12/02/2025
I see so many people clearly struggling with horses with this never ending winter. Pulled shoes, foot abscesses, injuries or skin conditions, all amid rises in feed and bedding prices.
I am becoming quite frustrated at the lack of common sense.
Supplements - unless advised by a vet or better still a qualified nutritionist they are an expensive waste of time. Better to ensure a well balanced diet for your horse, forage based. If you need a supplement at least do the research and compare active ingredients, absorption, palability etc. Dr David Marlin's Animalweb has comparisons for many supplements.
The placebo effect is an actual thing so it may be making you feel better buying all these supplements, but if you're on a budget it's also unnecessarily emptying your bank account.
Farriery - Good farriers are not cheap, and they need to be treated like the gods they are. A barefoot trimmer is not a remedial farrier. If you present your horse's without training them, or wet and muddy it may be that your farrier will find another client. Likewise if you keep turning your horse out in a mud pit, to be chased by others you may find the professionals that have to replace the shoes, sort out the knackered feet, or deal with the abscesses constantly, may well get a bit tired of returning.
Vets - if your horse is lame, has hives, or mudfever or is struggling with abscesses or colic or any other winter ailments give your vet a call for goodness sake. The Internet is not the place. Getting proper vet advice early will save money in the long term.
This is how it is I'm afraid. Be sensible.
Pic of nearly 21yo still shod in front because he needs it, still in at night, not clipped and wears 3 rugs. And we're fast approaching the time when despite it looking there's grass in the field there's no nutrition in it so they'lll need hay outside too unless the weather improves. No supplements, ever!
