HOW MUCH IS NUTRITION TO BLAME? HOOF CONDITIONS AND THE DIET
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It’s incredibly common for owners to reach for a hoof supplement in times of ‘hoof crisis’, but does this approach really work, and what role does nutrition really play in the acute situation? Here, we examine many of the most common hoof conditions and how they may interact or be impacted by a horse’s diet.
First things first
Firstly, it’s important to understand that the horse’s conformational structure, their genetics, their overall health, the terrain on which they work, the correctness of the work, the hygiene of the stables and paddocks, the work of the farrier and the frequency of hoof maintenance, are all going to have a greater impact on the hoof than nutrition. Focusing on nutrition at the expense of any of the above will likely prove futile in the fight against hoof disease.
Hoof care
Ultimately, hoof health is an area where preventative maintenance pays dividends in your horse’s physical well-being and performance ability, as many soundness issues and body soreness can be traced back to issues with the feet. Horses’ hooves grow continuously, and our responsibility as horse owners is to maintain their feet through routine, consistent trimming or shoeing and daily hoof hygiene practices. A good rule of thumb is to have your horse’s feet trimmed every five to six weeks. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, so depending on the horse, the environment, and the lifestyle, some horses may need to be on an every four or five-week schedule, while others may be fine on a seven to eight-week schedule. Your farrier or vet will be best placed to guide you on the schedule your horse requires, bearing in mind this schedule may need to be altered with lifestyle and diet changes.
Did you know?
Horses with good nutrition generally require more frequent hoof care than horses with poorer nutrition.
Why is nutrition important in hoof care?
The reason nutrition is important for hoof care is that the horse’s body partitions nutrients in a ‘survival first’ pattern. Therefore, if the diet is limited in certain areas, the body is going to prioritise that nutrients go to the bodily functions that are required to sustain basic life. It is only after the foundational elements are covered that the body allows extra nutrients to go towards ‘secondary’ functions like skin, hoof, mane and tail health.
By way of example, many owners notice that their horse grows more hoof in summer than in winter. One reason for this is that dormant pasture has less nutritional value than lush green pasture. So, when the horse is on lusher grass in the paddock, they are likely consuming more energy, more omega fatty acids and more vitamins than when they are on little grass/grass hay, allowing the hoof to grow more rapidly. On the other hand, a horse with a very consistent diet with the same hay and grazing all year round will have more consistent hoof growth over the course of the year.
Did you know?
Changes in nutrition, lifestyle and health status will all be reflected in the hoof growth from that period.
Which nutrients make a difference for hoof health generally?
Biotin, copper, zinc, lysine, and methionine are all major players in helping a horse grow a quality hoof wall and increase sole depth.
However, it is important to note that even with these additions, a hoof can take 12 to 14 months to ‘grow out’ completely. During this time, the only thing you can impact with these supplements is the quality and sometimes the speed of the new growth; the old growth will remain unchanged. Therefore, we cannot expect a new diet or supplement to fix existing hoof structures.
In summary, tackling a hoof problem is about playing the ‘long game’, i.e., consistency and doing the right things every day to eventually move your horse forward. Buying a supplement as a ‘quick fix’ for an acute hoof issue will not make the difference you are looking for. Instead, good hoof care and long-term supplementation are the ways to improve hoof health and reduce the incidence of ‘crises’.
Conditions affecting the hoof and the impact of nutrition.
Sole bruises
Sole bruises are a common cause of lameness. They occur when a horse steps on a hard object like a rock and pushes it hard enough against the sole that it causes the tiny capillaries under the sole to rupture. This can be very painful for the horse. In fact, a severe bruise can lead to an abscess, which then needs to be drained, poulticed, etc.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing that nutrition can do for a horse with a sole bruise, but if you provide all the major nutritional building blocks for a strong hoof wall and thick soles, your chances of sole bruising become lower because the soles are stronger, thicker and deeper and, therefore, able to withstand a little bit more pressure.
As discussed above, biotin, copper, zinc, methionine and lysine are the key nutritional players for quality feet, but these can only have an impact if the foundational diet is solid. If your horse is prone to sole bruising, add these ingredients to their daily maintenance diet, and you should see changes once the old hoof tissue has grown out. Supplementation must then be maintained, in some cases, for the rest of the horse’s life.
Abscesses
In simple terms, an abscess occurs when bacteria get trapped inside the hoof wall. The bacteria enter through vulnerable points in the hoof, for example, gaps in the white line, nail holes, cracks, etc. The hoof is a very dense structure with almost no room to accommodate swelling, so as the infection takes hold and pressure builds, the horse becomes obviously lame and is in severe pain. A farrier or vet will need to drain the abscess to relieve the pain, where possible.
The bottom line is that nutrition doesn’t cause abscesses. A stronger hoof may be more resistant to weaknesses and floors that allow bacteria to enter the hoof, but again, this is part of a preventative maintenance plan, not the treatment of an abscess.
Thrush
Thrush is the necrotic, smelly, black hoof rot that can be seen around the frog and in its crevices. This situation develops when the feet are not cleaned out often enough, and wet material like mud and manure gets packed into the feet. This moist, anaerobic environment allows pathogenic organisms to thrive and infect the external tissues in the bottom of the feet along the frog.
Again, nutrition can’t cure thrush, but it can play a role in prevention by ensuring that the sole has all the building blocks necessary for a strong and resilient frog. Biotin, copper, zinc, methionine, and lysine will all help build a stronger frog.
