What about hoof-building supplements? I have tried them and have always been disappointed.
But now I know why.
I expected the results to be much quicker acting.
Now I have learned that the effects of the supplements start at the corollary band and take ten to twelve months to reach the bottom of the hoof.
So unless you continue the supplement for ten to twelve months and beyond, the supplement will be wasted.
The cracks or defects in the hoof wall will not be healed by a hoof supplement, they must grow out to the bottom of the hoof and either wear off or be trimmed off.
Think of your fingernails.
If you smash a nail the result will be a dark nail and may even cause a hole in the nail.
The darkness and the hole will remain until the nail grows out past the quick and the roughness can be trimmed away.
A similar thing happens when the horse sustains an injury in the corollary band.
This will result in a blemish in the hoof wall that will remain until it grows out the bottom of the hoof.
What do hoof supplements do for the hoof? Generally, supplements provide biotin, methionine and zinc to the horse's diet.
These are building blocks for connective tissue, skin and hair, and most importantly for this discussion, hooves.
No shortage of supplements exists, I easily found twenty supplements on the internet, most descriptions are complete with a listing of the ingredients, before deciding that enough is enough.
Many more supplements are out there that I did not investigate.
The primary ingredient is biotin.
Most of the supplements I researched contain 15-20mg of biotin per dose.
Dose sizes vary from brand to brand, but each brand tends to include this ratio of biotin per dose.
(Some super biotin supplements provide 30mg per dose.
) Biotin is actually generated in the horse's large intestine.
I learned in "Hoofin' It - Part 6" that biotin is a water-soluble B vitamin and as such cannot be stored, making it necessary to obtain daily.
Biotin generation can be retarded if the diet includes too much grain.
The grain causes excess acids that deter biotin generation.
Additionally, absorption of biotin from the large intestine is very low.
A secondary ingredient in most supplements is methionine.
Most supplements contain 1500-4000mg of methionine per dose.
The third most common ingredient in supplements is zinc.
Most supplements contain 100-300mg of zinc per dose.
Most supplements contain a variety of active ingredient or fillers.
However, biotin, methionine, and zinc are the primary ingredients in the supplements I reviewed.
The cost of adding these supplements to your horse's diet ranges from $0.
41/day to $1.
17/day depending upon the supplement selected.
A few of the hoof supplements I found are liquid.
It appears that these supplements are applied either to the hoof wall or to the corollary band.
One brand prescribed application to the corollary band, the hoof wall, and the frog.
A clean, dry hoof is necessary for these applications.
Here are some things you want to consider when selecting a hoof supplement.
•What is the condition of my horse's hooves, does it actually need a supplement? •Will I actually continue the supplement for the full 10-12 months required to obtain the full benefit and then keep it up? •Is the supplement given to the horse via diet or external application? •Am I ready to spend $0.
41 to $1.
17 per day to supplement my horse's hooves? •If you decide to add a supplement to your horse's diet, check out the amount of biotin, methionine, and zinc per dose to make sure you are getting the most for your money.
A side benefit to supplements is that most promote good skin and hair.
This should be obvious as the hoof is mainly compressed hair and connective tissue.
I say obvious, but in my focus on the hoof, I wasn't looking for the benefits to the coat.
But even I couldn't help but notice the assertions by the manufacturers that their supplements benefit the coat as well as the hoof.
Thank you for reading this article.
I hope that it was informative or at least entertaining.