Adapting to the environment, informed by genetic codes, and endeavoring to meet human demands, the horse’s hoof is like an individual fingerprint on the human hand. Decoding the process the horse uses to arrive at his ideal hoof form filled three days of lectures, discussions, and demonstrations at the May 2-4 Natural Hoofcare Conference at Tufts University College of Veterinary Medicine.

The program was directed by Tia Nelson, DVM, of Helena, Mont., a longtime farrier. Her contention was that environment–more than human trimming and shoes–influences all aspects of the hoof’s condition, shape, and growth.

Other speakers were Robert Bowker, DVM, PhD, of Michigan State University; David Hood, DVM, PhD, of Texas A&M University and The Hoof Project; Michael Wildenstein, Certified Journeyman Farrier and Fellow of the Worshipful Company of Farriers (Hons), farrier instructor at Cornell University; and Michael Mooney, Tufts’ farrier. Carl Kirker-Head, MA, VetMB, MRCVS, Dipl. ACVS, ECVS, served as moderator.

Bowker maintains that individual horses have a distinct composition of tissue in the rear part of the foot–including the thickness of the lateral cartilages and the amount of fibrocartilage in the distal cushion–that controls the foot’s ability to adapt to environmental and human demands. Horses with inferior foot architecture, such as thin cartilage or fatty, weak digital cushion tissue, will compensate by placing excess stress on other structures within the foot. Bowker feels that these “bad-footed” horses are prone to chronic foot problems and have shorter life expectancies than “good-footed” horses