Biotin - Quick Notes

A friend recently asked me my opinion of hoof supplementation and in particular biotin supplementation for horses.

There is so much information out there on biotin! While researching I decided to collate the points I thought relevant and put it all in one place here.

• Biotin a water soluble B vitamin.

• Biotin does not affect old hoof growth - like all hoof problems, you
  have to grow a new hoof from the coronary band.

• Biotin doesn't make the hoof grow any quicker either - increased movement and other
  factors (e.g. nutrition, time of the year) do.

• Researchers are not sure how biotin works - but a lot of horses with shelly, flaky, prone to cracking hooves showed improvement in the hardness of the hoof horn. Hooves showed improved tensile strength and flexibility after prolonged biotin supplementation.
• Most horses produce enough biotin in the gut to satisfy bodily functions (the National Research Council's recommendation is two milligrams (mg.) of biotin daily). Some may benefit supplementation if they genetically have poor quality hoof horn. Therefore some hooves will improve with biotin supplementation, others will not.

• To see results (if any) supplementation will need to be carried out for a minimum of about 6 months (reason being see point 2!).

• It is found that once supplementation stops the new growth often reverts to it's previous inferior state. To continue with the improved hoof, the horse often needs biotin supplementation for life at a reduced maintenance rate of 2 - 3mg daily.

• Dosage rate is debatable. Some say 5mg per day, others say 20mg per day or more. I couldn't find an upper-daily-dosage limit for horses but being a water soluble vitamin, in theory the horse would excrete any it does not need. However some say that the gut may 'forget' how to produce enough biotin if over supplementation occurs. I'm a bit sceptical of that though.

• Some sources say that biotin works better when paired with methionine (an essential amino acid).

So is it worth supplementing biotin?
Like most questions about hooves, it seems to be the answer is 'maybe'.


Note -
I have not supplemented biotin in the past. I have not really seen the need for it in my own horses.

Links/Sourses:

http://www.princealbertstables.com/can_you_influence_hoof_growth.htm

http://www.ker.com/library/equinews/v6n2/v6n204.pdf

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/horse-health/1994/july/09/the-biotin-difference.aspx

Concavity - Quick Notes

First off, I will offer a quick apology for the long hiatus between posts - life has gotten away from me. Onwards!

You might hear the word 'concavity' thrown around quite a bit in the hoof world.

Concavity describes the dome shape of a horse's hoof.

Here is an example of moderate sole concavity. You can see the gentle shape of the dome from the edges of the frog all the way out to the laminae line (except for that lumpy bar).

A blurry but more obvious example of concavity.

Imagine the ruler is a hard smooth ground surface - ta da! The solar concavity becomes evident.

Concavity (whether it be mild or more noticeable) is the sign of a healthy hoof. Perfect concavity that has a gentle slope all the way to the laminae line is a sign of adequate sole thickness.

The hoof has a concave shape because the solar surface of P3 is also concave. With some horses it is very much so, others the concavity is shallower.

Front pedal bones as viewed when you are holding the hoof as if to pick it - i.e. from the sole. Note the largest one has a shallow curve, while others (particuarly the smaller ones) have a more pronounced concavity.

A diagram of the pedal bone showing the digital cushion (the light blue part). Note the concavity, the curve of the bone. Imagine how it would shape the sole of the hoof if the sole were allowed to 'do it's thing'.

Shows the direct correllation between the pedal bone (top of photo, here covered in corium) and the sole. I love this pic, it is very very educational!

Aaaaaaand one more. Is it clear in your mind now? :)

A concave sole is flexible and will sink (be pressed flat) and cause the hoof to expand when loaded (the degree of which depends on about 30,000 factors including hoof, terrain, load force etc etc etc) allowing P3 (which, if you remember, has a slight rotation of 3-5 degrees in the back) to flatten out and become ground parrallel.

Achieving solar concavity is not something you can trim into a hoof - you must certainly NOT cut it out of the sole even if the sole is very thick (except in very special circumstances, as always never say never with hooves!) - but it is a by-product of proper trimming and a sign that you are doing the right thing.

A horse who is developing concavity and sole thickness will often develop a toe callus on the sole in front of the frog. It looks like a flat callused area in a crescent moon shape.

My old OTTB Beckham had a toe callus - highlighted in red.

Side shot of the same hoof.

Again, highlighted in red in case it isn't clear above.

The toe callus is a good indication that you are 'half way' to complete transition (from shoes or prior poor hoof form). You know you are all the way there when the toe callus dissapears, and the solar concavity reaches in a gentle slope all the way to the laminae line.

The hoof throws down a toe callus as a priority because this is the launching pad of the hoof - it takes an incredible amount of force to push the horse into the next step and all that force is directed at the point of breakover - where the toe callus forms. This is also often where your toe will end up once the hoof shortens - but that is another post for another day.

