Carr Day & Martin Vanner & Prest Antibacterial Shiny Hoof Oil – 5 Litre

Carr & Day & Martin Vanner & Prest Hoof Oil – 5 Litre

Vanner & Prest is the old-fashioned hoof oil — pine tar oil blended with mineral oil, dark, thick and with an aroma that anyone who grew up on a yard will recognise before they see the tin. It brushes onto the whole hoof and comes up glossy immediately, which is why it has survived as a show-ring dressing long after lighter, cleverer products arrived.

Five litres is the yard size rather than the tack-box size. Carr & Day & Martin reckon 500ml lasts up to two months with regular use on one horse, so this container is aimed at a competition yard, a livery or anyone doing a string of feet through a season rather than a pair before a Sunday class.

Performance & Benefits

• Traditional pine tar oil and mineral oil formulation, unchanged in character for generations.
• Gives an instant, high-gloss show-ring shine on application.
• Brushes on easily over the whole hoof, wall and heel.
• Distinctive aroma that makes it immediately identifiable on a yard.
• 5 litres is the most economical size Carr & Day & Martin make it in.

Suitable For

• Show and competition presentation, where an immediate shine is wanted.
• Busy yards, liveries and professionals doing a lot of feet.
• Horses and ponies of any size, on dark hooves in particular.
• Anyone who prefers a traditional dressing to a modern balm.
• Not the tidy option for a single horse — pine tar oil is dark and it stains. A solid balm such as the Carr Day & Martin Cornucrescine Daily Hoof Balm 500ml is cleaner to live with, and the Clear version suits light hooves.

How to Use

• Pick out and brush the hoof clean first.
• Apply evenly to the entire hoof with a hoof brush for an immediate glossy finish.
• Decant into a smaller container for daily use rather than carrying five litres round the yard.
• Carr & Day & Martin state that 500ml lasts up to two months with regular use, which puts this container at roughly twenty months on that basis.

Specification

• 5 litre container. Also made in 500ml and 1 litre.
• Named ingredients: pine tar oil and mineral oil. No fuller breakdown or percentages are published.
• The store title and several retail listings describe this oil as antibacterial. Carr & Day & Martin's own product page describes it only as a traditional pine tar and mineral oil formulation with a distinctive aroma, and publishes no antibacterial claim or efficacy data, so none is made here.
• Carr & Day & Martin's own claims for it are a show-ring shine and help maintaining healthy hooves.

Care & Caution

• Pine tar oil stains skin, clothing, rugs and white feather, and it does not come out easily. Wear gloves and keep it away from anything pale.
• A cosmetic and conditioning dressing, not a veterinary treatment. Thrush, seedy toe, cracking or lameness needs a farrier or a vet.
• Decant carefully — five litres of oil on a concrete yard is a slip hazard.