Basic Principles of Hoof Care 

May, 1998 

Fureman Farrier Services 

Hearne, TX 1-800-560-6211

Introduction

Walter Fuermann is a Certified Farrier with the American Farrier's Association. He has a BS in Animal Science from Texas A & M University and is a member of the Texas Professional Farrier's Assoc. and the American Farrier's Assoc. He and his wife, Lee, also a graduate of Texas A & M, run a full-time farrier service throughout central Texas. They do numerous miniature donkeys.

What Does The Farrier Do?

The farrier's job is to take care of the feet (hooves). He does this by regularly keeping the hooves trimmed and observing the conditions of the hooves - do they look healthy or unthrifty? The farrier trims up the frog for sanitary reasons, cleans out dead sole, and balances the hoof - making it flat and level. He can also do some corrective work, depending on where the deviation is.

Tools Of The Trade

Trimming feet does not require as many tools as shoeing and therapeutic shoeing does. The farrier will use a rasp, a hoof pick, a hoof knife, and nippers. The rasp is used like an emery board, the pick is used to clean the debris out of the foot, the hoof knife is used to clean out dead sole and the nippers are used for cutting the excess hoof wall growth off.

Parts Of The Hoof

The parts of the hoof that you will be dealing with are the hoof wall, sole, and frog. These are the parts of the foot, which come in contact with the ground and must be trimmed regularly to maintain proper balance and hygiene.

Balance is a term we use to describe centering an animal's weight evenly over the foot. Rarely do feet stay in proper balance on their own, especially on domestic animals. To balance a foot, you use a properly trimmed frog as a guide to look for symmetry in the foot. Donkey feet are forward of the frog so finding balance can be difficult for the untrained eye.

Hygiene is extremely important, especially when animals are somewhat confined and continually walking over the same ground where they urinate and defecate. Cleaning the feet and cutting out excess hoof wall, dead sole, and dead frog will prevent buildup of trash and help to maintain a healthy foot, and happy feet mean happy donkeys!

Before you can do good work, you must have a donkey that will stand quietly while the work is being performed. We recommend that you tie your donkeys occasionally and brush them all over. This will relax them and they will get used to being touched everywhere. Also, pick the feet with a hoof pick.

We recommend baby donkeys have their first foot trim between 1 and 2 months of age. Be very careful with babies as they fight a lot and have very small feet. Very few baby donkeys have major feet and leg problems when they are young, so don't get carried away with trying to straighten them out; you will probably cause more problems than you will cure. The most common problem youngsters have is weak Deep Flexor Tendons which cause the foot to get in front of the leg and have a long toe. The baby will look like it is walking on the back of the foot (the hairline). If you have this problem, trim the heels down and back the toe up as best you can and in time they usually grow out of this.

Common Mistakes Made By Unskilled/Untrained People

Farrier Science is very similar to ice-skating. It looks easy, anyone can do it, until you actually jump in there. There is a lot more to trimming and shoeing than just "hacking and whacking, and slapping some shoes on". It requires a lot of eye-hand coordination, and knowing the anatomy of the foot - there are very small variances. Therefore there is not much room for error. The common problems are:

• Taking off more on one side than the other - left or right handed problem.

• Leaving too much heel as they are trying to "stand" the donkey up. Hoof will get pushed out in front of leg, thus straining the tendons. Donkey people really want to see steep hooves, so we see this a lot! This only creates pain in the heels of the donkey and there is no need for this!

• Not taking enough toe. This is done when people are afraid to do much, so they just rasp the bottom of the hoof. Gives the foot a long, pointed appearance.

• Not trimming the frog properly which makes the foot prone to thrush and being generally unsanitary.

Hoof-Related Problems With Miniature Donkeys

In general, miniature donkeys aren't plagued with a lot of hoof and leg aliments. We actually see more problems in standard size horses and miniature horses. Miniature donkeys seem to have 3 problem areas:

1. 1. Abscesses
   2. Laminitis
   3. White Line Disease (WLD) this is a biggy!!

