I created the following image to compare horse and human ages some years ago, after reading the results of a study in Equus magazine. I updated it a bit, and thought I’d share it with you. It features one of my favorite photos of my first Peruvian Paso – Misionero – always known as ‘Spud.’ I didn’t give him the nickname, and have always assumed it was because he was red and round. Print him out, hang him up in the barn, and pass him along to your friends!
Category: Uncategorized
Last week was an interesting week in the “chips” department, beginning with the client, whose horse I’d trimmed only twice before, who called to cancel her appointment because her horse had chips in his hooves, and, therefore, needed to get him shod. “We tried,” she said, “but it’s just not working out.”
A day or so later, I was at a barn trimming a couple of horses while a young man intently scrutinized my work as the owners held their horses and commented on their happiness with the hoof care. “I don’t know,” he remarked. “It looks to me like that one hoof has a bit of a chip in it.”
Where does the notion that a chip in a hoof means anything more than excessive length come from? Is it because when a horse wears shoes, their hooves can’t chip because the bearing surface of the hoof wall is covered, so owners are used to seeing cosmetically “perfect” hooves (note that I’m blatantly ignoring the damage caused to the hoof by nails)? Or does it stem from an even deeper level still – some weird anthropomorphism where we equate a chipped fingernail with a chipped hoof? I honestly don’t know. I do know that people fuss about them – a lot. I even have new clients who want me to fill the chips caused by the nail damage (which I won’t do). What I DO know is the following –
- I’ve never seen a hoof chip that involved live tissue – no bleeding, no fluid, no nothing
- I’ve never seen a lameness, or even a mild sensitivity, caused by a hoof chip
- I’ve never seen a hoof chip that was attributable to anything other than excessive length, with the exception of those that were the consequence of damage caused by nails
Until a horse receives proper hoof care – whether it’s an already-barefoot horse who up ’til now has only been getting the typical “pasture trim”, or a horse that’s wearing shoes, their hooves will nearly always be softer and less dense than those same hooves would be after a year of proper care (which includes correct nutrition and adequate exercise/turnout – trimming alone does not guarantee good hoof quality, just as merely being without shoes does not equate to proper hoof function). Once proper care has begun, there will still be a period during which their hooves will be more prone to chipping. After that time, most hooves hold up remarkably well; in fact, it’s pretty common for me to see a client horse with absolutely pristine-looking hooves, until you pick them up and see they need 3/8″ trimmed off!
Remember – with respect to his feet, a horse cares only about comfortable and efficient movement. That means the hoof needs to be as short as possible (without invading any live tissue, because that violates the “comfortable” part of the equation) with well-rounded edges. If there is any excessive length, which includes a sharp “edge” on the wall, the hoof will always attempt to self-trim, given sufficiently-abrasive terrain. So the only thing you should be thinking when you see chipped hooves is that it’s time for a trim!
There’s nothing wrong…really!
This is an especially exciting and important post for me. Last April, while in Warrenton, MO to do my Special Topics/Advanced Trimming workshop for Liberated Horsemanship, we all had the privilege of hearing Dr. Don Walsh of the Animal Health Foundation give a presentation on a very real and very serious threat to our horses – laminitis. In fact, I was surprised and dismayed to learn that complications due to laminitis make it the Number 2 killer of horses.
If you’ve never had the experience of seeing a laminitic or foundered horse, consider yourself fortunate. Seeing these beautiful creatures in constant pain, often recumbent and very discouraged, is the most heartbreaking type of situation I routinely encounter. The only “saving grace” for me is the very substantial difference in comfort and recovery proper hoof care (not, I hasten to say, the hoof care methods advocated by nearly every vet and farrier) can make in the lives of these horses, and watching them start to move with considerably less difficulty and pain is extremely rewarding. But, as Dr. Walsh pointed out, like so many other maladies affecting both humans and animals, the key to success lies in prevention. And prevention, in turn, requires education and awareness. To that end, Dr. Walsh has developed a risk assessment tool that uses five (5) lifestyle and management factors he and his researchers have identified as reliable indicators of the likelihood of a horse developing laminitis. And while the calorie calculations for the diet part of the assessment aren’t particularly difficult to perform, I felt the entire process could be greatly simplified by developing an MS Excel workbook that would enable every horse owner to get a better handle on these risk factors. The workbook is extremely easy to use, and incorporates calorie information from over 100 commercial feeds. Answering just a few simple questions will allow the horse owner to not only assess the risk for laminitis, but also better understand the real dietary needs of his/her horse.
Follow the link below, and download the appropriate MS Excel file to your computer. There are two versions under the link – a 2007 version for the typical newer PC, and a 97-2003 version for the Mac and older versions of MS Excel. Rather than opening the file directly in MS Excel, I recommend you first Save the file to your computer or flash drive, and then Open it from the saved location. There are no macros in it, but I’ve protected it to ensure no corruption of the data or formulas, which is why it won’t open directly within the browser. Feel free to copy it and share it with every horse owner you know. Awareness starts with you. Spread the word. Save some horses. But, most importantly, use it yourself. Remember: it’s not about you – it’s about your horse.
I especially want to thank Dr. Walsh for providing the commercial feed data – it really helped make the workbook easier to use. And mostly I want to thank him for his seemingly tireless dedication to eradicating laminitis. Visit his site, and, if you agree, please consider making a donation…
And I welcome any comments or suggestions you may have on how the workbook could be improved.
This isn’t really an equine-related post, but one of the wonderful things about dating the very talented designer Annie Selke is her willingness to help where I fall short – in this case, her way-over-50% input on the redesign of the Enlightened Equine blog header, featuring a photo of my beloved Andero. I love the new look, and I very much appreciate her contributions!
And stay tuned for more changes…among other things, a website is on the way!
I certainly wasn’t thinking of a comparison when I took some photos of a client’s hooves the other day. As a product designer, I’m admittedly drawn to the form of a well-functioning hoof, and this older Warmblood has great feet! But as I was cropping the photos, I came across some pictures I’d taken years ago of one of Jaime Jackson’s mustang hooves, and the similarity between the two really struck me. So here they are, with the large hooves of the client on the left and the relatively small hooves of the feral horse on the right. Beautiful!