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However, there is a growing movement to eliminate shoes on working horses. Advocates of barefooting point out many benefits to keeping horses barefoot and present studies showing that improper shoeing can cause or exacerbate certain hoof ailments in the horse. A hoof boot may help protect the horse's hooves during the transition period.
The clean, picked hoof allows for better inspection for injury. Hoof care is especially important when caring for the horse. Although many horses are quite healthy without daily brushing, lack of hoof care can result in various problems, which if unattended, can result in short or long-term soundness issues for the horse.
A horse's teeth grow continuously throughout its life and can develop uneven wear patterns. Most common are sharp edges on the sides of the molars which may cause problems when eating or being ridden. For this reason a horse or pony needs to have its teeth checked by a veterinarian or qualified equine dentist at least once a year.
Horse teeth often wear in specific patterns, based on the way the horse eats its food, and these patterns are often used to conjecture on the age of the horse after it has developed a full mouth. As with aging through observing tooth eruption, this can be imprecise, and may be affected by diet, natural abnormalities, and vices such as cribbing .
The common adage “no foot, no horse” rings true in that the shape and soundness of a horse’s hoof dictates the tasks it can perform. [3] Equine athletes asked to perform at intense levels of competition experience a great deal of wear on the internal and external structures of the hoof. [3]
A horse wearing an English bridle with a snaffle bit, the end of which can be seen just sticking out of the mouth. The bit is not the metal ring. Horse skull showing the large gap between the front teeth and the back teeth. The bit sits in this gap, and extends beyond from side to side. The bit is an item of a horse's tack.
Swelling and bleeding bars can cause a horse to try to slide its tongue over the bit. [8] Sudden action on the reins always causes the animal severe pain. [19] A particularly painful situation is when the bit rests on the molars, without the support of the corners of the mouth or the tongue. [8]
The outcome of these practices is so much pain in the horse's front hooves that the horse snatches its feet off the ground as fast as possible in an attempt to alleviate the pain. Correspondingly, the horse steps under itself as far as possible with its hind legs to relieve the forelegs of weight.