The Horse’s Hoof - Part 2 By Bill Coon, FOSH Board Member In the first part of this article, I have tried to present the function of the horse’s foot, most of the foot’s parts and how these parts work together to perform their function. I will now present information in three areas to help with the health of the horse and the horse’s hooves. The areas are break-over, heel-first landings, and one cause of laminitis (founder).
overs. At this point, I would like to quote Ms. Marjorie Smith: This is her response to my question on toe length [4½ inches] relative to the health of the horse and break-over.
“Toe length is a critical dimension for the soundness of a hoof. In order to be completely sound, the foot must land heel-first when going on a level In reference to laminitis it has been surface. Hind feet are almost always said that “90% of domestic horses able to land heel-first, due to the have mild to severe laminitis” due zigzag arrangement of the hind-leg to the manner in which we humans house and feed our horses. This con- joints. Front feet, due to a different dition relates directly to the health of joint arrangement, are only able to land heel-first if the hoof is trimmed the horse. The horse will show sign to a natural shape, e.g. the wall is of lameness since both front hooves trimmed to the “live” sole plane. The have the same pain. Thus the horse toe is beveled or backed-up so that just continues doing what is being in a toe with totally straight growth asked to do. from the coronet to the ground-zero forward flare -- the break-over The figures below represent break-
A hoof balanced for heel-first landing. The distance from the break over line to the widest part of the hoof is shorter than the distance from the widest part to the heel buttresses.
An imbalanced hoof with long heels (which moves the buttresses forward) and a flared toe (which moves the breakover forward). The” widest part” stays at about the same position.
31 • The Sound Advocate • Issue 1, 2021
