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Horse hoof: split hoof question


Widder, SASS #59054

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I was watching a western last week.   Someone 'found' a horse and made reference to it having a 

'split hoof', which indicated it belonged to an Indian (movie terminology).

 

Was this just a hollywood made up or something in actual reality?

 

..........Widder

 

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5 minutes ago, Capt. R. Hugh Kidnme said:

Split hoof = no iron shoes = unshod pony. True to life, not Hollyweird.

 

True, HOWEVER, I would contest the idea that a split horse hoof is always owned by an Indian.  I only shoe my horse about half the year; the other half, we don't ride enough to justify the expense.  He can ride just fine without shoes, just not a whole lot.  I have exactly 0% Native American blood, even less than Elizabeth Warren!

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3 hours ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

 

True, HOWEVER, I would contest the idea that a split horse hoof is always owned by an Indian.  I only shoe my horse about half the year; the other half, we don't ride enough to justify the expense.  He can ride just fine without shoes, just not a whole lot.  I have exactly 0% Native American blood, even less than Elizabeth Warren!

Are you certain about that Cyrus?  :lol:

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What Cyrus said.

 

That's some reach to conclude Native American ownership just because a horse is barefoot AND has a split hoof! 

 

When I was just a boy, I wanted BADLY to have my horse shod 'cause, heck, all my buddies were astride shod horses.  Daddy sez, "Tell you what.  You get to where you can handle all four of that horse's feet, do whatever you want with 'em for as long as you want with 'em...we'll see about getting him shod."  The Old Man was pretty crafty: by the time I had that horse where a half-blind grandmother could shoe him, I didn't care whether he was shod or not!  I learned to keep him standing up on his feet with a pair of nippers, a rasp and a frog knife!

 

In fact, I just got back from the barn.  A palomino I bought a couple of weeks ago threw his front left shoe a few days ago and, since I couldn't find a decent farrier with a gap in his schedule, I just pulled his front right shoe myself.  I'll ride him barefoot in front 'til Monday when I can get him re-shod all around.

 

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 A split hoof means a damaged hoof. Usually corrected by proper shoeing. Even at that the hoof should be notched on each side of the split to relieve pressure on that part of the hoof to allow it to heal faster. The original Indians did not shoe their horses. Never heard this term  used as a barefoot horse.

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56 minutes ago, Grass Range said:

 A split hoof means a damaged hoof. Usually corrected by proper shoeing. Even at that the hoof should be notched on each side of the split to relieve pressure on that part of the hoof to allow it to heal faster. The original Indians did not shoe their horses. Never heard this term  used as a barefoot horse.

What Grass Range said!

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