Maintaining proper
care of your horse’s feet can have a critical effect
on their overall health. Through proper care, many
of the costs of horsekeeping may be avoided. Your
farrier and veterinarian can advise you and help establish
a hoofcare program that will provide optimum benefit
to the health of your horse.
1. Environment:
No matter where your horse spends their day, the area
should be a safe environment, free of wire, nails,
garbage, or any potentially dangerous debris that
may injure the horse. Objects such as sharp rocks,
briars, nettles, and similar material should be removed
from where horses congregate, feed, or rest.
Hooves are a good
reflection of their environment. For example, wet
conditions produce soft hoof walls; dry conditions
produce hard hoof walls, and dirty conditions produce
unhealthy hooves. Extremes should be avoided as much
as possible.
2. Nutrition:
The overall health of the horse may be judged by the
condition of the feet. Health problems are often first
noticed in the feet. Your veterinarian can advise
you on some feed supplements that may help to grow
healthier hooves. Topical applications to the exterior
of hooves generally offer little benefit. Some may
build up on the wall and cause too much softening.
3. Handling:
Foals should be imprinted for later life, by handling
the feet shortly after birth. All feet should be lifted
and held immobile for several minutes, until the animal
has overcome its fear of restraint and handling. Older
horses should be taught to stand quietly while all
feet are handled. If restraint is necessary, the horse
requires more training. It is usually more affordable
to hire a trainer than a farrier for this task.
4. Trimming:
Excess hoof wall is removed to allow a natural way
of going for the horse. Sometimes trimming may be
done in a specialized fashion, such as to alter the
horse’s foot flight pattern, or the way in which the
hoof structure provides support to itself and the
limb structures. Trimming often changes the appearance
of the horse’s feet and legs
Trimming should leave
the foot’s ground surface on a nearly level plane
from the toe to the heels, at right angles to the
bone column, and preserve the equine's natural hoof/pastern/shoulder
axes.
Removal of too much
wall causes the horse to be sore or tender-footed.
Removal of too little wall may cause angle and balance
problems before another trimming is scheduled.
| The trimming schedule
depends on several factors:
a. health of the equine (how
fast the hoof wall grows)
b. how much the horse is used
( how much or how little of the hoof wall is
worn away)
c. hardness or softness of the
terrain over which the horse is used
d. the kind or amount of use
or activity the horse endures
e. the relative durability of
the hoof wall. |
The time interval between trims
may vary depending on multiple factors, but on average,
healthy hooves may be maintained on a six week schedule.
5. Shoeing: Horses need to
be shod only when specific conditions are met:
a. when wear exceeds hoof wall growth
b. to enhance athletic performance
c. as a therapeutic treatment to minimize
effects of disease, trauma, or disability.
As with trimming, time intervals for
having your horse shod will depend on several factors.
For most horses, the elapsed time between a shoeing
or a trim are relatively the same.
Hoof wall tends to grow faster in
warm, moist environments. (A horse living in the tropics
may need a trim a whole month before his Oregonian
counterpart.)
Colder, drier climates retard growth
and may thus lengthen the time between treatments.
In circumstances where an equid exhibits
certain hoof problems, more frequent attention to
hoof growth and condition is recommended. Your veterinarian
and farrier should be good resources for understanding
these conditions.
6. Disease: Several diseases
of the horse’s foot may cause you and your horse problems.
While your farrier may be of great help to you, your
veterinarian should also be consulted.
Some common ailments:
a. Thrush: This is an infection
of anaerobic bacteria that is most prolific in damp
conditions. Keeping stalls, paddocks, corrals, and
feet clean will help to relieve the problem. That
includes picking the feet out to oxygenate the hoof
environment. Many topical concoctions can be helpful
to combat the effects of anaerobic bacteria, but simply
the act of thoroughly cleaning the hooves on a regular
basis is the best line of defense against hoof rot.
b. Navicular disease: This
disease starts as a syndrome affecting the area around
the navicular bone, inside the horse’s foot. It can
eventually effect bones, joints, and tissue within
the foot. Careful diagnosis by a veterinarian is necessary
to confirm the disease. Trimming and shoeing to certain
prescribed standards may relieve the crippling effects
of the disease.
c. Laminitis and Founder: The
result of some systemic stresses, these most crippling
of problems can often be avoided by good husbandry
practices. Trimming and shoeing may help to alleviate
lameness symptoms.
d. Abcesses: This results when
the sensitive foot structure becomes invaded by a
foreign object or bacterial infection, and may lead
to a festering within the live tissue. The horse experiences
pain as pressure builds within the tissue. Although
technically not a disease, if sensitive tissue is
involved, it should be treated by a veterinarian.
7. Other: There are several
things to be aware of in order to provide proper hoof
care for your horse.
a. Whether or not you ride or use
your horse, the hoof wall grows constantly. You can’t
put the horse aside, ignore its requirements, and
not pay the consequences in cost as well as risk of
disability to the horse.
b. Look for evidence of neglect or
needed attention to your horse’s feet. Cracks, dishes,
and flares, loose nails, loose shoes, shoes overgrown
by hoof wall or worn-out shoes are all indications
that you need an appointment with your farrier.
c.It is not the farriers responsibility
to teach your horse good manners. A good trimming
or shoeing job is a well balanced, cooperative effort
between you, the farrier, and most importantly the
horse.
d. Don’t ask or expect your farrier
to perform medical treatment on your lame, injured,
or diseased horse. That is the responsibility of your
veterinarian.
e. You are responsible for the well
being of your horse. It can do nothing for itself
to promote sound healthy feet. Your awareness of and
proper attention to the peculiar needs of the feet
should keep the horse healthy and better able to meet
your need for pleasure and performance.
|
