Hoof Geek Series

Hoof Conditioning

A mini ebook created from a series of posts from HoofGeek.com

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First edition, 2013 

2nd Edition, April 2015

Contents

 

Chapter 1 .......................................... ............................................... 4 Chapter 1 ........................................................................................... 4

Chapter 2 .......................................... .............................................10 Chapter 2 .........................................................................................10

Chapter 3 .......................................... ............................................. 16 Chapter 3 ......................................................................................... 16

Chapter 4 .......................................... ...........................................20 Chapter 4 .......................................................................................20

Comments ........................................... ........................................26 Comments .....................................................................................26

Hoof Geek Publications............................. ..............................27 Hoof Geek Publications.............................................................27

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Chapter 1 Chapter 1

In Good Condition

Conditioning is a term used for so many things. There’s mental conditioning or physical conditioning. On both occasions it tends to be describing how robust the situation is. How hard are you holding on to thought patterns that have been instilled in you, or how much physical strain you can endure.

Conditioning hooves, is obviously a physical thing (though sometimes it’s thought of as being all in the head – I promise you, it’s all in the hoof capsule). Conditioning describes the exercises you put the hooves through to strengthen them. Much like you might use lunging to condition a horse’s muscles before you begin a program of ridden work.

When the conditioning is happening just after shoe removal, it’s called transitioning. If you were conditioning a muscle after a period of artificial support

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had made it weak, you’d call it rehabilitative therapy. If you were bringing a horse back into work after a period of rest, you’d just call it getting them fit.

Essentially it’s all the same thing. It’s increasing strength of a structure, whether that structure is the hoof capsule, the muscles, the cardiovascular system or the mind. What’s needed and how you proceed is going to depend on where you’re starting from, the resources you have to work with, and where you want to get to.

Weak or sensitive? Weak or sensitive?

Now quite often conditioning is called desensitising. I think there’s a problem with that. It’s misleading…

Many of us understand desensitisation work as a mental or behavioural training exercise in which you expose the horse (or whoever – I’m open to applying horse training techniques to family members etc – not like you can sell them if they’re too unruly) to whatever you’re trying to teach him to accept – a plastic bag or whatever you’ve decided to work with at the time.

This doesn’t necessarily work so well with hooves; say in the case where you’re wanting to condition a hoof to be comfortable on stones. If you’re starting from a place where you only need a very small improvement in the hoof capsule, then yes, walking up and down a stoney track under controlled conditions may produce the results you want…

But if you have a hoof capsule that is too weak to be working on stones and you’re hacking your horse up and down the stoney track until he gets used to it, then all he’s going to get used to, is having sore feet.

Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice Practice

Practice makes perfect, for sure, but you perfect whatever you are practicing. That is to say – you may well perfect getting it wrong. In this case you’d be perfecting making your horse’s feet sore.

It’s true that exercise does make the bare hoof stronger. However, that only applies if the exercise you are doing is within the limits of what the hoof capsule is capable of. That’s the nature of all physical conditioning. Running 10 miles is only good for you if your body has been prepared and you’re able to run 10 miles.

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That seems like an obvious thing to say, but somewhere along the line it gets overlooked. Most of us can see if a horse has a pulled tendon, riding the horse until he gets better is not a well thought out plan of action. Why would riding a horse until he’s better be any more sensible if the hoof capsule has collapsed?

Conditioning is all about improving the strength of the hoof capsule. Conditioning is all about improving the strength of thehoof capsule.

So here’s what you need to know.

How strong is the hoof capsule now?

How strong are the individual structures? (internal and external)

Which are the weak structures?

Why are the weak structures weak?

Why are the strong structures strong?

What has been stimulating the growth/repair/regeneration or lack thereof?

What needs to be changed?

What exercises will stimulate the correct growth and regeneration?

Are there any health or injury problems (past, present or ongoing) that may inhibit the improvement?

Are you able to perform the necessary exercises consistantly?

What can you change and what is out of your control?

What do you want the hoof capsule to look like?

What do you need to improve to move towards that goal?

How are you going to monitor the changes so you can identify what’s improving and what’s deteriorating?

What are your resources? (time, money, knowledge, professional support, family and friends, disapproving or helpful onlookers, ground surfaces available, unavoidable ground surfaces, nutrition (planned and unplanned), allergy issues, overall health of the horse, your own stress levels, commitment, determination and reservations, I can keep going on this one.

