Should I start feeding my horse?

MrA

Well-Known Member
Feb 8, 2012
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He's never had a bucket feed, just hay and grass and I wonder if hes getting all the nutrients he needs. I ride/ lunge/ hack 5 times a week, mainly walk and trot, some canter. He can be lazy at times but has enough energy when he wants to! I haven't bucket fed him as he's always slightly porky. He seems in good health, but recently his feet have developed a few cracks and was wondering if he's lacking something. He's about 7. Thanks
 
Is he shod? How bad are the cracks and whatdoes the farrier think? Only thing is, if he's a good doer then he really doesn't need hard feed as such - but you could try a low-cal feed balancer. I give Happy Hoof to our girls but only as a tokengesture, tbh, I don't feed it in enough quantities for the added Biotin (good for feet) to have much effect. I dohowever feed either Gold Label Biotin or what I've got atm, which is Biotin and something else (tis a huge tub I bought from Hyperdrug on the internet) which I think helps hoof quality.
I think you have to think if its not broke then don't fix with regard to hard feed. I would definitely ask your vet or farrier what they recommend for those cracks.
 
Another one that used to give a handful of happy hoof and spillers #4 to the horses kept out 24/7 to make sure they got all the nutrients. Also a mix of fruit and veg. Once a day.

I asked their farrier and he had started to notice an improvement in their feet.

I also looked at but didn't get Kevin Bacon hoof dressing - it got great reviews online but the owner of the horses was a bit reticent and I didn't push it.
 
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Hes barefoot and they're not too bad. Farrier said they are nothing to worry about but I was just wondering why they've suddenly appeared.

Can you feed balancers on their own or do they need to be mixed with hifi?

Just every other horse on the yard has feeds day and night and feel a bit weird not feeding him, but in 3 years hes been very healthy.

At the moment I've just started using a keratin hardener on his hooves to see if that helps the cracks, reluctant to feed him more as he's big and an extrememly go doer! Thanks for the help :)
 
Another one that used to give a handful of happy hoof and spillers #4 to the horses kept out 24/7 to make sure they got all the nutrients. Also a mix of fruit and veg. Once a day.

May see if I can borrow some of these off liveries and try for a few weeks, see how he reacts etc. How much happy hoof do you need to feed a day to meet the rda of biotin? Thanks
 
I also looked at but didn't get Kevin Bacon hoof dressing - it got great reviews online but the owner of the horses was a bit reticent and I didn't push it.

going to get some of this when my current hoof moist runs out, I've heard great things too!
 
no idea of actual measures - I just gave them a scoop/handful of each and then added water and carrots and apples. I asked what one of the other liveries was feeding and she had a lot more experience of horses than me so I went with what she did.

I had no idea what the active ingredient was, I was more worried that they were missing something as the hay, haylage and grass all came from the same fields.
 
Kevin Bacon is fantastic - use it on my two and the farrier has commented on how healthy and strong their feet are now.

As for Happy Hoof, my fat arab gets this and I feed him 1/2 a scoop morning and night as he's feed in a herd, and he gets his multi vits and suppliments in with it which seems to work for us as he gets fat on thin air!!! I use the Global Herb one which is a good all round suppliment.
 
A fair whack of the happy hoof - not what I would personally do due to its mollases content but some get on with it.

I would firstly be making sure he is trimmed regularily enough, secondly that the farrier is putting a roll on the edge of the feet to relieve pressure from walls and thirdly that diet is low sugar/starch - don't forget spring grass can affect this. Magnesium may help if that is the case :)
 
He's probably fine with just grass and hay.

My Trakehner only ever has grass/hay as he's full of energy all the time and never loses weight in winter which is great going for a TB/Arab and he lives out 24/7. My irish cob, good doer, has the same. His hooves are the best my farrier has seen in a long time!!

If you are only worried about his hooves then you could try putting Kevin Bacon Hoof Dressing on them. It works wonders.

Made from animal fat and fresh laurel leaves
Penetrates the horn
Nourishes the hoof deep down
Activates horn growth
Protects hoof from wet
Prevents horn wall from drying

You will probably find it's the dry weather/ground rather than his diet which is causing the problem.

Give it a whirl. Works for my Trakehner and anyone else I know that has used it. Recommended by my farrier.

Good luck!

