Proper foot care should be a routine task, done regularly. To accomplish this, of course, the horse has to cooperate. The first step to proper foot care is to teach your horse to give up his foot for needed attention. This will require patience and perseverance unless your horse has already attained this talent.
Initially, just repeatedly ask your horse to give up his foot. Start at the left front. Stand just in front and to the side of your horse, facing behind him. Put your left hand on his shoulder and run your right hand down his leg. When you get to his foot try to lift it. If he doesn't give it up, pinch the tendon until he does, then release the pinch. Hold the foot for as long as he allows. Repeat the procedure for each foot. You may start out only holding his foot for a second or two, but with each repetition it will get easier and last longer. Stay calm and talk quietly to your horse. Work at it each day until the horse is comfortable and relaxed with the activity, and you can hold his foot up for a few minutes. Then, slowly and calmly introduce new steps to the process.
Next you will want to clean his feet. Using a hoof pick, start at the heel and gently work forward, removing packed dirt, stones, and any other foreign objects. While you are cleaning you can check for problems such as cracks and excessive growth, bruises and tenderness. Cleaning should be done daily for a horse kept in a stall, and before and after each work period for any horse.
If your horse is in need of a trim or has another problem, at this point you would contact your farrier.
Horses that are shod require proper maintenance. They should be checked for correct fit every 4-6 weeks. Loose shoes need to be removed and reset or replaced. Shoes can be reset until they are worn.
Barefoot horses kept in a stall should be rasped every 2-3 weeks.
Horses kept in a pasture will wear some, but should be monitored for the need to be trimmed as well as foreign objects in the foot, cracking, dryness which may require a hoof dressing, bruises, cracks, and puncture wounds that could be life threatening.
Some common foot ailments are:
Thrush- A bacterial infection caused by wet and unclean conditions. It can be treated with a bleach solution, betadine or phenol, or a commercially prepared product in conjunction with proper trimming.
Laminitis or Founder - Can be caused by overeating grain, ingestion of cold water by a hot horse, overeating grass, and sometimes unknown causes. If suspected, the vet should be called. The horse should be kept moving until the vet arrives. It should be very light activity, such as walking.
Navicular Disease - Caused by injury to the navicular bone. It can be related to heavy use on hard surfaces or to a confirmation defect that causes unnatural pressure in the wrong areas of the foot. It needs to be evaluated by X-ray. It can be managed, but there is no known cure.
Some common sense practices to prevent foot problems are to:
1. Insure that the pasture, stall and work areas are free of potential hazards such as discarded fencing, baling twine, broken boards, exposed nails or screws, protruding objects.
2. Clean and monitor your horse's feet on a regular basis. Correct problems as they are discovered.
3. Employ the regular use of a good farrier. He can be one of your most valuable contacts when problems arise. A lot of problems can be eliminated or minimized with routine care.
