Nutrition for Hoof Health
Fat: Fat creates a barrier to keep fungi and bacteria from entering the hoof horn. Given a gradual adjustment period, horses do very well with supplementary fat or oil in the diet, and it’s also a good way to put weight on hard keepers without increasing dietary sugar or starch.
Protein: Protein is made up of 20 building blocks called amino acids. “Essential” amino acids are those your horse cannot produce and must get from his diet. If he is missing one or more essential amino acids, he can’t make full use of the protein in his diet, which is used to make muscle, hair, and hoof cells.
The first limiting amino acid is lysine, followed by methionine and then threonine. This means that if deficient in lysine, a horse can’t use any more methionine. And if he has enough lysine but insufficient methionine, he can’t use more threonine, et cetera.
Signs of essential amino acid deficiencies can include joint, ligament and tendon breakdown (lysine); cracking, crumbling hooves and poor hair coat (methionine); and poor body condition, poor topline muscling and lack of energy (threonine).
But this doesn’t mean you should dump tons of extra protein into your horse’s diet. That can be hard on the kidneys for horses with decreased kidney function or insufficient water intake. Plus, even a healthy horse will just excrete whatever is not needed in what we like to call “expensive urine.” When shopping for supplemental protein, always check that it includes the first three limiting amino acids.
