I purchased a new horse that has some underslung heels and the typical running bred flat feet. He’s sound on arena footing and grass, but tender on the pavement. The market is flooded with growth supplements. Have you come across any with real research and results?
1 Like
I don’t have the actual research. But all the barefoot experts and the EMS and Cushing’s and founder people stress these nutrients: copper, zinc biotin. There is a ratio for hoof maintenance and a higher level for foot pathology. I don’t have the numbers in front of me but you can look them up on Pete Ramey or the ECIR FB group.
Most hoof supplements and feeds and RB don’t come anywhere near these levels. You can feed them individually (cheapest) or get a VMS like Mad Barn Omniety.
Anyhow, those are the usually agreed on key ingredients so if you get the numbers you can read labels and see what products have enough.
It will of course take a year for the hoof to grow out completely. The sole will grow out faster than the walls.
But you also need to look at the trim. Your problem may be trim and not hoof wall quality primarily. Do you have photos?
2 Likes
I have owned a horse for several years with the same feet as yours, from the same source. I have dived into what is documented online several times over the years and have become jaded to all claims. 
There is very little, if any, proper scientific research on hoof supplements & hoof treatments. Probably because so many things go into hoof health, including nutrition, surfaces, climate and weather, work, farriery, etc., that it is hard to narrow down to just one feature to test.
Be careful not to confuse someone’s barn project of using just one supplement or hoof treatment for a summer, and then poll the opinions of all of the barn workers who know the horses. That is anecdotal evidence along with all of the other anecdotal evidence.
That said, there are common opinions on the goodness of biotin. If you are already feeding a general supplement there is a fair chance that it is already included. Plus, every farrier, in fact every horse person you know, has a favorite supplement and/or vitamin mix, and often a favorite hoof treatment as well.
If you look at the details, the hoof supplement ingredients are usually already included in a good general nutritional supplement. There is no reason to double-up by adding a hoof supplement if the horse is already getting it.
I think the bottom line is good nutrition and good farriery. It would be so easy to spend some money on an extra to fix everything, but in my experience, it doesn’t work that way, usually.
My horse’s feet are in the best shape of his life right now – not the best hooves, but serviceable – and I haven’t fed any extra hoof supplement in a couple of years. During my ownership he has always gotten a good general nutritional supplement that covers lots of bases.
I do keep a skin lotion for horses on his legs, pasterns and white line, spreading it on his hooves if they look dry (they do). Hopefully that helps him, but there’s no way to prove it.
You will be deluged with advice on hoof supplements and treatments. Some of it contradictory. All presented as the last and only word on hooves. Including from farriers.
Take it all in through your own personal filter of what your horse is already getting and how his feet are being managed. Everyone comes from their own perspective, experience and conditions. Some are useful, but keep in mind that they don’t always compare to yours.
My farrier was on the verge of getting angry with me for not ordering and feeding his favorite supplement (no he isn’t a distributor). I had to get a printout of what was already included in the horse’s regular supplement to show him that adding his would just over-provide the recommended amount of those detail items, already included in his regular. That was a weird conversation! But not out of the ordinary for hoof supplement advice.
1 Like
FYI re hoof treatments …
OP you asked about supplements, but ointments to be applied to the skin and/or hoof are also a subject with a lot of recommendations.
There is something to think about re if we should even be using hoof ointments/treatments. I stopped using them. However I do use skin conditioning on the pasterns and coronet, just not on the hoofs except the rare times when they have excessive dryness.
The ingredients in some hoof dressings can actually be harmful, excessively drying the outer hoof layers and leading to brittle tissue that can easily develop small cracks. Formalin, solvents, or tar-based products are ingredients with the potential to damage the outer layers of hoof horn. Such damage allows moisture to move in and out of the hoof more freely than in hooves with healthy outer horn.
Lower strength has been measured in hoof tissue that is either too dry or too moist, so tampering with the natural moisture level is not thought to be advantageous. In addition, dirt and bacteria may enter the cracks, possibly causing infection.
This resonated with me that ointments didn’t seem to be making a difference, even after weeks of application. That they might be contributing to the tendency of the hoof to pancake as we tried to get it back to a proper angle. I stopped using the hoof ointments and haven’t seen a difference.
