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[RC] White Legs - k s swigart

Lif said:


Could anyone provide me with the science for the
white/black sensitive/tough notion?


Unpigmented skin is more photosensitive, and there is certainly plenty
of science to back this up.  So yes, melanin in skin provides lots of
protective properties.

To my knowledge, there is no science to back up the notion that pigment
in hooves makes them harder or less likely to chip, and I suspect that
the reason most people think this is that chips and cracks in hooves,
which then collect dirt are much easier to see on white hooves than
black ones.

In the few horses that I have had with white feet (they are less
prevalent in TBs than in Arabs so I have mostly had horses without white
feet), I have noticed no differences in quality of hoof horn between
white feet and black feet that cannot be explained in some other way.
E.g. I had a horse with two white front feet and two black back feet,
and his back feet did not wear as well and needed more protection than
his front feet (no, I did not make a mistake in this statement, he
rarely needed shoes in front, his white feet,  even when doing multiday
endurance; however, he definitely needed shoes behind if he were going
more than 50 miles); however, this can be attributed entirely to the
fact that he worked off his hind end very well and used his back feet
more than his front feet because this greater wear behind could be
observed when comparing the wear on his shoes (if he were shod).  He
wore his back shoes more than his front shoes.  So, even though his back
feet (the black ones) needed more protection than his front feet (the
white ones), I did not immediately leap to the conclusion it is because
black feet don't wear as well as white ones.

Personally, I prefer my horses to have no white on their legs; however,
because I think it is ugly. :).

kat
Orange County, Calif.




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