Hoof disease including white line disease, thrush, and overgrown hooves is the leading cause of working donkey lameness globally, and trained community farriers can dramatically reduce the welfare burden.
Working donkey hoof welfare is a tractable problem with established solutions. The challenge is capacity: in communities where donkeys are central to livelihoods, trained farriers may be absent for hundreds of kilometres. Community-based farriery training that equips local people with basic hoof care skills - including recognizing overgrowth, treating thrush, and identifying when specialist help is needed - provides a sustainable, cost-effective welfare improvement that benefits both animals and livelihoods.