Hooves of wild ponies and horses?

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x-Marmite-x

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Sep 14, 2007
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Following on from the 'how often does an unshod horse need to see the farrier?' thread i was wondering if someone could answer my question:
Why is it that horses in the wild don't have terribly overgrown, poor hooves? We've all seen what awful things can happen when a domesticated horse isn't seen by the farrier; why doesn't this happen in the wild? I was just wondering, really. It seems odd that a domesticated horse will suffer all kinds of ailments if their feet aren't seen to and trimmed regularly, but most of the horses and ponies left in the wild (although there aren't that many anymore :() have feet that seem in perfectly acceptable condition (obviously based on photos and watching from a distance as can't get close) - just wondering if anyone knew why?
 
Most wild horses roam over a vast area to find grazing; the wear on their hooves is therefore greater than horses kept on domestic grazing. Horses in domestic situations are usually kept on grass (doesn't wear much foot away) or stabled (no wear at all to speak of) while wild ponies travel over varied terrain usually including hard ground or rocky ground.

I can say though that although some might be fine, usualy when one of the Welsh sales comes around and hill ponies go through them, there are a large number of ponies that have awful feet.
 
Echo Chev, the wild horse die from bad feet and bad teeth prematurely if man is not there to help.

Wild horses do not always wear their feet to a "natural" or beneficial shape, if un aided they grow and cripple the pony.

This idea that barefoot is best is not always right. This is an untreated hill pony's foot!.................if I can find the photo, Hang on!
 
This is a wild hill pony's foot, .....in it's natural barefoot state!

IMG_0626.jpg
 
Horse's feet adapt to their environment, so a horse in a rocky desert will have lovely strong tight feet and one living on soft damp grassland will have flare, white line disease and wall separation with chunks breaking off, which is just a natural means of self trimming if you think about it. The problem is that not all wild or feral horses are actually able to roam in a truly free way or live where nature would actually have chosen for them.

It's worth bearing in mind that in a truly natural setting something with the feet Wally posted a picture of would quickly have become dinner for a predator, so natural selection would have played its part too. Only horses with stronger feet would have had the opportunity to pass their genes on:)

Some trimmers base what they do on wild horse feet, but they're not saying any old wild horse foot is good because that's clearly not the case. The model some of them have followed is based on mustangs who live in an arid rocky desert and as a result get all the wear they need and grow incredibly tough feet to suit, along with an ideal diet. By mimicking the wear patterns in the trimming, the diet and the lifestyle as much as possible within the constraints of domestication the idea is that the foot is 'tricked' into responding and toughening up. Does seem to hold some water:)
 
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Ponies in the 'wild' can have terrible feet.

I remeber starting a thread on here last year because I was appalled at the state of some of the New Forest ponies.
 
Someone was telling me (and i can't remember who! :o) a lot of new forest (i think!) ponies have very flared feet due to the wet conditions and soft ground - one theory being that the flare gives them a greater surface area to help them stop sinking into the ground.
 
So, where in the wild will ponies wear their feet here?

Roofio, that one was trotted out here as an excuse for the feet you see in that picture. That is, in fact the flare used to take a pony over boggs!

What in the world these days is a truly natural environment?
 
Wally said:
So, where in the wild will ponies wear their feet here?

Roofio, that one was trotted out here as an excuse for the feet you see in that picture. That is, in fact the flare used to take a pony over boggs!

What in the world these days is a truly natural environment?
Click to expand...

:eek: was he being pulled by a speedboat at the time?! poor lad/lady

I suppose natural depends on the hossy concerned... for your lot i guess cold and wet, sometimes frozen, for an arab, sandy... and for my two... concrete and rubber matting :p

i suppose this is where the strasser (i know, i know, hang on!) management model comes in, with the hosses having all those different surfaces and the little splash pool (reminds me of nursery school, that one) to go in.
 
'Wild horse' type trims are based on horses that live in a hoof-friendly environment, where they have plenty of wear and not too much sugary stuff to eat. Hooves of 'wild' (most aren't really wild) horses on soft ground eating way too much grass can end up more horrible than domestic ones in a similar situation but at least getting trimmed.

There's also the little detail that the ones that do have awful feet are far more likely to be something's dinner than the ones that have feet capable of carrying them as they leg-it into the distance.
 
So, where in the wild will ponies wear their feet here?
Click to expand...

Depends where they live, but not all feral horse feet are awful, I met an exmoor stallion not long off the moor who had rather nice looking feet although nobody had ever picked them up.

Like I said one theory is that horses living on soft wet ground flare and contract white line infections as a means of breaking off chunks of hoof wall to self trim, does make a bit of sense.
 
chev said:
Most wild horses roam over a vast area to find grazing; the wear on their hooves is therefore greater than horses kept on domestic grazing. Horses in domestic situations are usually kept on grass (doesn't wear much foot away) or stabled (no wear at all to speak of) while wild ponies travel over varied terrain usually including hard ground or rocky ground.

I can say though that although some might be fine, usualy when one of the Welsh sales comes around and hill ponies go through them, there are a large number of ponies that have awful feet.
Click to expand...
yes iv noticed..i live in wales and i attend local sales looking for a bargain and there are alot of unhalter broken horses (which is fine) that have long, untrimmed hooves.(not fine), the welsh hills are covere with grass and are hardly ever hard or rocky enough to control hoof growth. Shame really, but the ponies are checked regularly.:)
 
Wally said:
So, where in the wild will ponies wear their feet here?

Roofio, that one was trotted out here as an excuse for the feet you see in that picture. That is, in fact the flare used to take a pony over boggs!

What in the world these days is a truly natural environment?
Click to expand...
a flared hoof/over grown hoof can potential make the pony lame, or injure itself!
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wally
So, where in the wild will ponies wear their feet here?

Roofio, that one was trotted out here as an excuse for the feet you see in that picture. That is, in fact the flare used to take a pony over boggs!

What in the world these days is a truly natural environment?

a flared hoof/over grown hoof can potential make the pony lame, or injure itself!
Click to expand...

??????? Eh?
 
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