Hoof Nutrition Intelligence Hoof Nutrition Intelligence is a twice-a-month web segment that is designed to add to the education of footcare professionals when it comes to effectively feeding the hoof. The goal of this web-exclusive feature is to zero in on specific areas of hoof nutrition and avoid broad-based articles that simply look at the overall equine feeding situation.

Below you will find Part 1 of the latest question and answer installment that you can share with your footcare clients.

Q: How does the overall health of a horse relate to hoof quality?

By Nikki Wahl-Seto

A: Essentially, an unhealthy horse equals an unhealthy foot. If a hoof problem shows up, more likely something else is going on. We see feet that can’t hold a shoe, they crack, they’re weak or they have a thin sole, so they’re tender-footed. As horse owners, we see that and we want to fix that problem. Because obviously no foot, no horse.

We often get caught up in what we have to do for the foot. If the whole horse isn’t healthy, the foot’s not going to be healthy. If we aren’t meeting all the nutritional feeding requirements for that horse, it’s not going to have good feet.

Nikki Wahl-Seto is a nutritionist and equine representative for Standard Process company, a food supplement company with a veterinary line of products in Palmyra, Wis.

Click here to read part 2 of the Aug. 20, 2021, installment of Hoof Nutrition Intelligence: How will starving a horse negatively affect hoof growth? Click here to read more installments of Hoof Nutrition Intelligence.