Natural Hoof Care

Continued.....

..... Many, many things in horses are based on tradition. For example: do you know why you get on from the left? Because, back in the day, most right handed men carried their sword on their left hip and could only get on from the left without their sword getting in the way. Your horse probably doesn’t care what side you get up on.

.....Foot function is not complicated to understand. The horse’s heart does not effectively pump blood all the way to the foot. Once the foot hits the ground (heel first) it slides slightly forward and then goes into weight baring mode. The hoof wall expands, drawing blood down to the plantar cushion, and when the frog impacts the ground it pushes the blood out of the plantar cushion, out through the vessels of the foot, and back up the leg. Growth, quality, and the integrity of the hoof all depend on circulation. Shoes, either nail on or glue on, impede the circulation of blood to the foot by not allowing proper expansion and contraction. That being said, there are certainly cases where horses need shoes either for soundness reasons or for safety reasons, such as hoof injuries that need support. There are more and more alternatives to shoes everyday. Hoof boots of all kinds are becoming much more widely available and I have lots of clients who swear by them for trail riding and even some horseshow circuits are allowing them in some classes. Boa, Cavallo, Old Mac, just to name a few.