by
Marcia King
Bad
hooves don’t just happen - they’re made. Through ignorance, poor farm
management, and out-dated advice, many horse owners contribute to the
conditions that can lead to thin, weak walls and cracked, chipped hooves. While
experts disagree on whether genetics is a factor in weak-hooved horses, they do
agree that for a large percentage of horses, these problems don’t have to
happen. Here’s how to avoid these maladies - and how to treat them if they
occur.
The
hoof is designed to be moist on the inside and to have a hard, dry wall on the
outside. Although it was once thought that external moisture enhanced hoof
quality, that thinking is now reversed: too much external moisture actually
softens and weakens hoof walls.
The
most common sources of excess moisture are urine in the stall; mud baths, muddy
areas around the water trough in the pasture or paddock, and standing for hours
in dewy pastures.
Urine
exposure is the worst, as ammonia can dissolve the hoof wall. This is
completely avoidable, however, by air-drying the stall daily. Those who board
should check for puddles and moisture beneath the bedding; if the surface is
damp use a stall mat to get the horse up and off the wet floor.
Mud
baths, once considered therapeutic for problem soften hoof walls, it can also
lead to flares and sometimes bacterial wall infections. The same can be said
for muddy water that puddles around the water bucket or water trough.
In
addition, dry, desert areas, where a horse exposes himself to a cycle of
excessive moisture and dryness, creates an environment that can cause vertical
cracks in the hooves and shoes to loosen and pull off. Keep horses out of the
mud by building up the low areas where puddles form, or by digging run-off
trenches to drain turnout areas.
As
for the daily-washed horses and those in dewy pastures, let common sense
prevail. Cut back on the bathing; give your horse a good grooming and/or wipe
him down with a damp sponge instead, while avoiding soaking his hooves. Arrange
turnouts later in the day when the dew has burned off.
For
horses whose hooves have already softened because of excessive moisture, a few
days of dry footing should produce improvement. In addition, some experts
recommend using hoof dressings, turpentine, or hoof hardeners on the sole to
prevent excessive moisture from getting into the hoof.
Some
of the best hooves are found on desert horses. However, too much dryness,
especially when combined with the rock-hard ground that extreme heat sometimes
produces, can cause hooves to become overly dry. When this happens, the hoof
gets hard, can get brittle and develop quarter cracks and can break or shatter
when trimmed during the shoeing process.
To
ease the effects of excessive heat and dryness, seal the wall with a hoof
toughening product, paint the coronary band with a lanolin-based product, or
have the horse wear a bit of sheepskin and a lanolin-based product beneath a
bell boot.
Don’t
use petroleum-based products, motor oil, or bacon grease; they can trap
horn-digesting bacteria in the hoof wall.
For
those who can afford it, a misting system in the barn to raise the humidity
slightly can be really helpful; note that the mist is sprayed into the air, not
onto the horse or its feet.
Studies
show that a well-balanced diet with sufficient amounts of vitamins (especially
vitamin A), minerals, and amino acids is essential for strong, healthy hooves.
Often,
good pasturage and hay contains all the necessary elements a horse needs. But
when they don’t, a vitamin supplement can replace the deficiencies.
In
some parts of the country, selenium is lacking in pasturage, and this, too, can
contribute to poor hooves; the frog can turn yellow. Again, the solution is
supplementation of the selenium. Be careful, though, before putting a horse on
supplements: seek the advice of your veterinarian or nutritionist first, as too
much selenium can actually cause a horse to slough a hoof while excess vitamin
A can lead to brittle hooves.
Although
the use of gelatin as a nutritional/hoof supplement was once considered
beneficial, a study done by Dr. Doug Butler, farrier and former instructor at
Colorado State University, found that gelatin does not help hooves at all. In
fact, in great amounts, can actually have an adverse effect on hoof quality.
Additionally,
while the benefits of biotin and DL-methionine are highly touted, most horses
are not deficient in either. In fact, researchers studying the effects of
biotin supplementation found that horses made their own biotin in such
sufficient quality that the researchers couldn’t even make the horses
biotin-deficient. However, for those few horses that are deficient,
supplementation does help.
