Cracked horse hooves never easy to fix

Cracked horse hooves never easy to fix

They often appear without warning and can be notoriously hard to get right. What are the causes and what’s the best plan of attack?

Cracked hooves are frustrating for horse owners.

While a quick fix would be great, the reality is that you’ll be playing a long waiting game to get it right. And while waiting you’ll be fighting a battle to keep the damage from getting worse while new hoof develops.

The outer wall of a horse’s hoof is akin to our fingernails or toenails. In horses, it grows down from the coronary band.

The hard shell that is the outer wall of a hoof began life as epidermis skin cells. Epidermis cells form the outer layer of skin. They have no blood vessels and get their oxygen and nutritional needs by fluid exchange with the underlying dermis.

In a hoof, the epidermis cells nearest the surface appear to get loaded with proteins that cause them to die. They dry and and harden, forming the protective layer we call the hoof wall.

It has no nerve tissue, meaning – just like our fingernails – we can cut and trim without pain, provided we don’t disturb the underlying living tissue.

When a horse owner faces dealing with a cracked hoof, they will need to consider two important questions: is the condition of the hoof due to the foot growing poor quality hoof, or have environmental factors caused the meltdown?

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