• 1. Abscesses - are similar to having a pimple. They just come up all of a sudden, are very painful, are related to moisture, usually appear on the front feet, and may or may not be seen when looking at the bottom of the hoof. An untreated abscess can become infected causing serious complications.
  
  Treating abscesses consists of cleaning the hoof out with a pick, soaking the foot in warm Epsom salt water (follow box directions) for 10-15 minutes a day for 7-10 days. If you can see the abscess - dig it out as best you can to allow drainage. If you cannot see where it is, keep soaking the foot several days until the pain is completely gone - after soaking, put 7% Iodine or Sav-A-Hoof in hole.
  

• 2. Laminitis - is caused by some sort of stress to the system which in turn causes inflammation in the hoof, resulting in the capillaries bursting and dying and the sensitive white line loosing its attachments to the coffin bone. Having a fingernail being torn loose is very similar to what is happening. The pain is intense, the donkey will stand with its front feet out in front of it and will be rocked back on its hind feet ("Founder Stance") or will not put any weight on the affected foot if only one foot is involved. Most Laminitis is in the front feet, but it can be in just the hind feet, one foot, or all four. Founder is when the support is gone and coffin bone falls. Abscesses usually occur in the beginning stages of Laminitis - in fact we have actually had pus dripping out the bottom of the hoof on really bad cases. Miniatures don't seem to have as much pain as standard size horses; probably due to the fact that minis are not as heavy. The best way to deal with Laminitis is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Keep your feed grains, dog food, and cat food, out of the reach of donkeys. Be very careful of feeding cattle feeds. Cattle cubes are frequently used as treats; we don't recommend this practice. Make sure your hay is not moldy. Keep your animals vaccinated and wormed regularly. Keep stress down -don't let jacks fuss with each other; foaling and weaning can bring on Laminitis or cause reoccurrence. Basically anything stressful can be a potential cause. Thankfully, we do not see this a lot in donkeys. Most of the horse cases we have been involved with were food related (too much, the wrong feed, etc.)
  
  Treatment of Laminitis consists of removing the stressor if at all possible, managing the pain, and trying to stop the damage from getting out of hand. We recommend using Banamine for pain as it is an excellent painkiller and anti-inflammatory (reduces the swelling of the vessels). We have found that soaking the affected feet in warm Epsom salt water for 7-10 days helps immensely with cutting down on the amount of infection, damage, and helps with pain. Depending on the severity of the damage, you may need to get the Vet out for more intensive work-ups. In standard size horses, Heartbar shoes are often used. However, we have not seen a need for this in mini donkeys. There is some research being done that shows better results in keeping the feet trimmed regularly and keeping the animal on very soft bedding.
  
  When dealing with a Laminitis case, you want a good relationship between you, your farrier, and your vet. You don't want to get into a finger-pointing contest with each other, it is important to follow through with instructions and keep all parties involved updated so that everyone knows what is going on. This is a very frustrating problem; it can cost the donkey his life - so it is serious.
  

• 3. White Line Disease (WLD) - appears to be the "Donkey foot problem". All classes of donkeys seem to be prone to this problem. WLD actually eats away the white line of the hoof and can eat all the way up to the coronary band. The animal can go lame and they can get it in all 4 feet. Moisture plays a huge role in this problem; so residents in dry climates won1t see as much of a problem as someone in damp climates. Unfortunately, there are many bactrium and fungi that can cause this and they can come in any mix. This makes treatment very difficult and frustrating. A lot of times the owner won't even know the animal has WLD. As the foot is trimmed, hollow areas behind the hoof wall will be found, indicating the presence of WLD.
  
