Daily Care
Daily hoof care is important for your horse’s overall health. Regular visits to the farrier or bare hoof carer are just as much a part of your horse’s routine as keeping it in an equine-appropriate environment, feeding and daily hoof care.
Clean your horse’s hooves every day and pick out any small stones or other objects. This is best done with a brush. Hoof picks are also used a lot, but care should be taken not to scratch off the healthy horn.
In order to stay elastic, the hoof horn must contain just the right amount of moisture. If the hoof horn is too wet, it tends to get soft, wear down faster and there is also a higher risk of developing thrush.
Thrush can be prevented by regularly applying decay-inhibiting products such as leovet's FrogAde. There are also hoof care products which contain anti-bacterial agents, such as leovet’s HOOF LAB Hoof Oil. If thrush has already developed, products may help that penetrate deeply, spreading into grooves and into small fissures, thus reaching decayed spots. They dry the frog so that healthy tissue can grow back. In such acute cases of thrush, a good option is FrogMedic of leovet.
If the hoof horn contains too little moisture, it will become brittle. This can make shodding difficult and may reduce the supporting surface of the hoof. If the horse’s hooves are very dry, you should first soak them in water and after allowing them to dry a little, apply a hoof care product which will then prevent loss of moisture. A good choice of product for this purpose is leovet's HOOF LAB Elastic Cream, which promotes the elasticity and stability of the hoof. To avoid this problem, it is necessary to use products in the daily hoof care that optimally regulate and support the moisture balance. leovet offers suitable solutions with Hoof Oil, Natural Oil Balm or Hoof Grease, which are part of the HOOF LAB hoof care series.
If your horse's hooves are sensitive or brittle, you may want to try special products which optimally integrate into the structure of the hoof horn. HOOF LAB Hoof Hardener from leovet contains natural substances that reduce cracking and abrasion of the horn. Improving the structure of the hooves, the hoof wall and sole are strengthened and the hoof becomes significantly more durable.
Slow horn growth can also be influenced positively by care products. HOOF LAB Hoof Oil, for example, contains essential oils which stimulate blood circulation. When applied to the coronet band, the improved blood circulation in turn promotes growth.
If hooves do not grow properly, you can also give feed supplements such as Biotin ZM liquid from leovet, which contains nutrients that are important for the development of hoof horn, such as vitamin H (biotin), the amino acid methionine, and the trace element, zinc. Biotin promotes hoof growth even when applied externally. For that purpose, leovet offers HOOF LAB Natural Oil Balm with biotin for the special daily hoof care.
