Hoof & mineral supplements; dewormer questions.
I have a couple questions re: supplements, to the tune of biotin, minerals, and electrolytes. Also a question regarding de-worming.
Gem is currently having some corrective shoeing done - she's sound, but my trainer noticed her super long toes and slightly crushed heels and recommended a farrier, who has been amazing about explaining what is wrong and what he's doing to fix the problem. Part of the problem is due to the fact that she has thin hoof walls and soft hooves. Last week he was happy to report that her hoof walls are beginning to grow.
He never mentioned a supplement, but I've been thinking that adding biotin would help her feet grow and strengthen. I've been suggested that feeding her plain gelatin powder would help. Which do you think sounds better?
Also - last summer I noticed that Gem wasn't drinking very much water, only about 5 gallons a day, even though she always had two 15-gal buckets full in her stall. I gave her a mineral block and that seemed to help a bit. This summer it was harder to monitor her water intake because she was drinking from a trough in a pasture for 12 hours a day. What I've noticed is that her coat doesn't seem as healthy as it used to. She has been constantly shedding little bits of hair all summer.
She's on Kent's Dynasty Pro grain, so that should give her everything she needs, correct? Someone suggested I give her electroltyes, or mineral supplements. Would that make a difference? What about just adding regular salt to her grain?
Now for the dewormer. I bought my horse more than a year and a half ago, and when I bought her I found out that she'd only been de-wormed twice a year for her whole life (she was about to turn 4), rotating between ivermectin and panacur every 6 months. I of course started her on a 60-day rotating schedule. However, a friend of mine just told me that if she already had parasites, de-worming wouldn't have made a difference. She suggested I give Gem one of those 5-day power packages to wipe everything out, and then start again on a regular schedule.
Thoughts?
Gem is currently having some corrective shoeing done - she's sound, but my trainer noticed her super long toes and slightly crushed heels and recommended a farrier, who has been amazing about explaining what is wrong and what he's doing to fix the problem. Part of the problem is due to the fact that she has thin hoof walls and soft hooves. Last week he was happy to report that her hoof walls are beginning to grow.
He never mentioned a supplement, but I've been thinking that adding biotin would help her feet grow and strengthen. I've been suggested that feeding her plain gelatin powder would help. Which do you think sounds better?
Also - last summer I noticed that Gem wasn't drinking very much water, only about 5 gallons a day, even though she always had two 15-gal buckets full in her stall. I gave her a mineral block and that seemed to help a bit. This summer it was harder to monitor her water intake because she was drinking from a trough in a pasture for 12 hours a day. What I've noticed is that her coat doesn't seem as healthy as it used to. She has been constantly shedding little bits of hair all summer.
She's on Kent's Dynasty Pro grain, so that should give her everything she needs, correct? Someone suggested I give her electroltyes, or mineral supplements. Would that make a difference? What about just adding regular salt to her grain?
Now for the dewormer. I bought my horse more than a year and a half ago, and when I bought her I found out that she'd only been de-wormed twice a year for her whole life (she was about to turn 4), rotating between ivermectin and panacur every 6 months. I of course started her on a 60-day rotating schedule. However, a friend of mine just told me that if she already had parasites, de-worming wouldn't have made a difference. She suggested I give Gem one of those 5-day power packages to wipe everything out, and then start again on a regular schedule.
Thoughts?