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Resources are anything and everything that’s getting involved in the situation of you, your horse, your life and wellbeing. You are massively important to the process!)

What is your goal? Is your horse retired and you just want him pasture sound, or do you have an important competition or event next month?

Then – when you have answers to those questions… You can formulate a plan.

Don’t freak out just yet though. There’s a lot of questions I know, and it looks a little intimidating. I think it’s really important to have that information before I decide what conditioning program to implement. And it’s entirely possible that after all that investigation the plan I come up with may be, walk on the road for 15 mins in hand 3 - 4 times a week. Or sometimes it’s – go ahead and do whatever you fancy…

Information is POWER!!! Information is POWER!!!

Having more information and asking more questions doesn’t mean the conditioning program gets more complicated. It means it gets simpler. It means you can see exactly what needs to be done, exactly what’s available, and exactly what’s working, and what’s not. You know when you’re going in the right direction, on the right path and you can make adjustments as needed because you know where you’re going!

Years ago, back in the days when I was doing remedial behavioural training, I had a client who was too scared to lead her horse as it was ‘crazy’. She told me of her troubles leading the horse in from the field along the road as it was crazy and she didn’t feel safe. She then told me that she’d be perfectly happy to ride it in from the field as ‘you’re safer on the horse than off’.

Now – I’m not looking for a great debate about the reasoning behind riding a horse who hasn’t been taught basic groundwork. We all know it happens more frequently than it should, and the ideal would be horses who have well established good manners from the ground.

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No Such Thing As A Stupid Question. Ask Even The Obvious No Such Thing As A Stupid Question. Ask Even TheObvious

The reason I’m not interested in the debate, is because my point here is about asking questions and gathering information. There’s a gem of information here that trumps all handling/ridden safety debate. This horse wasn’t yet broken in! (Baring in mind I was young and idealistic, and being blunt is something I’m famed for even to this day – I’ll let you imagine my colourful response.)

Gather your information before making your plans my friends. Never be afraid of asking the dumb arse obvious questions, and don’t try and apply a solution to someone else’s problem, to your own without looking at why they’re doing what they’re doing and whether or not it applies to you!!

So… So…

Conditioning is about having a strategic program of exercise designed to strengthen the structure of the hoof capsule, thus providing you with a hoof that can perform and function in the way you want it to.

It’s not about desensitising the feet. If the feet are sensitive, then that’s a whole different ball game…

If a hoof lacks structure, then yes a horse may feel somewhat sore when walking over rough terrain.

But let me put this in perspective. I’ve seen a horse walk over rough hardcore tracks soundly when we know (from radiographs) that he has at best 2mm of sole. I’m not suggesting for a second that he ever would have been hacked without boots, or should have been forced over stones under anything but his own steam picking his own path. His hoof capsule structure was weak (and was pretty much the best he was going to produce). His feet were however healthy, comfortable and therefore, not sensitive.

Equally I’ve seen a horse with perfect hoof capsules and inch thick soles (confirmed by radiographs, by a vet who was trying to prove that the hoof capsule was the problem, and found herself having to admit that she could in fact fault nothing about it in any way) uncomfortable to walk over even tiny stones. His feet

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were sensitive. In fact his feet were more sensitive over stones when he was shod (and he was shod very well).

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Chapter 2 Chapter 2

A Sensitive Situation

So in the last chapter we were talking about conditioning hooves to strengthen the hoof capsule so it’s able to function correctly and perform to a higher level. But there are more reasons for a horse to have sore feet, than lack of hoof structure. Sensitivity is to do with the internal structures. The ones with a blood supply and a nervous system. They’re also referred to as ‘the sensitive structures’ ;)

A horse can have sensitive feet regardless of how strong the hoof capsule is and can also have feet that aren’t sensitive in spite of having a truly pants* hoof capsule. This is important to remember because a hoof capsule takes time to strengthen. Sensitivity can be addressed relatively quickly. That means you can get the horse comfortable long before you can get the hoof capsule strong.

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How Long is A Piece of String? How Long is A Piece of String?

What’s more, if you’re waiting for the hoof capsule to strengthen for your horse to become comfortable, you may be waiting a long time.

Firstly the issues that cause sensitivity also tend to inhibit the speed of growth and regeneration (ie how quickly the hoof capsule improves), and B if you do get the hoof capsule strong but the foot inside it is still sensitive, then your horse will still be lame.

