Horse hooves require regular grooming. Inspect and clean them daily. These manipulations will help prevent the development of dangerous diseases in the animal. In this review, we will examine in detail the structure of the horse's hooves, how to properly care for them, and also what threatens the pet in case of ignoring the rules of care.
Anatomy
You can teach a foal to examination of legs starting from 3-4 months of age. Experienced horse breeders recommend stroking the limb of the animal with vertical movements, and then grab it by hand without taking it off the ground and, if the pet allows it, raise it to the desired height. If the inspection is successful, you should give the foal a treat. In case of disobedience, verbal discontent should be expressed. To understand what was seen on the horse’s foot, one should at least imagine what the anatomy of the horse’s hoof is. Without basic knowledge in this area, you cannot help an animal in case of a disease.
The structure of the horse's hoof is similar to that of other artiodactyls. Livestock specialists consider it a complex structure that includes several elements at once.
Structure
What does the hoof of a horse consist of? Its main anatomical parts are:
- The border is located in the area where the scalp is transformed into a horn shoe. The upper edge of the horse's hoof resembles a small strip 5-6 mm thick in shape. It consists of a slightly softened tubular horn tissue. The sebaceous glands and hair follicles are concentrated in the upper border of the border. The main function of this element is to produce the outer layer of the cornea and reduce pressure on the scalp.
- The corolla is located slightly above the border, has a semicircular shape. This element is necessary to absorb shock and shaking when the sole of the hoof is in contact with the ground.
- The wall consists of a cornea and skin. Has a special structure of the producing layer.
- The sole is similar in shape to a curved plate with a small recess for the arrow. This element consists of a skin base and epidermis. Well regenerated and growing rapidly. The main function of this element is to protect against deformation of deep tissue.
- The crumb is located between the winding walls and has a wedge-shaped shape with a peak tending to catch. It is divided by a longitudinal trough. It consists of the epidermis with the stratum corneum, the skin base and a special subcutaneous layer.
How to care for hooves?
So what do you need to know about this? Experienced horse breeders know that the health of horses depends on the condition of their hooves. This part of the body deserves special attention. Hoof care necessarily includes:
- daily inspection;
- cleaning;
- buckling;
- lubrication with special oils.
After each working day, horse hooves should be treated. First, the limb is washed in running water. After that, the horn shoe is cleaned of dirt accumulated in it. Adults also need to remove dead sites of hooves. This will protect the horse from the appearance of naminas. This procedure is recommended to be done every 45-50 days.
Experienced horse breeders recommend from an early age to train horses to give a leg for inspection and untwisting. This manipulation is extremely important when leaving. It allows using special equipment to remove stuck debris and dirt from the sole. Over time, when the pet grows up, it will be possible to begin to accustom him to the rasp, knife and other tools. A horse cannot be cleaned if it is sweating and soaring. First you need to wait until the hair and skin dry out. If the animal is not accustomed to feeding the leg or has a bad character, then in order to process the hooves, you will have to use a tranquilizer. For some time, an intravenous or intramuscular administration of Vetranquil helps euthanize a horse.
Cleaning procedure
What you need to know about this? How are horses hooves cleaned? About once a week, hooves are thoroughly cleaned with water, a brush and a special hook. This procedure is performed according to the following algorithm:
- The horse breeder stands next to the animal and asks him to put his foot. In this case, the horse's hoof should be placed heel to you.
- Crochet carefully from the heel to the front edge to remove dirt from the horn shoe. This procedure should be carried out very carefully so as not to damage the arrow. Otherwise, lameness may occur.
- Of particular note in the cleaning process are the edges of the horseshoes and twisting corners.
- With the help of a stiff brush, the remnants of dust and dirt are removed from the horse's sole.
- The lower part of the hooves is lubricated with special ointments or castor oil. This will prevent the horn from drying out and cracking.
