Re: RC: Foot Angles

[Deanna German <finishis2win@columbus.rr.com>]

Maggie, Abby and RD and any of you other farrier types, help me out here and
correct me if necessary..... I take an active interest in farriery but just
might be way out of my element here and I don't want to spread
misinformation.

My understanding is that, when the horse is standing square, the front
hooves should be trimmed so that there is a smooth angle from fetlock to
toe. Ignore any rounding of the toe for easing break over for now. If the
toe is too long, the laminae stretch and the toe curls out and that smooth
angle becomes a curve. If the toe is too short or the heels too high, there
is a visible break in that smooth angle downward where the hoof begins.

The horses I've observed who get lots of exercise (turnout and a fair amount
of pleasure riding) "seek" the relationship I described. That is, if their
toes get too long, they start breaking them off and if the toe is too short
(usually through over trimming), they break off hoof near the back of the
foot. Of course, I'm talking about unshod horses, since hooves ideally don't
break off of shod hooves.

It seems to me that the pastern angle is determined by the underlying bone
and tissue structure and cannot be changed by changing the angle of the
trim. I've observed that to try to do so results in gait abberations and
hypothesize that it would lead to joint or tissue damage in the long-term in
a horse that was expected to travel a few hundred competitive miles per
year.

Karen, what would you say IS the guage for determining hoof angles?

Deanna (Ohio)


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Karen Standefer wrote:
The pastern angle changes according to how the hoof is
trimmed.  The pastern angle can defitely NOT be used
as a gague for setting hoof angles.

karen