Do dry hoofs suffer?

[Jane&Ziggy]

Ziggy is in the starvation paddock at present, with hardly any grass. As a result his feet are getting very dry, because he isn't soaking them walking through dewy grass all night.

Is this a problem? Should I dampen his feet sometimes? What do you think?

 

[Yann]

If the feet are healthy then it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Vicki100]

My farrier loves hoof grease and has told me to apply to soles/hoof every other day through Summer :biggrin:

 

[whitby which]

Dry hooves are usually healthier than soggy hooves!

I personally think hoof grease is a waste of time and money - a good feed from the inside is much more important

 

[Joyscarer]

I never bother with topical applications. I simply soak the feet in plain water if I need to.

 

[Roxy's Mum]

My farrier told me that having dry feet isn't necessarily a problem - the problem occurs when the horse goes from extreme dry to very wet (i.e. after a big down pour of rain or in a sudden season change) in a short space of time.

 

[No_Angel]

My IDxTB has always had really dry crumbly/cracking feet, this year I have kept her on hardly any grass and her feet have never looked better! hardly any cracking and some really healthy growth from the coronet.

 

[jaimep]

I agree with all of the above comments except the farrier who 'loves hoof grease'.

Dry feet tend to have less infections in them (I've never seem a foot without some form of infection you'd have to keep them in a sterile environment to achieve that) and they tend to be harder which imo is a good thing for the horse (maybe not so good for the person who has to trim them because even at 15 stone I'm struggling with some of them at the moment).

Horse originate from arid areas, the conditions we have had in some parts of the country this summer are probably a good thing for the feet (I say probably because in certain situations it has caused an increase in laminitis).

 

[jaimep]

My IDxTB has always had really dry crumbly/cracking feet,

That sounds like a chronic hoof wall infection. The dry conditions will have begun to sort it out, once the wet weather sets in again keep on top of it by spraying/scrubbing/soaking/dunking in salt water.