What causes a flare and why should we care?
A flare is a sign something is going wrong with the hoof. A flare happens because some part of the hoof is too long and touching the ground causing it to bend out of shape.
Very often this is because the horse has some “fault” in the leg higher up. Therefore the flare is very often the fault of a horse’s conformation and it depends on the farrier to keep the hoof managed. Perfectly formed horses are rare to find in real life. Good farrier care from suckling foal on can do quite a bit to mitigate a lifetime of problems with the horse.
A flare can happen from the horse traveling unbalanced, such in the case of ringbone, a shoulder injury, or a stifle issue for instance.
Occasionally a flare happens because the horse is standing in soft and wet ground constantly. Hooves that have to function in muck often start to widen and pancake so that they function sort of like a snowshoe on snow. Of course this is not good either.
A flare can also occur when the hooves are going too long between trims. As things get too long they start to bend or fold over. This can result in a flare and the horse’s trim cycle needs to be shortened.
Diet can also have an effect on flares. Without the proper balance of nutrients the hoof wall cannot build itself in a sturdy manner. Weak walls tend to bend and break. Fat horses can have weak walls because they were not designed to bear the extra load.
It is not uncommon for flares to be a result of multiple things mentioned above. Finding people who are “a student of the horse” is becoming more and more rare nowadays.
Flares cause a separation in the white line on the bottom of the hoof. This separation allows little bacteria and fungus to have an open door and boy do they invade fast. Suddenly your horse not only has a flare but “white line disease” (not actually a disease) also. If the wld goes untreated holes can result which get rocks and twigs up in them. As the horse walks these get pushed up into the hoof further and further.
Flares are a signal to us that we need to start being more proactive somewhere. Proper loading of the hoof after the issue is identified will go a long way to keep those under control.
