Good feet = a happy horse

So today I decided I do have time to post a new blog. I mean hell I'm dead here at work, The occasional customer comes trottign through oh every hour maybe. Winter is slow at the feed store. With winter starting to set in I've started slacking off on taking care of my horses feet. Bad owner I know but it's getting dark quicker, I can't get out to the barn like I should... ugh Winter SUCKS. Anyway we all know how important proper hoof care is. Aside from trimming your hores regularly (every 6-8 weeks) It doesn't hurt anythign to paint a dressing on the sole , frog and shell of the hoof to help strengthen the hoof as well as trap moisture inside it. A good one to use is Hoof Heal by Cutheal animal products. Really anything with with pine tar is good. Now now all you none pine tar users who swear it's the devil read this article (http://www.netpets.com/horses/healthspa/dress.html). Pine tar has been proven to hold moisture in the hoof better than anything else. This study was done by Texas A & M and seeing as how they are have one of the leading Animal Science programs in the country, I think we are safe to follow their lead. My farrier recently told me a mixture I could fix at home and paint on the hooves. It consists of Pine Tar , RAW linseed oil and Venice Turpentine. One part of each ingredient (for example 8oz of the pine tar , 8oz of raw linseed oil and 8oz of the venice turpentine). And let me tell you this stuff WORKS. Apparently it's a recipe that an old racehorse trainer used years and years ago. You know back when TB's actually had good hard feet and could run hard .... but thats besides the point. I started using this mix on my appy filly and WOW it was awesome. Her feet look and even feel healthier!

Thrush though is starting to pose a problem now as the moisture in the grass isn't evaporating as quickly and well as winter weather hits let's face it it becomes slightly muddier. Always CLEAN your horses feet out atleast once a day. This will help prevent the thrush from starting. Should your horse get thrush I have found the best product to quickly and effectively is ThrushBomb. it's a purple liquid in a little bitty squeeze bottle. You draw one line down each sid eof the frog (make sure you get it in the crevice) and that one dose pretty much kills the fungus out! I swear by this stuff.

Many people feel the need to feed a hoof supplement and if you use an inferior quality feed such as Dumour or all-stock its honestly a good idea. See every year the NRC (Nutrition Requirements Council) reviews the daily needs and percentages of certain vitamens a horse needs. Most feeds out there have the bare minimum amount of these vitamins. Co-Op feeds have the amount recommended and then some:) See they are all about the health of the horse, not the profit from the feed. Every year Co-Op updates their feeds while numerous other companies don't or if they do, they barely make them better. A Good feed such as what Co-Op carries actually eliminates the need for additonal hoof supplements unless it is an EXTREME case. IF a hoof supplement is needed then you don't want to get anything that has over 20mg of biotin per serving. That's all a horse needs. Anything higher and you are basically throwing your money away.