thoroughbred hoove angles

Question
How much should a farrier take off a thoroughbreds heels and what angles should the hooves be?


Answer
Hello Sarah,
thanks for your question. There is no one way to trim horses or breeds, etc. It all depends on the individual horse, the condition of the hooves and most importantly, the horse's overall conformation. Yes, you can find plenty of information on the web where people say to trim a certain breed a certain way but I, and many farriers will disagree with this. Hooves have to be trimmed to match the overall horse's conformation and no 2 horses are exactly alike.
There are general guidelines to describe what well balanced hooves look like but no such thing as how much to take off and what angles to shoot for. E.g. if a TB comes with very low, underrun heels, versus a horse with really high heels, all that sets the stage for what to do for each trim to direct the growth of the hoof to a healthy, well balanced shape. Although tempting for some, you cannot just "shape" a hoof or put wedges, etc. on to make it "LOOK" a certain way. Hooves need to grow correctly from the top down, which takes time and this is where a competent farrier comes in.

Hope this answers your question somewhat...
Christine