The Wednesday afternoon where three horses in a row all had the exact same tricky hoof crack

I was out near Boulder last week and pulled up to my third farm of the day only to find the same diagonal quarter crack on a paint gelding that I had just seen on two different quarter horses that morning, and I swear I spent half the afternoon just staring at my rasp wondering if hooves were trying to tell me something.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_gavin1mo ago

Honestly I read something in Hoofcare & Lameness a while back about how certain weather patterns can mess with hoof wall integrity in a really specific way. Tbh my first thought when I saw your post was that maybe there was some barometric pressure shift or rapid moisture change that hit all three horses right around the same time. Ngl I've had days where I look at three different sets of feet and they all have the same weird flare on the same side and it makes me wonder if I'm losing my mind. That diagonal quarter crack pattern is a real pain too, it's like the hoof is trying to tell you something about how the horse loads weight but nobody asked for that kind of communication.

wells.brooke1mo ago

You know what, I used to roll my eyes at the whole weather/hoof thing. Like yeah, wet ground makes feet soft, but I thought blaming barometric pressure was a stretch. But then I had a string of horses all pop the same shelly toe at the exact same time after a big rain and dry spell back to back. That diagonal quarter crack stuff you're talking about, I've seen it too and it's always on the same foot. Now I'm a total believer, it's wild how much the environment can sync up a batch of horses like that. Ever had a barn full of them all need the same trim adjustment at once?

grantl946d ago

Barometric pressure isn't really what does it, it's more about the sudden swing in moisture content. Went from bone dry to soaking wet too fast and the hoof wall can't adjust, that's what causes that shelly look. You ever notice how it's always the same foot that flares first?