The most important aspect of the health of a horse’s hoof is how it is trimmed.

Oh there are nutritional supplements that help and there are hoof applications that help and how you ride and what type of surface all helps in determining the health of the hoof but THE most important is how it is trimmed.

So now we can open a can of worms as to how is this accomplished? What is the best way to trim a horses hoof? There are arguments upon arguments or shall we say intellectual discussions on how this is to be done. There are farriers who have been around for centuries it seems that have never gone to farrier school and say it should be done this way, and there are others straight out of farrier school that say it should be done this way and then there is every type of farrier in between. Just take a look at one of my favorite forums to lurk – http://www.horseshoes.com/forums/ This forum is a great resource to learn about shoeing and trimming and everyone there has an opinion. You just need to be able to read between the lines or rather take all the information in and form your own opinion OR just read my blog and I’ll give you your opinion…LOL

Dynamic hoof balance, geometric balance, natural balance, physiologic hoof trim, Strasser trim (OK not that ONE) all are techniques used to improve the soundness of the horse and not one of them is the RIGHT one for every horse. A good farrier will know how to use one or more of a combination of these techniques to improve the hoof health and soundness.

As a horse owner how can you tell if your horse’s hoof is trimmed so that it is healthy. What should you look for? Here are three foundation principles you need to notice about your horse’s hoof and if your horse’s hoof does not follow these foundation principles, you need to ask your farrier why. Now there may be a perfectly valid reason why your horse’s hoof does not exactly follow these three principles and your farrier may have a good reason for not following these but they are a good start to building a healthy sound hoof…

First, look at the bottom of your horse’s foot (the sole). Draw an imaginary
straight line through the widest part of the foot. From that line back to the heels
should be more total surface area than in front of that line.

Second, the frog should be at least ½ as wide at the heel base, as it is
long. It should also make contact with the ground at the base.

Third, the angle of the hoof should parallel the angle of the pastern. It is
not an exact number but usually falls between 45 and 55 degrees. The best way
to determine if proper angle is met is to look at the foot from the side and place a
straight edge (ruler) along the front aspect of the hoof from the toe to the coronet
band. If it is a correct angle, the front aspect of the pastern will follow on the
bottom of the straight edge exactly all the way to the fetlock.

If your horse’s hoof follows these three foundation principles then it should be as healthy as it can be. If not ask why not, because as the Native Americans used to say…no foot, no horse! Or was it some old british farrier, I can’t remember. In any case a healthy hoof is a good foundation to a healthy horse.