Free Shipping on 10lb Orders

Shop Now

Is Biotin The Answer to Your Horse's Hoof Issues?

Biotin is a water-soluble vitamin that’s also known as Vitamin B7. It’s essential for maintaining healthy skin, hair, and nails in humans and hoof, skin, and hair in horses. Most horses have a higher requirement than their feedstuffs provide. Fortunately, you can easily remedy this situation by offering your horse a Biotin horse supplement. This article will help you understand why your equine friend needs it and how the right type of Biotin supplement works to improve your horse's health.

What’s the Role of Biotin in a Horse?

Biotin is a vitamin that is essential for metabolizing fats, amino acids, and carbohydrates. It also plays an important role in the production of keratin and collagen, which are essential for healthy hair, skin, and hoof growth. Biotin is also essential for regulating blood sugar levels and preventing metabolic disorders in horses due to its role in metabolizing carbohydrates. It can also help prevent scaly hooves, brittle hooves, and laminitis, thanks to its role in promoting the growth of healthy hoof tissue. Biotin is also essential for normal growth and development of growing horses and foals, as well as pregnant mares. It’s also necessary for balancing hormone levels and preventing serious health issues like seizures, uneven temperaments, and poor growth in horses. Biotin may also help prevent metabolic disorders and promote blood sugar regulation.

 

How Does A Biotin Supplement Work?

 

Horse Athlete with Bell Boots

Biotin is water-soluble, which means that the body can’t store it. Therefore, it’s important to provide your horse with a daily Biotin supplement to meet its needs. Biotin has been proven to promote normal hoof growth, healthy hair, and prevent scaly hooves. It can also help prevent against laminitis, thrush, hoof abscesses and maintain healthy blood sugar levels in horses. Biotin is helpful for pregnant mares and growing foals, as well as for balancing hormone levels in adult horses. Biotin is naturally found in many different types of food and it’s also produced by certain types of bacteria, however many of the feedstuffs that horses commonly eat are lacking Biotin. Therefore, to ensure that your horse gets enough Biotin, you must provide it with a Biotin supplement.

Does Biotin Prevent Hoof Abscess?

Hoof abscess is an acute bacterial infection that can cause a great deal of pain and discomfort in your horse. Although hoof abscesses are a common equine foot infection, they can be difficult to treat. A Biotin supplement can help prevent against hoof abscess by promoting healthy hoof growth by improving blood circulation in the body. Biotin has also been found to reduce nitrate levels in the blood, which may help prevent bacterial growth. Biotin can improve the quality of the laminae that make up the hoof capsule, reducing the prevalence of abscesses.

 

Does Biotin Help with Thrush?

Thrush is a very common health problem that can affect your horse’s hooves. It’s caused by a fungus that grows on the surface of your horse’s hooves. Thrush can be extremely painful and lead to a high risk of infection. The best way to avoid thrush is to keep your horse’s hooves dry and clean, but diet can also determine the likelihood of an infection. Nutrients such as Methionin, Lysine, Zinc, and Biotin help prevent thrush. Biotin also helps boost your horse’s metabolism, regulates blood sugar levels, and boosts their overall health.

 

How to Find the Right Biotin Supplement for Your Horse?

You can find many Biotin supplements for horses in the marketplace. However, not all of them are created equal. If your horse has brittle hooves that crack easily, your veterinarian or farrier will most likely recommend that you give your horse a Biotin supplement. You must choose a Biotin supplement that contains the right amount of Biotin to meet the needs of your horse. Biotin Hoof Blast contains 100 mg of Biotin, plus Zinc, Methionine, and MSM to promote growth and help strengthen your horse's hooves. This is 5 times the amount of Biotin found in the average hoof supplement on the market. Higher levels of Biotin can also help prevent low blood circulation, weak immune system, and thin skin. By preventing these issues, you will help to decrease your horse’s susceptibility to various infections as well.

Dr. Kelsey Nonella on the benefits of Biotin for hoof health

How Much Biotin Does Your Horse Need?

The amount of Biotin that your horse needs varies depending on its age, health, and diet along with the ailments that are creating issues for them. As a Certified Equine Nutritionist, I take into account the varying needs and individualized issues before reccommending the right Biotin supplement to your horse. We have three different stand-alone hoof supplements and 2 combination products that contain a hoof supplement in them as well.  Equine Hoof Guard provides 32 mg of Biotin, plus Zinc, Methionine, and MSM per 2-ounce scoop. This product is great for horses whose hooves are slower growing and easy to crack. For more severe hoof issues, I recommend Biotin Hoof Blast with 100 mg of Biotin, plus Zinc, Methionine, and MSM per 2-ounce scoop.  If you are looking for an easy to feed complete supplement, Mega Dose & Trifecta both contain a hoof supplement that includes 32mg of Biotin with MSM, Zinc, and Methionine.

 

Why is Biotin Hoof Blast so Effective?

Biotin Hoof Blast is a Biotin supplement that has been shown to be extremely effective in promoting strong, healthy hooves. While it strengthens your horse’s hooves it also promotes rapid growth. Biotin Hoof Blast is available in an extruded meal form. You can easily mix it with your horse’s feed. Biotin Hoof Blast's base of full-fat extruded soybeans is extremely palatable and most horses love. It is a common product for horses who have suffered from trauma to the hoof such as an injury or from foundering. Check out how Biotin Hoof Blast saved Fancy’s hoof from lamininitishere.

 

Hoof Growth after Biotin Hoof Blast

The Bottom Line

Biotin is an essential vitamin for maintaining healthy skin, hair, and hooves. Biotin supplements can help improve your horse’s health by boosting their metabolism and regulating blood sugar levels. It can also help prevent against hoof abscess and thrush and promote rapid growth of hooves. Contact me, Dr. Kelsey Nonella, at horsenutrition@horseguard.com to help guide you to the best Biotin supplement for your horse needs.

Leave a comment (all fields required)

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Search

Commonly searched