What is the best hoof supplement for my horse?

While external factors including the weather, management and workload play an important role in hoof health, the quality of your horse’s hooves often comes down to diet. 

Horses with nutritional deficiencies are far more likely to suffer with hoof problems such as increased occurrence of hoof cracks and splits, poor quality horn, or slow growth.

The weather is always changing and when paddocks fluctuate between wet and dry it can cause the hoof to expand and contract rapidly- this can cause hooves to crack. Grazing quality also fluctuates throughout the year.  These changing external influences are why providing nutritional support, through a specially formulated hoof supplement, is the best way to support and maintain good hoof health.

Selecting the right Hoof Supplement

When selecting a hoof support supplement, the main ingredient to look out for is biotin. Biotin is a B vitamin and an essential building block needed for healthy hoof growth. It is recommended that a horse should receive 3mg/100kg bodyweight/day. This means a 500kg horse should receive 15mg per day.

It is important to remember that a supplement will only improve the quality of new horn growth – it will not affect the quality of the existing hoof. For this reason, you will need to commit to using the supplement for a number of months to allow for more growth. Only then you will notice a true difference.

While nutritional support is the best way to support hoof health long term, topical supplements such as hoof oils can go some way to improve both the appearance and the health of your horse’s hooves short term, particularly if they are suffering from dry feet.

The last thing to consider if you compete your horse is whether the supplement you choose contains any prohibited substances. It is not common for hoof supplements to contain prohibited substances but is worth investigating just in case.

Hoof supplements for horses: what are your options?

Here is a selection of the best hoof supplements for horses. We have included descriptions and a breakdown of ingredients to help you become the best informed to select the product that is right for you….

TRM Hoofmaker Original Form: Powder | Sizes: 5kg, 6x 20g sachets | RRP: From £83.17 | Daily measure: 20g For those requiring a powder supplement, Hoofmaker Original is the ideal and our recommended supplement for hooves. HOOFMAKER provides all the nutrients necessary to protect and nourish every layer within the hoof horn. This ësulphur enrichedí formula will ensure that important nutrients are supplied to the horse, to ensure optimum hoof growth and improved integrity of the hoof. HOOFMAKER should be added to the normal feed ration and contains high levels of Biotin (37.5mg/day), Methionine, MSM, Zinc, Copper, Calcium and Amino Acids.

TRM Hoofmaker Concentrated Pellets Form: Pellets | Sizes: 3kg, 10kg| RRP: From £83.17 | Daily measure: 50g Hoofmaker Concentrated Pellets contains all the supplemental nutrients required to develop and maintain a healthy and supple hoof in a convenient daily 50g serving. What makes this product so effective is that it is extremely high in Biotin. Biotin is the key ingredient to remote hoof growth. As this product is so highly concentrated, the daily dose is a lot smaller than many other pelleted hoof supplements. This supplement has a money-back guarantee meaning that after 180 days of use, if you are not totally happy with the results, you can claim your money mack.

Farrier’s Formula Form: Pellets | Sizes: 7kg | RRP: From £35.95| Daily measure: 190g Farrier's Formula provides nutrients such as phospholipids, omega fatty acids, and important amino acid building blocks that enable horses to build strong structural and connective tissue proteins important for healthy hoof structure and growth.

Formula4feet Form: Pellets | Sizes: 5kg bucket, refill | RRP: From £46.50 | Daily measure: 170g-340g Formula 4 Feet is an advanced hoof and laminitis supplement, providing over 65 micronutrients. It is highly palatable and proven effective. Feed 37.5g/100kg bodyweight per day.