Let's Talk About...

Hooves.

My Neville's frog has exfoliated and is partially falling off-- but don't worry! It's okay because that's totally normal. You can read about it more in the the rest of the article. But, I'm not exactly sure that exfoliation is the reason why his frog his basically peeling off. Luckily, my farrier is going to be at the barn later this week, so there'll be another post just to let you know how he's doing.

Now, we're going to talk about hooves.

THRUSH. Thrush is a common issue among horses in wet or muddy pastures and have no where dry to at least get the mud or the wetness out of their hooves. If you don't pick out your horse's hooves regulary, he may get thrush. If you notice a smelly, tar-like substance in his hoof or hooves, call your farrier immediately.

WHITE LINE DISEASE. White Line Disease (I refer to it as WLD, but you can call it what you please) is basically the decaying of the entire wall of the hoof. This hoof disease is common among horses who don't have proper hoof care.

LAMINITIS. Laminitis is a malfunction in the attachment of the pedal bone and the inner wall of the hoof. It causes a lot of pain for the horse. If the tissues are damaged, inflamed, or experiences lack of blood, the connection of between the laminae eventually fails. The pedal bone eventually will start to have excessive wear and will tear from the hoof wall..

HOOF ABSECESSES. Absecesses in the hoof are usually caused by trauma to the soft portion of the hoof and it is bruising. The pain becomes too unbearable for the horse and he eventually will become lame. Luckily, this can be healed by stall rest and soaking the infected hoof in epsom salts for a small period of time.

HOOF CANKER. Canker, which has a common bacteria as"Hoofrot" in sheep, is an anearobic caused by the superficial epithelium of the hoof. These cases are usually found in Southern United States, but has been diagnosed across the country. The bacteria associated with canker causes abnormal keratin production, or overgrowth of the horn. Canker is fairly rare, and appears only briefly in veterinary textbooks. Most texts suggest that housing a horse in unsanitary conditions causes the disease, but I've found that canker is not prejudicial. Farms with the best of stable management andthose with the worst can have horses with canker. In our attempts to recreate the disease, we have packed the frog with manure after injecting what we believe is the invading bacteria, but still have been unable to prove that unsanitary conditions contribute to the onset of canker.

FOUNDER. Founder is where the coffin bone has dropped away from the inside of the hoof and is pressing done onto the sole corium. This causes extreme pain if left untreated. This hoof disease is very common among miniature horses who have been given grain, or too much green pasture.

Barefoot Horses VS. Shod Horses Barefoot is not for every pony in the pasture. Some horses are sounder without shoes, while others become sore foot when they don't have shoes. Here are some good reasons why and why not to go barefoot or to have your horse shod:

Without shoes, your horse can become sorefoot.
Barefoot allows more traction for more athletic activities, while shoes will slip.
Barefoot horses perform sounder and happier.
Horseshoes help keep the horse's hooves healthier and kept.