On a number of occasions I’ve found myself saying to a client ‘well his feet are crap, I’ve no idea how he’s comfortable but he is so YAY! (on special occasions I may even clap my hands) lets go with it!’ In these cases there’s no sensitivity issue – and trust me, the hoof capsules can be awful!

Define Your Terms Define Your Terms

Perhaps at this point I should point something out. When we talk about a horse having sensitive feet, it’s not really truly what we mean. Like many things about feet, and life in general, we misuse terms, hence the frequency with which I find myself asking ‘define your terms’.

All feet are sensitive. They have a blood supply, nerves and proprioceptors, they grow and change in response to stimulus. They’re live biological structures, hence, they’re sensitive. Which is, in part, why we rarely think about it. It simply goes without saying and thus often gets forgotten. What we mean when we talk about horses with sensitive feet is usually that they have ‘over-sensitive’ feet.

While we’re defining terms… I think of the horses foot as being the sensitive structure and the hoof capsule being the insensitive structure. The foot is the sensitive structure inside the hoof capsule. The foot is also the sensitive structure which grows the hoof capsule. I don’t think the terms foot and hoof are interchangeable, which is why I often talk about the hoof ‘capsule’ rather than just the hoof, which could mean everything below the coronary band.

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Get Clear Get Clear

I know that sounds pedantic, but getting clear on exactly what the problem is, is essential to determining the most effective solution. It helps you find the fastest, easiest way possible to getting the sound, healthy horse you want and to becoming the happy stress free owner you want to be.

Get clear on what the problem is, and you realise that half of the things that worry you are incidental. It frees up a lot of brain space, and makes it easier to see improvements, or on occasion deterioration, so you can make changes as necessary rather than wondering how things got so bad. But I think I’m digressing here…

So what causes sensitivity? So what causes sensitivity?

The squillion pound question!!! Once you take into account the biochemical individuality of your horse (fancy way of saying every horse is different – but in fairness, there’s real science behind ‘every horse is different’ it’s not just ‘airy fairy we don’t know’ stuff) there are literally limitless causes of sensitivity, so I’m going to break it down into simple big picture pieces.

Pressure Pressure

By far the most common cause of sensitivity in a horses foot. The main causes of pressure are inflammation, oedema (edema) and abscess. Basically it’s extra fluid in the hoof capsule. While the hoof capsule is skin, the skin is able to stretch considerably to accommodate swelling, where as the hoof capsule can’t.

The extra fluid inside the hoof capsule has no room, therefore increases the pressure on the sensitive structures of the foot. In low levels this causes increased sensitivity of the foot, in higher levels it can cause extreme pain. It’s not uncommon for a horse with an abscess to be suspected of a broken leg.

Nerve problems Nerve problems

It’s somewhat self explanatory really. All sensations, good, bad, functional, whatever are transmitted through the nervous system. If there has been nerve damage, then the sensitivity as nerves repair and reconnect to the brain can be painful.

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Actually I’ve experienced it myself and most of the time it’s a downright weird feeling. Hot, cold, wet, drafty, wonky proprioception, burning, tickling and sometimes pain are just a few of the things you may feel.

I want to be clear though. It’s rare that sensitivity is due to damaged nerves. I know there’s a school of trimming (it hurts me to call it trimming) that says shoes make horses feet numb. Well in that case I ask 1 question… Why do shod horses go lame with foot problems if their feet are numb? How come they respond to hoof testers? (ok 2 questions. I just can’t help myself!)

Always dig deeper (for knowledge – not when trimming!)

So now we know the big picture causes, what’s behind that? How do you tell? What do you do?

Pressure in the foot? Pressure in the foot?

The most obvious way of telling there’s pressure in the foot is if there is a digital pulse. If you can feel a digital pulse the blood is not getting into the foot freely. Most commonly because there is pressure in the foot, but it could also be due to a swollen coronary band, which I’m not covering in this post as we have more than enough to be talking about already!

Not sure how to take a digital pulse? I just created you a How To Take a Digital Pulse download.

Inflammation Inflammation

We always talk about inflammation in the feet, but it’s rare that inflammation is only in the feet. Inflammation is usually in the body. However, inflammation causes pain and sensitivity in the feet before it causes problems elsewhere, except possibly the skull. Both the skull and the hoof capsule have the same problem when it comes to dealing with inflammation. They can’t stretch.

