STUD FARM DIARIES

It was just a normal, ordinary day. The rider was grooming her horse in preparation for some lessons in the arena. As she picked out her mare’s hooves, the hoof pick glanced off of something hard. As she carefully examined the sole of the mare’s hoof, a smooth nail head revealed itself embedded in the sole near the point of the frog. The rider decided to pull out the nail and as the horse wasn’t lame, dabbed a bit of iodine on the nail hole and went on her way.

At the same farm, a gelding was found out in his paddock, standing stiff and unmoving. He would not come to the feeder to eat his morning meal. As he was caught and examined in the field, he was found to be extremely lame, refusing to bear weight on his right front foot. Both front hooves were cleaned out in the field, and no abnormalities or foreign objects were found. It took a lot of convincing to get him to hop on three legs to the barn. The owner, quite distraught, called the veterinarian to come immediately and bring their x-ray machine.

As it turns out, both horses had common problems with their hooves, but the more dangerous case might surprise you. And there was a clue as to which horse it was. Did you