Experts do not recommend cleaning the horseshoe immediately before and after feeding. In addition to daily cleaning, the horse's front and rear hooves should be examined for pathologies and injuries. If creases are found, they should be sawed with a rasp or cut with a sharp knife.
Clearing and shoeing
Let's dwell on this in more detail. The main reason for the rapid wear of the cornified horse shoe is the prolonged wearing of horseshoes and walking on a hard surface. As a result, cracks and accumulations of pathogenic bacteria appear. To prevent the development of diseases of the legs of the horse, the breeder needs to timely change horseshoes and trim hooves. To do this, perform the following sequence of actions:
- Remove old worn horseshoes.
- Cut an overgrown horn with a hoofed knife: this procedure is carried out with extreme caution. Even the smallest damage to sensitive soft tissues can permanently disable the animal.
- Flat soles require special attention, after their processing, you can begin to clear the keratinized zone of the foot and its furrows. For carrying out manipulations it is necessary to use a rasp or a special knife.
- With cleaned limbs should be taken measurements for the manufacture of new horseshoes. These attributes must fully match the size of the hooves and correctly bend around them.
After a month and a half, you can reforging. This requirement is due to the fact that with constant wearing of horseshoes, the hoofed part cannot stretch. When walking, the horse’s body mass exerts pressure on the limbs, and blood arrives at the feet with particular force, distributing nutrients to the soft tissues. To form healthy hooves in horses, it is necessary to correctly distribute the load, as well as perform timely trimming of the stratum corneum. The regular cornea is characterized by an even thin layer of neat cover, pointed edges, a well-developed horn arrow, a concave foot. The crumb should have a regular rounded shape and smoothly move to the rounded edge of the corollas. In this case, there should be no cracks, pits and cracks. Horseshoes prevent the opening of hooves, interfere with proper nutrition of the limbs and contribute to the formation of blood stasis.
Diseases
Now that you know the anatomy of a horse’s hoof, you can consider the causes of pathologies and limb diseases in horses. On a healthy hoof, there should be no discrepancies in the place of contact of the walls with the sole, curvature of the heel corners, grooves in the cornea, holes and naminas.
With improper care or its absence, a pathogenic environment develops, which can result in the emergence of a hoof disease in horses. Consider which pathologies pose the greatest threat.
Rheumatic inflammation
This disease can occur in both acute and chronic form. What horse hooves does it affect? Most often, inflammation develops on the forelimbs. It proceeds as a serous inflammation, affects the skin base, the hooking part of the wall and the sole. The appearance of rheumatic inflammation can be caused by heavy prolonged work, eating animal feed with concentrates, rapid cooling of a hot horse, infection, a tendency to an allergic reaction and deformation of hooves. The main symptoms of inflammation in horses are:
- rapid pulse;
- increased breathing;
- body temperature up to 41 degrees;
- with damage to the chest limbs - burden on the back of the horse's hoof;
- soreness when squeezing the front of the foot;
- general lethargy of the animal;
- lameness, weakening during a long walk, but intensifying after a slight rest;
- excessive sweating;
- putting forward all the legs;
- muscle tremor;
- tension during walking;
- in case of a chronic disease, a displacement of the hoof bone may occur;
- the development of purulent pododermatitis and hedgehog.
For the treatment of rheumatic inflammation, a decrease in the amount of exudate and dehydration of the body are usually indicated. For this, the animal is placed in running water or cold clay for the first three days. After this, salivary drugs are prescribed, such as Polycaprine and Arecolin. The dosage is determined based on the manufacturer's recommendations. Also, laxatives are shown to the animal. For pain relief, Novocain may be used. Within 5-7 days, the horse is injected with a 0.1% solution of adrenaline and a solution of calcium chloride. The veterinarian may also prescribe Hydrocotisone and Butadione. During the period of illness, the animal is shown a special diet that excludes the use of concentrates. Skin rubbing also helps. You should also take care of the soft litter. In severe forms of the disease, a blood transfusion may be required.
