Does Your Horse Over Reach?

In the Tictac Equestrian office today, we have been chatting about how some of our horses overreach and what we do to prevent it. Overreaching is a very irritating problem that can cause serious injury to a horse and also cost us all a small fortune in shoes!

For anybody who doesn’t know what overreaching is, it’s when a horse reaches its back foot too far forward and clips the back of the front foot.  Some of the main reasons that cause overreaching are fatigue, poor conformation, lack of balance, poor muscle tone, poor shoeing (loose shoes) or overgrown hooves.

My horse and Lauren’s horse both overreach quite regularly, so we both invested in a pair of Mark Todd Competition Overreach Boots. They are a top quality boot made from neoprene, covered with a tough tear resistant outer. They have a little bulb on the inside which stops the boot spinning around like other cheaper rubber bell boots. I would highly recommend them to anybody looking for a pair as they are definitely well worth the money at £18.99! You can read more about or purchase these boots online on our Tictac Equestrian website. You will also receive a free gift for your horse with every order J

If you have any questions you would like to ask our team or if you have any advice for our customers, we would love to hear from you on our Facebook or Twitter.

Horseshoes/Information on Shoeing your horse

The horseshoe is one of the most recognisable objects when anyone thinks of horses. For centuries the horseshoe has been a symbol of good luck and is still used in many cultures today as a talisman offering protection against evil forces. Traditionally, horseshoes are even given as wedding gifts as a good luck charm for the years ahead!

Perhaps more commonly in horse care, however, horseshoes are used primarily as their name might suggest - to provide protection against hoof damage for working horses.

Many changes brought about by domestication of the horse have led to a need for shoes for number of reasons, mostly linked to horses' hooves hardening less and being more vulnerable to injury. 

In the wild, a horse may travel up to 50 miles per day to obtain adequate forage. While horses in the wild would traditionally cover large areas of hard,  dry terrain, this was usually achieved at relatively slow speeds, unless being chased by a predator, so there were little fluctuations in activity or pace that would affect horses' hooves enough to require shoes. 

The result of slow but non-stop travel in a dry climate is that horses' feet are naturally worn to a small, smooth, even and hard state - the continual stimulation of the sole of the foot keeps it thick and hard. However, modern day domesticated horses are used in very different ways, which can alter the state and condition of their hooves.  

Domesticated horses, were brought to colder and wetter areas than their ancestral habitat. These softer and heavier soils soften the hooves and have made them prone to splitting, making hoof protection necessary. Consequently, it was in northern Europe that the nailed horseshoe arose in its modern form.

Most domesticated horses in the present day are subject to inconsistent movement between stabling and work, where they must carry or pull additional weight, and are often kept and worked on very soft footing, such as irrigated land, arena footing, or stall bedding. In some cases, management of horses and their hooves is also inadequate, causing, or perhaps overlooking problems that can pose a threat of disease and discomfort. 

The hooves of horses that are kept in stalls or small turnouts, even when cleaned adequately, are also exposed to more moisture than would be encountered in the wild, as well as to ammonia from urine. As a result, the hoof capsule, which is mostly made from the protein, keratin, is weakened by this exposure, becoming even more fragile and soft. 

Shoes do not prevent or reduce damage from moisture and ammonia exposure. Rather, they protect already weakened hooves. Further, without the natural conditioning factors present in the wild, the feet of horses grow overly large and long unless trimmed regularly. Hence, protection from rocks, pebbles, and hard, uneven surfaces is lacking. 

A balanced diet with proper nutrition also is a factor. Without these precautions, cracks in overgrown and overly brittle hoof walls are a danger, as is bruising of the soft tissues within the foot because of inadequately thick and hard sole material.

For more information on horse care products to help you properly look after your horses and ponies, got to the official TicTac Equestrian site.