Good hoof care is important for the welfare of your horse

No Hoof, No Horse!

I am sure you have heard this saying a million times before and you are probably tired of it. But it is so true! A horse with unhealthy hooves will have problems and will not perform at its best, it might even be lame.

But what is a healthy hoof? What does it look like?

In Applied Equine Podiatry we call this Deformed Hoof Syndrome. And you will see that the majority of horses have some form of deformation of their hooves, once you have trained your eyes for this.The problem is that we are so used to looking at deformed feet, we think they are normal!

Most horse owners, particularly ones owning shod horses, have to deal with some of these problems at some stage. If you had, did you get a satisfactory answer from your vet or farrier as to why this occured?

Was the answer just: Oh, the horse just has bad feet!

I would suggest, you don´t just accept an answer like that!
There is much more to it, believe me!

Most of these problems will never occur if the horse always had ideal hoof care and a properly balanced foot. A healthy barefoot hoof deals effectively with kinetic energy. In effect it utilizes and dissipates the energies that are created throughout the stride of the horse.

In an unhealthy or shod foot these protective mechanisms are out of equilibrium. Kinetic energy doesn´t just dissapear. As a result other structures like tendons, ligaments, cartilage, etc. that were never meant to deal with these forces are getting damaged. Therefore this will lead to the above mentioned pathologies.

Applied Equine Podiatry (AEP) is in my opinion the most advanced and logical approach I have come across in equine hoof care. My horses have overcome problems like hoof cracks and abscesses in a fairly short time after changeing to AEP practices.

The result is: I have three sound and happy horses!

Are you thinking about taking your horse shoeless?

• This is an important decision. You need to consider some things before you take your horse out of shoes!
• You need to be willing to learn about barefoot hoof care. It means taking over responsibilities!
• If your horse has been in shoes, he might have some deformities/pathologies that will need time to heal. Your horse might need some time "off" to transition.
• You might need to do some handwalking with your horse in therapeutic pads or on hard surfaces.

So, Shoes or no Shoes? Read on here to learn why your horse will benefit from beeing without shoes.

Important hoof care tasks:

• pick out, wire-brush and check your horse´s feet every day!
• use a non-necrotizing hoof desinfectant spray once or twice a week to prevent hoof infections.
• have your horses feet trimmed at least every 6 weeks, unless your hoof care provider advices differently.
• there is no need to use hoof oils and dressings. They only seal anaerobic bacteria into the tubules, giving the bacteria a nice comfortable home.