Nutrition has long been known to be an important factor in developing healthy equine feet, but Susan Kempson made it clear to an audience at the International Hoof-Care Summit that diet can also play a role in causing feet to breakdown.

Farriers beware. Avoid diagnosing a horse with navicular disease, a problem that even experienced equine veterinarians using high-technology cannot always determine with absolute certainty.

When dealing with excessive stress on the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT), H.H. Florian Buchner has found that farriers can sharply reduce the amount of tendon force and navicular compression by applying heel wedges to horses with these concerns.