Venice turpentine for soft hooves?

[Bonnie M]

One of my mares soles tend to get soft when it is raining a lot. Farrier was out yesterday and told me not to ride her for a little while because of it. He suggested I put koppertox on the bottoms and this will help harden them up.

A friend told me not to bother with the koppertox and use venice turpentine.

So what do you think? Anyone have any experience with this?

[Heidi]

I have used VT and it worked great on my Peruvian's hooves when she was out in the damp grass.

If you have long hair...
Dawn dishsoap will NOT get it out. I was putting it on Poquita's hooves and the breeze blew a strand of my 2' long hair over the bottom of her upturned hoof that I had just dressed and gooped the ends together in a clump.
When Kenny found me in a panic over the kitchen sink, he calmly took me into the garage to my car-care shelf and used Mother's Carnauba Wax. The VT came right out...and smelled nice, too.
Heidi

[appyday]

I did that to Vence when I first got him and pulled his shoes off...but he had some drip up his foot (yes drip up whe I was holding it) then he moved and splattered some on his http://forums.somd.com/images/smilies/gossip.gif and it must have really stung and he did a little dance..I had to wash his http://forums.somd.com/images/smilies/gossip.gif off...but that stuff is sticky and hard to get off...anyway that is my story..

[Edurne]

thanks for sharing appy :D

[appyday]

thanks for sharing appy :D

Its the whole truth nuthin but the truth so help me god..


I guess this should have had its own thread under..FACT of the day ha?

[Sharon Leboffe]

I used Venice Turpentine and I believe it did help. I was concerned about toxicity but when found out that it is really just tree sap I just slapped it on all over the hoof and back, but not to touch hair. He stopped slipping on his back feet so have to believe it was from the Venice Turpentine. It is a lot less expensive than the other alternatives and it does seem to work. Good luck. Sharon L.

[hast]

I just use strong iodine in a spray bottle and spray on the soles every day when I pick them. Works great! ;-)

[Bonnie M]

I went ahead and put some venice turpentine on her, so we will see if it helps.

Also went out and bought some farrier's formula and have her started on that. Going out now to clean up a stall that hasn't been used in awhile to move her to that area. The area she is in gets really soggy and mushy when it rains and it has rained here every single day this past week.

The outside of her hoof isn't soft, it's just the bottom. I'm not sure why my farrier says to use koppertox, maybe because it repels water?

[Jennifer]

When I got one of my geldings from FL I had the same problem with soft soles...I talked to my farrier about it and said that Venice Turpentine was the best thing for it...I was a little skeptical but it worked like a charm and I haven't had any problems since.

[PASOFAN]

Where can someone get VT? I have not ever heard of it..

[Heidi]

Feed store, hoof care products. If your feed store is small, you can ask them to order you a jar/can.
Heidi

[echo]

Yes, it works. Don't put it on the frog, though, just the soles. I take an old coffee can and leave the messy stuff in that with one of those hoof dressing applicators. I leave the applicator out, it doesn't matter if it hardens, it will still apply the turpentine. It doesn't take a whole lot, just paint it on in a thin layer. I believe alcohol will get it off, as well as the waterless hand cleaners like Go-Jo or the orange stuff (that mechanics use). When hooves get soft, I'll use that 2 or 3 days a week. I've noticed a difference in as little as 3 weeks. You can get it at Tractor supply, Southern states, and most any tack/feed store. They have it at valleyvet.com also.

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=6c803301-b8b4-4e5f-affc-b9537be23775