Venice Turpentine with Brush

This is the bottle you reach for when a horse comes up sore on soft soles. Venice turpentine is painted on the sole, where it hardens and toughens the horn. The brush that comes with it puts the product exactly where the hoof needs it, so there is nothing else to grab at the barn.

It is used as a counter-irritant to promote circulation and new hoof growth, and as a disinfectant and antibacterial agent on the sole and frog. Farriers have long used it on split hooves and quarter cracks, and it is an easy product to keep on the shelf between visits.

Highlights

• Hardens and toughens soft soles
• Used as a counter-irritant to promote circulation and new growth
• Doubles as a disinfectant and antibacterial agent
• Brush included for painting on the sole
• A farrier standby for split hooves and quarter cracks

Why keep Venice turpentine in the barn

Soft soles are common when the ground stays wet for weeks at a time. The sole needs a tougher surface to handle footing and work, and a paint-on hardener goes right where that toughness is needed.

It is also a building block for homemade hoof packing and drawing ointments, which is why farriers keep it on the truck. A bottle in the barn means you are ready when a stone bruise or a frog problem shows up, and you can call your vet or farrier for the rest.

At a glance

How to use it

1. Clean and dry the sole before you paint on the product.
2. Paint Venice turpentine on the sole with the brush.
3. Lay a piece of brown paper over it to hold it in place and keep debris from sticking to the hoof.

Go lightly. A hoof or frog hardened too far can bruise, form an abscess and slow its own growth.

Good to know

• The brown paper keeps the application where you put it and keeps dirt out of it.
• Venice turpentine is also used as a drawing ointment for stone bruises and frog infections, so ask your vet or farrier before you use it that way.
• Hawthorne's Sole Pack and Hot Nail are ready-made options for those jobs if you would rather skip the mixing.
• Keep a bottle on the shelf for split hooves and quarter cracks between farrier visits.

About Hawthorne Products

Hawthorne Products started in 1977 in Dunkirk, Indiana, when Don Hobson, a working farrier, began selling the hoof and leg remedies he had developed in his shop.

Cautions

We do caution not to get the hoof or frog too hard as that can cause bruises and abscesses and can retard hoof growth.

Stock a bottle before the next wet spell softens every sole on the place.