08/22/2021
Ditto.
A handful of people have asked me lately about what diet I recommend for hoof health. I often post hoof progress photos with positive changes, which I attribute to the diet change the owner incorporated, and then the inquiries about diet come in.
Before I write this, I want to mention I'm not a nutritionist, nor do I have a degree in equine nutrition. I have taken multiple courses with Dr. Kellon on equine nutrition, as well as webinars with Carol Layton, and have all but memorized Pete Ramey's online article on "Feeding the Hoof." I have been an active member of the ECIR forum for 4+ years, and part of their approach troubleshoots nutrition changes for hoof comfort and healthy laminae connection, so it's been a regular part of my practice for a while.
And with that, my perspective comes from seeing horses with weak or unhealthy hooves grow stronger feet as the owner adjusts diet to give the body (and hooves) the nutrients it needs.
Whenever I come to a horse with hoof issues or discomfort, I seek to get them on a forage based, mineral balanced diet. What that means is that the majority (if not all) of the calories in the horse's diet comes from a forage source as much as is possible. For sensitive horses, I look for that forage, and all aspects of diet, to be less than 4% starch, and less than 10% ESC (ethanol soluble carbs/sugar) and starch combined.
While forage is great for a horse's source of calories and for their digestion system, unfortunately it is rarely enough by itself to meet all the daily mineral requirements. Hay is very often high in iron, and notoriously low in copper and zinc, which is needed for a healthy laminae connection and healthy hoof horn. Not to mention, iron itself competes with the uptake of copper and zinc, making these deficiencies feel even greater.
In an ideal world, owners would have a reliable enough source of hay where they can send a sample of the hay to be tested, check the sugar and starch levels, protein, ADF/NDF, major and minor mineral balance, and adjust their supplements accordingly for their horse's age, workload, and health needs.
Unfortunately, not all owners are able to get their hay tested, and in those cases I generally see how the horse does with proper amounts of hay, a forage-based "carrier" feed for their supplements, and a good balanced supplement with the 3 limiting amino acids (lysine, threonine, methionine), high levels of copper and zinc (hay from my area, for example, often needs at least 300mg copper and 900mg of zinc per day added to balance high iron for a full size horse), as well as additional vitamin E.
From there, each horse and even each environmental area can be different. Harder keepers might need more calories from a variety of "safe" sources, for example. There is no "one size fits all," but troubleshooting to meet the nutrient needs first and working from there is important.
If your horse is having hoof quality issues, the first port of call in my opinion is to check what you are feeding and how you can adjust it to ensure your horse is getting the nutrients it needs without excess sugars and starches. It can mean the difference between weak, shelly, chipping, sensitive feet, and strong, "rock crunching" hooves!
