General Horse Content - General Horse Care

Implementing a proper horse hoof care program into your daily regimen can spare your equine partner from various inconvenient (and often painful) maladies such as thrush and abscesses – and the good news is proper hoof care can take just minutes per day!

The main weapon you should possess in the battle for healthy hooves is the hoof pick, which is used to pick out sharp debris such as stones as well as manure and moist, bacteria-filled dirt and shavings. Unless you remove these contaminants daily you run the risk of a horse developing various hoof afflictions depending on your horse's normal grazing area, living conditions and hoof health.

Depending on the time of year and ground conditions, your horse's hooves may become too dry, thereby becoming brittle and vulnerable to cracks. This is usually more of a problem for shod horses since the shoe and nails can lower blood circulation and dry out the hoof. Two things you can do to combat that are:

Exercise your horse regularly! Activity improves the blood circulation within the hoof.

Use a hoof supplement such as Tuff Stuff, which is designed to toughen the hoof wall while moisturizing it.

A hoof is much like our own foot. If we were to take off our shoes and run through the woods, chances are it would be a rather painful experience. But if we stopped wearing shoes permanently, with time our feet would toughen until we could traverse rugged terrain comfortably.