The wildly unpredictable weather of Spring has arrived, and it has us all caught up in its wicked roller coaster ride. The grass is coming in rich and thick, but also might be stressed by a frost. The mud is thick and relentless, until it turns rock hard and dry, before going back to mud again. And our poor horses’ feet can’t seem to catch a break, thrown for a loopty-loop from a metabolic standpoint, and then a freefall drop from the elements,
Luckily, horse health companies know the importance of a healthy hoof and have provided us with amazing options to keep our horses up and running…literally.
1. General Exterior Health
Keeping the exterior of the foot happy means having a good moisture balance and keeping bad bacteria away. Manna Pro (makers of the amazing Cut-Heal products), have a wonderful all-around product with their Hoof Heal. It provides moisture balance to the wall, heel, frog ad coronary band, while creating a flexible water and germ barrier to help fight and prevent thrush,
2. Harden Weak Hoof Walls
Some horses need a bit more help to harden the walls of their hooves, especially with the rapid change of spring environment. For them, the Keratex Hoof Hardener is imperative to keeping thin, brittle walls away and growing strong, supportive feet.
3. Bye Bye to Thrush
Even with all of our grooming and feet picking, sometimes thrush sneaks right past us and takes up residency in the sensitive parts of our horses’ feet. Thrush fighting products like the Farnam Thrush Relief provide spot specific treatment to beat that nasty bacteria.
4. On-Demand Packing
Wet feet mean softer feet, and sometimes that can lead to easier bruising. Having a great hoof packing on hand, like Absorbine’s Magic Cushion , means you can be prepared to keep the soreness minimal.
5. Healthy Hooves from Inside-Out
As satisfying as it may be to topically apply products to make your horse healthier, we also need to make sure that they are getting the support internally that they need. Working carefully with your veterinarian will help you determine if support for their metabolic system would be beneficial, or hoof targeted growth supplements.
For horses that struggle metabolically, the rapidly fluctuating sugars in spring grasses can make growing healthy hooves a challenge. Adding an amino acid supplement like the Uckele Health Tri-Amino might aid them in coping with the changes.
Other supplements focus specifically on the growth of the foot, most by providing Biotin for hoof growth and strength. If you check out Horseloverz complete line of hoof supplements you can find and compare products like the best selling Farrier’s Formula which contains not only Biotin, but also Amino Acids, Vitamins, Minerals, and special packaging considerations that ensure reduced degradation of vital ingredients.
We all know that the crazy spring weather creates an uphill battle to keep those hooves happy and healthy. Hopefully you’ll find yourself over-prepared with the help of these products!