I followed his advice. Now her feet are so short it hurts her to walk. Our pasture is rocky. It's tough for me to out-think your farrier without seeing the horse, but rounding off the edges of the hoof walls sometimes helps the walls not to chip as much. I also feel that the chipping is the baby hoof, which is softer than the yearling hoof.
Rocky pasture is hard on any horse's bare feet, but is really bad for soft baby feet.
One of the reasons we shoe horses is to keep the hoof from wearing off faster than it grows. I won't shoe a horse that's less than two years old without a good reason, so shoeing your baby is out of the question. Shoes would not allow the young horse's feet to develop as they should. F. Thomas Breningstall is an AFA and MHA certified full-time farrier living in Fowlerville, Michigan. Return to the Publications and Article Archives page.