A hoof does not need polish, it needs attention

Hoof oil makes good photographs and rarely better hooves. What daily hoof care actually achieves, how to read a healthy hoof, and when shine does harm.

No part of the horse decides more and attracts more nonsense. The hoof carries five hundred kilos, absorbs every step and pumps blood back towards the heart. What it asks for is surprisingly little: movement, dry spells and somebody who looks at it daily.

The most effective hoof product is a hoof pick in a hand that uses it.

Picking out is an examination

Picking out daily is not about cleanliness. It puts every hoof in your hand once and shows you things you cannot see from above: warmth that was not there yesterday, a stone in the white line, a smell that has turned. Four hooves, twenty seconds each. That is the whole investment.

• Work from the heel towards the toe, never the other way.
• Include the collateral grooves; that is where the dirt that feeds thrush sits.
• Finish with a brush, then you can see the white line.
• Use your nose. A hoof smells earthy, not rotten.

About hoof oil

A healthy hoof manages its own moisture. Oil applied thickly seals the surface in both directions: it keeps wet out and it locks wet in, depending on when you apply it. A hoof that has just spent two hours in wet grass is no place for oil.

Hoof oil earns its place in two situations: as a thin barrier before riding through wet going, and as cosmetics before the arena. For everything else an ointment that absorbs is the better choice, and even that does not replace a good farrier.

What you can read between two farrier visits

The edge of the wall should be even, without chips. The white line should be firm, not crumbly and packed with black. The frog should be firm like an eraser, not greasy. And a horse’s hooves should resemble each other. A hoof visibly more upright than its partner is a question for the farrier, not for the internet.

The two minutes before a class

At a show, hoof oil is the last step before mounting, thin and with the direction of growth, and then the horse walks a few steps on firm ground. Oil in the stable and walk through the bedding, and you enter the arena wearing shavings on all four feet.

Shine on a hoof is the last one per cent. The other ninety-nine belong to the farrier and to your eye in the morning.