ETA Just noticed my friend Maria has recommended exactly the same!!
 
Grass and hay alone won't give him all the nutrients he needs, and that could account for the cracks in his hooves as he won't be getting the recommended amount of vits/minerals. In the wild horses graze on a wide range of plants to keep themselves healthy, unfortunately our grass kept horses tend not to have the same variety!
I'd recommend a low calorie feed balancer like Baileys Lo Cal, or Top Spec Lite or Anti Lam. They can all be fed on their own without anything to bulk it up, so it would be a small feed with not too many extra calories, and feeding the recommended amount would mean he was getting everything he needs. You won't see an improvement overnight as it takes a while for the hoof to grow down, it can be a few months before you see a difference but it'll come!
If he is podgy already at this time of year I would be thinking about restricting his grazing, either by keeping him off the grass for part of the day or by using a grazing muzzle.
I don't put anything on my horses hooves, I just make sure he has a really good diet and I don't need to. He is barefoot too and has great feet, and he's a really good doer so I understand your dilemma!
 
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I would firstly be making sure he is trimmed regularily enough, secondly that the farrier is putting a roll on the edge of the feet to relieve pressure from walls and thirdly that diet is low sugar/starch - don't forget spring grass can affect this. Magnesium may help if that is the case :)

He went a bit too long between a couple of trims and it was soon after that the cracks appeared although his feet wernt long. But I will now definatley get him trimmed on time. At the moment his field doesn't actually have much grass so no need to worry about that too much at the moment. Thanks for the info about happy hoof, that wouldn't be for me nd him
 
He's probably fine with just grass and hay.

My Trakehner only ever has grass/hay as he's full of energy all the time and never loses weight in winter which is great going for a TB/Arab and he lives out 24/7. My irish cob, good doer, has the same. His hooves are the best my farrier has seen in a long time!!

If you are only worried about his hooves then you could try putting Kevin Bacon Hoof Dressing on them. It works wonders.

Made from animal fat and fresh laurel leaves
Penetrates the horn
Nourishes the hoof deep down
Activates horn growth
Protects hoof from wet
Prevents horn wall from drying

You will probably find it's the dry weather/ground rather than his diet which is causing the ,,,,problem.

Give it a whirl. Works for my Trakehner and anyone else I know that has used it. Recommended by my farrier.

Good luck!

ETA Just noticed my friend Maria has recommended exactly the same!!
If this hasn't convinced me to try it nothing will :p
 
Gillydaydream - thanks that what I was concerned about. His feet are generally good condition, hes never had these cracks before. As for him being a bit podgy, theres not much grass and he's in at night and he still won't loose any, he lives on air. I'd love if i could keep a muzzle on him, scratches them off within a minute :giggle: thankyou though
 
And thankyou everyone else too, I'm still not sure whether to feed, might ask the farrier again and try some Kevin bacon first, if there's no difference I'll look into all the suggestions youve made :)
 
Grass and hay alone won't give him all the nutrients he needs, and that could account for the cracks in his hooves as he won't be getting the recommended amount of vits/minerals. In the wild horses graze on a wide range of plants to keep themselves healthy, unfortunately our grass kept horses tend not to have the same variety!
I'd recommend a low calorie feed balancer like Baileys Lo Cal, or Top Spec Lite or Anti Lam. They can all be fed on their own without anything to bulk it up, so it would be a small feed with not too many extra calories, and feeding the recommended amount would mean he was getting everything he needs. You won't see an improvement overnight as it takes a while for the hoof to grow down, it can be a few months before you see a difference but it'll come!
If he is podgy already at this time of year I would be thinking about restricting his grazing, either by keeping him off the grass for part of the day or by using a grazing muzzle.
I don't put anything on my horses hooves, I just make sure he has a really good diet and I don't need to. He is barefoot too and has great feet, and he's a really good doer so I understand your dilemma!

My Victory lives on hay and grass and he is very healthy and his hooves are the best the farrier has seen in a long time and I haven't touched Kevin Bacon for 2 years since taking Victory's hind shoes off.

There is not always a need for additional nutrients.

Each horse is different.
 
External hoof dressings do not improve growth, it comes from nutrition and stimulation/environment.


I would be keeping an eye on white line for any seperation an making sure Te wall has a decent bevel on it to relieve the stress.

Are they cracks or chips?
 
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