Question
My 12-year-old Quarter Horse mare is in moderate weight (14.3 hands; 1,000 lb or 450 kg). She’s an easy keeper that I use for trail and ranch riding. She has access to pasture, with the amount of time grazing dependent on grass growth, and she also receives 0.5-1 lb (0.2-0.5 kg) of oats and a hoof supplement. This mare has always had great hooves, but lately her sole has become soft and thin. We had a lot of rain this summer, which necessitated me keeping her in a drylot to restrict grazing, and I wonder if that could have contributed to the hoof deterioration. From a nutritional standpoint, is there anything else I can do for her?
Answer
Providing a well-fortified diet will support overall health and wellness, including improved hoof health.
Oats are a good source of calories but are deficient in key nutrients. I recommend adding a protein, vitamin, and mineral supplement (frequently referred to as a ration balancer) to your current feed plan to provide more complete nutrition and prevent nutrient deficiencies or suboptimal intake. A ration balancer will not add significant calories to the diet, making it a good choice for horses that maintain their weight on a forage-based diet. If you are concerned about unwanted weight gain, then you can cut out the oats completely.
Providing a hoof supplement in addition to a balanced diet is an effective way to promote hoof growth and improve the integrity of the hooves. I would expect you to see an improvement over time with the addition of a balancer pellet. As you mentioned, the environment can take a toll on the health of hooves, and this can be helped with management strategies designed to keep your mare out of the mud.
If you don’t see the improvements you expected within a suitable time frame, you may want to consider an alternative hoof supplement such as Bio-Bloom PS. Bio-Bloom PS (or Bio-Bloom HF in Australia and New Zealand) uses high-quality ingredients and provides biotin, zinc, methionine, and iodine. This supplement has been shown to promote increased growth rates in horses.
