Arizona Hoof Rehab

Picture of a wild horse hoof. 

We use to believe that the purpose of the frog was to pump blood, and that the purpose of the wall was to protect the inner structures and to bear weight. After many dissections and experiments by Dr. Pollit, Dr. Bowker and Pete Ramey, we now know that we were almost right, but not quite.  

When the hoof lands on the ground, in the natural environment, the first part that touches the ground is the frog. When this frog is big and healthy, it absorbs the shock of landing. As the hoof continues to roll onto the ground, the weight bearing surfaces take over. The weight bearing surfaces are the calloused ridge and the heels. At this point the hoof expands, by quite a bit, and with that expansion blood is drawn into the hoof, similar to the expansion of our lungs when we suck in air. Then, as the hoof lifts with its last push on the toe, the walls contract(squeeze), shooting blood back up into the leg. For this reason, the old practices of making the frog passive and rasping away any of the wall should be strictly prohibited.  Rasping away the wall to make it appear healthier only weakens the wall and the force from the contraction is weakened.  These ground breaking studies are changing the way we look at equine feet. (Ramey 2007)

If you are rasping the depth of the wall, stop immediately. All flares are grown from the inside out. If you rasp away a flare from the outside you are only making the hoof "appear" to be healthier, but are not addressing the cause, which is likely to be metabolic.

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 Sample of what NOT to do.

Here is a common example of a foot whose wall is being rasped and thinned. Note how the hoof curves down? If this shoe is removed this horses wall would likely fall apart due to being rasped so thin. This horse would not normally have weak walls, but the farrier has thinned the walls so much that they will not hold up on their own without the shoes. 

Here is another good example of what not to do. There is no good reason to rasp the wall like this.

COFFIN BONES 

These Pics of coffin bones are compliments of Cheryl Henderson. As you see here there are all shapes and sizes. All coffin bones are not alike. The sole grows around the shape of the coffin bone, and to adapt to its environment. If we start carving the same shape into every horse as the old farrier text books suggest, we are causing harm.  

If we start carving concavity without knowing whether or not the coffin bone is flat or concave, we could also bring the coffin bone too close to the ground and cause damage. It is important to allow the sole to grow without our interference. If we measure the collateral grooves and stay withing the limits suggested at the workshops, we will not interfere with the horses sole growth. So, if someone is carving into your horses sole, stop them because damage is about to be done! It is an old custom that is more harmful than good. There is no benefit to carving out the sole unless removing abscess or thrush material.  A nice thick calloused sole protects the horse from abscesses and coffin bone damage. That is why the horse grows it! Please do not force concavity by carving into the sole.

Stories of unhealthy Feet

This is a mustang in shoes. Just look at the shape of this foot!!!

Does this look good to you? This horse is supposedly in rehab for ring bone(a horse persons term for arthritis) and is under veterinary and farrier care.

 This horse has been lame for years and is worse each time I see her. 
Notice there is no support at all at the back of the foot...you can see how the foot is trying to grow(look at the top whiter portion that has not been rasped) until the human intervention completely changes its shape. The farrier has put all weight on the walls at the toe and quarters, and is trying to grow high heels....which has resulted in under run heels. (imagine  how you would feel if you had steel high heels that were never removed. Would you be lame?)

This farrier is trying to stand the horse up and take weight off the heel to relieve ring bone pain. The hoof wall has been rasped to this ridiculous shape.

The farriers attempt to relieve pain has not worked, and this horse remains lame.  Why do they keep doing what isnt working?

In addition to thinning the walls, and causing under run heels, the farrier has carved away the shock absorbing frog and the callous of the sole. Without a thick calloused sole, this horse is feeling every rock... and this horse is being kept in a rocky pasture. I actually shed a tear when I saw this poor horse trying to walk. I had to spend three days at this facility and it about killed me to not take over and fix this mess. Horses abscess easily when the callous of the soles are carved away.