying mud. I've soaked down the gate area with a good inch of water--where she normally stands staring longingly over the fence to look at her companion when she's in the dryer paddock alone to keep her from eating all day. (Weight loss mission.) But she first hops OVER the puddle to get through the gate and then stands BESIDE it all day long !

I clean her feet first thing in the morning when she's put in the dry paddock and I slop alot of Hoof Maker on the bottoms and into the crevices around her very dry frogs, and I put just a bit on the outside of her hooves and massage a little into her coronet band. I also clean her feet when I'm putting her to pasture at night...should I repeat the Hoof Maker stuff then too?

Any suggestions?

[Super_Trooper]

Why not hose the feet 2 times a day yourself if she wont stand in water. Water is the best, most natural hydration. Does she have shoes on?

[ryu2832]

I just use olive oil or lanolin (or an udder balm with lanolin as the 1st ingredient) depending on the weather conditions. You can rub them all over the hoof including the coronary band. Both will help your horse regulate the hoof moisture internally. (and you can wipe your hands off on their tail ) .

Avoid standing your horse in water, it stresses the hoof wall, and avoid anything with petrolium or pine tar. These products remove your horses natural water barrier and will actually promote water loss through the hoof wall.

Remember if it's dry out, the ground is hard a well. Don't get the frog and underside to the hoof too soft.

Good luck!

[ryu2832]

Originally Posted by Super_Trooper

Why not hose the feet 2 times a day yourself if she wont stand in water. Water is the best, most natural hydration. Does she have shoes on?

All the research I've done says the regular wetting and bathing is one of the big no, nos. It causes swelling of the horn tubules that make up the structure of the hoof wall, and when they dry out, the tubules contract. This stresses the connections between the tubules and can lead to cracking and splitting. It also can remove the horses natural water barrier, and make the horn more prone to water loss.

[carriekinz]

Thanks you two! I would hose her feet but she's terrified of the hose...another thing we're working on. (The hose is pastured with her...not running yet...but hopefully soon And I drag it around daily near her, letting it flop about and make noise. )

I am going out to read the label on the Hoof Maker right now...no petroleum, right??

Thanks!

[carriekinz]

Oh, no! Conflicts! LOL How I wish for rain...not only for my horse's hooves but for the forest fires our area is battling!

I guess I'll nix the water idea for now...pray for rain...and check to see what is in the Hoof Maker.

SuperTrooper--no, she's barefoot.

[Super_Trooper]

Water is the most natural hydration...how do you think wild horses hooves get hydration condition? They need to wade into water sourses to drink...

[RickB.]

Hard, dry hooves are not a bad thing. Wet, spongy hooves are a bad thing.
Overwetting then over drying the hooves, as has been pointed out, is damaging to the hooves.

If your ground is hard and dry, and the hooves are hard and dry, then the hooves have adapted to their environment.

A big problem with letting the horses stand in mud is that as the mud that remains on their feet dries, it sucks the moisture right back out of the foot.

Besides, all that moisturization is only affecting the very outermost layer or two of the hoof capsule. True hydration comes from within.

If one considers the feral hoof model to be the "be all, do all and end all" for horse hooves, and that someone is precisely mimicing the feral lifestyle, then I suppose one could argue that that is the perfect model for their horse(s). Since more often than not, domestic horses don't meet that paradigm, I suggest that it is not the correct one for managing most domestic horse's hooves.

The application of various and sundry unguents, creams and ointments can affect the outer layer of the hoof capsule. Mostly, they make the human connection feel good and useful, and contribute to the bottom line of the companies that manufacture them.

Taking all that into consideration, it is my experience that Rainmaker and Hoofmaker were the two best products I have encountered along the way, with Hoofmaker being the one I most preferred.

Professionally speaking, it is my experience that horses that are getting bathed daily or several times a day, are the most problematic when it comes to maintaing solid, healthy hooves. Amazingly enough, once the bathing stops(fall and winter), the overall quality of the hoof improves. Go figure

[carriekinz]

Thanks again everyone, very informative!

I meant to add that these dry hooves/unhealthy frogs are causing her to be very sensitive when we're riding. She hits a stone and limps for three or four steps. Last summer we rode barefoot on the gravel roads--because the county put down fresh gravel and I didn't know if the ditches had wire or metal pieces hidden until the county mowed in there--and she NEVER took a step wrong AND her frogs and rest of hooves looked like one of the pictures you see under photos marked "healthy barefoot hoof" I mean they were perfect, apart from a quarter crack that grew out in the winter. But the dryness is definitely affecting her badly this summer.

I'll put more Hoof Maker on tonight after I clean her feet.

Thanks.

[ejforrest]

Hoof Dressing: What Studies Show:
"Hoof dressings dont seem to have much of an effect on good quality feet but can further damage poor feet. A proper diet and hoof care program are the most important weapons against hoof problems."
Managing Wet Feet by Stephen O'Grady, DVM, MRCVS, owner of the Northern Virgina Equine practice in Marshal Va.
"Water is natures hoof moisturizer, but moderation is the key. Too much can lead to deformed hooves because as the hoof becomes soft, it loses its structural integrity. Prolonged and excessive environmental moisture leads to dangerously high hoof moisture levels. Hoof dressings serve little purpose in maintaining healthy hooves and can even be dangerous when they create a build up on a moist hoof that can trap bacteria and lead to infection. Wet hooves are worse than dry hooves. It is important to remember that every horse is an individual, and the way a hoof is able to deal with the environment will be different from horse to horse."