The old adage "no foot no horse" seems to be even more relevant in today's horse industry where horses are expected to perform, undergoing constant training and exercise for top level competition or racing careers and have to rely completely upon humans for proper foot care and maintenance.
In
their natural state in the wild, a horses hoof wall grows at about the
same rate that it gets worn down and actually have quite a different shape
compared to their domestic cousins - an intersting point when you consider
that wild horses do not appear to suffer the same reacurring lameness
problems that many domestic horses do. On average it takes about 8 to
12 months for a newly formed hoof to grow from the coronary band at the
top down to the lower rim. The hoof of a horse can be likened to the human
fingernail in that they are not sensitive and form at the top, growing
downards. Rate of growth does of course vary depending on the season,
type of surface they are impacting on and amount of wear on the foot.
The quality of the hoof can also be affected by the animals health - sometimes
translated by ridges noticed growing down in the hoof indicating a time
of stress or by brittle dry hooves that tend to crack and possibly suggesting
some dietary supplementation is required.
While some people have always thought that black hooves are much stronger than white hooves, it appears there actually isnt any difference in hoof strength between the two and the colour is simply dictated by the pigment granules in the hoof horn.
In a normal foot,
the bulk of the horses weight is carried by the hoof wall, and some weight
is also taken by the frog. The sole of the foot does not generally come
into contact with the ground unless going over softer surfaces. When the
foot is in motion, it is recognised that the heels of the foot normally
expand during weight bearing and the hoof wall has to distort as it takes
the weight. As the foot touches the ground the veins and arteries across
the sole and hoof wall come under pressure which pushes blood around the
area and back up the limbs.
There are no muscles below the knee or hock of the horse, meaning that
all movement in the lower parts of the leg are worked by long tendons,
which flex or extend according to how the muscles above have acted. This
means that the longer the toe of the hoof grows, the greater the leverage
required to move the foot and therefore putting more strain on the tendons.
As with most things in nature, the horse is a wonderfully symetrically
related animal, so ideally the angle of the hoof should relate to the
angle of the pastern, which in turn should relate to the angle of the
shoulder (assuming the horse is reasonably well conformed of course!).
Common
problems for horse owners involving horses hooves and feet include bruised
soles, laminitis, shoeing problems (such as nail pricks), seedy toe and
sandcracks. New Zealand winter time with horses often standing around
on wet ground and in muddy conditions can increase problems including
mud fever and abcesses or infections of the foot. The foot is the most
common site of lameness, with the front feet having problems much more
often than the hind feet.
There are various opinions as to the value of applying hoof dressings, with many believing the application of hoof oils etc actually restrict the natural moisture the hooves pick up from the ground and can cause them to dry out - usually the opposite to the thought behind why they where first applied! Dietary supplements such as biotin can have good results on improving hoof quality, although remember that any changes will first be noticed at the top in the coronary band and will grown in downwards so you may not notice any great improvements in the foot for many months.
While we cannot go
into the debate here on whether shoes should be worn or not, the application
of shoes has been around for centuries and mainly undertaken to prevent
undue wear, as well as to support the hoof, however because shoes prevent
natural wear, they then require more regular work to keep the shape and
balance of the hoof maintained. There are some new ideas as to the way
horses should be trimmed and shod which are believed to more closely mirror
the wild horses hoof and provide better foot shape and support. We will
be talking to someone in this field very soon - so stay tuned!
Some information for this article was sourced from "Veterinary Notes For Horse Owners". See Our Disclaimer on the home page.