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How To Care For Your Horse's Hooves

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How To Care For Your Horse's Hooves

How to care for your horses hooves: A well cared for hoof is essential, so follow VideoJug's simple guide for healthy, well maintained hooves for your horse. How to care for your horses hooves: A well cared for hoof is essential, so follow VideoJug's simple guide for healthy, well maintained hooves for your horse.

Step 1: The benefits

A well cared for hoof is vital for the prevention of lameness, joint, back and leg problems and enables your horse to move freely and comfortably.

Step 2: You will need...

Step 3: Check the hooves

It is thoroughly recommended that you check them at least twice daily, before and after riding. Pick up the horses feet, and using the hoof pick remove any mud and stones. Always work from the heel to the toe. Be careful not to dig the hoof pick into the frog, which is here. Sharp stones, are uncomfortable for the horse and can cause severe bruising and lameness. And objects such as nails and glass, may cause puncture wounds, which in turn can cause major infections and lameness. Similarly, if wet mud or soiled bedding is left in the hoof for a long time, moist, dirty conditions may cause a fungal infection, called thrush.

Step 4: Care of the hoof wall

The hoof wall controls the moisture balance. If you keep your horse in a hot dry climate, using a dampened water brush wash the underside of the hoof and the outer wall. This prevents the hooves from drying out and becoming brittle. In damp, wet climates protect the hoof by greasing the underside with hoof oil. Brush over the sole, frog, heel and then the outer hoof wall. This not only gives them a neater appearance but stops the hooves becoming too soft and weak.

Step 5: Trim the hooves

Using an experienced, registered farrier, have your horses hooves trimmed every 6 weeks. This helps to maintain good hoof balance, regulates excessive growth and prevents the hooves from splitting and cracking.

Step 6: Shoe him regularly

If your horse works a lot on hard ground or the road, it is vital to get him shod every 4-6 weeks. This prevents excessive wear to the hoof wall and stops the horse becoming foot sore. If a shoe becomes loose or falls off, call out your farrier immediately.

Step 7: Some final advice

Always make sure that your stable has clean bedding. Ask your farrier to advise you on a good hoof treatment, if necessary. Grease it on the coronet band to stimulate hoof growth, twice weekly. Feed your horse a balanced diet. However, be aware that over feeding him could cause laminitis, a metabolic disorder, just as a lack of essential vitamins and minerals could cause weak hooves with poor growth.

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Tips & Comments
  1. horsefans101

    This video is just for beginners! Idk why all of you are say stuff about cosmetic hoof oil and other things. This video is here to teach beginners the basics of hooves. Obviously you are not a beginner, so idk why you are watching it in the first place.

  2. ponymadprincess

    I used to think that a hoove pick hurt the horse's hooves

  3. ilovemyhorsemo

    i don't believe anyone that says hoof oil does nothing because about a year ago i got my thoroughbred, his feet wer incredibly weak and crumbly, he couldn't hold onto shoes for longer than a week. My farrier asked me if i used anything on is feet and i said no. He told me that i had to start mixing a tub stockholm tar with a tub of hoof oil and apply it twice a day inside and out so i did. 3 month later we noticed an incredible difference he feet were alot harder and had almost stopped crumbling altogether, aswell as this he could hold onto shoes for upto 2 1/2 weeks ( i no it doesn't sound long but it was incredible for him). we carried on with the treatment and now a year down the line he can hold onto shoes for upto 8 weeks and his feet are very hard and there is no crumbling. i would never look back on putting oil on his feet as they have come on so much. now we only have to apply it once a day aswell as his feet are that good. Everyone at my yard uses it becasue of the difference it made to my horses feet. So if you want something that work mix a tub of hoof oil with a tub of stockholm tar!! it's amazing stuff!! thanks martin for telling me to use it.

  4. izzypar

    this video is not BHS friendly. she should have a hat on and the correct way to pick up back legs is to bring your hand down the front of the leg NOT the back as she does if your horse kicked out it will break your wrist. also pulling on feathers is not the way to pick up feet ,again i would expect a horse to kick out if this is done on regular basis. if you pick a horses foot up the way she has shown you would fail a BHS exam.

  5. twilko

    Honestly, these video's must be views with caution as the one's I've watched have been pretty appalling! Here, they have failed to mention that cosmetic hoof oil may affect the hoof's ability to absorb or evaporate moisture. If the horse has good feet and the conditions are reasonably natural it's best not to apply hoof oil! The conditions have to be really extreme for it to start affecting the condition of the hoof. For example, drought where there is no dew to moisturise the foot. Hoof oil effectively seals in/out the water. Therefore, it can easily disrupt the moisture balance of the foot. It may either prevent moisture being absorbed into the hoof [and frog/sole!] when it needs to be or it may seal in the water when the foot needs to dry out! For example, if a horse already lives in wet conditions where the foot has not been throughly dried out, cosmetic hoof oil will simply seal in the water to create softer feet! None of this was mentioned in the video. I would imagine that this is a key piece of knowledge for beginners!

  6. LoveyouSugar

    depends how pregnant she is. i wouldnt ride her passed 6 months of being pregnant. also, between 4-5 months of her pregnancy you should moderate the amount of excersise shes getting (limit it) and if she is grazing she is usually getting enough excersise!!! ok im not a no it all, lol I got the answer from my grandmother, Hope this helps you

  7. dylan123

    does anyone know if you can ride a horse during its pregnancy

  8. Anonymous

    Beware always make sure your horses hooves are dry before you put hoof oil in them

  9. Anonymous

    ha ha, they spelt laminitis wrong!!

  10. Anonymous

    I was watching this video and read some of the comments and i was just saying that not all horses feet are the same. I have two horses on of which does not wear shoes because he doesnt need them and one does wear shoes because he is flat footed and has weak hooves and therefore needs them... so all the people saying horses dont need shoes are wrong.