The horse enthusiasts know how important it is to maintain the horse hooves. Strengthening the hooves is even trickier than maintaining the horse’s overall health. Once the hooves get infected it gets hard to bring them back to the state they used to be. So, if you have been neglecting this important part of the horse’s body, it’s still not late to take expert advice seriously. Treating the horse hoof might be tricky but maintaining the hooves is not, you can simply boost the hoof health by;
- Regular trimming
- Shoeing
- Cleaning
- Professional checkups
- Hoof supplements
- Moisturizing
- Exercising
Trimming
The horse hooves need trimming for the same reasons as our nails. Nothing can help you in maintaining healthy hooves as regular trimming would do. The overly pampered domestic horses need trimming every six to twelve weeks as they, no matter how rough and tough their routine is, do not wear their hooves much naturally. So, to maintain healthy hooves and prevent grass cracks, take trimming seriously.
Shoeing
As horses have to walk, run, and trout on almost all types of even, uneven, and rough terrain. To prevent injuries and cracks shoeing is highly recommended. Though the horseshoes are a bit expensive but definitely not as expensive as a horse hoof treatment.
Cleaning
Even if the horse is usually taken out in shoes, pick up their leg, examine the hooves, clean thoroughly if it requires cleaning. Half of the hoof issues would be resolved. Pick and scrap off debris with a hoof pick. The hooves do not require to be cleaned daily but whenever your horse passes through rough terrain, there is no harm in double-checking the hoof situation.
Professional checkups
No matter how well do you understand the hoof structure, how cunning you are to identify the issue, it is recommended to get the hooves professionally checked at least once in a while. So, you can nip the evil in the bud.
Medical hoof supplements
Physical care is not enough to prevent common hoof issues. You have to keep a strict check on horse nutritional uptake to maintain healthier, stronger hooves. Hoof supplements do a great job in maintaining hooves and preventing diseases but these supplements work exceptionally well when they are combined with high-quality horse food; hay and pasture. Moreover, you can also add biotin supplements to their diet to improve the hoof condition.
Moisturizing
Keeping the right moisture content is super important to maintain healthy hooves. Too much or too little moisture content, both conditions are extremely harmful. The lack of moisture leads to dry, shrunken, and hardened hooves that are prone to cracks and chips whereas, the excessive moisture content makes the hooves too mushy to walk normally and to be shoed.
Exercise
Exercise not only helps in maintaining hooves but the horse’s health as well. The horses that already have a rough and tough routine may not need to exercise to improve health or hooves but the pet horses do. Little movement can make the hooves grow vigorously whereas too much abuse would wear them off unevenly. So, add a balanced amount of exercise to their routine to keep them on track.
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