The Horse's Foot and How to Keep it Sound

THE

HORSE’S FOOT,

AND

HOW TO KEEP IT SOUND,

With Illustrations,

BY WILLIAM MILES, ESQ.,

AUTHOR OF A PLAIN TREATISE ON HORSE SHOEING,

STABLES AND STABLE FITTINGS, ETC.

Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be reproduced or copied in any way without the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Horses – Care and Maintenance

The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family ‘Equidae’. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. We, as humans have interacted with horses in a multitude of ways throughout history – from sport competitions and non-competitive recreational pursuits, to working activities such as police work, agriculture, entertainment and therapy. Horses have also been used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. With this range of uses in mind, there is an equally extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colours, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behaviour.

Looking after horses is a time consuming, as well as moderately expensive task – only to be embarked upon seriously. Horses can consume approximately 2% to 2.5% of their body weight in dry feed each day. Therefore, a 450-kilogram (990 lb) adult horse could eat up to 11 kilograms (24 lb) of food! Sometimes, concentrated feed such as grain is fed in addition to pasture or hay, especially when the animal is very active. In practical terms, horses prefer to eat small amounts of food steadily throughout the day, as they do in nature when grazing on pasture. Although this is not always possible with modern stabling practices and human schedules that favour feeding horses twice a day, it is important to remember the underlying biology of the animal when determining what to feed, how often, and in what quantities.

Aside from these more basic requirements – food (and water), horse grooming; the hygienic care given to a horse, is a very important practice. Grooming is an important part of basic horse care, essential for horses used in competition. Regular grooming helps to ensure the horse is healthy and comfortable. At a minimum, horses are generally groomed before being worked, and are usually groomed and cleaned up after a workout as well. This helps improve the health of the skin and coat, decreases the chance of health problems such as thrush, scratches and chaffing – as well as giving the groom a change to check the horse's health, such as looking for cuts, heat, swelling, lameness or a change in temperament (such as depression) which could indicate the horse is sick. Importantly, it also helps form a relationship between horse and handler, which can carry over to other handling duties and riding. Horse showmanship is a horse show class that considers quality of grooming for as much as 40% of the total score.

Important aspects of grooming are hair trimming and clipping – variable by breed, region and discipline. Severely ‘incorrect’ clipping is often considered a great faux pas in the horse world.

Common forms are ‘bridle path’ clipping; where a section of mane, just behind the ears, is frequently clipped or shaved off. This allows the bridle to lie comfortably on the across the poll, and makes it slightly easier to bridle the horse, as the mane and forelock are separated and easier to keep out of the way. Fetlocks can also collect undesired amounts of mud, dirt, and burrs - and may be trimmed for practical reasons. The back of the lower cannon (leg) is also commonly clipped, also to remove long hairs. For a truly polished look, the coronet band (top of the hoof) is clipped to shorten the small straggling hairs that grow along the edges. In addition to basic trimming, many horses are ‘body clipped’ in the winter months, to remove their winter coat. This can serve a practical purpose, as it keeps the horse more comfortable during work, and helps it cool down faster, as well as an aesthetic one. The same reasoning lies behind clipping the mane and the tail; at its most basic, brushing out foreign materials and tangles – yet for competitions, far more extensive grooming is common place.

An aspect as yet unmentioned, though especially important, is hoof care. Although many horses are quite healthy without daily brushing, lack of hoof care can result in various problems, which if unattended, can result in short or long-term soundness issues for the horse. Hooves need to be trimmed after four to ten weeks; otherwise they will grow too long and cause discomfort. The most basic form of hoof care is cleaning, or picking out the feet. A hoof pick is used to remove mud, manure, and rocks from the sole of the hoof – thus preventing thrush and stone bruises.

If the horse was not trained to pick up its foot when a person runs their hand to the fetlock and lifts lightly, most horses will pick up their feet if the tendons behind their cannon bone are squeezed. Most horse management guidelines recommend picking the feet daily, and in many cases, the feet are picked twice in one day, both before and after a ride. Hoofs can also be dressed and polished; dressing improves moisture content, in turn preventing hoof cracks, tender feet and lost shoes whilst polish is generally used for show purposes.

As a concluding note, ‘farriers’, the people who will carry out much of this work, are incredibly important, with an interesting history. Farriers have largely replaced blacksmiths (after this specialism mostly became redundant after the industrial revolution), and are highly skilled in both metalwork and horse anatomy. Historically, the jobs of farrier and blacksmith were practically synonymous, shown by the etymology of the word: farrier comes from Middle French ferrier (blacksmith), and from the Latin word ferrum (iron). Modern day farriers usually specialize in horseshoeing though, focusing their time and effort on the care of the horse's hoof, including trimming and balancing of the hoof, as well as the placing of the shoes. Additional tasks for the farrier include dealing with injured or diseased hooves and application of special shoes for racing, training or ‘cosmetic’ purposes. In countries such as the United Kingdom, it is illegal for people other than registered farriers to call themselves a farrier or to carry out any farriery work, the primary aim being ‘to prevent and avoid suffering by and cruelty to horses arising from the shoeing of horses by unskilled persons.’ This is not the case in all countries however, where horse protection is severely lacking.

