The hoof, foot care and shoeing

“No foot, no horse,” as the old saying goes. The horse’s whole weight rests on four hooves that absorb every stride: knowing their parts means being able to say exactly what is wrong.

In the exam programme

Name and locate the parts of the hoof.Common module B
Explain why hoof care and shoeing matter.Common module B

The foot is the end of the leg; the hoof is its horny casing, hard but slightly flexible, which protects the living parts inside — as our nails protect our fingertips. The foot has three jobs: it carries the horse’s weight, it absorbs the shocks and it helps with propulsion.

Coronet band
Periople
Toe
Toe quarter
Quarter
Heel
Wall
White line
Sole
Frog
Collateral and central grooves
Bars
Heel bulbs

Fig. 3.5The hoof in profile and from below

The hoof on the ground

Coronet: The band just above the hoof, where the hair stops. This is where the horn of the wall is made, and it grows downwards from there.
Periople: A thin band of soft, shiny horn just below the coronet; it stops the wall drying out.
Wall: All of the hoof you can see when the foot is on the ground. From front to back it is divided into the toe, the toe quarters, the quarters and the heels.

The underside of the foot

Sole: A slightly concave plate of horn that protects the underside of the foot.
Frog: Softer, V-shaped horn, point to the front; it touches the ground at every stride and helps absorb the shock.
Clefts: The grooves on each side of the frog (the side clefts) and down its middle (the central cleft). This is where earth and stones lodge.
Bars: Folds of the wall that start at the heels and run forward alongside the frog.
White line: The join between the wall and the sole. It is the farrier’s guide for placing the nails.
Bulbs of the heel: The soft swellings that finish off the heels, at the back of the foot.

Remember

The wall, from front to back: toe, toe quarters, quarters, heels. Underneath: sole, frog, clefts, bars, white line. At the back: the bulbs of the heel. At the top: the coronet and the periople.

Why the feet need care

Horn grows all the time, about a centimetre a month depending on the horse: it takes nearly a year for the wall to renew itself completely. In the wild, wear makes up for growth. In work and in the stable it no longer does: a foot that is too long loses its shape and strains the tendons, horn that is too dry cracks, horn that is too wet goes soft and the frog suffers. Hence the daily care — picking out before and after work, washing, oiling — and regular visits from a professional.

Trimming: the farrier, or a trimmer, removes the excess horn and rebalances the foot. Every foot needs trimming regularly, shod or not.
Shoeing: a shoe, usually of steel, is fixed under the wall with nails. It protects the horn from wearing too fast in work and on hard or abrasive ground; it can also correct the way the foot lands. Many horses do very well barefoot, trimmed regularly.
How often: on average 45 to 60 days between two shoeings for a riding horse, adjusted to its work and to how fast its horn grows.

Tip

When you pick out the feet, check the shoes: a shoe that moves or clanks on the ground, a missing nail, a clench — the tip of the nail folded over onto the wall — that has risen, a worn shoe, or horn growing over the shoe. Report it before you ride: a shoe that is torn off can damage the foot.

At Galop 6 you will see how a shoe is made and how the farrier works, step by step.

Ekidemy

The Galops^®, from the first step to Galop 7