By Jec A. Ballou

Unhealthy hooves in horses are often not due to genetic weakness, but rather preventable lifestyle factors. While it’s hard to admit, many common horsekeeping practices contribute to sore feet in horses. Key causes of weakened hooves in modern horses include limited movement, inappropriate ground surfaces, improper diet and supplements, and early development practices such as weaning.

Sore hooves impact more than just a horse’s movement—they can lead to a significant decrease in overall activity. This drop in exercise negatively affects vital systems like digestion, bone density, immunity, and circulation. When horses suffer from sore feet, owners may experience a chain reaction of health issues. Often, the answer is not just finding the best farrier, vet, or trainer.

The Importance of Movement for Hoof Health

Strong, healthy hooves depend on regular movement. The natural concussive forces from daily exercise across different types of terrain help maintain thick, tough hooves, strong cartilage, and healthy digital cushions. Like other parts of the horse's body, hooves require consistent movement to stay strong. Without adequate stimulation, hoof tissues become weak, leading to discomfort and other health problems.

Every step a horse takes helps shape and toughen the outer and inner hoof structures. Sufficient exercise goes beyond daily training sessions. It means finding ways to distribute small doses of movement throughout the day. Stimulating tissues repeatedly during a 24-hour period creates better health than exercising the horse hard for one hour and then leaving him to stand in a small pen the remaining 23 hours. Extra exercise might come in the form of creative paddock designs that require travel to food, water, and socializing, or might include a hot-walker or extra training sessions. The goal is to minimize sedentary time. Creating stronger hooves often involves asking ourselves: How can I add more movement to this horse’s day?

Related: How to Use Hills for Horse Training

Ground Surfaces

On the topic of exercise, we also must consider what kinds of surface the horse lives and trains on. Horses that train mostly in arenas and are kept in sandy paddocks or stalls with shavings are at risk of weaker feet. Loose soft footing of this type does not offer the stimulative effect of pressure and release that firmer ground gives the foot. When the horse’s whole life, both training and resting, is spent on soft footing, he lacks a major contributor to healthy digital cushions, thicker soles, and proper hoof concavity.

The hooves of horses that live in sandy paddocks and train mainly in arenas with soft footing do not benefit from the stimulation of pressure and release that firmer ground provides. Photo: iStock/Purple Queue

An ideal scenario includes access to both soft and firm ground, whether in a pasture or across weekly training locations. This might be as simple as riding in different locations a few times weekly, or adding small sections of varied terrain in frequently traveled areas of your horse’s paddock. Ensuring movement on both soft and firm ground becomes especially important during seasonal extremes. During months of wet or boggy weather, for instance, finding firm ground may mean deliberate hand-walks up and down the barn aisle or paved driveway. Part of creating stronger hooves means asking ourselves: Does my horse spend time on both firm and soft ground every day?

Related: How to Train on the Trail

An easy way to ensure your horse’s movement on varied terrain is to ride in different locations a few times a week. Photo: Shutterstock/Richard P Long

Diet

Most modern hoof issues — laminitis, flat soles, crumbly walls — can be traced to the diet. In many instances, the more elaborate a horse’s supplement routine and diet is, the more persistent his hoof dysfunction will be. Simple sugars and starches convert quickly to glucose, which creates inflammation and damage to the hoof laminae. These sugars come in the form of grains, high starch hay, early season pasture grass, and treats like apples and carrots. But they also lurk in many supplements as binders or to make them tastier.

When selecting a supplement to address hoof health concerns, look for nutrients that have been proven beneficial by peer-reviewed research. Pay attention to the content of supplements and forages to avoid imbalances and potential negative impacts on hoof health.

Related: The Well-Fed Foot - Nutrition for Healthy Hooves

Related: 10 Things You Might Not Know About Horse Hooves

If your horse appears foot-sore, shortens his strides on hard ground, or shows an unwillingness to move forward if the footing changes, consider a gradual transition to feeding only low-carb hay and minerals for a two-week period. A high percentage of horses will respond to this change, and as dietary inflammation resolves, the tender-footedness goes away. For these horses, soundness depends on a diet that follows the principle that less is more. 

Weaning and Early Life

Weaning practices can predispose a horse to a lifetime of orthopedic challenges. Today, foals are commonly weaned around four to six months of age, as opposed to the timeline that happens in nature of nine months to two years. Earlier weaning means earlier consumption of hay and grain, which tends to fatten youngsters much more rapidly than mare’s milk. 

Young horses should spend at least their first two years in a pasture with varied terrain including firm ground to foster development of stronger, more resilient feet. Photo: Dreamstime/Janina Kubik

This weight gain and quick growth stresses joints and tissues that are still forming, including hooves. In addition to possibly weakening the bony structures, this added load overburdens the hooves which normally continue to develop in strength and size until year five. When the hooves’ adaptation is overwhelmed by excess weight in youngsters, common outcomes include flat soles, shelly walls, and low heels. Secondarily, owners of youngsters might be tempted to fix these issues by shoeing them in year two or three, which further alters the hooves’ early development that dictates its durability years down the road.

In terms of weaning foals, a healthier option seems to be a six- to eight-month timeline in addition to vigilance to keep them lean once transitioned to a domestic diet. Additionally, it is imperative for their feet that they spend at least the first two years in a pasture with varied terrain and access to firm ground. Otherwise, they will likely battle weak feet for the rest of their lives.

Related: Get Your Horse on a Track System

Related: Does Footing Affect Fitness in Horses?

Related: Podcast - Hoof Rehabilitation with Alicia Harlov

More by Jec Ballou

Main Photo: Shutterstock/Anakondasp