Hoof chipping

Sadly (I suppose in a good way) I don't have many photos of hoof chips.  I did try to get Grace to chip her hooves for me, but even though I marched her across some builders rubble she was having none of it!

But I see hooves chipping mostly for three reasons:-

• Newly deshod hoof is growing out nail holes/damage and/or breakover is moving back
• Poor horn quality
• Neglect and/or poor trimming

Newly deshod cobs seem to chip the most, but that is just on my patch, it is not necessarily universal.  Cobs also seem to be shod in some of the most 'interesting' ways, considering how good their feet can be with very little effort.  The two things are often linked as the breakover is often very far forward of where it needs to be and the hoof wall has often been rasped extremely heavily.

Poor horn quality needs to be addressed by fixing the diet (KISS)* and introducing a carefully planned and well executed work programme to stimulate the foot into producing more high quality growth.  Any decent trimmer should be able to advise you on your particular.

Neglect :-( and poor trimming :-( are often cited as reasons why a horse can't go barefoot (the foot chips).  Sorry but these are inexcusable.  I can understand why people struggle with diet, the advice/general knowledge on offer is often a bit out of date, but neglect is never acceptable and there are some damn fine trimmers out there and the AANHCP network is growing daily.  I do understand that in some countries it can be hard to find a trimmer in the locality, but always try contacting the AANHCP because they are generally very helpful.  I've even known members to get on a plane to organise workshops in countries where there are no qualified local trimmers. 

Ok promo over!  If you are worried about hoof chips - usually you don't need to be - put the chip in context and if you are unsure contact your trimmer.

Put it this way the first horse in this post lost their quarter (old abscess hole growing out) - but was never a day lame and she works 6+ days a week and for hours at a time on all sorts of surfaces including roads and stones.

The second horse (same post) was never lame from the chunk missing from their hoof either (the laminitis was another matter!)

*My new version of this is Keep It Simple and Sugarfree!  Or you could go for Keep It Starch and Sugarfree.....

Madam's hind foot

This is one of Madam's hind feet in close up and prior to trimming. The second picture is with half the foot very lightly rolled and the other not yet done.

The close up shows (I think) the tight white line in the forward part of the foot and also the chips that are appearing in the outer wall.

There is no wall height to remove, I just keep rolling out the flares and chips as they occur. I tend to touch up once a week/10 days, doing just a small roll rather than anything major. If the toes square off I roll the rest of the foot to match. Next time I might put in tiny quarter scoops all round. These feet seem to need them and they have worked a treat on the Grey.

But being very cautious I only do a very little each time and then monitor physical performance and how the foot grows afterwards. The horses are very honest. It seems to me that even as I put their feet down they instantly give feedback on how I am doing.

Madam is getting better all the time, but I admit to feeling frustrated that she doesn't have better concavity and is a long way from rock crushing.