Healthier Afoot: A Lifestyle Guide for Better Hooves

minimize sedentary time. Creating stronger hooves often involves asking ourselves How can I add more movement to this horses day?
An ideal scenario includes access to both soft and firm ground whether in a pasture or across weekly training locations. This might be as simple as riding in different locations a few times weekly or adding small sections of varied terrain in frequently traveled areas of your horses paddock. Ensuring movement on both soft and firm ground becomes especially important during seasonal extremes. During months of wet or boggy weather for instance finding firm ground may mean deliberate handwalks up and down the barn aisle or paved driveway. Part of creating stronger hooves means asking ourselves Does my horse spend time on both firm and soft ground every day?
Most modern hoof issues laminitis flat soles crumbly walls can be traced to the diet. In many instances the more elaborate a horses supplement routine and diet is the more persistent his hoof dysfunction will be. Simple sugars and starches convert quickly to glucose which creates inflammation and damage to the hoof laminae. These sugars come in the form of grains high starch hay early season pasture grass and treats like apples and carrots. But they also lurk in many supplements as binders or to make them tastier.
When selecting a supplement to address hoof health concerns look for nutrients that have been proven beneficial by peerreviewed research. Pay attention to the content of supplements and forages to avoid imbalances and potential negative impacts on hoof health.
If your horse appears footsore shortens his strides on hard ground or shows an unwillingness to move forward if the footing changes consider a gradual transition to feeding only lowcarb hay and minerals for a twoweek period. A high percentage of horses will respond to this change and