You can do this
When to call a professional
A short list of basic hoof signs that mean you call a farrier or vet instead of doing something yourself.
✓Daily care you can do yourself. If in doubt, call a farrier or vet.
What it is for
This page helps you recognise the line between the daily care you do yourself and situations that need expertise. When in doubt, calling is always the safer choice.
What to look for
- Sudden lameness or a horse that will not bear weight on a leg.
- Heat in the hoof with a strong, pounding pulse above it.
- A nail, glass or other object stuck in the hoof.
- A loose or partly torn-off shoe, or protruding clenches.
- A strong rotten smell, black gunge or clear cracks and crumbling.
- Blood, pus or discharge coming from the hoof or coronet.
When to call a professional
If you see any of these signs, do not do anything drastic yourself: move the horse off hard or rough ground, and call the farrier for shoe or horn problems and the vet for pain, heat, wounds or lameness.
Discover more
Sources: British Horse Society · Merck Veterinary Manual · Blue Cross.