Navicular disease affects the front feet of horses causing a low grade bilateral lameness, that usually progresses slowly. The lameness might only occur from time to time or when the horse is exercised on hard ground or in a small circle. What structures are involved with navicular disease? Navicular syndrome Read more…
Start by holding the lead rope under your horse’s chin, and then gently apply forward pressure. Keep the pressure consistent until he make a forward movement. As soon as he steps forward, release the pressure completely. Repeat this again and again until he moves as soon as you apply forward Read more…
approximately 3/4”. A horse should have approximately 3/4” thick soles to move comfortably across most terrain without extra protection from shoes or hoof boots. Do horses feel pain in their hooves? Like human nails, horse hooves themselves do not contain any pain receptors, so nailing a shoe into a hoof Read more…
You will know all too well that you have a thin soled horse when it insistently steers itself away from hard or stony ground. Likewise, when the ground goes from soft to hard, its stride will noticeably shorten and flatten. When a hoof is upturned, the sole will flex under Read more…
Landing toe first increases the likelihood that the horse will develop things like navicular disease, tendon and ligament injuries, and results in increased tension throughout the body. What does it mean when a horse lands toe first? A toe-first landing is when your horse first touches the ground with the Read more…
A horse should have roughly a 50-degree angle of the front wall of the hoof to the ground. The angle of the hoof should match the angle of the dorsal surface of the pastern. What do good horse feet look like? Healthy hooves will have STRONG HEELS and bars and Read more…
Horses kept in very wet environments may develop spreading or flaring hooves. Over time the distal phalanx bone or coffin bone in neglected feet remodels and the sole becomes flat. What is a dropped sole on a horse? “Flat-footed” or “dropped sole” refers to a sole that lacks the normal Read more…
“False Sole” can occur for various reasons, and it sits in place over the live material, hence the name. When cleaning out or trimming your horse’s feet, you may see a sole that looks alive, and the horse is walking around on it, but the visual aspect is dull in Read more…
Conclusion. Horseshoeing is often considered to be cruel and painful, but the truth is that horseshoes are placed on parts of their hooves without nerves. This means they do not feel pain during either application or removal – if done right! Does it hurt horses when you put shoes on Read more…
keep them stabled – sometimes the reason your horse is lame is unclear. If this is the case, then keeping them stabled until they can be looked at by your vet will keep them from causing more damage to themselves. Should you box rest a lame horse? Box Rest – Read more…