You will find that the horse's sole will change relative to the terrain it is conditioned to - on hard ground, the hoof will loose concavity as it reaches toward the ground for contact. On soft ground, the hoof will cup more as the hoof sinks into the ground and still achieves sole contact.

So that is sole concavity in a nutshell. I hope that gives you a sufficient insight!

Posture and Conformation

I have been thinking about a horse's posture and how that can have an effect on their feet and vice versa.

If I meet a new client horse (or sometimes when I am revisiting for a maintenance trim) I like to have a look at the horse from afar, take in his general posture and demeanor. Of course, it all depends on how the horse is stood up, but if you watch for a while the horse will return to it's default stance. Better yet, watch the horse in turnout. Watch for trends, which hoof they favour for striking off first, which hind limb they rest more, if they graze with one leg consistently forward.

Shall we look at a few pictures? I am commenting on these pictures as if I had observed this to be the horse's default stance.

A horse with good overall posture. Relaxed top line, neck hanging like a pendulum. Front legs straight (not out in front or underneath). This horse does have a weak stifle and straight hocks, which would lead me to investigate the back end for soreness.

Same horse stood up with poor posture - front legs camped under (maybe getting pressure off the heels - caudal heel pain?). Shoulder and neck tight, tense. Back looks tight, loins look hard and as if they are holding up the horse's hind end. Hind feet camped under, taking pressure off toes?

Allie, looking at me while out grazing. Good overall posture, loins look a little long and weak - keep those hind toes short to avoid soreness in the loin! Left front leg is not weight bearing - compensating for something in the hoof? Or possibly soreness in the shoulder? Horse is tucked up, with sunken flanks and if I didn't know her I would look for a reason for it. BUT this is normal for her. She got it from her sire.

Horse camped WAY under with all four legs. Long toes in front, but he is getting weight off his heels - caudal heel pain? Horse most likely would NOT stride heel first. Shoulder looks tense, but the back does not - it looks fairly relaxed. Where the tension starts again is from the point of the croup back to the top of the dock - you can even see his tense muscles around his hip and flank area. He can't possibly be balanced in the hind end standing like that - partially conformational with his sickle hocks and short pasterns, but it would be very interesting to see what the bottom of his feet looked like!.

This is an extreme case of standing under with the fronts - if you were to drop a line from the fulcrum of his shoulder blade, it would not even contact any part of his limb except maybe the very top muscle, even with his super long toes! Extreme separation, I predict thee.

Gracie out grazing - a less obvious stance but similar to the chestnut above - standing under all but the left front leg. Back and shoulders fairly relaxed, but she has a longish loin - needs hind toes to be kept short. Nice strong short croup though may help give the weaker loin some stability. Right fore leg not weight bearing - probably because she is about to take a step but could also indicate a weakness there. Hind legs standing very awkwardly (see below!).

Ummm... yeah. Mass symmetry issues - I would look for imbalances in the hoof especially the inside left and outside right heels. LUCKY this is not her normal stance!! Looks like the hocks are both pointing to something to the right of the photo.

Again with the hind end tension and weaknesses - long loin, tight croup and weak stifles. He even has what looks to be deteriorated muscles over the hindquarter. Slightly sickle hocked - Keep hinds short to help with heel first landings (not normally a problem in hind hooves!).

This guy looks pretty good in the hind end posture wise (except for how wide apart his legs are) but what strikes me first about him is his foreleg stance - he looks like he is rocking back on his heels. Laminitic or separation issues are a possibility. His shoulders, neck and entire topline from wither to tail look nice and relaxed though.

Get up on a stool and look at the horse's back from this angle - you will be able to see if the muscling is symmetrical, if the spine is straight, if the hips are also symmetrical. This is Allie, and she is fairly symmetrical, with a lovely straight spine.

This is what you are looking at!

I recently went to see a pony to talk to her owner about how her trimming was going. After looking at her feet we stood there chatting and I found myself looking at the pony as a whole. The biggest thing I noticed was her spine alignment - being a pony, this was easy to see. Her spine bulged out to the left quite noticeably. A second look at her feet showed that the cause was possibly a much higher inside heel on her right front hoof. Her shoulder was also very tight and it was almost impossible to get even a finger under the scapula.

Now I have not undergone much training to do with equine conformation, posture or anything of that sort except my own research, an unfinished equine management diploma and my own findings in horses I have worked with. Above are the few things I feel confident noting but I think the most important thing is to listen to the WHOLE horse - not just his feet. Often, what is happening in the feet is just a mirror or echo of what is happening 'upstairs'.

I would love to start a discussion in the comments!

Heel First!! Quick Notes

"Understand that all this talk of heel first landings is about the natural alignment of the bones during locomotion; NOT the outer heel we see. If a horse's heels are artificially raised and they (heels) happen to hit the ground first, P3 may STILL be toe first on impact and causing the same unnatural forces" - Pete Ramey

The higher the heel the harder it would be for the horse to land any other way than toe first.

