Hoof Polish Questions

[LC Farm]

I was wondering if people always was black hoof polish no matter color of the horse? Or if clear is used on white hoofs?

 

[Jetiki]

You can use either black or clear, from what I have seen most people use black no matter the color. To a clear hoof, the hoof has to be impeccably clean and smooth to make it look right.

Karne

 

[Leeana]

I generally prefer the look with the horses hooves blacked, but i stripe the hooves if they are striped. If the hooves are white and the horses legs are white i will put clear over the hoofs, but i think black normally looks nicer. If i have a horse where 3 hooves are black and one is white i normally black all four hooves as i think it looks nicer, always looks like you forgot a hoof when only three are blacked. I use Ultra hoof polish, its just great. I have used, and will never agian use, the water based hoof polish or any other brand since most of the time the footing is slightly damp, the polish will come off and get on you when setting hooves.

The ultra hoof polish enhancer works great too, i always spray a layer over the finished hoof, does well to repell dust and dirty. I can do hooves in the morning and spray the ultra over the finish hoof and tie the horse back in their stall, then when i pull the horse out prior to there class i just wipe off the hoof with dry cloth and that shine is still there

 

[Minimor]

From what I have seen, most people just use black on all hoofs. Really, clear is more correct for white hoofs, but I hate the stuff--as said, the hoof has to be so perfectly cleaned and "finished" or it just won't look good with clear polish. We used to use it, but it tended to yellow right away. Last year I bought some clear to use on my palomino appy gelding (nearly all white feet) at the one show I took him to. When it came time to paint his feet I looked around and noted that pretty much everyone else had used black on their horses' white feet, so I put away the clear & did my appy up in black. I liked it and I'm quite sure no one else took any notice & judged it to be "wrong" either.

 

[Sunny]

I generally prefer the look with the horses hooves blacked, but i stripe the hooves if they are striped. If the hooves are white and the horses legs are white i will put clear over the hoofs, but i think black normally looks nicer. If i have a horse where 3 hooves are black and one is white i normally black all four hooves as i think it looks nicer, always looks like you forgot a hoof when only three are blacked. I use Ultra hoof polish, its just great. I have used, and will never agian use, the water based hoof polish or any other brand since most of the time the area's footing is slightly damp, the polish will come off and get on you when setting hooves.
The ultra hoof polish enhancer works great too, i always spray a layer over the finished hoof, does well to repell dust and dirty. I can do hooves in the morning and spray the ultra over the finish hoof and tie the horse back in their stall, then when i pull the horse out prior to there class i just wipe off the hoof with dry cloth and that shine is still there

Excellent reply, Leeana! That's exactly what I was going to say.

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

I just want to add that if you ever show pinto it is best to paint the hooves their natural color since it is a color breed.

 

[funnybunny]

Some of the trainers are very clever when showing.

I've seen some use clear polish on some light colored horses who have shorter legs. It makes the legs appear a bit longer and graceful. With a very light horse, the black hoof can make the white leg appear chopped off shorter.

Ever notice how some ice skaters wear "flesh colored skates?" That is to make their legs appear longer and give a longer, elegant line when they are extending their legs for the stretchy skating movements. It gives a long, clean line when the leg blends into the skate color.

 

[Alex]

Some of the trainers are very clever when showing.

I've seen some use clear polish on some light colored horses who have shorter legs. It makes the legs appear a bit longer and graceful. With a very light horse, the black hoof can make the white leg appear chopped off shorter.

Ever notice how some ice skaters wear "flesh colored skates?" That is to make their legs appear longer and give a longer, elegant line when they are extending their legs for the stretchy skating movements. It gives a long, clean line when the leg blends into the skate color.

That is what I was going to comment on also. My rule is

Black Polish on Black Hooves, clear polish on clear hoves, and black on striped hooves unless its an appy. If there are say 2 white hooves and 2 black I will black them all.

Just what i do

 

[ruffian]

Appy hooves should never be painted black. I've seen judges write off a horse for that.

My little driving horse Ruffian I sold like a dummy, was light gray. I used clear on him because his feet showed up better at gait.

My rule is black/solid legs, black. White above hoof, clear. Specially since they KNOW when you are putting black hoof polish on a white hoof and move just in time to get black polish up their nice clean leg.

I agree with the hoof spray - it's great.

 

[Tenltraining]

I think there have been some good suggestions here, and pretty much, its what you like in your personal opinion. I agree on all appaloosas the hooves should be done in clear. Always sand the hooves and make sure they are clean prior to putting your polish on. The Ultra is good as well as the ABsorborbine Super Shine. We use Ultra shine hoof spray too as the final layer to add a bit more shine to the hoof. I think it also makes your polish last a bit longer too.

In my opinion, and you can try different things to see what you like best, if you have horse with white legs, you have a great option there, of sanding and cleaning the hooves really good and going with clear if you want that particular horse to look leggier, it really works. I personally like the look of the lighter hooves with the clear on them if the hoof is really good and light under neath especially. It gives a polished look.

