sheep hoof care | Surviving Mexico

Recently, my father-in-law and my husband were talking about shoeing horses. Apparently, the price per shoe has gone up to 400 pesos and as horses have 4, well, that’s a pretty penny. Although we’ve had horses that have been shoed, our current mare, Lady, is unshod.

My father-in-law said that none of the horses he has ever owned have worn horseshoes. He wondered about the prevalence of shoeing in Moroleon. I thought that perhaps since most horse owners here are hobby riders, that is they only take their horses out for shows or parades, shoeing might help protect the underside of the hoof from overgrowing in the absence of normal wearing down that occurs with a working horse. (See Pros and Cons: Are Horse Shoes Necessary for Hoof Health?)

Of course, not shoeing a horse doesn’t mean that our Lady’s hooves are neglected. Periodically my husband checks for stones or dirt buildup in the soft part of the hoof. He also occasionally files down the hoof if it seems to need it. (See Ten Hoof Care Tips to Help Keep Your Horse’s Hooves Healthy and Strong)

In order to do this little bit of maintenance, he had to accustomed Lady to lifting her feet, one at a time so he could examine them.

Lady isn’t the only animal we need to check hooves though. Our goats and sheep regularly pick up thorns in the soft part of their cloven hooves. Sometimes, an animal we have just bought may need some filing done if it was kept in a soft ground area and not allowed to graze. Otherwise, the rocky terrain found in La Yacata, keeps those little tootsies appropriately worn. (See Hoof Trimming)

January 22-265 is International hoof-care week this year. If you have hooved animals, why not take the time to give them a little pedicure this week?