If they can’t stretch they can’t accommodate the extra fluid. Hence the pressure. What causes inflammation? Well inflammation is the body’s first response to healing. It’s the body’s way of protecting itself. So… pretty much anything really. Any allergen, toxin, injury, infection, cut, virus, food intolerance, hormone imbalance or stress. They all cause inflammation at some level.

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Most of the time the level of inflammation from of any one of those things is mild. The problems can however, be accumulative, which is why all over health is important. A bit of an allergy, with a bit of an infection and a bit too much grass, an extra carrot or some extra stress. Well that’s 4 or 5 bits. It’s best I don’t get started on toxins in the environment!

If a condition ends in 'itis', then it’s an inflammatory condition. Laminitis = inflammation of the laminar. Pedalostitis = inflammation of the pedal bone. Arthritis = inflammation of the (erm… arths?) joints (comes from the Greek arthron which means joint)

Skin conditions cause inflammation. Mud fever, heel mites, fly bites, whatever the cause of skin inflammation, it can affect the feet. Causes of inflammation is a whole book, so I’ll leave it here. Just know, if the body is inflamed, the feet are also part of the body.

Oedema Oedema

Or Edema in some countries. Basically it’s fluid retention. Leaky cells or an under performing lymphatic system. Think of fluid retention in people. It’s worse in the ankles and feet. In your horse it will be just above his fetlocks, if caused by inactivity. You’re most likely to see it in older horses after they’ve been stabled for a while.

You’ll see it above the eye socket in horses (or people) when there’s a link to a kidney issue of some sort. It can be something as mild as a salt imbalance so don’t panic just yet, but be aware, and see if there’s any other signs of trouble.

If the legs are filled with fluid, it stands to reason the hooves are too. You can’t really squish the hoof capsule in the same way you can above the fetlock. At least – I really hope your hoof capsule doesn’t go squish!

Abscess Abscess

Well puss in the foot is extra fluid. The fact it’s formed suggests that there’s been some sort of circulation problem in the first place. I cover abscesses extensively in the Hoof Geek Guide: Infection Free Hooves, which is available on Amazon.

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PHEW! PHEW!

This one’s taking a while to get through! Now we’ve covered how to tell whether conditioning is appropriate for your horses feet, I’ll cover how to do it in the next chapter.

*For our American readers, pants doesn’t mean trousers. It means knickers, underwear, big frilly bloomers! Generally is means bad, which now I’m explaining it, makes me wonder... I’ve never really thought of underwear as bad, or in any sort of negative way. Some might even consider it useful, so why it’s a term to describe something being rubbish, I’m a bit perplexed about. Oh dear – now I really have something to think about don’t I!!!

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Chapter 3 Chapter 3

You Aren't What You Eat

The previous two chapters investigated whether your horse has got weak hooves or sensitive feet.

If you’re thinking that your horse has both sensitive and weak feet and you’re wondering what to do, I’d advise you to always address the sensitivity first. When the feet are sensitive the internal structures are compromised. It’s the internal structures that grow the hoof capsule, so if they’re not happy, there’s not much you can do to make them grow better hoof. Sensitive structures first.

I suspect you’re all on the edge of your seats waiting to find out what kind of conditioning work will produce the results you’re after... Well I’m getting there. There’s just 1 more important thing we need to cover first.

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Nutrition! Nutrition!

Sometimes I refer to it as Nutrition, Nutrition, Nutrition! Other times as NUTRITION!!!! Yeah I bang on about nutrition a lot!

You Aren't Quite What You Eat... You Aren't Quite What You Eat...

Now here’s another well known saying that I don’t completely agree with ‘You are what you eat’. You see, that’s not strictly true. It would be more accurate to say, ‘you are what you digest’. There’s a big difference between what you eat and what you digest.

Ask anyone with a thoroughbred who has to eat twice as much as a horse half it’s weight and still looks a bit skinny. Half of what they’re feeding is coming out the other end without having been digested. It makes for a better quality fertiliser I’m sure, but it’s an expensive way of producing fertiliser.

When Is A Balanced Diet Not A Balanced Diet? When Is A Balanced Diet Not A Balanced Diet?

