Check Your Shoeing Rig’s Tire Pressure Regularly

Nearly one-third of all light trucks have at least one substantially under-inflated tire (8 pounds or more below the recommended tire pressure), creating the potential for deadly accidents. A survey by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration demonstrated that 20 percent of all light trucks have two or more under-inflated tires.

“Under-inflated tires can be a problem, but most guys aren’t dealing with it,” says Brent Chidsey of Stone Well Bodies & Equipment in Genoa, N.Y. A fully loaded 3/4 ton farrier truck weighing 8,000 pounds with substantially under-inflated tires can lead to tread separation, blowouts and loss of control. While under-inflated tires shorten tire life and increase fuel consumption, bald tires are 50 to 80 percent more likely to be under-inflated.

How Grass Founder Research Impacts Laminitis Concerns

Five years of research work by Australian hoof researcher Chris Pollitt indicates that fluctuating fructan levels found in pasture grasses can be a major factor in developing grass founder. He found that it can cause laminitis by disrupting the balance of microflora in the gut of horses. When this water-soluble carbohydrate was fed in significant doses in these trials, he found it activated enzymes thought to be a factor in laminar degradation, which leads to laminitis problems.

How Frog Size Can Affect Lameness

The size of the hoof’s frog relative to the foot’s total ground-bearing surface can often indicate whether a horse is prone to lameness, suggests Tracy Turner, a University of Minnesota equine…