My mare and I went for a lovely trailride today, a perfect fall afternoon. The trail empties out by the ring, as since we walked most of the ride with only a bit of trotting, we did a few canter circles in the ring for good measure. She was nice and balanced and I was pleased with the exercise.

So I was surprised to see that her heel was bloody when we got back to the barn. I hadn’t seen anything weird when I picked her hooves before we left, and she hadn’t flinched or gone gimpy on the trail, and if she was favoring that foot I definitely would have noticed on the harder surface of the ring. After cleaning the area, it looked like a tear in the skin of her heel; maybe she caught herself with her back foot and ripped a flap. Or could an abscess have popped? Or could it be related to the wet weather? It didn’t seem to bother her at all, so I’m hopeful that it’s just a superficial wound. But it’s a good excuse to do some reading about common foot problems.

There are a zillion web sites out there devoted to hooves and their care and problems. Most have lots of in-depth information, which was pretty overwhelming when I was trying to get a concise overview of the most common problems. I read some interesting stuff, but wanted a quickie reference, and finally found a nice chart on Drs Foster and Smith’s site. Seems like most of the common issues can be prevented with proper nutrition and by keeping the feet clean and dry.

My dream (well, one of the many) for when I grow up/retire from the rat race, is to learn natural hoofcare trimming methods, and be in charge of my own horses’ feet. Natural hoof trimming techniques attempt to shape the foot to look and function similarly to the hooves of wild horses. Cool–this site has a video tutorial on how to trim your horse’s hooves: http://www.thehorseshoof.com/ The Horse’s Hoof is a quarterly publication focusing on the barefoot horse. Lots of great info! Check out the articles and resources.

Another great resource is the Barefoot Hoofcare blog. The author is passionate about spreading the gospel of natural foot care. From her blog, I found this site: http://www.naturalhorsetrim.com/ which also looks to have a ton of useful information. The problem is not so much finding knowledgable people who are willing to share their insights, but finding the time to read everything!