What Shape are My Horse’s Feet In?
With consistent, proper care farriers and horse owners can manage most hoof types, and horses can function successfully in their designated capacities.
Category: Hoof Care
Hooves Helping Joints
Our goal is to keep these joints comfortable.
The ‘Creaky’ Performance Horse
Years of training and many miles in the show ring mean these horses need a little extra TLC to stay sound. Depending on the horse and the discipline, that might mean more time warming up or periodic joint injections when he starts to have a hitch in his giddyup.
Screen for Stifle Osteochondrosis With Ultrasonography
Did you know that tiny pieces of bone and cartilage, some smaller than the size of a coin, can turn a racehorse or a sport horse from a serious contender to an injured athlete with a lengthy recovery time?
How the Horse in Motion Relates to Trimming and Shoeing
Farriers must understand biomechanics and the forces at work in a horse’s hooves to best make appropriate trimming and shoeing decisions.
Soft Tissue Injuries of the Western Performance Horse’s Foot
Vern Dryden, DVM, CJF, of Bur Oak Veterinary and Podiatry Services, in Lexington, Kentucky, and Brian Beasley, DVM, CJF, from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, in Athens, led the conversation.
The Frustrations of White Line Disease
The term white line disease is actually a misnomer; the white line (the soft, fibrous inner layer of the hoof wall) itself is not affected. Rather, the infection takes hold in the area just in front of the epidermal laminae (the sensitive tissues that attach to the hoof wall and help suspend the coffin bone within the hoof capsule).
Hoof Abscesses in Horses
Yesterday your horse was perfectly sound, but today he won’t touch one foot to the ground.
Equine Thermography
Thermography presents a noninvasive, safe, and cost-effective diagnostic imaging modality (on average, $350 for a whole horse scan and interpretation) that is a valuable complementary tool in equine health care.
Veterinarians: Manage Feet for Function
Because 90% of front-end lameness in horses occurs in the foot, hoof-related issues continue to be a hot topic in veterinary medicine
Helpful Tips on Caring for Senior Horses This Winter
Even if your senior has weathered previous winters without trouble, these tips can help you ensure he’s getting the care he needs and deserves.
Hoof Anatomy, Part 2: Outer Structures
Many horse owners go their whole lives caring for horses’ hooves with little knowledge of the hoof capsules’ inner workings
Treating Suspensory Injuries with Fetlock Support Shoes
Veterinarians and farriers apply a wide variety of horseshoes to treat the plethora of hoof problems that come our horses’ way, not to mention issues farther up the limb.
Thoroughbred Hoof Care: Foal to Racehorse to Sport Horse
Thoroughbreds are born to run. But to satisfy this need for speed, the horse must have a strong foundation on which to gallop—we’re talking about his hooves. Read complete article
Equine Lameness 101
With the Chinese New Year beginning on Jan. 31, it is time we recognize the New Year’s Chinese Zodiac: the horse, symbolizing character traits such as intelligence, energy, and strength.