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The week every horse I shod had the same hoof crack pattern | Farriers - nhfree.com

The week every horse I shod had the same hoof crack pattern

Last Tuesday I showed up for a re-shoe on a paint gelding outside Boise and found quarter cracks on both fronts. Then Wednesday's job, a draft cross, had the same thing on the same hoof location. By Friday I'd seen 4 horses with near identical quarter cracks (right front, lateral side) and I started to think I was going crazy. Turns out they all came from a pasture with super sharp rocks after a dry spring, which splays the hoof wall weird when they land. Has anyone else run into a batch problem like this where a bunch of horses suddenly show the same issue from one environment?

2 comments

2 Comments

amyh214mo ago

Hold on, but is this really some big mystery or just bad luck? In my experience, rocky pastures in dry conditions do weird stuff to hooves all the time, and four horses isn't that wild of a sample size. Your mileage may vary, but I've had runs where I saw the same thrush pattern on five horses from one barn because their bedding was wet, and nobody called it a phenomenon. Quarter cracks from sharp rocks is about as predictable as a stubbed toe on a coffee table. Take this with a grain of salt, but I think you might be overthinking it a little. It's probably just that particular pasture being extra rough this season, not some hidden pattern.

butler.abby4mo ago

@amyh21 brings up a fair point about that one barn with the thrush pattern, but I think the sample size thing is a little off. Four horses from the same pasture with the exact same crack on the same foot and side isn't just bad luck, it's a pretty clear batch problem from that environment. Dry springs and sharp rocks don't always cause quarter cracks in every horse, usually it takes a specific way of landing or shoeing to trigger it that consistently. So it's not a mystery, but it's definitely not just random bad luck either. The real takeaway is how hard that pasture is pushing hoof wall, and that's worth a closer look for anyone working that area.

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