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Pro tip: I was convinced a 10-degree hoof angle was fine for most horses until I saw a string of navicular cases in my own practice.
After tracking my last 20 corrective shoeing cases in my logbook, I realized 18 of them came from horses trimmed to that 'easy' angle, so now I always check the breakover point first and ask, what's the lowest angle you've safely worked with on a hard-keeper?
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faithg262mo ago
That old 10-degree rule seems risky, and @skyler_kim is right about checking the breakover first.
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Honestly thought the same for a while, that a 10-degree angle was a safe standard. Seeing a few too many sore-footed horses come through after that kind of trim really shifted my view. Now I won't go below 12 degrees on a regular basis, even for the easy keepers. The breakover point is just too important to mess with.
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hugow301d ago
Man, I hear you on that, it's rough seeing a horse hurting from something that seemed fine before.
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