  Treatment of WLD can be very frustrating. We have come up with the following observations; but at this time, there is no set treatment plan. First you need to promote hoof growth, as a stagnate hoof does not get healthy; very important to keep the hoof trimmed and cleaned out as the causative agents don't like oxygen; keep environment clean -move hay managers around, clean up wet hay, manure, and urine spots, sprinkle Ag lime on wet areas; if donkeys are drinking out of ponds, lakes, creeks, ditches, or boggy water troughs, shut off access or move away. Once WLD has been discovered, trim up foot, use a sharp object (we use a clean horseshoe nail) to dig out all the debris being careful not to jab too deep, and treat with Iodine, Sav-A-Hoof, or Fungidye. It is best to try to clean the affected feet 2-B times a week if at all possible. If the problem is severe, a hoof resection is done which involves removing all of the affected hoof area, soaking the foot in Iodine and keeping it wrapped. This is very time consuming, and you may not even get it cured then. It takes about a year to completely grow a new hoof wall from the coronary band to the toe, this gives you an idea about the time constraints involved. Unfortunately, donkeys are so prone to this that you rarely have just one animal affected. Usually it is a herd and then you run into some real problems.
  
  In dealing with WLD, we are beginning to suspect that nutrition plays a big role in keeping WLD in check. A nutrition study really needs to be done on mini donkeys to determine requirements. People are so concerned with their donkeys getting fat (which they do) that they cut out protein (grain usually), and feed free choice hay. Donkeys stand around all day stuffing themselves on hay. They have a slow metabolism and when fed a bland, low protein diet, they have poor hoof growth, creating weak, shelly hooves that are prone to WLD. Hoof growth is provided by protein. Most protein comes from grain. Most donkey owners feed a 10% sweet feed which is low in protein, has corn (fattening) and molasses (fattening) in it and therefore we believe it contributes to fat donkeys. We have seen donkeys that are fed hay only that have broken over necks but their hair coats are rough and you can feel their ribs and hipbones. Something is wrong with this picture. At this point, we think that the protein needs to be raised (like a 140/ pellet), hay needs to be limited or just let your pasture suffice for roughage. This will also make the donkeys get out and move around grazing. A thought to keep in mind when looking at your donkeys is do they "thrive or survive"? Donkeys should not be allowed to get super fat then super thin then fat, etc. You want to keep them fit, just like people are not suppose to have big weight variances. Look and touch your donkeys on a regular basis. Also be sure to keep a good mineral/salt block available. Places that do not have mineral blocks out, have more problems with WLD and bloody frogs. You might try a protein/mineral block for horses as a supplement. Several farms have had good luck with that.

• 
  We are also looking at soil conditions. We are currently doing soil tests on farms that we work. We will then look at the data to see if there are some common factors that point to a treatment or preventative. Sandy soil types seem more prone than gumbo soil types.

Common Items To Have On Hand

There are a couple of items that you should have on hand all the time. These items are what we consider a "foot first aid kit".

• Epsom Salts - majority of foot aliments can be solved with this item. Use for soaks on punctures, abscesses, Laminitis, etc. Follow box instructions.

• Banamine - used for painkiller and anti-inflammatory. Will need to get from your vet.

• Iodine - you want 70/ strength. Used for abscesses, WLD, and punctures.

• Sav~A~Hoof - good for abscesses and WLD. You can get this at farrier or tack supply stores.

• Fungidye - good for WLD. Can get a farrier supply stores.

• Bleach - good for treating thrush.

• Hoof pick - need for cleaning out the hoof.

• Wire brush - need for cleaning out the hoof, especially before you put it in a soak.

Summary

Miniature donkeys typically have good feet if they have good nutrition and a well-drained area to live. WLD could be a problem in high humidity areas. You will need to be more strict in managing those herds. Take the feet and legs of your donkeys seriously, get a professional farrier to do your trimming as you are working with very small variances in a mini donkey's foot and trimming feet wrong is on the verge of being inhumane. Keep your "medicine cabinet" well stocked as you never know when something will happen. Train your donkeys to stand for the farrier (and vet). Be sure to tie your youngsters up to a safe place (wood fence, tree limb, etc.) while you do chores. They can "fight'1 the post while you get something done, and they are not fighting you. Your animals will be easier to present to future owners, your farrier and vet will think you are great, and your animals will be more socialized for the tasks they will be asked to do - no one likes a brat. The most important thing to remember is to ENJOY your donkeys. They are loving, enjoyable animals!