11/11/2025
To oil or not to oil? As farriers we get a lot of questions about hoof dressing.
Walking down the hoofcare aisle at your local tack store presents you with a plethora of oils and dressings all promising to give your horse pristine, healthy feet. But in our experience, the environment your horse lives in plays a big role in determining whether a particular hoof dressing will have the effect you want it to. Many hoof oils and conditioners have moisturizing effects, which is helpful in dry, arid climates (think Arizona). Here in North Carolina, however, we get excessive amounts of rain and moisture, so products that attract even more moisture to the hoof may not be your best bet. Soft, saturated feet don’t need more moisture, they need less!
For our climate we recommend using hoof dressings that help harden the hoof and block excess moisture. Look for words like sealant, hardener, or moisture barrier on the packaging. When in doubt, ask your farrier which products they recommend!
But my horse’s feet are cracked, you might think, doesn’t that mean they’re too dry? Not necessarily - in the desert that might be true, but here in central North Carolina we find it’s usually the continual back and forth between wet and dry that causes hooves to crack. Now that we’ve been in a dry spell for a bit, that doesn’t mean you need to start piling on the hoof conditioner. The dry is doing wonders for feet that have suffered through the crazy wet summer we just had. Let them dry out! In this part of the country it’s the wet you need to worry about. If you’re dealing with cracked hooves, your best bet is to keep them as dry as you can. Avoid turnout in wet grass and mud as much as possible, and don’t bathe your horse unless it’s absolutely necessary. We promise your horse’s feet will thank you!