The gut has to be functioning properly to be able to digest the food going into it. The gut transit time has to be right. The horse’s gut works a bit like a compost heap. If the food isn’t in there long enough, it doesn’t have enough time to break down and be absorbed.

If it’s in there too long, it’s going to fester and go rancid, producing toxins that will be absorbed into the bloodstream. So it’s a little like a fairy tale, not to slow, not to fast, it has to be just right.

The liver is really important! It’s unfortunate that I’ve seen the liver missing from more than 1 diagram of the equine digestive system. Infact the liver has multiple functions in digestion. It produces bile to help with the breakdown of food and it processes the nutrients absorbed from the small intestine by turning them into the various chemicals the body needs to survive.

It processes protein and synthesises amino acids, stores sugar, and that’s just a handful of the cool stuff it does. It’s also vital to hormone balance, blood pressure regulation, and detoxification. It’s’ the largest internal organ. The clue is in the name LIVEr. In short, it’s important (I think I already said that!).

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I think you get the idea here, if the digestive system isn’t working well then even if your diet is perfectly balanced in the bucket, your horse isn’t absorbing a balanced diet. But lets assume that your horse is digesting properly and look at what’s in the bucket.

What’s In Your Bucket? What’s In Your Bucket?

Figuring out what’s in your bucket isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. Feed companies don’t always put a complete list of ingredients on the packets, because they don’t have to. Even if they do, have you ever noticed that your chaff changes colour across a year?

Sometimes it’s quite golden, other times it’s a lot more green. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but how come the nutritional information on the packet doesn’t change, when the product inside the pack clearly does? It’s all worked out on averages. That’s ok, I’m not complaining about that, I’m just pointing it out. We don’t always know exactly what we’re feeding.

What about the breakdown of nutrients. Certain vitamins are very fragile. They can break down under manufacturing and packaging processes. It may have been in the ingredients, or in the feed at the time it was analysed for nutritional content, but it may not be in your feed bucket.

Often when you get a nutritional breakdown of a feed, it may tell you what elemental minerals are in there, but not what form. Some compounds are easier for the horse to absorb than others. Having 5g of magnesium oxide is a whole different thing to having 5g of magnesium chelate, or citrate, pincolate, chloride, lactate or others, they’re just the ones I remember off the top of my head.

In addition to bucket feed, don’t forget that the grass and hay intake in a horse’s diet dramatically outweighs the quantity of feed. The feed may contain more mineral content, but the bulk of what’s going through the gut is forage (i hope!).

Why is Nutrition So Important to The Hooves? Why is Nutrition So Important to The Hooves?

The hooves are always growing, always regenerating new material. The only thing the foot has to build the hoof capsule out of is the nutrients it’s supplied with. So what your horse is digesting has a direct effect on the quality of the hoof horn.

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The Circulation. The Circulation.

The food is the raw materials, the gut is the factory that processes them into building blocks. The circulation is the transport system that gets the building materials to the foot, and the foot is the work men who builds the hoof capsule. They all work together.

If you have the issues causing sensitivity under control then you have good circulation to the foot, that means you can finally get your building supplies to your builders. If you have the digestion sorted then you’re getting the right nutrients through. Then, and only then, will exercises to strengthen the foot be beneficial.

Strengthening a hoof capsule is exactly what it sounds like. You need supplies with which to build a stronger wall, or to thicken a sole, strengthen a digital cushion or a lateral cartilage. If there’s nothing there to build it from, you’ve got builders without anything to build with. It would be like them going through the motions of building a wall without any bricks. They might as well be drinking tea and telling rude jokes!

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Chapter 4 Chapter 4

Strengthening Hooves

Yes! We’ve finally got there! The nitty gritty of how to strengthen the hoof capsule! I feel a little mean though, because it may turn out just a little anti-climactic after the build up we’ve had! If you skipped the awesome build up, then go back to the previous chapters Please do read them first, as the information in this chapter simply won’t help on it’s own. (well it might if you’re lucky, but it’ll be luck not judgement)

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Now you know whether your horse has weak hooves, if there’s a foot sensitivity problem, and you’ve got an idea as to whether the internal organ function is working well, and the good nutrition you’re feeding is not only being digested, but delivered to the foot by a healthy circulatory system. With all that in place, when you exercise the hooves, they’re going to get stronger, quickly and easily.

