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There is an old saying among horsemen, “No foot, no horse.” Despite their size and strength, horses are pretty fragile animals. Think about it: Four slim legs and four undersized hooves—smaller, in most cases, than your morning bowl of Cheerios—holding up a horse’s full weight, which, for most Thoroughbreds, is in the ballpark of 1,200 pounds!
So when a horse has a hoof problem, well, you might as well give him a magazine rack ‘cause he’s got issues—from short-term problems like quarter cracks, sore heels, stone bruises, and abscesses, to chronic concerns like arthritis, complications stemming from Cushing’s Disease, bigger abscesses, thrush (a fungus among us)…did we say abcesses?...and, in worst cases, a very serious disease known as laminitis.
You can see, without healthy hooves, a horse is, well, not exactly walkin’ on sunshine.
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