Jenny Edwards at www.all-natural-horse-care.com has some really great barefoot and natural hoof care information. There are pictures and diagrams to help you with knowing all the different parts of a hoof. Knowing about your horses hooves and how they should look (which is usually very different to the hooves we are used to seeing shod!) is very important for any horse owner, as the horses hooves are your responsibility. As with anything, just becasue you are paying someone for a professional service does not mean you should not question it if you are unsure or unhappy about their work. The more you know about your horses hooves, the better you will be able to help your horse and your farrier or trimmer by understanding what they tell you about maintainence or special treatments you need to do between professional trims. Once of the wonderful (and scary at first!) things about taking your horse barefoot is the sense of responsibility you feel for your horses hooves. In reality this shoudl be felt by every horse owner, but we tend to be brough up around horses accepting that a 'farrier looks after the hooves' yet how can someone who is only paid to visit once evrery 6 weeks really be held responsible if the hoof deteriorates (unless it is due to the shoeing method of course!)? Bare hooves allow you to see exactly what is happening to the hoof, no shoe to cover up white line disease or grit in the white line for example. Well kept bare hooves are not only a joy to look at, but very low mainainence, no worries about wet and dry hooves cracking around nail holes, lost shoes or lameness due to thrush or white line issues so a little knowledge is a valuable thing!


Barefoot HoofBelow are some barefoot hoof diagrams to give you an idea of what the shape of the "ideal" hoof should look like. The parts of the hoof are labeled for reference.
Note: Healthy hooves can vary depending on the environment the horse is living in and the terrain they regularly encounter.

Sole View of a Front Hoof

Note the following points

• Wide, fat frog.
• Tight white line.
• Strong, thick hoof walls - with the inner wall being thicker.
• Bars end approximately halfway down the frog.
• The heel buttresses are back towards the rear of the frog.
• The hoof ratio is 65:35 (from the rear of the hoof to the widest point; and from the widest point to the break over).

Sole View of Rear Hoof

The rear hoof is more oblong in shape and has a slightly pointed toe compared to the front hoof. This is because the rear hooves are used to propel the horse forward and so the point helps the hoof dig into the ground to provide more push.

Side View of the Hoof

Weightbearing - The True Role of the Wall And SoleContrary to popular belief, the hoof wall should not be the only structure to bear the weight of the horse. This is called peripheral loading and it puts way too much stress on the laminar connection and has a dramatic effect on the blood supply to the hoof. Dr Robert Bowker VMD, PhD recently did research on this and found that on a:

• Correctly trimmed Bare foot: blood flow continues between heartbeats
• Shod foot: blood stops between heartbeats and blood does not reach small blood vessels.
• Laminitic foot: blood stops and backs up between heartbeats

The diagrams below show how the hoof should be trimmed (images on right hand side of box) so that both the wall and the sole bear weight.



 
The use of EasyCare Comfort Pads in your EasyCare boots will ensure that the hooves are not being peripheral loaded. Easycare hoof pads come in three densities...soft (green), medium (black) and firm (red). The thicknesses are 12mm (1/2") or 6mm (1/4"). The Easyboot Glove boots will only accomodate the 6mm pads so the close fit is not compromised. Medium is the usual density recommended, soft are good for sore horses and hard for hooves that need lifting in the boots.

Karen and Looey Triumph in Gloves at Wirral

Karen Corr and Bond Hardman are Trelawne Equines sponsored riders for 2010, and have had a less than ideal start to their competitive year! With so much bad weather preventing fittening work, followed by both horse and rider injury things have been tough for the team. Looeys feet have been changing shape over the past few months, and Karen initially had problems with the gaiters on the gloves being too large and causing rubbing. With the better weather, gradually fittening horse and rider and the new glove gaiter Karen was pleased to report a fantastic ride at Wirral last weekend.

Karen writes "We used the smaller boots with power straps. I hardly ever looked down to check they were still there since I was confident we'd got the fit right. The new gaiters which were on his hind feet, worked well too. I rode with some one who used to ride barefoot but didn't succeed - this was pre-glove days. However she was really interested in how we were getting on and rode with me for a lot of the 2nd loop, think she'll try again after this season's over."

Karens experience shows how it is so important to achieve a correct fit, and that often going down 1/2 a size in a glove will give a really secure fit.

The Ever Changing Hoof!

We all know the importance of fitting hoof boots correctly, more than once we have we read the phrase on Easycare's blog and website 'The single most important factor when fitting a hoof boot is fit!' Here at Trelawne Equine we wholeheartedly agree that fit is vital to the success of any hoof boot and the first thing we tell any new customer. We also feel it is also very important for horse owners to understand that the hoof capsule is a very adaptable part of the horse and as such can change over time. If you have been using a set of hoof boots for a few months with great success, and then experience a boot failure, the first thing you should consider is 'have my horses hooves changed?' Hoof boot failure is almost always due to incorrect fit or size, and as the hoof is liable to change due to a change in management or stimulus the first course of action should be to trim and remeasure the hooves.

It is always a good idea to make a note of your horses hooves as a future reference, by taking photos and measurements periodically. This also serves as a handy record if you encounter a problem as you can look back and see if anything has changed. There are a number of factors that can effect your horses hooves including diet, exercise, ground conditions, style and frequency of trim for example. Something as simple as changing your hoof care professional or months of dry weather after a prolonged period of wet weather (as is being experience here in the UK right now!) can cause the hoof capsule to adapt to the new conditions. This has the potential to change the dimensions of the hoof by just a few mm, enough to cause the usually superbly fitting boots to now be a little big or small and thus compromise the fit.

In most cases you will never know your horses hooves have changed and your boots will continue to perform as well as they always have, but if the change is big enough to compromise the fit of your horses current boots you would be best to change. Don't forget that Easycare Hoof Boots are so popular that if you do need to buy a different size for your horse your used boots will command quite a high price second hand, so don't just dispose of them! If you are in any doubt as to the continuing suitability of your boots, do email or give us a ring with the current hoof boots and your horses measurements and we can advise if a different size or style would be more appropriate.