Hooves- why are some naturally taller/shorter?

[seahorse]

I've noticed that some horses seem to be made with taller and some with shorter hooves. If they are trimmed as short as possible some horses still seem to have "tall" feet? (my gelding being one of them) I don't think I've ever seen any big horse with "tall" hooves, only miniatures?

I'm just curious, are either taller or shorter hooves preferred? Does the height of the hooves make a difference as to how the horse preforms, or stays sound?

Thanks!

 

[Leeana]

Hi,

Are you talking about the heel? In shetlands they limit the amount of heal on a pony, for classics is 1.75'' ..im not sure what it is for moderns but they are normally grown out allot. I do not think Minis have a limit set on heel yet. I think the way a hoof is varies horse to horse

.

I know with my classic shetland gelding he gets ouchie if he doesnt have enough toe.

I dont think the minis are to bad with having allot of heel. Look at the Hackney Ponies, Hackney Horses, Modern Shetlands and i think Arabians (carol will correct me if im wrong lol), Saddlebreds, TN walkers and those type of horses all have a bit more heel. I thnk its common for Walkers to have extra toe, atleast that is what i have been told.

 

[barefoot]

Emma

 

[seahorse]

Are you talking about the heel?

Yes! It is the heels that are taller!

Is this something that can or even should be corrected?

 

[MiLo Minis]

From what I have observed Miniature Horse foals don't seem to have enough weight to spread their hoof when they are babies. If they are not trimmed regularly, at least every 4 weeks as very young foals, their hooves tend to become narrower and steeper with not much toe if they are up on their heels when born and tend to become long in the toe if they are down on their heels very quickly. If this isn't corrected at a very young age the tendons form in that pattern and they are that way for life.

 

[seahorse]

Wow, I never knew that! Sounds like my little guy, tall, narrow, steep hooves, but they are not long enough to trim? It took me a long time to convince my mom that he really needed his hooves done. (Like now, not in two weeks!) And then it was only a trim, done by my older brother. I was afraid they were not growing right. Lets just say my mom and I have very different opinions as to how to take care of a horse, and it drives me crazy!

So, at what age do you think the hoof permanently becomes tall/ short? And does it ever affect the horses movement or soundness? Could a professional farrier do something to help?

Thank you!

 

[kaykay]

I suspect what you are describing might be upright pasturns. Take a good look at the pasturns. If they dont have a good 45 degree angle then the hooves wont either. horses with upright pasturns tend to look like they are standing on high heels or "tall" hooves like you are decribing. This does affect movement as they tend to have a choppier stride instead of a reaching stride. But without pics its hard to know. Do get a good farrier. sometimes they can lower the heels to make the horse stand more comfortably etc

 

[Sandee]

I suspect what you are describing might be upright pasturns. Take a good look at the pasturns. If they dont have a good 45 degree angle then the hooves wont either. horses with upright pasturns tend to look like they are standing on high heels or "tall" hooves like you are decribing. This does affect movement as they tend to have a choppier stride instead of a reaching stride. But without pics its hard to know. Do get a good farrier. sometimes they can lower the heels to make the horse stand more comfortably etc

Don't want to highjack the thread but is this what you're talking about KayKay? This is our old gelding and his back feet have always looked very straight (short toe - he drags it off) and a higher heel. But all the farrier have said there's no way to get it down with his pastern angle.