Hoof mapping allows us to determine where the pedal bone is within the foot and its relationship to the point of break over at the front of the foot. Using this photographic guide and the download "Natural Balance Hoof Evaluation Protocol" you can learn to use this useful tool to check for yourself whether your horses feet are in balance.

There has been much discussion in recent times about "performance trims" verses the farriers so-called "pasture trim". To me there is no such difference. You either make the foot functional or dysfunctional. A farriers job is to maintain or restore skeletal alignment. Sir Isaac Newtons third law of engineering says weight falls through the centre of mass therefore we know that the weight of a horses limb will descend through the centre of each joint. If we know where the pedal bone is in the foot we can centre the foot around the pedal bone. The reason we use the widest part of the foot is that the pedal bone is the largest solid object within the foot and the widest part of the pedal bone is the centre of articulation of the last joint of the limb. Therefore if you know where the centre of articulation is you can centre the trim or the shoe around the last bone in the column.

To understand hoof mapping and trimming there are parts of the foot and their function that you need to know about:

From the widest part of the foot back is the functional part of the foot where you have the bars, the wall and the frog. These are to absorb concussion and lift the pedal bone into the correct position for the backward part of the movement of the limb.

The front half of the foot gives stability to the foot and if we know where the middle is we can mark where the front edge of the pedal bone is and the break over should occur six millimetres in front of that.

At the front of the foot we also have a raised piece of sole called the sole callus. This sole is denser than the rest and is designed to give protection to the tip of the pedal bone.

The front of the foot does not flex - all the flexion comes from the back of the foot and the lateral cartiledges.

The point of breakover is the point the bodyweight reaches before the heels lift the ground. Therefore, in a horse with a long toe, the bodyweight has to get further over the toe before the heel can lift, causing excess strain on the tendons, ligaments and soft tissues within the foot and leg.

Many people would like their horse to go barefoot but this can only be successfully achieved if the parts of the foot that will either bear weight or create function are in place ie. you need a strong sole callus, you need the widest part of the foot to be in the centre and you need a frog that is strong enough to absorb concussion. When all these things are in place your horse will be able to go barefoot if you are not giving it more work than nature structures can cope with. Some horses with really good feet can go barefoot and do 20-30 miles in a day without any problem.

If these structures are not in place when you take the horse barefoot they will be asked to do more than nature intended and the horse should be shod in a way that will sympathetically allow it to move naturally, remove any leverages that are there and allow the horse to re-establish the sole callus and the correct 50 / 50 ratio of the foot.

Remember horses are born with good feet - they only distort through what we do to them. You most likely won't see a farrier drawing on your horses feet but mentally he should be trying to find out where the centre of the foot occurs and checking that the ratios either side of that centre line are equal.

With the guideline to hoof mapping you can easily check your horses feet with the aid of a felt tip pen, which is not in any way detrimental to the horse and will give you a better idea of how the horse is moving. Remember a horse should heel land. If he toe lands or lands flat, the distance from the widest part of the foot forward will always be greater than the distance from the widest part of the foot back. That is why when you are using these when you are using these principles you find the widest part of the foot first and re-establish the back of the foot so that you know how long that distance is before you reassess the front of the foot.

Hoof Mapping

To assess the foot firstly we clean out any detritis and remove exfoliating tissue. Exfoliating tissue is the chalky substance in the bottom of the foot. We refer to functional and exfoliating tissue. The functional sole is the waxy layer you find when removing the chalky layer.

Natural Blance Farriery - The Untrimmed Foot

The Untrimmed Foot

We then drop a black line in around the white line to determine where the widest part of the foot is.

Natural Blance Farriery - Marking the White line

Marking the White line

The widest part of the foot occurs approximately an 2.5cm back from the point of frog, where the bars terminate into the sole.

Natural Blance Farriery - Finding the Widest Part of the Foot

Finding the Widest Part of the Foot - A

Natural Blance Farriery - Finding the Widest Part of the Foot

Finding the Widest Part of the Foot - B

Trimming

Once we have found the widest part of the foot we trim the heels down from the widest part of the foot to the widest part of the frog. This is because the foot is divided into two halves. The front half of the foot gives stability to the column of bones and the back half of the foot gives function.

Natural Blance Farriery - Trimming the Heels

Trimming the Heels

We can see that the central solcus in the frog should be one half of the length of frog and that distance should go to the front of the foot. By doing that you divide the foot into three.

Natural Blance Farriery - Checking the Ratios - Back Third

Checking the Ratios - Back Third

Natural Blance Farriery - Checking the Ratios - Middle Third

Checking the Ratios - Middle Third

Natural Blance Farriery - Checking the Ratios - Front Third

Checking the Ratios - Front Third

Removing only the wall above the black line which has been dropped round the foot enables us to remove foot without over trimming.

Natural Blance Farriery - Trimming the Wall

Trimming the Wall

Here I have marked the position of the tip of the pedal bone.

Natural Blance Farriery - Showing the position of the tip of the Pedal Bone

Showing the position of the tip of the Pedal Bone

The forward black mark in this photo is the point of break over - the point at which the bodyweight must reach before the heels start to leave the ground.

Natural Blance Farriery - Showing the point of Breakover

Showing the point of Breakover

Here I am marking the sole callus so that you can see it's location.

Natural Blance Farriery - Marking the Sole Callus

Marking the Sole Callus

As you can see with this trimmed foot the ratio of front to back is 50 /50, as it should be.

Natural Blance Farriery - Checking The Ratios - Front to Back

Checking The Ratios - Front to Back

Flares should be removed but not the thickness of the wall. The hoof wall is naturally thicker at the toe than it is from the middle of the foot backwards and is designed to give stability. We can see here by holding the rasp on the wall of the horses foot straight from top to bottom that there is a gap under the rasp indicating a flare.

Natural Blance Farriery - Showing the Flare

Showing the Flare

Finally, the finished trim.

Natural Blance Farriery - The Finished Trim

The Finished Trim

Clive Meers Rainger

Equine Foot Protection

August 2009