Providing daily care and attention to horses’ hooves helps keep them in healthy condition and allows you to take prompt action, if needed, to prevent deterioration. The care needed varies across the year, as the hoof copes with the different weather conditions.

It’s important to remain safe when picking feet out, for both you and the horse. Make sure that the horse is safely tied up, or held by a helper.

Make sure the horse is aware of what you’re doing. Facing towards the horse’s tail, run your closest hand down their body and then down the leg before trying to lift the foot. Most horses happily pick their foot up as a hand is run down their leg, with the simple command “up”.

Sometimes they may need a little encouragement by squeezing gently just above the fetlock joint. Holding the leg any higher may make the foot move around, making the job harder.

To minimise the risk of a bash if the horse unexpectedly pulls his leg back, hold the front foot with your arm across the back of the leg and round the inside of the foot. The back foot is best held with the arm across the front of the leg and round the inside of the foot. This way, the horse’s leg will move away from you, not towards you, if the foot is suddenly put down.

Dirt and debris

Hold the foot firmly with the hoof pick in your free hand. Moving the hoof pick from heel to toe, scrape any dirt and debris out of the hoof, taking care around the sensitive frog. Keep the point of the hoof pick facing away from your body so that if your hand slips, the sharp bit moves away from you. It’s important to remove dirt thoroughly from all areas of the foot to avoid an unpleasant bacterial infection called thrush. Pay attention to the deep channels either side of the frog and at the heels under the ends of the shoe, where it’s easy for fragments to become trapped.

It’s a good idea to pick the feet out into a skip or flat bucket, especially in the stable, to avoid dirt and stones going into the bedding or even straight back into the horse’s feet. If grooming outside, this saves you from having to sweep the yard afterwards.