Probably
the biggest cause of weak hooves is irregular and infrequent shoeing. For most
normal horses, shoeing intervals should never stretch beyond six or eight
weeks. At lengthier intervals, the toe lengths become too long and the shoes
slide up underneath, with the result that the heels no longer have proper
support. This produces abnormal stresses on the walls, which can cause cracks,
breakage and loss of the shoe.
By
maintaining adequate nutrition, a proper environment, and routine farrier care,
you’ll go a long way to making sure your horse’s hooves stay healthy and
strong.
New Research: Preventing Hoof Cracks in horses through Computer Modelling
by
Anna Tremblay, M.Sc.
The
farrier is trimming your horse’s hooves and you both notice the cracks in the
hoof wall. You ask your farrier, “What
causes these cracks?” and he answers with “It’s too dry this year”, “It’s been
wet”, “Aren’t you feeding him that supplement?” or any number of reasons. Now you have to fix the damage. Wouldn’t it be better to know if your horse
is at risk of having hoof cracks before it happens? With this ability, you can reduce your worry about lameness and
the costs of repairing the damage.
Many
different reasons are attributed to causing hoof cracks, making it difficult to
correct with any specific treatment.
Ideally, matching the treatment to the imbalance in the horse’s
lifestyle leading to cracked hooves is the goal of the Horse Hoof Cracks
Research Project. Researchers began by developing a modelling method to
estimate a horse’s risk level of developing cracks in its hooves under its
present living conditions. This
management tool could suggest which variables in the horse’s environment and
nutrition to adjust. For example, the
model might indicate better results if supplements were added to the horse’s
diet rather than changing the bedding material in the stall, or perhaps hoof
conditioning ointment is the way to go.
Thus, the owner can put the money and effort into the product or
activity that will best prevent cracks from appearing.
The
pilot study for the Horse Hoof Cracks Research Project was based on a
comprehensive survey questionnaire asking the owner/manager and the farrier
about nutrition, living and exercise areas, activities, medical histories,
farrier care and known relatives. The
results from one hundred horses were modelled by an innovative method called
Artificial Neural Networks. These are
computer simulations that, without assuming the cause and effect, can predict
what will happen. The model was then tested with similar and “never-seen” data
from ten new horses to predict the degree of hoof cracking for those ten.
The
following collection of input data have yielded the best results for predicting
horse hoof cracks: movement vice (weaving, pawing), time spent in a stall or in
a field in summer, bedding type, footing type in exercise/work areas and in
fields/paddocks, whether or not hoof conditioner is applied, and specialty
feeds (like beet pulp). Their effects
are compounded, so it is not known which have a positive influence and which
negative. Research is continuing.
This
research project has been sponsored by the University of Guelph, with
additional support from Henry Equestrian Insurance Brokers, Ltd., Life Data
Labs, Inc., Jim Lewis Agri-Nutrition (1984), Inc., Equi-tread, Top Fit Canada
Supplementary Feeds, Ltd., W. Charlot Farms, Ltd., W. F. Young, Inc.,
Enviro-Bed, Inc., and Mill Creek Stables.
Hoof
cracks can be very complex. They are seen in varying degrees of severity,
different locations, depths, lengths and origins. Their effect on the horse can
be non-existent to crippling and they can originate from a myriad of sources,
some very apparent, and others very obscure. It is important to remember the
old saying, “No foot, no horse” when considering hoof cracks because they can
seriously affect the usefulness of a horse. Durable, sturdy feet should be a
top concern for horse owners and should be considered as important as other
conformation standards.
Hoof
cracks can be found at the toe, quarter, heel or bar and originate from either
the coronary band or at ground level. Superficial cracks are usually not
debilitating. However, should the crack penetrate the hoof wall to the
sensitive inner structures the damage could be serious, causing severe pain and
lameness.
Most
hoof cracks are superficial and can be repaired easily through consultation
with a farrier and careful care and management. Preventing excess moisture or
dryness, and balancing the hoof, is the key to solving most superficial hoof
crack problems. More serious afflictions will demand the attention of a farrier
to find a method to stop the crack from progressing.