What stimulates hoof growth 101 What stimulates hoof growth 101

Pressure

That’s it! Well in the 101 class, that’s it. Pressure stimulates growth. That simple principle can tell you all sorts of things about a horse. Too much pressure will do 1 of 2 things, depending on how much too much pressure you have. A little bit too much pressure causes growth to speed up, so fast growth isn’t necessarily a good thing. Think low grade laminitis.

Way too much pressure causes what’s called pressure necrosis. That means enough pressure to squeeze the life out of stuff. It dies. Think acute and chronic laminitis

Correct pressure stimulates correct growth, and incorrect pressure stimulates incorrect growth. When you’re looking a hoof capsule, and there’s something there that shouldn’t be, where’s the pressure coming from? When there’s something missing, why isn’t the pressure there? If it’s just plain wonky, how is the pressure being applied to stimulate things in the wrong direction?

Unlike behavioural training where you need to expose your horse to the actual thing you’re trying to desensitise them to, with hoof conditioning it’s all about stimulating a strong hoof capsule. Much like lifting a weight in a gym, will strengthen you to be able to lift a heavy box out in the real world, strengthening a hoof using sand, can strengthen it to the point where it can cope with stones.

Ways of Creating Correct Pressure Stimulus Ways of Creating Correct Pressure Stimulus

Sand

Sand is great stuff, it exfoliates all the nasty bits off, and it gets up into all the contours and crevices of the feet meaning you get pressure everywhere. Sand is awesome for strengthening feet in just the right way. There’s no point pressure

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problems like you can get with stones so it’s suitable for horses who would find stones painful.

Warning: If your horse has a deep central sulcus, which will look like a crack or narrow crevice in the middle of the frog at the back, don’t go on sand. It will get into the crevice and irritate, possibly worsening infection and causing a split up the back of the foot. For more help with hoof infection try the Hoof Geek Guide: Infection Free Hooves

Stones

Different types of stoney surfaces cause problems, or will be uncomfortable for different horses. I’d, love to be more specific than that but I’ve found that some horses will be fine on big stones but find small stones more challenging, other horses are the opposite.

I don’t actually like stones as a conditioning surface. Often when you hear people talking about stones being good for strengthening feet it’s under quite controlled conditions. They’ll select the right sized stone, and install a prepared surface to a suitable depth depending on their requirements.

While I’m not against doing that, I feel that for most people, the time effort and money can be better spent. I guess it all depends how many horses , how much money and how much control over your environment you have.

Let’s assume we’re talking about a stoney track, which for most people is what they have access to and for some, it’s what they can’t avoid even if they wanted to! In that case the stones tend to be of varying dimensions, with a hard surface underneath depending on weather conditions. The stones may be sharp, smooth or a mixture of both.

This gives you no control at all over what your horse is walking on. If the hooves aren’t strong enough to do the work then doing the work may cause bruising to the underlying structures, just as it would for you is you went for a jog up a gravel track in your slippers. It may not be a big bruise, it may just show up as an overall mild inflammation in the foot.

Inflammation compromises the circulation in the foot and therefore inhibits it’s growing, healing and strengthening ability, which was the goal you were aiming

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for. In short, it’s going to be the slowest way to get what you want. You may get away with it, but that’s not the same thing as setting yourself up for success, which for me is a better way to live.

This doesn’t mean you can’t lead your horse across stones if you need to. If the feet aren’t quite up to stones, and it’s a realistic option, when you come across a stoney track, get off and lead, and get back on once you’re over the troublesome bit. Equally, if you have a stone track between your field and stable. In most cases your horse will be fine if they can pick their own way.

Use your judgement. You can tell if something is a bit uncomfortable or downright painful. If it’s uncomfortable, you’ll be fine letting your horse pick it’s own way, if it’s painful, try to find another option. Pain is the bodies way of saying damage is being done and what we’re trying to do here is undo damage, not do more!

Options for dealing with this situation are finding another route, hoof boots, homemade hoof boots, sweeping a path, moving your horse to a different field, or in some cases putting some carpet down. It depends how far they need to go and how sore they are. I’d suggest getting the carpet from the tip rather than buying new! Have a look around and see what will work for you.

It’s also worth mentioning that walking over big stones requires the joints to move and compensate a lot. For this reason most horses are careful, and a horse with joint issues may find it more challenging regardless of their hoof health. Don’t always assume the problem is in the feet. Look up! There’s a whole horse up there!!! :)

Hard Sufaces

Concrete and tarmac are great for stimulating more hoof wall growth. They’re also great for wearing hoof wall away, and if there’s any sort of gait problem, particularly one which involves a foot twisting as it lands or leaves the ground, the wear is likely to be increased and uneven. Don’t let that put you off though!

