Post by marsupylamiHonored,
I am a vet student who has just finished the last exam on the veterinary
university in zagreb, croatia, and am starting to make my diploma research
in hoof dimensions. After days spent in the library and on the internet i
failed to find any research in correlations between the horses dimensions
and the dimensions of it's hoof. The only study i found was the correlation
between the horses weight and the length of the toe (3 inches (7.6cm) for
800 to 900 pound horses, 3.25 inches (8.25cm) for 950 to 1,050 pound horses,
and 3.5 inches (8.9cm) for horses weighing 1,150 to 1,250 pounds) but which
is not applyable in terrain conditions. So i was wondering if you might
have/send me any data of that type?
Sincerely
� � � � Vesna Varda, Osijek, Croatia
Hello Vesna----I don't know if this will answer your needs, but it is
very useful information to try out. (It works!)
Around these parts, good farriers (and vets) were disappearing
rapidly, and in their place came a bunch of poorly trained farriers
who were egomaniacs---couldn't tell or ask them a thing---and they
repeatedly RUINED my horses' movements. Although I am only a slight-
of-build 5-footer, I was so desperate that I turned to doing my own
trimming (couldn't pull or nail on a shoe). For this, I grabbed every
book on vet medicine and farriery I have; also every magazine; and
even subcribed to the American Farrier's Journal. Some very
interesting stuff, but nothing that met my needs concerning the
CORRECT shape and angle of any hoof. So I took to examining pictures
very carefully.
Many of the photos and drawings showed a roundish-oval (not frisbee-
shaped; not long ladies fingernails) in which the toe WAS EXACTLY 2 X
THE LENGTH OF THE HEEL!!
I decided to experiment with this ratio (very carefuly). I have
horses of various breeds, heights, conformation, and farriery habits,
but using the rasp to trim the toe to the 3-4" appropriate to the
individual horse, I trimmed the heel to EXACTLY ONE-HALF of this
length.
It worked! On every horse! They began to lick their lips when I
trimmed them, and they never went unsound and in pain again. I had
one horse which HATED to be trimmed and shod, and who worked hard with
every farrier to refuse to lift his feet. He did for me, and it had
nothing to do with "personalities." The horse was simply more
comfortable and could move better.
This is the natural shape of any horses hooves, and gaits and
performance types have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
This information is not written in any book or journal I know of, nor
its it taught to student farriers. Instead, all kinds of verbiage and
instruments on the "angle" of the hoof---and according to injury,
performance type, and so on. And so, many horses go lame---even get
inflamation of the coffin bone or navicular joint, and so on, and have
to be euthanized. Not with this recipe!
I think your research, as far as it goes, is right; most horses have
toes of from 3 to 4 " long. But it is the SHAPE of the toe, and the
length of the HEEL in relation to that toe-length, that is all-
important. I suspect that even tiny ponies, whose toes would be
shorter than 3 inches, would do best on this ratio of 1/2 heel to
lenth of toe.
Hope you can use this.