Best Foot Forward
As the old saying goes: No hoof, no horse. These essential tips from our veterinary expert will help your horse stand on his own four feet.
A horse's feet need to be tough and healthy to traverse rough terrain. Trimming and diet are the two main elements that affect the soundness of the hoof and foot.
A horse's feet take quite a beating. When you think about it, it's
amazing that a structure which is basically a thicker version of
our own fingernail can support the weight of a horse and hold up to
the varied terrain they travel over. As tough and adaptable as a
horse's hoof is, it's not indestructible. This article will take
you through the basic anatomy of the foot, the nutritional
influences on hoof wall quality, and trimming and other details of
hoof care.
Total Hoof Health
- Hoof health starts with correct and timely trimming. The importance of this job cannot be overstated.
- Nutrition is the next key element in achieving healthy feet. Feed a correct, balanced, and adequate diet overall.
- Ensure that your horse's total diet provides enough protein and amino acids in the correct amounts.
- While moisture, or the lack of it, gets blamed for many hoof problems, the underlying culprit is usually nutrition or poor trimming practices.
External Anatomy of the Foot
Starting with the bottom and working in, here are the external
structures of the foot.
Hoof Wall Horn: This is the tough outer layer of the hoof wall. Composed primarily of protein, fatty acids, and cholesterol, it forms a waterproof barrier. This dead, insensitive tissue is much like the white ends of your own nails that protrude past the skin of the toe or finger.
White Line: This is a thin line of tissue that contains the laminae, interlocking "fingers" (think Velcro) that connect the hoof wall horn to the live tissues inside the foot. The white line contains live, sensitive tissue only as far down as the coffin bone extends. Below this, the white line is also dead, insensitive tissue.
Sole: The sole is produced by laminae along the bottom surface of the foot. It is similar to the hoof wall horn, but has a bit more flexibility.
Frog: Moving backward from the toe, the V-shaped fleshy structure is the frog. Although similar to the sole and the hoof wall horn in make-up, the frog is much more compressible and rubbery. It's designed to function as a shock absorber. The frog normally has a cleft down its middle, which should line up with the cleft between the heels.
Bars: If you follow the outline of the hoof wall horn back to where it ends at the frog on either side, you will see it makes a turn inward along the frog and continues to follow the outline of the frog. These extensions of the hoof wall horn are weight-bearing surfaces of the hoof for part of their length, and also extend up inside the hoof to create a support for the coffin bone.
The hoof wall horn is produced by the coronary band, a transition zone between the skin of the pastern and hoof horn, like the nail-producing cells at the bottom of our own nails.
More Preventative
More Health
For the horse, the obvious benefit of going for the stretch is the carrot, but as she works through the routine, she'll feel better, too.
Stretching your horse's muscles will improve performance and decrease the occurrence... | read