You can always try it both ways, both black and done in clear and see what you like the best!

You can also use a small paintbrush do to your stripes if you like that look as well to make the lines a little cleaner.

On horses with both light hooves and some dark hooves you will want to use the black on the dark hooves. You can go with either the clear or the black on the white hooves depending on that particular horse, and length of legs on him, other than an appy.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

OK here's a really off the wall question. First some back ground; last year I ran out of the hoof polish and grabbed my bottle of black shoe polish (the liquid kind with a sponge applicator on the end, and used that to paint my colts black feet then topped it with the shine spray (finisher) I got a really nice shiny black hoof and it was easy to remove as well. Now for the question, has anyone considered using white to cover the white feet? I was thinking white shoe polish with the finisher might be an acceptable look that required less sanding and buffing than is required to get a nice look from the clear. I was considering this while bent over trying to get a decent sand job done on the 3rd white foot of a colt with 4 white feet and my back was crying uncle.

 

[ruffian]

I tried white shoe polish last year, and it looked, IMO, goofy. So I just sand and clean and then use clear.

BTW, the reason for the clear on appys is that striped hooves are one of the 5 characteristic of appys, which is why you should only use clear.

 

[Relic]

A judge a long time ago said l know how much time is put into grooming l have eyes and experience doing my own...l never forgot that so try hard not to take short cuts. lf hoofs are dark then black if light then clear if stripped then show polish on the dark strip and clear over the whole hoof. l don't like to see a light colored horse with 4 big black shinny feet it's kind of distracting for me as thats all l seem to be looking at..

 

[Minimor]

I've actually found that more judges discriminate against appaloosas in general than then do against black hoof polish on the hoofs of appaloosas. I'm quite sure my black hoof polish last year had no negative effect on our placings. The one judge, whom I know for a fact is an absolute stickler for "the rules" gave my boy and his little black hoofs the Reserve Grand, pinning him above the previous year's National Grand Champion Gelding, and I'm quite sure that clear polish wouldn't have made us place any higher.

Another judge took one look at the appy coloring and then didn't look again--I'm quite sure she didn't look at him close enough to even notice if he had FEET, never mind what color they were!

 

[maestoso]

Blacking a white hoof on a white or partially white leg makes the leg look shorter, something you don't want. I am with those that say black on black and clear on white. Clear on striped as well. Painting the stripes black and leaving the white alone looks too unnatural IMO. My colt has 3 blacks and a white. The 3 blacks get black, the white gets scrubbed and sanded to death and then clear polish.

But, as others have said, it really comes down to personal preference. What really gets me is the hours of work you put into their hoof grooming and then stepping into a ring with deep footing and you can barely see the feet anymore anyway.

 

[LC Farm]

Thank you so much for your replys. My daughter has her heart set on showing some of our guys and girls ourselves this year. She loves it and it makes me want to toss my cookies from nerves. They show their percherons and have a great time doing it. I can't afford to have all the ones we want shown by a trainer so here we come. I've had my show carts for years and never used it but sent my arenosa bred mare to the trainer to learn to drive. So it is coming out this year with two mares. I just bought an older mare that is well trained in driving and halter I hope that she will give me the confidence that I need. I'll let my daughter (grown and married) drive the young mare and i'll take the older one. I am sure that we will have tons of more questions and you guys are so nice helping us. My stallion will be with the trainer and we will bring the other three out. Thanks

 

[ruffian]

Thank you so much for your replys. My daughter has her heart set on showing some of our guys and girls ourselves this year. She loves it and it makes me want to toss my cookies from nerves.

I've been showing for 20 years, and I STILL feel like tossing my cookies before a halter class!!

Just relax and have fun with it!

 

[sundaymom]

Just to throw my two cents in.

Last year was my first year to show. I had two appy girls. One had 4 solid black hoofs and the other had stripped. I'm sure I was a riot to all those around me. Ha! But even with the sweating and racing heart I had a good time.

I only brought the black and did both girls hoofs.

The judges were really nice to me and after every time I showed would come over and make suggestions for the next time. Great people.

One of the judges did tell me I should not have painted appaloosas with black but with clear. Even though one did have black hoofs she said she wanted to see that on a appaloosa.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I tried white shoe polish last year, and it looked, IMO, goofy.

((sigh)) I was afraid of that. Oh well, I guess I'll just keep on with the sanding and buffing and clear. I really MUST get a platform built so I don't have to bend over so much.

 

[susanne]

Regarding white shoe polish...

A while back (probably still in the archives), we were discussing hoof polish and the subject of white shoe polish came up. What one trainer (or successful ammie?) did was to apply white shoe polish, wait a few seconds, then wipe it off. Enough of a white hue remained to give a more uniform tone to the hoof color without looking like nurses' shoes.

I'd say give this a try at home, not before a show. Shoe polish is cheap.

I want to achieve a sheen rather than a gloss, and plan to try artist's fixative in matt finish. Same stuff, different end use. I just need to remember to buy it!