Phlegmon Corolla
This disease can develop due to deep infected serifs, purulent pododermatitis, inflammation of the hoof joint and direct binding. The main symptoms of phlegmon include:
- pain in the keratinized parts of the limbs;
- animal tension;
- swelling in the area of the corolla;
- the appearance of overhanging parts of the body over the hoof net;
- lameness;
- fluctuation;
- increase in general body temperature;
- oppression;
- loss of appetite.
How to recognize phlegmon horse hooves? Photos of sick animals and recommendations of experienced horse breeders will help you with this. Therapeutic measures for this disease are aimed at reducing the volume of the keratinized area of the wall under swelling, as well as the treatment of damaged areas of the hoof with medicines. For the treatment of phlegmon, alcohol and ichthyol dressings, intravenous administration of Novocaine, Penicillin and Urotropinum are usually used. The dosage of the drugs is prescribed by the veterinarian, depending on the health status of the horse and its age.
When suppuration occurs, it is recommended to cut off the affected areas. Then they are cleaned with antiseptic drugs. The treatment of the affected areas with Vishnevsky ointment helps well.
Corolla serif
What it is? Corollary wounds usually appear due to mechanical damage due to improper positioning of the legs or prolonged contact with the horseshoe. The cause of this disease can also be:
- prolonged movement of the animal on a slippery uneven surface;
- running forging;
- sharp upsetting;
- cool high-speed turns.
To recognize the disease, it is not necessary to thoroughly know the structure of the horse's hoof. The main features are:
- deep surface abrasions;
- damage to the skin;
- bleeding
- severe lameness;
- swelling of the tissues on the foot;
- soreness when touching the corolla;
- softness of tissues.
If, at the onset of these symptoms, the horse's hoof is not treated, the disease can quickly turn into phlegmon. Therapeutic measures come down to removing hair from the affected areas, as well as treating the wounds with a solution of iodine or pioctanin. You can also apply a bandage. Surgery may be required to treat deep wounds. After carrying out the procedures, the damage must be sprinkled with a mixture of boric acid and iodoform. A Streptocide tablet is also suitable. With the appearance of suppuration, Vishnevsky ointment and camphor alcohol help well. If swelling occurs, corneal cutting near the corolla may be required. This operation is carried out in such a way as not to affect damaged skin.
Hoof cartilage necrosis
This disease usually occurs on the background of coronary wounds. The reasons for its development include:
- direct binding;
- mechanical damage to the arrow;
- purulent pododermatitis.
The main signs of hoof cartilage necrosis are severe claudication, local phlegmon, abscesses, fistulas, cartilage roughness. To treat the pathology of hoofed cartilage, it is necessary to introduce a 25-30% solution of zinc sulfate into the channel of the fistula. The bottom and walls of the fistula are scraped with a special sharp spoon. Usually requires removal of necrotic tissue. After this, the wounds are treated with antiseptic drugs, special dressings are applied.
Subdermatitis
With this disease, the upper edge of the hoof in a horse is usually inflamed. Subdermatitis can be purulent or aseptic.
The reasons for its development include the improper structure of the horse's hooves, poor cleaning of the sole, the movement of the unchained horse on a hard surface, deformation of the cornea and a violation of the integrity of the horn shoe. With subdermatitis, severe lameness and soreness are usually observed, yellowish or dark red patches appear on the sole. A horse can begin to push forward a diseased limb, and also often bend it. The pulse in this case increases, the body temperature rises.
To treat the disease, the first cause should be to eliminate the cause that caused it. In an aseptic form of inflammation, the affected limb is placed in cold clay or water. After this, veterinarians recommend doing baths with hypertonic solutions. When lameness subsides, horses conduct medical forging with a lining of leather, felt or a removable metal bottom.
Conclusion
In this review, we examined in detail the structure of the horse's hoof. The anatomy of the limbs of animals is especially important for the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases.