Horse Groups Are Seeking Stiffer Anti-Soring Rules

Four equine welfare groups and former Maryland Senator Joseph Tidings have asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture to adopt new regulations designed to beef up enforcement of the 1970 Horse Protection Act (HPA) at Tennessee Walking Horse events by permanently banning violators. The Senator was an original sponsor of the soring legislation, which forbids deliberate injury to a horse’s legs to achieve an exaggerated “big lick” gait. (For more on the soring situation, check out the four-part series that American Farriers Journal produced in 2008 that can be found on the magazine’s Web site at www.americanfarriers.com/ff/soring.)

Finding The Normal Hoof Angle Is Critical 

While the correct angle is the most desirable, you can create problems if you change the normal hoof angle on a horse, says International Horseshoeing Hall Of Fame farrier Lim Couch. This means looking at the horse’s conformation and trimming the horse accordingly without breaking the axis, as the hoof must be balanced and level, says the veteran shoer from Hernando, Miss. “The slope of the shoulder and slope of the pastern should be parallel,” he adds. “The hoof, pastern and fetlock should be in a straight line. If the hoof breaks too soon or too late, it can be bind or stretch the ligaments. Changing angles can increase the stride or arc of the break.”

Hoof Regrowth May Take Longer Than You Think

Pat Burton says farriers have long been told that it will require a year to regrow…