Why would you go anywhere else?!

You already know that a good diet is one of the critical building blocks for a healthy hoof and its something that I mention a lot on the blog.

I always send rehab horses home with a report on their hooves and work levels and, separately, a detailed feed sheet. The feed sheet is a "how-to" list giving practical tips on safe feeding for all horses from hardworking hunters to happy hackers and good doers to delicate flowers.

Historically I've listed the basics - forage, minerals and additional hard feed  - because that's how feeding has evolved. Most commercial mixes and mineral supplements just don't cut the mustard and so owners (including me!) have had to source minerals and balance straights if we wanted optimum diets.

That's been fine but it can be an awful faff, and while its not too difficult for someone like me with a yard of horses to feed who can use up industrial quantities of magnesium oxide it can be a nuisance for someone with 1 or 2 horses to order the smaller quantities of high-grade minerals they need. Equally, while forage balancing can be useful its not always a practical option and isn't always necessary.

I'm always trying to find ways of making life simpler for owners - its scary enough taking back full responsibility for your horse once its home, after all, and anything which can make it easier for an owner or livery yard to maintain the best possible diets (whether for barefoot or shod horses) has to be a good thing. Step forward Progressive Earth, which I've been recommending to owners for a while and which really deserves top billing and a blog post all of its own!

This is partly because Progressive Earth make really good mineral balancers  - Pro Hoof and Pro Balance - which unlike most supplements do exactly what they say on the tin. These supplements are what I suggest to owners as a cornerstone of their horse's diet - both supply good mineral levels though Pro Hoof has some "added extras", like Yea-sacc.

What I hadn't realised till recently (though I have no excuse because I've known Mel and Ross, who run it, for years!) is that they also sell pretty much all the high quality minerals you would ever need - separately and in manageable quantities. Add to that their in-depth knowledge of hooves and horses and incredible customer service (Orkney clearly boasts the fastest, most efficient postal system known to man) and really, why would you go anywhere else?!

I'm hoping they will add to their existing eBay shop and have a Facebook page soon - I'll let you know as and when it appears :-)