EDIT to correct a term.
1 Like
Thank you. I just got him home on Saturday, and my farrier is scheduled for next week, so I was just going to get the ball rolling with a supplement. My farrier is amazing and knows his stuff, so I’m sure he will have a course of action. I’m just pre-worrying about how I can help. LOL
7 Likes
I wouldn’t start adding supplements until you have him in a highly nutritious base diet first, and still aren’t seeing the rate of growth you’d like.
Do you know his whole diet before you got him? What’s he on now/what will you have him on?
3 Likes
Diet diet diet, as everyone as said.
My horse grows a shocking amount of foot. A common comment from farriers is “can he lend my other clients some hoof?” 
.
Most of this is genetics, the one thing in his chestnut TB genome that seems to have worked. That said, I’ve seen a dramatic difference in quality when I started checking for Cu/Zn levels in his diet, and adding a bit more on top of that.
I did farriers formula, smartpak brand stuff, and have had barnmates on every supplement under the sun. It’ll drive you bonkers and also drain your bank account - so start at the diet and get that right first. All the fancy overpriced scoops in the world won’t help if your diet is lacking something essential. Cu/Zn, E, and omega 3 balance all have some pretty solid evidence for hoof growth, and like someone said it’ll take a year to grow a new hoof. Judge your quality by the new material that’s growing down.
4 Likes
Totally.
Otherwise, I’ll plug MadBarn to the nth degree. That is a company that has done/is doing the research and is always improving. I’ve been flipping back and forth between Omneity and Amino Trace for years (finally settling on the Omneity) and his feet tell the tale.
2 Likes
What does this horse’s previous diet look like? What changes are you planning to make? Have you worked with a nutritionist and done testing on current pasture, hay and feed sources?
I wouldn’t be adding any supplement until you’ve got his diet well rounded, and even then, you can adjust regular diet without adding a “hoof” supplement, but instead a trace mineral like California Trace Plus.
Something I do not see mentioned is Iodine. It’s often forgotten, but essential. This short article from the American Farriers Journal has some details about how much to feed, and up to what level is considered “safe” for consumption. American Farriers Journal - Iodine
I recommended Cal Trace Plus because of the Copper, Zinc, Iodine, Biotin, and Amino Acids, but further testing is needed before you add it. A lot of hoof supplements contain Selenium, which can be very harmful when fed above safe levels, just food for thought.
Do you mean the coronet band? The white line is seen on the solar surface of the hoof.
2 Likes
Right, good correction. The coronet looks white to me and I tend to think if it as the white at the top of the hoof. But you are right and I’ll correct the post.
I agree with previous posters that you should get him on a good diet and then re-assess his feet. That said, I have had several TB or TB x horses with typical flat feet and brittle walls that have benefited from Glanzen, sold by HorseTech.
1 Like
The Seller was feeding him Strategy Healthy Edge and soaked alfalfa cubes, along with half day of pasture grass.
I am feeding (currently feeding half of his former feed and half of our feed) ProElite Senior, and 24/7 pasture. Our pastures are plentiful so we do not feed hay in summer. I am also giving him the UltraCruz electrolyte pellets.
How many pounds of the old HE, and are you transitioning to the same pounds of the PE?
Any chance you might post a couple of pics of a foot in question?
Good Hoof Photos - How to take Good Hoof Photos
Most hoof problems are about the trim (and/or management, like too much moisture/not enough turnout etc), then diet and genetics
I’ve been feeding Biotin100 and seeing results. It does take some time, around 4 months. I guess I could try to post some pictures of the improvement. I do like the original question - is there any actual research that shows a before and after?
There is legitimate research that biotin is very effective for hoof quality. My Paint gelding had reasonably good feet but needed a 2 degree wedge pad. He had a slight ding in his left hind that turned into a very shallow crack. You could not see it in the base of the hoof – only when the farrier trimmed it. I put him on Bioflax 20 from Horsetech.com. The farrier said the walls were much better and the sole was stronger and thicker.
The thing about thing diet changes is that it takes months to see enough growth to determine if hoof quality is improving.
