Anyone else heard this one?
To heal quarter cracks, brush hoof daily with used motor oil (from your car’s oil change). Do not use “unused” oil, and do not use synthetic oil.
Apparently the tip originally came from a very old timey QH breeder and trainer, and it was the “go-to” treatment “back in the day”. Had someone tell me it works great, and better than anything else they have tried over the years.
I’m curious to know WHY it works.
I haven’t heard it used on feet, but around here, used motor oil is considered a go-to treatment for skin funk of any sort. I was acquainted with several people who used it on their horses for rain rot, and I had the misfortune of being in the vet’s office while a man held a miserable-looking beagle and proceeded to tell the vet’s receptionist he’d used it on the dog because its skin was all crusty and its hair was falling out. I could not help but wonder how much used motor oil the dog had ingested. :no:
My old riding instructor, originally from Mass., also put used motor oil on his horses hooves. He also said the blacker the better. He would use the oil from his diesel tractor.
Of course he also used kerosene or diesel fuel as a weed killer for his parking area near the barn.
I was told to use vaseline when I was a kid. I suspect the theory is that a thick oil will stay, penetrate, and soften the hoof to help keep it from splitting. As for USED oil, what old-timey frugal horseman is going to waste the new stuff on hooves? I know a few people who collected used oil to paint wooden fences with it. That’s a short step from “Hmmm, what else can I smear this gunk on?”
I’ve heard of used oil being put tempoarily on the sole to soften it enough for trimming. But the point there is to remove the oil, not leave it on. And on soles it is a bit of a last resort measure for several of the people who mentioned it. Hopefully our farriers will post on this thread.
I dunno.
Used motor oil is not exactly an “environmentally friendly” substance. It has an awful lot of contamniants and other stuff in it. I’m not sure I’d use it for any sort of routine equine treatment.
G.
Used motor oil and pine tar (1/1) was the hoof oil of choice “back in the day”. defined as 50’s and 60’s. Discontinued by 70’s due to detergents and additives and nasty gunk from engines. Was popular as a mix with creasote for fencing but now is out of favour due to toxic effects. In this area.
Gross. Surely in this enlightened era we know better than to a) give unnecessary credence to old farmers’ tales, b) to gratuitously put toxic chemicals into the environment when better alternatives are available, and c) to delude ourselves that the quality of keratin can be improved by putting goop on a hoof? :no:
I imagine used motor oil did the trick, back in the days before tack stores, and SmartPak free shipping.
You young people don’t really have a clear picture of the options available to farmers in rural America pre-internet :lol:
[QUOTE=SmartAlex;6293827]
I imagine used motor oil did the trick, back in the days before tack stores, and SmartPak free shipping.
You young people don’t really have a clear picture of the options available to farmers in rural America pre-internet :lol:[/QUOTE]
This.:lol:
As a historical snapshot, it’s certainly worth remembering. Doesn’t mean it has any place in the modern pantheon of horse-keeping pearls. 
Don’t know about it as hoof dressing but it does work great for painting wooden fence posts/ boards and keeping them from rotting as fast.
Wow, that’s a blast from the past! I still remember when we used to have a big truck come every spring and spread used motor oil on our riding ring to keep the dust down–worked like a charm, and their feet always looked like they’d been painted with hoof dressing.
Back in the 70’s, there was Fiebing’s or motor oil. That’s it!Hard to imagine now when you get the Dover or SmarkPak catalog. The motor oil worked as well as anything, and I believe the reason was it “sealed” the hoof against the constant wetting and drying that promotes brittle, shelley feet. For that time, it worked just fine; I imagine the oil also had far fewer weird chemicals in it back then compared to today . . . as for the environmental toxicity factors, well, it was a waaaaaay simpler world, folks! We took most things at face value.
As an aside, don’t EVER waste your money on dietary supplements for “feet.” The two most starved rescue horses who ever walked on my place, literally racks of bones, ALSO had the best feet (and still do!) that I’ve ever seen. Poor feet are genetic, and exacerbated exponentially by poor farriers.
They can be cured by Barefoot Trimming methods if your situtation will allow it. But it isn’t dietary. Trust me! 
And don’t feed 'em motor oil :winkgrin:
[QUOTE=deltawave;6293780]
Gross. Surely in this enlightened era we know better than to a) give unnecessary credence to old farmers’ tales, b) to gratuitously put toxic chemicals into the environment when better alternatives are available, and c) to delude ourselves that the quality of keratin can be improved by putting goop on a hoof? :no:[/QUOTE]
Ok, so in your infinite wisdom of all things related to Horse Care - what “better alternatives” do you recommend? :winkgrin:
And - as a I mentioned earlier - the folks who told me about this says they have tried EVERY treatment and product on the market over the past few years, but NOTHING worked as well as the used motor oil. And the farrier concurs…
I too grew up at a place that the used oil from the tractor was used to paint the schoolies feet. We mixed it with pine tar for the shows as well. Its just what we did… like someone else said the dirtier and gunkier the better! We also used bleach to treat thrush!!! Good old Irish horsemen. Raw egg & guinness added to feed for the coat as well. Its amazing how things evolve…
We also thought that smoking was perfectly fine, healthwise.
Petroleum products never a good thing for any body to absorb, through hooves, skin or anywhere else.
No… NEVER put motor oil on an animal!
:eek::eek::eek:
I would never in a million years put used motor oil on a living animal! I am mean seriously! Consider what it is made out of. Why would it be beneficial in any way. I am sure it could only be harmful.
I am dumbfounded that any one would think it is a good idea… what is the reasoning behind this thinking?
Raw egg & guinness added to feed for the coat as well. Its amazing how things evolve…
Of don’t evolve! :lol: Add “Irish”, “farmer”, “Australian”, “Kentucky”, “racetrack” or “cowboy” and somehow any sort of horse-keeping wisdom automatically is 1000% credible and un-assailable. :lol:
Sometimes things get better or worse in spite of what we do, not BECAUSE of what we do. In the grand scheme of things, I’d prefer not to add any more petrochemicals to the ecosystem if I can avoid it. shrug I also do not give things to my horses because some Irish-Australian racetrack employee from a farm in Kentucky told me to.
[QUOTE=deltawave;6293837]
As a historical snapshot, it’s certainly worth remembering. Doesn’t mean it has any place in the modern pantheon of horse-keeping pearls. :)[/QUOTE]
^ yep. Someone suggested bondo to me as well for quarter cracks. Farrier nixed that one as well. Grown out now.
And totally agree about useless hoof growth supplements, like the hair growth industry for men. Tried all of them (at the time, several years ago) and did absolutely nothing (not for me or anyone else at the barn where I was at the time). Maybe others have had great luck with them but not for my paint, who just seems to have crappy feet.
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