Lovable Friends » Tutorial: How To Take Care Of Your Horse’s Hooves

Tutorial: How To Take Care Of Your Horse’s Hooves

Please Share This Page:

Tutorial: How To Take Care Of Your Horse's Hooves

Photo – © Alexia Khruscheva – Fotolia.com

We found a great article on horse hoof care. The link is after our commentary.

No horse – even of the most impressive durability, resilience, and speed – can canter across the plain without strong hooves at its disposal. The hooves, along with the limbs, bear the horse’s whole weight, and that’s only a portion of the story about how important hooves are to equines. With all the strains placed on horses’ hooves in sports and endurance riding and with all the rough man-made surfaces each horse has to run on – not to mention an added weight from the rider – hooves need great attention and care to maintain their condition.

Hooves are coverings that act as the horse’s protection to its legs, shielding the sensitive internal parts from external harm. Sheets of keratin, the same protein that composes our nails and hair, are layered in hooves to add more strength and to limit any damage in the event of a crack. The “frog”, an elastic horny pad growing in the sole, functions as a grip tool and as a shock absorber when the hoof hits the ground.

While many noteworthy horse owners dutifully understand the benefits of hoof care, still quite a number mistakenly regard it as a time-consuming and trivial addition to horse daily management. Because it is tough work, each hoof understandably needs all the help it can get with respect to cleaning. Dirt, manure, and even small stones and sticks can lodged in the underside of the hooves or grooves of the frog. This can result in bruising or discomfort when walking.

Besides cleaning, horse owners should also look into a variety of factors that affect hoof health, such as nutrition and exercise. Consider giving hoof supplements that contain vitamins and minerals. These may encourage the growth of keratin, which composes your horse’s hooves. Inspecting for wounds, cuts, and injury are vital to hoof care as well.

For a detailed discussion on hoof care, check out this link: http://www.itsmypony.com/horse-care/hooves