Horse Hoof Care: How To Make Sure He's Always Ready To Ride
Your horse’s hooves bear his entire weight. Good hoof care is crucial for overall health of your horse. Regular hoof maintenance will help you ensure that you can notice and take care of any problems for your horse - before they become major health threats.
Picking out the Hooves
Horse’s hooves should be picked before and after riding, and before and after you turn the horse out to pasture. Before picking a hoof, run your hand down the leg of the horse, so that he is not startled, and then grasp the hoof firmly to pick it up. It may be helpful to place it between your knees to steady yourself. Use the hoof pick to gently dislodge any matter that has become embedded in the hoof, including the softer area beneath the heel, known as the frog. After picking, use a brush to clean off the sole.
Things to Look for when Picking
When picking out the hooves, there are other things you should check for. Most hoof problems will have less severe consequences if noticed and treated early. Check the temperature of the hooves. They should feel slightly warm, but not hot. Also check the texture of the frog, which should be similar in firmness to a new eraser. Note that horses will shed the frog two or more times each year. As long as the hoof itself is healthy, shedding is no cause for alarm. Lastly, press your fingers against the back of the pastern to check the pulse rate and strength under normal healthy conditions.
A faster or stronger pulse rate or an increase in temperature of the hoof may indicate an abscess. Causes of abscesses include puncture wounds in the sole, a severe bruise, or a misplaced shoe nail. Your farrier or veterinarian should be notified as soon as possible. Abscesses in the hoof can be extremely painful and stressful for the horse, and the consequences will be more severe the longer the abscess is left untreated.
horse hoof abscess, courtesy http://www.horsefarrier.com.au
A foul odor and dark, thick liquid oozing from the frog usually indicate thrush. This foot disease is normally caused by extended periods of standing in wet conditions, or in mud or manure. In the early stages the disease is easily treatablesee your farrier or veterinarian for medication, and ensure your horse’s stall is clean and dry at all times.
How To Know When It’s Time To Call For Help
Puncture wounds can cause serious problems if a nail or similar object pierces the sole of the hoof and subsequently falls out, you may be unaware of the injury until an abscess forms. On the other hand, the object may remain embedded in the hoof. If you do find such an object, do not pull it out. Instead, protect the hoof with wrapping or a medication boot, and call your veterinarian immediately. The hoof will normally be x-rayed to determine how deeply the object has penetrated, after which your equine veterinarian will remove it and advise you on at-home treatment.
Cracks in the hoof wall are often superficial and no cause for alarm. However cracks which lengthen can cause serious problems. Any cracks you notice should be reported to your farrier, who can decide whether or not the crack needs immediate attention. If your horse is shod, you should also check the condition and placement of the shoes and nails. Check for nails rising above the hoof line, or for a sprung shoe which does not lie flat on the hoof. Its a good idea to learn how to remove a shoe, so that you can save your horse the pain and damage these problems may cause.
The bottom line is this: if you see anything that doesn’t look right, call your farrier. If you see any bleeding, oozing, or anything that might look like an infection - even a little bit - call your vet.
No part of your horses body is more important than his hooves. Without healthy hooves, your horse cant even move himself, much less you. So when you finish your ride, take some time to inspect and pick your [tag-self]horses hooves[tag-self]. With healthy hooves, your horse will be a lot happier. And always ready to ride!
Yours for Better Horse Health,
Sierra Lynch
horse horse care horse hoof horse tackTags: Hoof Care, Horse Tack
we have three horses and when my husband went out to clean their hooves he noticed that they were white and flakey and had a odor to them and we were wondering what this may be and how to cure it
Linda,
Most likely, the foul odor is caused by thrush or a fungus that is very much like it. I’ve seen hooves flake before, but have never really known the cause of the flaking. However, I have gotten rid of the condition twice before - once with iodine and once with bleach (not full strength - dilute with water).
Just spread it over the hoof every day for a few weeks. It will kill the bacteria and dry the hoof out, which is what you want. Not sure where you live, but since you have a bbc.com email address, I’m betting you like in the UK where it rains a lot. Keeping your horses’ hooves totally dry may not be feasible, but you’ll have to do the best you can, especially if they live outside all the time.
Give that a try to for a few weeks. If it doesn’t work, ping me back here.
Sierra
Sierra is right.
Hello Sierra
My horses were stranded in a valley on the other side of an impasable river in Costa Rica. When I got them out and back at home, two of them had developed thrush and laminitis. Both have horizontal cracks near now about 1 inch below the band. Its been two months of treatments and abscesses have burst and treated. My farrier put shoes on this week and both are walking with an almost unnoticable limp. My farrier says they can and should be ridden a little each day.
Heres my concern and questions.
For Novia the mare:
One of her soles has lifted but not detached fully. The farrier put shoes on and you can’t see any seperation. It looks normal. If I ride her on dirt road with some unavoidable little rocks and on the beach, can rocks work themselves into the hoof? If so, could I ride her about one hour a day with a inner tube boot? Or are there other reason I shouldnt ride her?
Novio the gelding:
One of his hooves abscessed and drained at the toe and the band. His hoof sounds hollow almost all the way around and the farrier says he will be ok and to go ahead and ride him some everyday. He cut a small hole at the toe, though it had already drained fully 10 days ago and kept clean. (to clean out the rotted material left inside.) He recommended putting kerosene in the two horses hooves twice a week for a month. Somehow that seemed too harsh and toxic. Remember I am in Costa Rica and the horse people here are not real conscious about thier horses. What is your opinion? I have not done this yet.
He says that I don’t need to cover the hoof when I ride. That rocks won’t get lodge in it causing another abscess. It doesn’t make sense to me. I walked him on the dirt road for about half hour. there were no rocks or even dirt in the hole afterwards. What is your opinion?
I hope you will respond to me. No one else has yet and beginning to think trying to get help online is hopeless. If you respond on your site please email me so I can go there and view your comments.
Warm Regards,
Seaira