A Universal Standard For a Healthy Hoof – Can We Make One That Will Work?

[Guilherme]

@Klaus Karbaumer

I do not think attacking a person for their views is a good idea in a forum like this instead we should try to reasonably come to common understanding by discussing the issues. People tend to be defensive when their practices or their horses are criticized and that very human tendency can affect their judgment on what others say. While it is certainly true that not every shoe fits all sizes (not to avoid a pun), on the other hand certain ways of shoeing (and in this case also a trimming) can cause discomfort. That is what those of us who are critical of certain practices are trying to convey. here. Most easily to observe is when the angle of pastern and hoof is broken or when hooves are either too steep, have no heels or too much, or too flat. It just is not true that every breeding results in acceptable conformation and therefore breeders, judges and owners have to develop an eye for what is okay. The farrier’s job is to make it easy for the horse to move in comfort, not to help owners indulge in fads (see my second sentence!!). I may rile some here, but my son who has been shoeing for well of 20 years says that it is easier shoeing European horses than American ones because generally the former ones have better feet. The reason for that may well be, that ,I can say that at least for Germany, breeding associations and show judges are stricter with the feet and do not let people’s whims get in the way with their judgment.
The US is country number one within the advanced countries when it comes to the ratio of horse per inhabitants, but that does not mean that all that is done here should be supported.

I would concur in general. You trim the horse to anatomical correctness* and protect the trim with a shoe, if required. But even in this there can be deviations from strict compliance with the anatomical correctness standard if the environment in which the horse kept requires same. In terms of differential climates in Germany the “delta” will be pretty small. In North America you can go from the Arctic to the near Equatorial, and from tropical rain forest to desert. Within such a wide range of environments there can be a fairly wide range of potential practices. The danger comes when someone decides that the rules appropriate to their local circumstances are really Rules of the Universe and demand that everyone follow them at all times, everywhere. The “barefoot” folks are particularly bad about this.

You have to care for and ride the horse in front of you, not the one in a book, video, or movie. You CAN define standards within broad guidelines but you still have deal with what you have, not what you wish you had. Or “identify” that you have.

G.

*By “anatomical correctness” I mean the conformation of the horse you’re working with, not a “perfect” horse. I like your statement, “The farrier’s job is to make it easy for the horse to move in comfort, not to help owners indulge in fads (see my second sentence!!).” It sums up the matter rather well.

[JB]

@Guilherme

I would concur in general. You trim the horse to anatomical correctness* and protect the trim with a shoe, if required. But even in this there can be deviations from strict compliance with the anatomical correctness standard if the environment in which the horse kept requires same.

I wanted everything in context, but the bold is what I’m asking the question about:

How does environment allow for deviations in “anatomical correctness”? How does the desert foot differ, in terms of correctness, from the beach foot? The HPA still needs to align. There should still be no appreciable dishing/flaring in the foot. The heels shouldn’t be obscenely tall, or grossly underrun

IMHO, the underside of the foot will look the most different, as bars and wall height might need to vary based on the terrain the horse lives and works on. But none of that should be so varied as to cause the obvious deformities on the exterior of the foot. One could split hairs and take issue with having to differentiate between poorly skilled farriers/trimmers, and purposeful deformation, but that shouldn’t matter in the end - if your farrier is so bad he produces feet so obviously deformed, your horse should have points docked or flat out be eliminated.

So I’m just curious, what do you mean by deviations that are acceptable?

In terms of differential climates in Germany the “delta” will be pretty small. In North America you can go from the Arctic to the near Equatorial, and from tropical rain forest to desert. Within such a wide range of environments there can be a fairly wide range of potential practices. The danger comes when someone decides that the rules appropriate to their local circumstances are really Rules of the Universe and demand that everyone follow them at all times, everywhere. The “barefoot” folks are particularly bad about this.

You have to care for and ride the horse in front of you, not the one in a book, video, or movie. You CAN define standards within broad guidelines but you still have deal with what you have, not what you wish you had. Or “identify” that you have.

G.

*By “anatomical correctness” I mean the conformation of the horse you’re working with, not a “perfect” horse. I like your statement, “The farrier’s job is to make it easy for the horse to move in comfort, not to help owners indulge in fads (see my second sentence!!).” It sums up the matter rather well.

I still think there is a broad enough description of “good feet” that will allow for variations in horse size, breed, typical terrain, etc, and make it easy/easier to point out feet that are not the feet that should belong to that horse.