NO HOOF, NO HORSE ARCADIA BIRKLID Hoof Matters Certified Farrier - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

“NO HOOF, NO HORSE”

The Importance and Basics of Equine Hoof Care

ARCADIA BIRKLID

 Hoof Matters – Certified

Farrier Services

 AAPF Accredited Professional

Farrier

 AFEC Certified Farrier  8 years of practice in Whatcom

County

 Continuing Education Yearly  Dressage Rider

WHY IS HOOF CARE IMPORTANT?

 Regular/Therapeutic hoof care enables the horse to

stay sound to complete the job it is being asked to do

 Conformational defects pre-dispose a horse to injuries

• ver the course of a lifetime, and proper hoof care can

help manage/delay potential issues

 Keeping horses on a schedule helps to catch problems

early

WHY IS HOOF CARE IMPORTANT?

 Hoof Energy Video

WHY IS HOOF CARE IMPORTANT?

 A horses foot travels 2 ½ times the speed of the

horse – A thoroughbred may be traveling at 30mph, his foot is traveling at 75mph

 The foot on a Thoroughbred racehorse will

accelerate to 75mph and decelerate to 0mph, impact the ground and then accelerate to 75mph again – two to three times PER SECOND!

ANATOMY OF THE HOOF

 The equine hoof is a feat of

engineering,comprised of:

 Insensitive Structures  Sensitive Structures  Bones  Tendons/Ligaments  Intricate blood supply

INSENSITIVE STRUCTURES

 Things we can see

from the outside

 Exterior Hoof Capsule

 Hoof Wall  Periople (at Coronary or

Coronet Band)

INSENSITIVE STRUCTURES

 Insensitive Structures

(ground plane)

 Insensitive Sole  Insensitive Frog  White Line

 Divided into Three Zones

 Toe  Quarter  Heel

PARTS OF THE HOOF

 Wall  White Line  Sole  Frog/Apex of Frog  Bars  Buttress of the Heels  Bulb of the Heels  Central Sulcus  Lateral Sulcus

White line Buttress of the Heel

SENSITIVE STRUCTURES

 Sensitive structures

includes:

 Coronary Band  Sensitive Laminae  Sensitive Frog  Sensitive Sole  Digital Cushion

Main Extensor Tendon

SENSITIVE STRUCTURES

CONNECTING THE PARTS

 The insensitive and

sensitive structures are connected by laminae

 Velcro like structure that

ties the coffin bone to the outer hoof wall

LIMB ANATOMY

 Sensitive Tissue includes:

 Coronary Band  Sensitive Laminae  Sensitive Frog  Sensitive Sole  Digital Cushion

 Bones include:

 Cannon Bone  Long Pastern (P1)  Short Pastern (P2)  Coffin Bone (P3)  Navicular Bone

 Tendons/Ligaments

include:

 Deep Digital Flexor Tendon  Main Extensor Tendon  Suspensory Ligament Main Extensor Tendon (Digital cushion)

Suspensory Ligament

CONNECTING THE PARTS

CONNECTING THE PARTS

 Main Extensor Tendon

 In charge of allowing the limb to

extend nd forward

 Connects to front of P1, P2, and P3

(coffin bone)

 Deep Digital Flexor Tendon

 Allows the fetlock to sink toward the

ground

 Pulls the coffin bone and hoof wall

up onto the toe (flex)

 Slides past the navicular bone  Connects to the back/bottom of the

P3 (coffin bone)

 Suspensory Ligament

 Maintains the position of the

fetlock

 Connects to the extensor tendon

main extensor tendon

FACTORS EFFECTING HOOF QUALITY

 Environment  Conformation  Nutrition  Genetics  Pathology

ENVIRONMENT

 Wet environments produce soft,

weak hooves

 Horses kept in wet environments

are prone to:

 Thrush:

sh: Infection of the tissues of the frog

 A naturally occurring organism

inside the horse. When poop packs inside the foot the infection takes place.

 Organism cannot tolerate oxygen –

regular hoof picking can discourage thrush

 Soft Tissue

ue Injur uries ies - from unstable ground

WET CLIMATE HOOVES

ENVIRONMENT

 Dry environments produce hard, brittle feet  Horses kept in dry environments are more

susceptible to impact/concussion related injuries

 Arthritis  Ringbone/Sidebone

DRY CLIMATE HOOVES

CONFORMATION

 Conformation determines

movement

 Is the result of bones, and

their relationship to other bones

 You cannot correct a horses

conformation through shoeing, you can only manage it

 * REMEMBER: Conformation

predisposes the horse to certain types of injuries – farrier manages defects

FRONT LIMB CONFORMATION

FORE LIMB CONFORMATION

HIND LIMB CONFORMATION

HIND LIMB CONFORMATION

LOWER LIMB CONFIRMATION

CONFORMATION DETERMINES MOVEMENT

NUTRITION

 Every environment has different minerals in the

ground

 Basic vitamin supplement  Hoof Supplements/Maintenance

 Oral, intra-muscular, intra-articular

GENETICS

 Positive and negative traits may be passed down

through different breeds, or family lines

 Will influence conformation  Size/shape of hoof

 Size proportionate to breed  Thoroughbred vs. Quarter Horses

 Hoof growth  Undesirable traits

 Club foot  Digenerative tendon/ligament

 Color of hoof

 Myth Buster

WHAT IS A GOOD HOOF?

 A balanced

anced hoof free of dist stor

• rtions

ions and patholo logy gy

 A farrier’s ability to do a good job requires:

 Flat area  Dry area  Well lit area  Horse that stands perfectly still  Quality hoof material  An appropriate timeframe/schedule

 Trimming Interval determined by:

 Rate of growth  Job  Issues/distortion trying to be managed

BALANCE

 (A) Matches the angles of the bony column

 Pastern angle

 Coronary band is smooth and continuous  (B) Medial to Lateral  (C) Front to Back

 50% ratio from toe to heel from center of weight bearing  Heels to widest part of the heel  Breakover

BALANCE

(A) MATCHES BONY COLUMN ANGLE (B) MEDIAL TO LATERAL

BALANCE

(C) 50% FROM CENTER OF WEIGHT BEARING

BALANCE

(C) WIDEST PART OF FROG/BREAKOVER

GOOD TRIM EXAMPLE

GOOD TRIM EXAMPLE

FREE OF DISTORTIONS

FREE OF PATHOLOGY

 Pathology includes:

 Laminitis/Founder  Navicular  Arthritis  Club foot

LAMINITIS/FOUNDER

 Due to changes in the metabolism there is

inflammation in the laminae (LAMINIT ITIS) IS)

 Velcro like connection starts to die

 Coffin bone is no longer connected to hoof wall

 Deep digital flexor tendon (attached to coffin bone)

tries to pull the foot up on the toe, but leaves the hoof wall behind

 Results in either rotation or sinking (FOUNDER)

LAMINITIS/FOUNDER

LAMINITIS/FOUNDER

THEN, WHY DO WE SHOE A HORSE?

 If a horse can do the job it’s being asked to do

without shoes, then don’t shoe.

 Why might a horse not be able to do it’s job

without shoes?

 Sensitive feet – ouchy on work surface  Structurally weak feet – falling apart, thin soles  Weak tendons that need support  Support a conformational defect  Abrasive work/living conditions cause excessive wear  Protect a certain part of the foot

THE END