keratex hoof hardener ...

[notpoodle]

farrier advised me to get some, so i did (£25! ouch!!). farrier said to put it on daily for a week, the instructions that came with it said twice a week for a month and then weekly ...

i have gone with farriers advice for the time being, but obviously the instructions sound appealing as i would use less and the stuff is so blo*y expensive ...

Julia
x

[Joyscarer]

Mine recommends Kevin Bacon. I am using the basic naf hoof moist at the mo and that is doing the trick. I'd love to know how you get on with the keratex though :)

[notpoodle]

i was using naaf hoofmoist as well, and my farrier recommended the kevin bacon stuff as well, when the hooves were dry and the weather was hot. the current plan is to harden the fronts up. somehow.

Julia
x

[wonkeywoody]

Follow instructions. It vicious stuff! but it does tend to work

[notpoodle]

what do you mean by vicious? it sure smells dangerous though :eek:

Julia
x

[MelanieD]

Its formaldehyde so you do want to be careful where it goes. I used it for a while on fatty when she was shod and it did make her loose shoes a bit less often. I've seen some instructions which says every day for a week then cutting down gradually over 6 weeks. I went with just putting it on when I could be bothered :o I've read about some research recently showing formaldehyde causes microscopic cracks in the wall so think I'd be going for the less frequent application!

[coss]

whenever i've used it i've applied to sole and wall twice a week for about a fortnight then once a week for a while then when i got round to it - after a ride ou on the road, after the farrier had been, both of which mean the hoof is more likely to take up the stuff in it. if applied too much it can dry the hooves out and make them too hard so that the suppleness in the hoof goes.
if i happen to wash the hooves for whatever reason and can get them dry i'll apply it then too... all in all, not very often :o

[eventerbabe]

it may be expensive but it lasts and really does work. Only ever apply it to the sole (avoiding frog!) and up to nail holes (1/2 to 2/3 way up hoof). I would be inclined to follow the instructions on the box. Applying twice a week for a month, we saw a massive difference with bonnie's feet.

[x-degan-x]

hi i've used kevin bacon and naf hoof and sole nd am now using keratex h.h. i would definatley recemend this over anything else as it really has saved my boys hooves. even though it is expensive it is worth it and it does last

[Volvic]

Harry had to have it applied every day for a week. I wasnt convinced after reading the instuctions, but my farrier assured me that no harm can be done by using it every day for a short length of time, then follow the instructions.

[Boffin]

The question of what is Keratex and why comes round quite a bit , youmight care to look at the following as an example

http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113921&highlight=keratex

My view is that Keratex was initially a good idea but many people comment on it making hooves too brittle. The chemistry behind it is very similar to the process of making leather, but no-one would use straight formaldehyde to make leather as it makes hard brittle leather!

There are better approaches available now, using the same basic idea but concentrating on toughness and resilience rather than just hardness, similar to those used in the most modern human nail strengthening formulations. Have a look at http://www.fnesaddles.com/Hooves-Barefoot.shtml as an example