Stone Bruising/Hoof Hardeners (Long)

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From: Barb Peck 
Email: bpeck@us.ibm.com

Thank you all for your replies....
 
I live in Northern Vermont, were the weather can change at the drop of a hat.  We get about 30-40 inches of rain a year... with two or three mud seasons thrown in. Moisture fluctuations in the hoof (expansion, contraction, etc)
and fungus infections (I call it Big Nail Hole Syndrome) causing loosening shoes is quite common in suseptible horses (as are other fungal problems associated with humidity). 

I don't have a choice in the
geography I ride on and the
weather can be wetdrywetdry- mud mud in the summer.

Dripping koppertox on the
clinches solved my horses
fungus-in-the-nail-holes problem (as Lotrimin AF killed the fungus causing tail rubbing).
    
This Keratex Hoof hardener is
a patented Cross-linking agent (you chemists will understand this in depth) which basically means the molecular bonds are re-arranged so that they are
different, and much stronger.
They can never re-arrange themselves back the way they were, and hoof or sole has to be cut off to remove the cross-linked horn.

This is a whole *new* concept
much different than Iodine, Venice Turp, formaldehyde etc for hardening.

I just wondered if any of you
had tried it yet.

I'm gonna try it on my most ouchy-footed horse this summer, and I'll post my opinion to the list then.

I did find a website at
www.horseshoes.com/prdsrvbb/pransrbl.htm which addresses this product.

Thanks again for all the responses. This is a great site.

Barb