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Young and old, the human race enjoys the horse whether it's by riding full tilt in a run for the roses, a day of fox and hounds across an English countryside, or seated in a slow Sunday sway and stroll along your favorite neighborhood bridle path. Be it Morgan, Thoroughbred, Arabian or your favorite old dobbin, the horse has one thing in common: the hoof.
The hoof is a structure made up of bone, cartilage, joint surfaces, and sensitive and insensitive laminae which act like double-sided sticky tape to hold the hoof together. The frog of the hoof, a traction device as well as a cushion, is the heart of the foot. It is the triangular, spongy tissue located in the center of the hoof which leads back to the heel in a widening "V." Debris, be it gravel, glass, nails, or any other foreign object, can lodge along the sides of the frog and can work up into an "unseen" portion of the hoof, between the frog and the hoof sole, causing hoof bruising and/or lameness.
Another illness which is caused by lack of cleaning or improper cleaning of the hoof is "thrush," a disease caused by bacteria which is anaerobic in nature (this bacteria needs no air to breed and causes infection). Most manure and dirt contain this organism and if allowed to remain packed in hooves will cause disease. If thrush is present, a foul smelling odor is produced and a thick, blackish liquid material can be seen in the creases around the frog. If allowed to linger long enough, it will develop into an abscess. A proper regimen of daily hoof cleaning can prevent this.
To properly clean your horse's hooves, you will need a hoof pick. The hoof pick is inexpensive, made usually of steel or steel alloy, an instrument with a slightly blunt-hooked tip which measures approximately from the wrist to the index fingertip of an average adult male, and can be used by right or left-handed horse owners.
Many magazines will tell the horse owner to pick the horse's feet clean every time they groom. This is good advice provided you are someone who grooms your horse daily. Others suggest you only need to pick hooves when you ride your horse. When stalled, your horse's feet need to be cleaned twice daily. When your horse is ridden, his feet need to be cleaned before and after every ride.
To clean the hoof, approach the horse and stand just past the shoulder near the horse's elbow. Lift the hoof by applying pressure to the fetlock (the extension of bone just above the hoof and on the back of the horse's leg)or to the pastern (front of the leg just above the hoof) while leaning your body weight into the horse. This will cause the horse to lift the hoof. Rest the pastern on your knee or hold the fetlock joint between the knees while cleaning the hoof.
With the hoof pick, first dislodge any debris on the hoof sole by applying pressure to the debris with a light down and outward pulling motion. If the horse is shod, make sure no debris is caught between the horseshoe and hoof sole. Also, make a note if the horseshoe is loose to contact your farrier. Once the debris is dislodged, look for other debris which may be lodged around or in the canal by the frog of the hoof. Insert the tip of the hoof pick in the canal around the frog with light pressure. Remember, the frog is the most sensitive area of the hoof. Use an up and outward motion to dislodge any debris from the frog canal.
With the hoof still on your knee, now is a good time to check for hoof sole bruises and the presence of any heat in the coronary bands. If a reddish bruise is apparent on the hoof without the horse showing any signs of lameness, it means that within the past two months, the horse has had some sort of trauma to the hoof. If heat is present in the coronary bands of the hoof a more serious condition may be present and a vet should be consulted. One rule of thumb to apply is: if one suspects lameness, watch the horse. It will bob its head toward the good leg when ridden. Lameness can come and go in one day, last several months or become permanent, depending on its severity. The old axiom, "no hoof, no horse" is serious business. Clean the hooves regularly!
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