HoofWand™

Muddy paddocks are hard on hooves. When wet ground gives way to dry spells and back again, the hoof wall swells and shrinks until tiny gaps open up, debris packs in, and the perfect home for bacteria forms. Reach for a metal pick on a soft, soggy hoof and you can scratch the very wall you are trying to protect. HoofWand by Ranchers Preferred was built to solve exactly that problem.

What makes HoofWand different from a hoof pick?

HoofWand is a hoof cleaning tool made from a soft, flexible, non-abrasive material that lifts both wet and dry mud and muck without scratching or damaging the outer hoof wall or the coronary band. Its strategically shaped curves clear packed debris safely, while a textured diamond pattern loosens stubborn dried-on dirt. Because it is gentle by design, it does the work of a pick on caked-up hooves without the risk a sharp metal edge brings to a waterlogged wall.

How do you use HoofWand on muddy hooves?

HoofWand is built for everyday barn use. Run the curved surfaces along the underside of the hoof to lift debris from the white line, then turn to the textured face to break loose dried mud from the wall, pastern, and fetlock. The same tool doubles as an applicator: use any side to press clays, putties, and hoof powders deep into cracks and grooves that fingers cannot reach. The flexible material is meant to wear over time, so when the edges show noticeable wear it is time for a fresh one.

Who is behind HoofWand?

HoofWand comes from Ranchers Preferred, the small operation started by Lori and Brian, two horse lovers and inventors in Albertville, Minnesota who care for a barn full of their own horses. After a warm, wet spring turned their paddocks to mud and put their herd through cycle after cycle of cracked hooves and abscesses, they set out to build a better way to clean a hoof. Many barn trials and prototypes later, HoofWand was the answer. They describe themselves simply as two people who love their horses and love solving problems, and their goal is to help every horse owner stay hands-on with their horses' hoof health.

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Who actually makes the HoofWand™?

HoofWand™ is the flagship tool of Ranchers Preferred LLC, a small-town Minnesota company founded in 2024 by a husband-and-wife team, Lori and Brian, of Albertville, Minnesota. They are lifelong horse lovers who keep two personal mounts, Yanko, a Gypsy Vanner, and OB, a Fell pony, alongside a pasture herd of sixteen more. The brand operates under the simple mission they call "Hands on Hooves," encouraging owners to be more engaged and confident in managing their horses' hoof health. Reach the company.

What problem did it solve, and why was it invented?
The tool was born of frustration in February 2024, when unseasonably warm, spring-like weather turned the founders' paddocks to deep mud and several of their horses developed hoof abscesses. They could not find a tool built to handle soggy, waterlogged hooves in the dead of a Minnesota winter, where a rigid metal pick was too harsh and a stiff brush did nothing against packed clay. After a season of barn trial and error, 3D-printed prototypes, and "lots of muddy boots," the HoofWand™ took shape as a purpose-built answer to wet-weather hoof care rather than a replacement for the everyday pick.

What is it made of and how is the surface designed?

The HoofWand™ is molded from a soft, flexible, non-abrasive material so it lifts mud and muck without scratching the hoof wall, coronary band, or the sensitive skin of the pasterns. The body combines two working zones: gently curved surfaces that scoop and slide debris out from under the hoof and along the white line, and a textured diamond pattern that grips and loosens caked-on dried mud. Every edge, curve, and texture was engineered for a specific job, which is why the brand describes the design as form following function rather than looks.

How do you use it on a real, muddy horse?
In practice, you work the curved surfaces along the underside of the hoof to clear debris from the white line, switch to the diamond-textured zone to break up dried, packed muck, and use either side to carry a hoof powder such as the company's DustWick Hoof Care Powder into cracks and crevices. Because the material is gentle, it can also clean the pasterns and coronary band, areas most owners avoid scrubbing with a metal pick. Ranchers Preferred is careful to note the HoofWand™ is not meant to replace your traditional pick for routine cleaning; it is the specialist you reach for when conditions are wet, frozen, or filthy.

Why do owners in mud and snow country choose it?

The HoofWand™ is promoted as the only safe method for removing ice and snow balls packed into hooves, a genuine winter hazard for horses in northern climates. Owner reviews echo the design intent: "Used it on both my horses today, perfect for getting the mud off especially dried mud. Easy to rinse off. Deff worth the money!" and "I love this tool to clean off dried muddy hooves. It's a life saver!" Buyers also praise the company's quick shipping and responsive customer service, and farrier organizations have endorsed both the product and the "Hands on Hooves" mission.

How much is it and where do you buy one?

The HoofWand™ sells through the Ranchers Preferred online store at rancherspreferred.com/products/hoof-wand, listed at $19.99 on sale from a regular price of $24.95, with free shipping on orders over $30. It is also stocked on Amazon under the listing "Ranchers Preferred HoofWand" and through select retailers such as The Warrior Store. The same shop carries companion grooming products, including DustWick Herbal Skin & Coat Care, Feather Dust, and DustWick Hoof Care Powder, so an order can round out a full mud-season hoof kit.