Ultimately, though, the key to preventing thrush is regular hoof care, clean stables and paddocks, and keeping the feet clean and dry so that pathogenic organisms cannot multiply.
Did you know?
Thrush can also affect horses living in dry conditions.
White line disease
White line disease, also known as seedy toe, is similar to thrush in that bacteria and fungi invade the foot. However, this time, the invasion destroys the tissue behind the hoof wall. Initially, the condition becomes evident through a powdery appearance developing on the inner surface of the hoof.
White line disease typically has to be treated by your vet or farrier by removing infected hoof tissue, treating the hoof with antiseptic and then, in particularly bad cases, hoof resection may need to be performed. This condition can spiral out of control quickly, so contact your farrier or vet as soon as you notice any signs.
Again, nutrition doesn’t play a massive role in acute white line disease. Preventative maintenance is key and involves keeping the feet clean, dry, and trimmed so they don’t develop cracks or crevices, which bacteria and fungi can use to gain access. A good-quality hoof supplement containing the ingredients mentioned above may assist in the long term by creating stronger, healthier hooves, but it will not impact the acute situation.
Hoof cracks
Hoof cracks can be either horizontal or vertical. Vertical cracks, especially though originating at the ground, are typically caused by poor quality hoof, overgrown feet, infrequent trimming, and white line disease. Vertical cracks that start at the coronary band and move down tend to be due to trauma or conformational faults within the leg. Horizontal hoof cracks tend to be due to trauma or abscesses. They are considerably less common than vertical cracks.
A whole article could be written on the subject of hoof cracks, but for the purposes of this article, nutrition can undoubtedly help reduce the incidence of hoof cracks over the long term, but nutrition is not the only cause of hoof cracks. Again, hoof supplements will only have an impact once the old hoof horn has grown out, so hoof supplements are not going to ‘fix’ a hoof crack in the immediate term. Hoof cracks require appropriate care and attention from a management standpoint, and your farrier has to make sure the hoof is balanced, particularly with regard to toe length.
As noted above, foundational nutrition must meet the horse’s needs, and then the addition of biotin, zinc, copper, lysine, and methionine can help improve hoof horn quality and thus reduce cracking.
Laminitis
Laminitis is certainly one place where nutrition can be a cause. It is not the only cause, but it is a major one. Laminitis, as a term, means that there is inflammation within the foot, or more specifically, inflammation within the sensitive laminae that connect the coffin bone to the hoof wall. So, horses can develop sudden laminitis from non-nutritional things like running high fevers, working on hard surfaces, or compensatory weight bearing on one limb due to lameness. Laminitis can also arise in the case of hormonal and metabolic issues such as Pars Pituitary Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID), formerly known as Cushing’s Disease. However, many cases of laminitis are directly due to nutrition.
Nutritional causes of laminitis include excessive sugar intake from concentrate overload (either gradually or through binging), excessive sugar intake from green pasture, excessive sugar intake from treats, and consumption of toxic plants and grass clippings, to name just a few.
Sugar hides in places you least expect, like green grass, oats, concentrate, corn, barley, and many horse treats, so owners need to be alert to the sugar levels in their horses’ diets. This is particularly the case for overweight horses, horses with metabolic conditions and ponies, but ultimately, any horse can develop laminitis, so monitoring sugar levels is important for all equines.
In high-risk cases, work with a nutritionist who can help ensure that the diet is in check and that the sugar and starch levels are appropriate for the horse’s lifestyle and workload.
Quittor
Quittor is the term used to describe a chronic infection of the collateral cartilage. This is the area just above the coronary band. Again, this is not a nutrition-related condition and is typically caused by an outward injury that allows a route of infection to penetrate the collateral cartilage, and that infection develops and persists. Ultimately, horses can have many outward ruptures of infection if the disease is not attended to.
Sidebone
Sidebone is where the collateral cartilages ossify and harden on either side of the coffin bone. This can be very painful for some horses, but others will have sidebone that never affects them and is found ‘incidentally’ on an X-Ray. Sidebone is generally due to concussive forces, so it occurs more in heavy horses who work on hard surfaces. It commonly occurs in the front feet, particularly in showjumpers. Again, nutrition is not going to make a huge difference here. Still, adding anti-inflammatory agents such as omega-3 fatty acids and green-lipped New Zealand mussels and reducing inflammatory agents like iron and sugar can play a small role in managing the inflammation that leads to the ossification of the cartilage.
Navicular
Navicular syndrome, also known as caudal heel pain syndrome, is the inflammation or degeneration of the navicular bone and its surrounding tissues. It is most common in the front feet.
Sadly, navicular is a progressive disease, meaning it worsens over time and can become very painful. The cause of navicular is not known, but it is thought to be related to genetics, poor conformation of the foot or distal limb, irregular farrier care, unbalanced hooves or just generally poor shoeing practices. The only thing that nutrition can really offer in these causes is some natural anti-inflammatory support. Examples of suitable products include New Zealand green-lipped mussels and omega-3, which are both potent anti-inflammatories.
Final thoughts
Ultimately, the main role of nutrition in hoof conditions is preventative maintenance. Foundational nutrition needs to be correct and adequate, and then the addition of biotin, copper, zinc, lysine, and methionine can help with hoof quality and growth. Adding anti-inflammatory elements into the diet and keeping inflammatory elements like iron and sugar as low as possible can help in some conditions like navicular and sidebone. Still, generally, in acute situations, the major focus needs to be on proper hoof care and management.
References
Feed Room Chemist: An Equine Nutrition Podcast