Hoof Angle

[R.F.T.B.]

I am new to the buisness. The farriers around here seemed to say the proper angle of the hoof should be at around 55-56 degrees in relation to the ground. I was wondering is this true? :confused:

[caballus]

Depends on which hooves your speaking of ... the fronts or the backs?

--Gwen

[sliansti]

shouldnt it also depend on the individual horse as well?? thats almost like saying that all human teenagers wear a size 11-12 shoe isnt it?

[calshoer]

There is no one "corrrect" angle. Numbers such as that are a just reflection of the average angles found inthe largest number of feet. It is perfectly normal for feet to naturally fall outside those numbers ,and a consiencious farrier will follow the foot itself, rather than adjust the foot to meet pre determined numbers.
There ARE of course certain intances when treating hoof or leg injuries , where the foot needs a different angle than it's natural one for specific the****utic reasons, but that is a different story than everyday shoeing. .
Patty

[Red Amor]

Hya
Hey Aunty Patty
I know that it does depend in the idiocincresies of the indivual horse
but Ive found that with many of my horses , once ive got them going nicely and wearing evenly that there fronts are modtly around 50, 53 55 degrees
and the hinds only slightly more
I do get the odd fella thats a lot more either way , front or back , but not oodles
so what Im saying is that for thee most part a sensible generaliseation could be fair enough or do you say definatley not ?

[cowboy_bc]

Hi all,

So many schools of thought. Strasser likes 45, the old army manual said 56. I have a DB where I have kept track of data since 92 but I don't use my hoof gauge all that much unless it's something odd ball but I think the average would fall some where between 52 - 55 but with certain feet as low as 49 on front feet.

Somewhere in the archive Mt Haymering has an article on angle fads thats worth looking up.

Kevin

[calshoer]

Hi Red ,I deliberately stay away from ever using numbers when it comes to angles,or toe length, or heel height etc.
I don't care what angle a foot may be or how long the toe is as long as everything is in the right place acording to that foot's own individual structures, and both feet in a pair LAND the same amount of heel first.
Using Numbers is what gets too many horses in trouble as the farrier or trimmer tries to achieve a certain "normal" range for a pair of feet. Especially trouble when they try to match pairs that are never going to match internally because they are permanently mismatched INSIDE .
However, most sound feet DO fall into the range you describe anyway, if iwere to check with a guage once they are trimmed to thier structures and have any toe flare removed etc.
It is those that naturally need to be outside that range in order to be sound where folks get into trouble if they do not trust the foot itself to tell them where to trim.
Patty