The above quote is a bit of an "ah ha!" moment for me. It is pretty obvious that we are all aiming for heel first landings, but leaving too much height in the heels so they are comfortable to land first may be counter-productive. But then if they have weak heels they need a little extra height for comfort and to encourage proper movement. Oy!

HOWEVER I still lower tall heels, but slowly. At a set-up trim, I will take the heels down much less than I think they need to be if the horse has weak digital cushion, frog & lateral cartilages - but I bring the heels back as far as I can. The second trim I will schedule for 1 or 2 weeks (depending on how bad the foot is) after the set up trim, and if I can't get the heels down to where I want them at that time (according to the horse's soundness) then I will come out again in 1 or 2 weeks. If it were my own horse, I would trim them down a millimeter or two every couple of days over the course of a few weeks.

I found it hard at first to see a heel first landing. When a horse is moving slow enough to see it, it is generally at grazing pace and the horse will not land heel first then anyway! The horse has to be marching along in a fast walk or trot. What I find works is not watching the foot - I watch the horse's knee. If it is straight before the hoof hits the ground, then that is a heel first landing. If you aren't sure if it is straight or if it is borderline, then the horse is landing flat. A knee that straightens after the hoof is on the ground is the toe first landing we want to avoid. If the horse is walking in loose dirt or on an arena surface, a toe first landing will produce a little puff of dust out the front of the toe.



Practice on YouTube watching horse videos to develop your eye, that is what I did! There are heaps of slow motion videos on YouTube, like the one above.

Heel first landings are important because, well, everything. Everything will fall into place if the hoof lands heel first, and everything will fall apart when there is a toe first landing. The heels have specialised structures to take the force of the horse's stride - digital cushion, lateral cartilages, the frog and the function of p3 where it becomes ground parallel when loaded. All these structures work correctly when they land first. They develop and become stronger when used.

How to trim for a heel first landing? You need to be able to recognise that individual horse's optimum heel height, address thrush infections, ensure the bars are not too tall, bring the heels back as far as possible. Easy, huh? :P

Gracie heels before (left) and after trim. Note that the heels are slightly longer due to soft ground at the time. (Heels sink in and frog still gets pressure)

Allie before and after trim. Frog a little thrushy, she wan;t landing heel first properly and the frog started to suffer because of it.

Gracie right front heels. Note the right heel has an old scar that grows down and affect the heel structure.

Bertha - this horse is comfy on her heels and was at 6 weeks at this trim - heels grew long and came forward and uneven. Shorter trim cycle would help prevent this.

Bertha heels pre-trim. Frog passive, too much so. Frog starting to get ratty and flaky, not being exfoliated. Perfect environment for thrush which would just make the back of the foot even less able to take proper heel height.

I know I keep posting this photo, but it is such a good example of poor contracted heels. (Archie)

Same hoof as above, heel view, post trim. Lands heel first in boots or barefoot on soft ground.

Archie left hind pre-trim. This leg is recovering from an injury. Unusual for hinds to be so contracted too.

Remy - another contracted hoof, deep central sulcus. Sky-high heels. These are obviously two different feet - his two fronts I think. The pic on the fight is his clubby foot.

Poor Archie again. Note I have taken the heels down to the level of the frog - this frog needs the stimulation more than the protection, otherwise we will never get out of the contracted-foot circle.

Archie set-up trim. Those bars were huge and had thrush all underneath them. They needed to come out and I had confirmation of it as they didn't pop up as severely again.

The Quarter Scoop - Quick Notes

Sometimes you will notice I mention the 'quarter scoop'. This is the scoop you should be trimming into the hoof if it needs it, following the scoop of the live sole (i.e. the scoop of the pedal bone).


The hoof will tell you if it needs a scoop done. If the coronary band has a bulge or is not a straight line (very hard to see on hairy legs!). Also a scoop can be useful to relieve flaring in the quarters.

Very slight quarter scoop.

Scoop to help relieve quarter flare and the coronary band. (Beckham, 2006ish? One of my very old trims)

This horse had foundered. Not the bruising in the toe. Noticeable scooping. (not one of mine, just a googled image)

One of the most famous photos of a feral horse cadaver. It is dried out, but you can see the natural scoop and how it follows the live sole plane.

(Blogger is being a bitch right now and won't let me caption pictures anymore, it keeps deleting the pic!! GRR. So captions under the photos now. Sorry!)

 Quite a severe quarter scoop shown here.

Note the coronary bulge (mostly due to this weird shoe set-up I suspect).

I would use a quarter scoop here to relieve coronary bulge and quarter cracks. (Among other things. Poor hoof!)

I know how much scoop to trim in by following the live sole. When trimming a hoof that doesn't need the quarter scoop you would end up cutting below the level of the live sole. If you tried to turn your rasp to trim the scoop you would find it very hard to trim it in if the hoof doesn't need it!!

Apparently quarter scoops are a little controversial in the online barefoot world (what isn't!!) but I have always scooped the quarters if the hoof tells me it needs it.