Working with mustangs in Nevada flipped my thinking on hoof balance

Seeing how their natural wear patterns set up for rocky terrain made me adjust my trimming style for all my clients, lol.

3 comments

3 Comments

lucas_grant835d ago

I spent a week watching mustangs in the Virginia Range last year. Honestly, seeing how their front hooves wore shorter than the rears on that ground was a lightbulb moment. I'd been trimming everything to a perfect textbook shape before that, which was real bad for some horses. Tbh I probably made a few horses pretty sore with my old method, which is embarrassing to admit now. I had to completely relearn how to read the wear on a bare hoof. Now I look at the terrain a horse actually lives on first, before I even pick up a rasp.

ellis.casey5d ago

Man, that's it exactly. The textbook shape is just a starting point, you know? I saw the same thing with a pony on super soft pasture, its toes grew way out because there was nothing to wear them down. But my friend's horse on rocky trails? Totally different wear pattern, short and really rounded. You have to copy what the ground is already doing for them, or you're just fighting nature. It makes so much sense once you see it.

tarah575d ago

Ugh, I used to trim way too short before I watched how their feet naturally wore on our gravel roads. Now I just help that along instead of forcing my own idea of perfect.