We hope the reader enjoys this book.

TO

COLONEL GEORGE GREENWOOD,

LATE LIEUT.-COLONEL COMMANDING SECOND LIFE GUARDS,

WHOSE JUDICIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TREATMENT,

ALLAYS THE FEARS, AND OVERCOMES THE RESISTANCE

OF HORSES OF EVERY TEMPERAMENT,

AND PREEMINENTLY DISTINGUISHES HIM,

AS

A PERFECT HORSEMAN, MOST CONSIDERATE HORSE-MASTER,

AND KIND HEARTED AND HUMANE MAN,

THIS EFFORT TO AMELIORATE THE CONDITION OF THE HORSE

IS INSCRIBED

BY HIS FAITHFUL AND OBLIGED FRIEND,

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS.

Original Preface

Preface to the Seventh Edition containing experiments in proof of the expansion of the horse’s foot

Description of the foot

The horny crust

Definition of elastic as applied to the horse’s foot

The sole

The frog

The bones of the foot

The lateral cartilages

The sensitive sole

The sensitive frog

The elastic cushion or fatty frog

The coffin joint

The navicular joint

The natural form of the foot

Removing the old shoe

Preparation of the foot for receiving a new shoe

Rasping the crust

Paring the foot

Reasons for varying the paring out of feet at different seasons

Different feet require different treatment

General directions for paring the foot

Opening out the heels condemned

Reasons for never allowing a knife to approach the frog

Weight of the shoe

Width of the web

Objections to shoes well set off at the heels

The effect of such shoes on the navicular joint

The foot does not receive its form from the shoe

The situation of the nails determines the form of the foot

The form of the shoe

Objections to thick heeled shoes

The toe turned up out of the line of wear

Steel at the toe objectionable

A clip at the toe desirable

The shoe should not be too short

A flat surface for the crust to bear upon

The nail holes in the flat surface, and not partly in it and partly in the seating

The seating

The ground surface

No objection to the application of a hot shoe to the foot, to ascertain its bearings

Reasons for removing the shoes every two or three weeks

Number and situation of the nails

More nails, than are necessary, not merely useless

Five nails sufficient for all purposes, not even excepting hunting

How expansion of the foot is permitted by one-sided nailing

Corns cured by one-sided nailing with five nails

Evidence of a commercial traveller in favour of one-sided nailing with five nails

Remarks upon shoeing with leather

The hind shoe considered

Objections to the general use of Calkins

Clips

The cause and prevention of forging

Over-reach, how produced, and how prevented

A plan for detecting the exact part of the shoe, with which a horse cuts

Reasons against shoeing horses in the stable away from the forge

General observations upon shoeing hunters, and plating race horses

The situation of the nails a common cause of horses losing their races

The effect of the loss of one inch upon each stride in running over the Derby course

The advantages of a loose box

The disadvantages of stalls shown in the number of horses cast by cavalry regiments

The objections commonly urged against loose boxes

The best mode of converting stalls into loose boxes

The real, but unurged, objection to loose boxes

Horses having always been kept in stalls, no argument against its being hurtful to them

New form of muzzle recommended instead of the two objectionable forms in common use

Meaning of the word sound as applied to horses’ feet

A foot afflicted with inflammation and pain not sound

Pointing not merely a trick, but a symptom of unsoundness

Perfectly sound feet among horses in work very rare, and not absolutely essential; nevertheless very desirable

The importance of regular daily exercise to the soundness of horses’ feet

Treatment of the foot in the stable

A useful hoof ointment

The best mode of applying moisture

Morning the fittest time for the application of cold water to the feet

Stopping the feet at night recommended

Cow dung a good stopping

No fear of producing thrushes by moist stopping

Bad shoeing the real cause of thrushes

Two cases of thrushes cured while standing on wet sawdust without shoes

Standing on wet sawdust in a loose box preferred to turning out

Value of a general warranty considered

APPENDIX.

The argument, that horses require more support at the heels, than nature has given to them, refuted

Reasons why the system of one-sided nailing has not obtained more general use

Extra fastenings only required to counteract defective fitting of the shoe

Undue weight attached to the opinion of smiths and stable people

Estimate of the value of the smith’s opinion upon the foot of the horse

Frequent repetition of the same thing in the same way not experience

Horse-masters invited to acquaint themselves with the principles of shoeing

Smiths and grooms for the most part ready and willing to receive instruction

Knowledge of the anatomy of the foot not absolutely essential to a practical acquaintance with the art of shoeing

Five nails sufficient for hunters in any country

A mechanical impossibility for any description of ground to pull off a