Hoof Care

Hoof care after a dry summer

Care starts with the hoof pick. Picking out every day, before and after riding, shows early what is going on: stones in the sole, a smelly or soft frog, a crack that is getting longer. On Mallorca the long dry season and hard, stony tracks leave many hooves dry and brittle by autumn, and the first heavy rain can then soften them quickly. The makers draw a line between moisturisers, usually water-based and meant to go into the horn, and oils, balms and gels that seal the surface; which one fits depends on whether the hoof is too dry or at risk of getting too wet.

Supplements work slowly because horn grows slowly; the makers of biotin products describe feeding them over months, and the farrier sees the result at the next trims rather than next week. Soaking socks and poultice boots are tools for treatment the vet or farrier has prescribed, for example after an abscess. Hoof boots for riding let barefoot horses cover stony ground; they are fitted to the trimmed hoof, so measure after the trim.