29
Jan
The winter coat of a horse like that of many animals consists of two layers of hair. Horses in the wild cover miles and miles in a day and wear their hooves much more than domestic horses do even in a 24-hour turn out the situation in a field.
The horse puts the hind feet forward underneath himself to take weight off the front feet and the heels wear faster.
How do wild horses keep hooves short. Wild horses maintain their hooves by moving long distances 20 to 40 miles 30 to 60 km a day over rough terrains. This keeps their hooves healthy by building hard hooves that do not need shoeing and wearing down trimming the hoof which prevents overgrowth. Additionally natural selection only allows the survival of the fittest.
With the extensive traveling wild horses do combined with various terrains in their travels hooves are naturally ground down to a suitable length. These animals are not confined and will wear them down accordingly. Their hooves will be worn down at the same rate at which they grow out.
In addition to daily travels horses frequently run. A lot depends on their environment. If they live on rough rocky terrain as do some mustangs then normal wear and tear will keep their hooves short and hopefully worn into passable shape.
But wild horses on other terrain such as the ponies of the Camargue region in France receive some human care even though they live in semi-liberty. The domestic horses need a good trim at least once or twice a year depending on the situation whereas the wild horses are wearing and sharpening the hooves every single day without even knowing. As per a recent study wild horses run around 20 to 40 miles a day in search of food and this hunt helps them in trimming their hooves off.
Horses in the wild cover miles and miles in a day and wear their hooves much more than domestic horses do even in a 24-hour turn out the situation in a field. As the outer hard part wears down the inner soft sole absorbs more of the pressure and distributing it keeps the. Wild horses may obtain something in their diet that domestic horses dont receive.
There is also an idea that differences in diet may have some knock-on effects on the health and growth of hooves. Perhaps the nutrients in a natural diet provide the minerals needed to keep hooves. The horse puts the hind feet forward underneath himself to take weight off the front feet and the heels wear faster.
Horses that do a lot of collected work can also get long-in-front toes in the hind feet. Keep the toes backed up and be sure the horse gets plenty of non-collected exercise for more balanced wear. Because the wild horse herds must travel for food and water their hooves are naturally worn down on a daily basis.
Domestic horses on the other hand spend a lot of their time sedentary on a perfectly level and relatively soft ground. Over time their hooves grow. Horses in the wild cover miles and miles in a day and wear their hooves much more than domestic horses do even in a 24 hour turn out situation in a field.
As the outer hard part wears down the inner soft sole absorbs more of the pressure and distributing it keep. I am often asked why dont horses in the wild need trims and horseshoes I try and answer that question. The reasons are varied and complex but most horse q.
Most hooves that have been shod or have had a pasture trim are too short at the toe the toe sole has been thinned. However the toe is often flared forward and needs to be backed up trimmed back toward the rest of the foot. The wild-horse barefoot trim avoids shortening the toe underneath and thinning the sole.
Instead we allow the sole to grow thicker toe callus and the toe wall to grow longer. Wild horses dont get any treatment for anything so they can and do die from disease infection etc. Domesticated horses live a vastly different lifestyle than a wild horse.
They are asked to work and get sweaty multiple times per week. They are confined to spaces much smaller than the areas wild horses roam. They get fed an artificial diet.
The barefoot trim aims to emulate the way in which hooves are maintained naturally in wild horse herds like feral horse herds such as the American Mustang or the Australian Brumby as well as wild zebras and other wild equine populations. For horses in transition spreading hay out in little piles taking him for frequent short walks on non-concussive ground or in hoof boots and keeping him in the company of many other horses will all go a long way to encouraging movement. Set up a Paddock.
A comprehensive new study published last week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B lends support to existing hypotheses about the dramatic transformation in horses hooves. The frustration builds and then you think if only I knew how to trim using the wild horse as a model I could trim my own horse. With the shortage of competent natural hoof care providers this is a common thought that enters the mind of many horse guardians.
You may have either read or heard that you can easily learn to trim your own horse. How do Wild Horses Stay Warm in Winter. How do horses in cold weather keep warm.
In the great outdoors there are neither warm stables nor thermal blankets for horses. The winter coat of a horse like that of many animals consists of two layers of hair. The short dense undercoat or the undercoat and on the other hand the long.