Hoof Care  

Ah, here‚s a topic near and dear to my heart - and sometimes my lower back!  While I'll try to give you good overview of hoof care, I must stress one thing…every horse is different and what is right for Ole Bessy may not be the best course of action for King Thunderbolt.  Each horse is going to vary in several areas. General hoof health, frog health, hoof wall thickness, hoof hardness, hoof angle and conformation.  Each horse may also be used differently, more or less frequently and over different surfaces.  Finally, to add to the puzzle, especially for those of us riding gaited horses, each individual horse's way of going will play a big part in if, or how, they are shod.

Gosh, Todd, I'm already confused.  Can you just tell me what I need to do to keep my horse sound?  You bet!  Old horsemen have an adage that has stood the test of time - "No foot, No horse."  Luckily, as with most things equine, an ounce of prevention is worth tons of cure.  Whether your horse is shod or not, keep his/her last shoeing or trimming date on you calendar and note if anything new or different was done.  Next, go forward 6 weeks and mark your calendar again.  While some of your horses can go longer than this between farrier appointments, 6 weeks is a good benchmark.  At this time, have your horse's feet checked.  Let your farrier know in advance that you will be needing him/her at this time and have your horse caught and calm when they arrive.  If you are bringing a farrier in from outside, they may still charge for an assessment visit, thus making it more prudent to simply have the feet done in regular 6-week increments.

Between visits, there are things you can do to ensure your horse's feet stay at their best.  Regular hoof cleaning is a must, however, daily is not always necessary.  A good weekly picking, though, should be a minimum.  Each time you pick up your horse's feet, there are things you should notice.  First look for any obvious injuries to the sole of the foot, the frog or the bulbs of the heel.  Next, pick the foot thoroughly paying close attention to the groves on either side of the frog all the way out to the heel.  The frog should be wide at the heel, very triangular, and the consistency of a new rubber eraser.  Be aware of any foul, pungent odor or slimy black matter.  Also, use your pick to press gently on the center of the frog.  Ideally there should be no crevice at all.  If here is, does the pick go in?  How deep?  Does it disappear into the crevice at the back of the frog between the bulbs of the heel?    These are signs of thrush and are extremely common.  I would recommend investing in a bottle of Thrush Buster.  A once monthly treatment will keep good feet healthy.  More frequent treatment can bring the beginnings of thrush quickly under control.  Like anything else, more is not always better.  Only extreme cases require daily treatment.  Finally, severe cracking and splitting should be looked at and shoes should always be inspected for loose nails.  If a shoe is loose, regardless of whether Ole Bullet's 6 weeks is up, it's probably going to be time for a reset.  I would recommend setting a time with your farrier to have your horse's feet assessed.  Bring a notepad.  A quick overview and a written account for future reference will always be helpful in maintaining hoof health and monitoring your horse‚s progress over time.

Finally, one other note.  If you've just purchased a horse, and he's got good feet and is gaiting nicely, I recommend taking pictures of all four feet from the front and side, measure the length of toe and the angle of the foot (you may need to borrow your farrier's hoof gauge for this) and keep that info in your horse's folder.  It's so easy to make minor changes that add up to large differences over time.  If at anytime you find your horse is not gaiting or moving as he did when you bought him, being able to refer to your original settings may help your either correct changes or eliminate them as the problem.