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Winter hoof care for horses

Winter can bring many challenges for your horse’s hooves. Knowing how to best care for their hooves to prevent damage or disease is vital for maintaining your horse’s wellbeing all year round.

  • Last reviewed: 22nd November 2024
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It’s essential that we take care of our horse’s hooves all year round – as many say, ‘no foot, no horse’.

Advice specific for donkeys is available from The Donkey Sanctuary.

Top tips for protecting your horse’s hooves this winter

There are several ways you can protect your horse’s hooves during winter and make sure they remain in a good and healthy condition. These include:

Picking your horse’s feet out

Whether your horse is field kept, spends time in a stable or alternative methods of keeping, it’s important to pick their feet out at least once a day. This helps to prevent a build-up of bacteria in the hoof causing problems such as thrush. It also helps to remove any debris such as stones which could cause bruising to the sole.

Regularly inspecting hoof health

The chance of an abscess occurring can increase during winter as the hoof is continually expanding and contracting with weather conditions, potentially trapping in bacteria1. Signs of an abscess could include a sudden onset of severe lameness, or if an abscess has been forming over some time it may burst, often at the coronet band (where the top of the hoof wall meets the skin). If you’re concerned that your horse may have an abscess speak with your farrier or vet for advice.

Thrush is a common bacterial infection affecting the horse’s hoof, more specifically the soft frog tissues and sometimes the heel of the foot. Due to wet and muddy conditions of winter, horses can be more prone to developing thrush. Keeping their feet clean by picking them out daily, and making sure their hooves are trimmed regularly, will help to prevent thrush developing.

Allow time for your horse’s hooves to dry out

The hoof wall can often soften during winter due to absorbing too much moisture. If possible, provide an area of hard standing out of the mud and wet or bring horses in for periods of time to allow their hooves to dry out.

Diet and nutrition for hoof health

Making sure that your horse has a balanced high forage diet all year round means that your horse is getting the vitamins and minerals needed for healthy hoof growth.

Biotin is a vitamin (B6) that can help improve the growth and condition of poor hooves2. In the winter the availability of biotin from grass is lower than the summer months, meaning if your horse has poor hoof quality, you may need to supplement this in your horse’s feed.

If you think your horse may need a biotin supplement, talk to your farrier for their professional advice.

Finding safe ways to exercise

Winter weather can bring some challenging ground conditions which can affect your horse’s hooves when exercising.

Do horses’ hooves grow slower in winter?

Horses’ hooves grow all year round, but this growth slows down during the winter. It could be easy to assume that the farrier may not need to visit as often, but it’s important to keep up with your usual routine to prevent cracks and chips.  This also means the hoof and pastern angles remain balanced.

How to prevent snow building up in horses’ hooves

Another winter hoof issue you may face with your horse is ‘snowballing’. This is where snow becomes packed into the horse’s hoof, leaving them walking on a solid frozen mass. Slushier and dry snow won’t compact well and is more likely to fall away from the foot, however, be extra cautious in more dense and wet snow, as snowballing is more likely to occur.

The formation of a snowball can be uncomfortable for your horse, as the pressure can cause bruising of the sensitive sole. There’s also a danger of your horse slipping and falling as they’re forced to walk on an elevated and uneven surface. This could potentially cause strain to the tendons and ligaments.  

Removing these frozen masses can be difficult, however by taking the following precautions you can help prevent them forming:

 

Removing horseshoes

Wet snow meeting the cold metal of your horse’s shoes can cause the snow to freeze and therefore compact as ice. If you’re reducing your ridden work over winter, you may want to talk to your farrier about whether having your horse’s shoes removed would be appropriate. Monitor how your horse is coping and if you have any concerns, contact your farrier.

Providing a protective barrier

Applying petroleum jelly or hoof oil around the inside of the shoe and the sole of the foot helps to create a barrier and may prevent the snow freezing in your horse’s hoof. This will likely only have an effect for a short period as the petroleum jelly or oil will eventually wear off.

Hoof boots and snow pads for horses

These can be an option to keep the snow out and your horse’s feet dry. Make sure the boots fit your horse correctly. Boots should be removed daily and monitored to make sure they’re not causing any rubbing or soreness. If your horse is shod, choose a boot that can be worn over shoes.

References

  1. Kentucky Equine Research. (2018) Winter Hoof Care.
  2. Kellon, E. M., & Solutions, E. N. (2008). Feeding the hoof. Ephrata: Equine Nutritional Solutions.

Get in touch – we’re here to help

The Horse Care and Welfare Team are here to help and can offer you further advice with any questions you may have. Contact us on 02476 840517* or email welfare@bhs.org.uk – You can also get in touch with us via our social media channels. 

Opening times are 8:35am-5pm from Monday – Thursday and 8:35am-3pm on Friday. 

*Calls may be recorded for monitoring purposes.