<<In my experience, a horse's hoof color isn't a determination of
"hard", "soft" or "healthy". I have a brown hooved horse who is hard to
keep shoes on. I have a horse with predominantly white feet who has the
best feet I've seen, and even the farrier has commented on how her feet
are. >>
I'll agree with that, both from a biological standpoint, and from
personal experience. We have 8 horses. The one with the hardest
feet is my husband's Paso...he has 4 black feet, and our farrier bends nails
when shoing him. <G> In a close second place, according to
our farrier, is my 5 yr old CMK gelding...2 black feet, 2 white.
Same thing...farrier bends nails, on the white feet too. The horse with
the worst hoof quality of the 8 is my 7 yr old gelding, who has 4 black
feet. Our farrier is very careful when shoing him, but his hoof walls
still split and crack when he nails shoes on. He's lost 2 shoes in the
year I've owned him...a testament to our farrier's skill, since given his poor
hoof quality, we're surprised he doesn't lose more. He's been on biotin
since I've owned him, and I can see the line of improved hoof quality growing
down...it's just about down to where the nails will start hitting it. ! ;
Hopefully the improved nutrition to the hoof will help.& nbsp; In the
meantime, I keep a close eye on his shoes and feet, even more so than we do
our other horses. So, I don't place any stock in hoof quality being
linked to color. The black pigment doesn't lend strength to
hooves. Stength comes from genetics, good nutrition, and good
health.
Dawn in East Texas
-----Original Message----- From:
Equus Wolf <equuswolf@xxxxxxxxx> To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent:
Sat, 25 Feb 2006 09:59:04 -0800 (PST) Subject: [RC] Horses' Feet
<<<<<From: "Ginny Holsman" <ginny744@xxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [RC]
FW: [RC] Horses feet? For example, are they black and hard, white and
soft, or brown and healthy
In my experience, a horse's hoof color isn't a determination of "hard",
"soft" or "healthy". I have a brown hooved horse who is hard to keep
shoes on. I have a horse with predominantly white feet who has the best
feet I've seen, and even the farrier has commented on how her feet are.
Having worked full time at a boarding facility with 20+ horses, and
having to help the farrier (and vet etc) with boarders horses regularly, I
asked a lot of questions and paid attention. To this day, I still ask a
lot of questions and pay attention.
Anyone else have thoughts?
Jennifer
Yahoo! Mail Bring photos to life! New PhotoMail makes sharing a breeze.
