"Hi, I'm Andrew and I am having a horse from a rescue centre with in the next four to six weeks, she is an ex race horse, 12 year old mare, she had a cracked front hoof when she got to the centre, the farrier was called and gave her six weeks rest then he came back and shod her front hooves. Her hinds were fine, he said the hoof was healing fine, he shod her front feet giving her some extra width in the shoe to protect the cracked one, and said not to start to re-school her for another six weeks, of which there are another two weeks to go. If she is ok to school then, we will be able to have her after a couple of weeks, we are being involved in the reschooling of her.

How can i help her strengthen her hooves to keep them in good health?

Many thanks, regards Andrew."

Farrier and H&C blogger Nigel Brown says: “Hi Andrew. Thanks for your question.

There are a number of reasons as to why cracks appear in horse’s feet – do talk to the farrier at the centre and ask them what type of crack it was and how they thought it was caused. This will greatly help you to support the healing process.
Once you have your new horse at home, regular shoeing is going to be essential. You may need a slightly shorter shoeing cycle initially whilst the foot stabilises and the crack grows out. Unlevel foot fall, long toes and an incorrect media-lateral balance will all aggravate hoof cracks. Your regular farrier will be able to advise you if any therapeutic work is necessary and will monitor the feet as work begins.
Good farriery is absolutely paramount but topical applications and feed supplements may be beneficial. A feed supplement will help to promote good quality horn growth and a topical application may promote a more consistent hoof moisture content (hooves can often become more susceptible to cracking during particularly wet spells followed by dry spells).

Best of luck and I hope all goes well for you and your new horse! Nigel.”