Knowledge
Paddock Power
David Pipe’s ponies, Vieux Lion Rouge and Daklondike, happily on holiday
Photography courtesy of Paddock Power
Paddock Power
A focus on feet & coats
Here at Polo Times we have been using Paddock Power throughout the winter for our string of polo ponies, who live all year round outside. Our paddocks are unfortunately mainly clay soil and even in this particularly wet winter we only had one young ex-racehorse which is new to our string who suffered from an abscess, with the usual culprits abscess free this year. Best of all, Paddock Power has stopped them nibbling at our wooden fencing! So, we spoke to Paddock Power to find out more about their product. Paddock Power is fantastic at providing a broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals to help maintain a healthy nutritionally balanced horse; it has some core areas where it has proven to be extremely effective. One of these focal areas is feet and coats. We have grouped them together as the two tend to go hand in hand and are affected by similar factors. 30
Polo Times, May 2020
We are all familiar with the phrase “no foot, no horse” but unless we are unfortunate enough to have a pony with terrible feet and constantly going through the endless cycle of farrier visits, disappointing lameness and having to abandon plans at short notice, we probably do not give them the attention they deserve. The reality is that if you have a pony that is not blessed with naturally good
feet, you need to adopt a long-term strategy for ensuring that it has healthy strong feet. Once a hoof is cracked and split, it will take approximately twelve months to grow down. The very wet weather we have had this winter has caused havoc with many horses’ hooves becoming oversaturated and soft, thus providing an ideal climate for thrush to take hold and hoof health to suffer. This has been followed by a very dry period and in a very short space of time, hooves have gone from being sodden to becoming dry and brittle. This causes cracks and chips, which while seemingly innocuous, can allow bacteria to penetrate and for foot abscesses and subsequent lameness to linger on. Whilst good hoof balance is an essential part of the equation, the best farrier in the world is going to be thwarted by crumbling weak feet that fall into a vicious cycle of being unable to withstand work with attempts to remedy that sometimes exasperate the problem. The good news is that the situation can be turned around but it’s not a quick fix. You are looking at a minimum of six to 12 months to repair and www.polotimes.co.uk
