Hoof health is fundamental to horse welfare, as lameness is one of the most common causes of pain and reduced quality of life in horses. Appropriate hoof care — whether shod or barefoot — requires regular skilled farriery and attention to surface management.
Hoof care is not an optional maintenance task — it is a fundamental welfare requirement for every domestic horse. The domestic horse cannot maintain its own hooves adequately on modern surfaces and management conditions, making regular, skilled farriery essential to preventing pain. Neglected hooves grow long and distorted, causing altered gait, joint stress, and pain throughout the limb. Hoof abscesses cause acute, severe pain that renders horses lame and miserable for days to weeks. The welfare implications of poor hoof care are direct and immediate, yet the six to eight-week farriery cycle is one of the most commonly skipped aspects of horse management due to cost. Hoof welfare must be treated as non-negotiable.