Feeding Biotin to strengthen hooves should rubber boots be used ?

[akcbabe29]

If I put my almost 3yr old Appaloosa is on Biotin supplement to strengthen hooves should I by the new style boots that cover all of hoof even bottoms and have him wear them so training can continue or should I just go ahead and train. The only time hooves bother him is when walking on rock and he is out in pasture all the time.He is trained in sand inside arena or dirt outside arena. What should I do? Farrier states he has thin walls and will go lame unless I get hooves built up.
PLease HELP!!!!!!! :eek:
Thank you
akcbabe29

[Red Amor]

The Old Mac's are the boot to use , well they are the ones I think you may be refering to anyway
there a great product and Ive a lot of clients the use them for various reasons
barefooted , and shod horses that do a lot of arena work will ware the sole , thining it and will ofen come up ***** footed on the rough , ok in the grass and sand

feed your supliment diligently and have the hooves trimmed the same , use the boots sencibly , making sure they are properly fitted to a properly trimmed and shaped hoof
you may get away with just booting the fronts
the use of a product like Keratec hoof hardener may well be advantagous (paint it on )

[Rick Burten]

A Biotin that does not also contain Methionine will not help very much. Further, Biotin is a B-complex vitamin so if your horse does not need it,s/he will simply eliminate it. thus you could literally be peeing your money away.

I suggest you first get a complete analysis of feeding program your horse is on. Then you will be able to supplement(or not) as indicated.

Since your horse does not appear to have any problems remaining in work/training while barefoot, and the only time he is ouchy is on gravel/rocks, then boots are indeed a viable option. There are many brands available and everyone has their favorite(except possibly me, and that is because I am not a big fan of boots). Your horse may be genetically predisposed to a thin wall and/or sole, or it may just be that he needs to mature some more. Or, the farrier may well be removing too much sole for this horse to remain barefoot, comfortable and sound.

You may want to consider getting a few radiographs of the feet so that you can show the farrier several things, including the alignment of the phalanges, position of p3, and the amount of sole the horse is carrying. Generally speaking, I would like to see a minimum of 12-14mm of sole thickness .

Rick