I conditioned my own horse JD from being footsore when lead her over a gravel track while shod, to being ridden through a quarry. At 5’10’’ to her dainty 14.2hh I’m a pretty big rider for her too. Don’t underestimate the power of simple hand walking along the road.

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JD and I did 10-15 mins daily. I’ll be honest, it was years ago and I’ve forgotten how long it took. It all happened in the same summer though so not more than a few months tops.

Therapeutic Pads

The surface you can take with you wherever you go! Assuming you’re using the right kind of pad. The ones that hoof boot companies provide aren’t all that great for conditioning feet. Which is why they tell you they’ll make your horse more comfortable, which they probably will, but that’s all they do.

Remember that you strengthen hooves with exercise. Imagine this, you hire a personal trainer to help you reach achieve your perfect vision of how you want your body to be. You book 3 sessions a week, during those sessions he wraps you up in a snuggly duvet on the sofa, gives you a lovely cuppa with some biccies and you watch your favorite TV show.

Well you’d be comfortable for sure, but unless your goal was to make it onto Britain’s Biggest Loser at some point in the future, this exercise plan would get you further away from your goal not closer to it.

While hoof boots are great, sometimes their advice about hooves is a little strange. I read on a hoof boot blog just yesterday that a good use for a farriers nail is to clean out thrush from a central sulcus. Sounds like a great way to make the thing bleed to me. Might I suggest flushing with a syringe (without the needle) or a cotton bud or running a piece of gauze through instead?

If you want to strengthen the hooves, you need to work them. Not work them to breaking point, lets be reasonable, but you do need to work them. Therapeutic pads must provide correct pressure, to stimulate correct hoof growth. The ones I use, I buy from www.equinepodiatrysupplies.co.uk/pads

The easiest way to apply pads is with a hoof boot. The best boots for fitting pads in are the Cavallo, Old Mac and Boa. Most of the other boots on the market are too close fitting to the hoof to allow room for a pad. That makes them great for things like endurance riding, but rubbish for things like rehabilitation.

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Other Things to Consider Other Things to Consider

The surface you’re walking on is one side of the equation, but there’s something else to consider as well. The hoof capsule. How is the hoof interacting with the surface?

If it’s landing toe first, you’re going to struggle to improve heel strength as the heels won’t be receiving correct pressure. You need a correct heel first landing for that.

If the toe is flicking up in the air just before landing, then the back of the heel, rather than the ground bearing surface. This will be pushing the heel forwards encouraging them to collapse.

To get the correct pressure, you need to get your horse moving freely, and then build from there. It really is all about getting the horse healthy, and then everything else falls into place much more easily.

Conditioning For Shod Feet Conditioning For Shod Feet

Conditioning doesn’t really work for shod feet. The shoe is too effective as a support structure so the structure of the foot never really gets worked to the point where they increase their strength. Methods for helping the sensitivity, circulation and nutrient absorption all still apply though, and will have helped improve the whole health of your horse, including giving you stronger walls so the hooves hold a shoe on better.

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Comments CommentsIf you’d like to get involved with the discussion, you can find the comments for these posts on the blog

Chp1 - hoofgeek.com/in-good-condition

Chp2 - hoofgeek.com/a-sensitive-situation

Chp3 - hoofgeek.com/you-arent-quite-what-you-eat

Chp4 - hoofgeek.com/strengthening-hooves

Or you can get hold of me directly through the contact form on the website hoofgeek.com/contact

  

Hoof Geek Publications Hoof Geek Publications

 

Get realistic advice, practical guidance and simple explanations for the most common and problematic hoof infections.

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What causes infection How to manage it

Remedies that really workWhat to avoid!

How to tell when you might need to change your environment When you should just stop worrying…

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It can be tricky measuring a hoof that isn't text book perfect, and knowing which kind of hoof boot will suit. The diagrams from the hoof boot manufacturers tell you how to measure a good hoof, but what about all those interesting hoof shapes, that need boots to help heal and strengthen the hooves?

Hoof boots are an expensive item, and getting the wrong size or style can be a costly mistake, postage for returns can really add up...

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