Original Horse Farriery & Training

06/13/2026

New article by AFJ editor/publisher Frank Lessiter referencing Jaime Jackson's research on the wild, free-roaming horses in the U.S. Great Basin.

Forget About Hoof Color!
By Frank Lessiter, Editor/Publisher, American Farriers Journal

After California Chrome won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, members of the general media jumped on the idea that the horse’s white hooves might be a detriment to his racing career. For many decades, some folks in the equine industry have maintained unpigmented hooves are more prone to cracking, tender footedness and weakness.

Reading the comments about California Chrome’s white hooves got me to take a look back at articles that have been published on the topic over the years in the pages of American Farriers Journal. In looking through the AFJ article index, I spotted several articles on the legitimacy of the claims about white hooves.

White Vs. Black

An article in the September 1981 issue by now deceased researcher Doug Leach pointed out that hoof color has been implicated as an important factor in the durability and strength of hooves as far back as John Dollar’s The Handbook of Horse-Shoeing in 1898 However, Leach reported that later research determined there is no difference in water content, chemical composition, hardness or compressive strength between white and black hooves.

Leach pointed out that only the outer 2/3 of the hoof wall contains pigment while the inner 1/3 adjacent to the lamellae is unpigmented. If there was a difference between these parts of the hoof wall, a shear force would be produced that would lead to a breakdown if the white hoof were weaker. And he said such breakdowns do not occur.

Here is a section of the hoof wall showing a fully pigmented hoof (above) and a partially pigmented hoof (below). While the inner third of the wall is unpigmented, both hooves would look completely black from the outside.

In an article appearing in the May/June 1993 issue of AFJ, Jamie Jackson (founding member of the AANHCP) agreed that the white-colored hoof has been a so-called concern in the horse world for more than a century. Now living in California, Jackson offered further evidence in regard to the controversy based on his own research with wild and free-roaming horses in the Great Basin area.

No Color Differences

When it comes down to whether white hooves are inferior to black ones, Jackson pointed out that the notion that white hooves are prone to tender footedness and weakness did not hold up in the research he conducted with wild horses in the rugged outback. His observations were based on 500 hooves that he personally examined at the Bureau of Land Management holding centers.

When he placed these hooves into black (70%), mixed color (17%) and white (13%) categories, white hooves had the same measurement averages as the entire sample of horses. He found white hooves are as strong in the rugged outback as darker colored hooves.

Jackson concluded that pigmentation or a lack of pigmentation contributed nothing more than what can be deduced with the naked eye — hoof color and pattern. In fact, he determined that unpigmented horn could contribute to abrasion resistance, which is the opposite of what the industry has been led to believe for hundreds of years.

Jackson’s conclusion? The concern over white hooves is an old wives’ tale.

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05/21/2026

05/06/2026

THE MISSING HEEL MYSTERY

Train your eyes to SEE the difference in the heel tissues here. One of these horses can outperform the other for a lifetime of soundness.

Shoeing your horse prevents all the vital functions in their feet, weakening...even destroying their foundation.

Seek competent hoof care from someone who understands AND takes interest in you and your horses' health...it's no mystery why natural hoof care is the gold standard--50 million years and going strong!

05/05/2026

The Writing Is On The Wall

Assessing HPA

Not every horse is born with ideal conformation. It would be helpful if breeders would pay more attention to conformation. Horses with good conformation hold up better and rely less on farrier/trimmer skill, although some bad practitioners can even screw up good feet.

Horse owners need to pay attention to their horse’s hooves and it would helpful ( for horses and humans ) to keep documentation from the day they acquire them.

Horses with less than favorable conformation can still live long, sound, and healthy lives.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is to try to make every horse have “ideal angles.” The only way to know what the true HPA and PA for a horse is…
to optimize their soft tissue and live sole depth. This relies on proper weight distribution. The hoof grows at the rate of 1 mm every 3 days so frequent proper trimming is required to achieve growth/wear equilibrium.

How do you tell if a horse has proper alignment?

It’s written on the wall.
It’s in the grid ( the pattern created by the horn tubules and growth rings ) on the outer wall.

The grid reveals structural alignment for these relationships:

-Hoof Capsule/P3
-HPA
-PA
-Over all body alignment.

The growth rings and horn tubules shouldn’t divert from their origins at the coronary band. When the hoof grows down and the wear rate matches the growth rate, the hoof capsule will eventually be evenly grown out around the internal structures. The growth rings will be parallel from the hairline to the ground and the horn tubules will be parallel from the dorsal wall to the heels. The horn tubules should also align with the folds ( pattern ) of the lamina. When it’s right it’s right and you’ll know it. The horse will know it. They’ll have the feet they were born to have no matter what conformation issues they’ve been born with. Sadly, this doesn’t apply to horses with extreme distortion where the corrections were not attempted until it was too late. We need to teach ourselves to see the distortion early on…awareness is necessary for a better outcome.

These drawings show 3 variations of Hoof Pastern Axis conformation.

The top 3 show an undistorted version with proper grids that indicate proper alignment. In my opinion, it would be a mistake to try to correct any of these.

The bottom 3 show the same conformation with distorted hoof capsules and without proper boney column alignment. In my opinion, it would be a mistake not to try and correct any of these.

04/17/2026

Last job of the day, this TB needs to gain some depth and comfort in its hind feet, especially alignment and collateral groove depth and angle

I am so impressed with these Glue one’s from EasyCare, in my brain cell they work so well due to their adaptability, you can really tailor each shoe to the individual hoof and limb stack and the dual density properties I think are such a game changer

The horse has multiple pathologies so I have to think about the whole body and not just its feet, so I don’t want to force anything with the use of wedges etc .. but rather facilitate and invite the horse to change its stance, load and posture

This isn’t set in stone as it’s an adaptive approach based on the horse’s response

I have little doubt though that when I see this horse again in just over 4 weeks we will have made some significant progress

04/17/2026

This time of year, most of us hoofcare providers get a little nervous seeing the overweight or metabolic horses on our books - especially if their metabolic issues haven't been managed properly. Little shoots of spring grass are coming up quickly, and with it can come increased sugar levels, insulin spikes, and hoof pain.

This spring, I plan to interview a handful of owners and hoofcare providers that have rehabbed laminitis successfully, to discuss their approaches, what worked and what didn't, and to equip listeners with more knowledge and confidence in preventing laminitis in the future.

This week, I chatted with Amber Greeson, a hoofcare provider in Texas, about a special laminitic case that was on the verge of euthanasia. With proper management, hoofcare, and lifestyle changes, he is now sound and happy!

You can hear our entire conversation on any podcast app under "The Humble Hoof," or directly at this link: https://thehumblehoof.com/2026/04/17/rehabbing-laminitis/