N
- NAIL, HORSESHOE
- Soft steel nails specially designed for attaching horseshoes to hooves. They are generally made with a four-sided, tapered shaft; the tip beveled on the inside, and a head shaped to seat into a horseshoe. A pattern or trademark is stamped into the inside face of the head to make it possible to distinguish the inside from the outside at a glance. Carpenter or masonry nails are not suitable substitutes for horseshoe nails. a.k.a: Horse nails.
- NAIL NIPPERS/PULL-OFFS
- A tool used for removing shoes, nails, and cutting nails.
- NAPOLEAN SHOE
- See: Backwards shoe.
- NARROW BEHIND
- The hind feet are closer together than the hips.
- NAVICULAR DISEASE
- [from the Latin navicula, little ship]: Degenerative heel lameness. May involve the navicular bone, navicular bursa, DDF, and the coffin joint. a.k.a: Navicular syndrome.
- NEAR
- The side of the horse that faces west when the animal is walking north. The horse's left side. Horses are most often led, saddled, and mounted from the near side. Opposite of off.
- NECROPSY
- A post-mortem examination.
- NECROSIS
- Death of animal tissues
- NERVING
- See: Neurectomy.
- NEURECTOMY
- Removal of a section of nerve to eliminate or reduce sensation in part of an animal's body. This procedure is often performed to alleviate pain within the horse's hoof. After such a neurectomy, the horse may not be considered entirely sound because the mechanical cause of the problem still exists.
- NICHOLSON
- Brand of rasps from 1864 to the present.
- NODDING
- Nodding or bobbing the head is often an indication of lameness. The horse will use his head to help unweight a lame leg.
- NON-WEIGHT BEARING
- A non-weight bearing leg is one that is so sore that the horse will carry it without letting it touch the ground while moving.
- NORMAL OR PHYSIOLOGICAL SHOEING
- Shoeing of a normal foot taking into account the physiological movements of the foot so as to interfere in a minimal way with them. Balancing of the foot is considered of primary importance.
- NORMAN
- One of the five basic hoof shapes listed in the eagle eye approach suggested by Scott Simpson, CJF. The Norman pattern is considered the most normal fore hoof shape, and is generally round with the widest part of the foot located midway between the toe and heels.
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