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Equid hooves are the result of the 55-million-year evolution of the horse. The ancestral horse, Eohippus, is characterized by four toes on the hindfeet and three toes on the forefeet. [3] Wild and domesticated Equus species share a very similar hoof shape and function. The present-day conformation of the hoof is a result of a progressive ...
The frog is triangular in shape. The frog is a part of a horse hoof, located on the underside, which should touch the ground if the horse is standing on soft footing.The frog is triangular in shape, and extends midway from the heels toward the toe, covering around 25% of the bottom of the hoof.
The insensitive laminae coming in from the hoof wall connects to the sensitive laminae layer, containing the blood supply and nerves, which is attached to the coffin bone. [1] The lamina is a critical structure for hoof health, [1] therefore any injury to the hoof or its support system can in turn affect the coffin bone. [2]
The hoof (including the frog - the V-shaped part on the bottom of the horses hoof) is a very important part of the circulatory system. As the horse puts weight onto the hoof, the hoof wall is pushed outwards and the frog compressed, driving blood out of the frog, the digital pad, and the laminae of the hoof.
The ideal hoof has a parallel hoof-pastern axis, a thick hoof wall, adequate sole depth, a solid heel base and growth rings of equal size under the coronary band. [5] There are four layers within the exterior wall of the hoof. From the outside, a hoof is made up of the stratum externum, the stratum medium, the stratum internum and the dermis ...
The hooves are also important structures, providing support, traction and shock absorption, and containing structures that provide blood flow through the lower leg. As the horse developed as a cursorial animal, with a primary defense mechanism of running over hard ground, its legs evolved to the long, sturdy, light-weight, one-toed form seen today.
Hoof or horseshoe wear can indicate breakover and if the horse is dragging its toes. Change in shape of the hoof wall is also common in horses with laminitis. "Founder rings," or thickened concentric rings in the hoof wall, indicate a past episode of laminitis. Concavity of the dorsal (front) surface of the hoof can indicate chronic laminitis.
For the protection of the hoof under certain conditions, some horses have horseshoes placed on their feet by a professional farrier. The hoof continually grows, and in most domesticated horses needs to be trimmed (and horseshoes reset, if used) every five to eight weeks, [ 66 ] though the hooves of horses in the wild wear down and regrow at a ...