As an Equine Podiatrist we look at all the elements of the horses lifestyle that might impact on how healthy their hooves are. We call this a ‘whole horse’ approach.
When you think about it there are a surprising amount of things that can show up in the feet – here’s a few..
Diet. Is the diet supporting the horse – are they too fat/too thin? are they growing good quality hoof horn? Particularly are the vitamins and minerals balanced..? is there too much molases or sugar…? are they spending a large part of the day or night not eating anything..? all of these things might cause problems for the hoof. (Read more)
The workload/exercise – are the feet up to the job? Are they being worn down too quickly, and are any parts of the hoof getting overused (bruised/inflammed) or underused (weak/atrophied)
Infections -thrush/white line disease and seedy toe are so common we take them as read… but they are all suppressing the health of the hoof and can make the horse uncomfortable and change their way of going. (Read more)
Grazing Livery – are they stabled/yarded/kept at grass? Winter is often a juggling act between getting enough turnout and not having them living in a mud bath/poaching the paddock. Are their feet getting waterlogged either in damp fields or on damp bedding in the stable?
Working surfaces. What surfaces is the horse expected to work on & do they live on a similar surface during the day? For a great many of us, we keep our horses on soft paddocks but then hack them on out on hard surfaces.. this can mean that their feet don’t get the chance to become conditioned.
Does the whole story set the conditions for barefoot sucess, or is there more that you can do to help your horse be comfortable? (Read here) about horse digestion and hoof design….
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