You can do a hoof spa at home, with or without the trimming part, if you're not confident doing that.
We are fortunate to live next door to a vineyard, and during the winter months when the vines are dormant, this little pony runs in the vineyard mowing for the vineyard manager and leaving organic fertiliser in her wake. She has a tendency to founder, and so we bring her back in when the weather gets warmer and new shoots start to come through. Her hooves don't get a lot of attention over winter, except for a little 'chop and drop', so it's nice to clean her hooves up when she comes back in.
We start by cleaning out the sole with a hoof pick. We prefer the double-sided pick with a brush.
We then soak the hooves using a Davis Soaker Boot. We have used a size 2 here. A size 1 would have fit her better, but we have other horses with bigger hooves, and the size 2 works better for them. You don't need to use the specific size. You can buy the one that fits your biggest horse.
In this video we have used an anti-bacterial dishwashing detergent, but you could also use a solution of napisan, a surface/floor cleaner like pine-o-clean, or generic mouthwash. Try not to use something that you would not be happy using on your own skin.
After you have soaked the hooves for about 10 minutes, pick out as much seedy toe as you can with the pick and then use Go Easy blue goo. If the nozzle is too narrow you can widen it by snipping off the end.
I then covered the sole with Good to Go powder which is great for treating thrush around the frog area. Again, you can snip off the top, or just screw off the lid and tip the powder directly from the bottle. If your horse has a little greasy heel, you can also put the powder on that.
We also sell these 2 products in a bundle cheaper than buying them separately.
After that we coated the wall of the hoof with a generic chest rub. We find this is really useful for combatting both small and large cracks in the wall, as well as conditioning the hoof with a nice sheen. You could also spray with coconut oil which you can find in the cooking oil aisle of your supermarket, or eucalyptus oil in a spray can in the medicine aisle, both of which are relatively cheap.
Good husbandry is a great way to prevent hoof problems in the future and most horses really like the attention.
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