Working horses in developing countries often have serious hoof problems due to lack of trained farriers and basic hoof care resources, causing chronic pain and reduced working capacity.
Hoof problems in working equines cause pain that compounds other welfare challenges from overwork, malnutrition, and inadequate veterinary care. The cumulative effect is animals working in chronic pain that is invisible to owners who have limited exposure to healthy working animal standards. Community-based hoof care programs that train local practitioners, provide affordable tools, and educate owners about basic hoof maintenance have shown that sustainable welfare improvement is achievable. The investment required is modest relative to the welfare impact across large working animal populations.