Hoof mechanism and its importance for the horse
The hoof mechanism is alternation of expanded hoof form on weightbearing to narrowed hoof form during the flight phase of the foot and all the internal changes resulting from it.
When weightbearing, the downward force of the skeleton on the front wall of the hoof capsule forces the coronary band at its highest point to sink downward and inward. On this movement of the coronary band, the neighboring walls move outward, and this assisted by the concave sole drawing flat, allowing room for the descending coffin bone, which is suspended by the elastic laminar corium between the walls. Allowed more space, the capillaries between the sole and the coffin bone (in the solar corium), and between the wall and the coffin bone (in the laminar corium) are filled with the arterial blood. As the hoof is lifted and narrows, the blood is 'squeezed out' of the coriums as from a sponge.
This way the auxularily pump function — the most critical and vital function of the hoof — is performed. The function supports the heart and circulatory system by pumping blood back up the leg through the veins, which doesn't have musculature in their walls and can't move blood without support of surrounding skeletal musculature. As the lower leg in the horse doesn't have the musculature, the hoof mechanism becomes the only moving power for the venous blood there.
When weightbearing, the downward force of the skeleton on the front wall of the hoof capsule forces the coronary band at its highest point to sink downward and inward. On this movement of the coronary band, the neighboring walls move outward, and this assisted by the concave sole drawing flat, allowing room for the descending coffin bone, which is suspended by the elastic laminar corium between the walls. Allowed more space, the capillaries between the sole and the coffin bone (in the solar corium), and between the wall and the coffin bone (in the laminar corium) are filled with the arterial blood. As the hoof is lifted and narrows, the blood is 'squeezed out' of the coriums as from a sponge.
This way the auxularily pump function — the most critical and vital function of the hoof — is performed. The function supports the heart and circulatory system by pumping blood back up the leg through the veins, which doesn't have musculature in their walls and can't move blood without support of surrounding skeletal musculature. As the lower leg in the horse doesn't have the musculature, the hoof mechanism becomes the only moving power for the venous blood there.
The hoof mechanism constitutes another important function of the hoof , the shock absorption, transforming 60-80% of impact forces through the deformation of the hoof capsule, releasing heat as a by-product. This function is vital for maintaining health of joints, tendons, bones, and the whole organism.
As we can imagine, when a horse is shoed, a shoe, fixing a hoof in its narrowest shape (the shoe is applied, when the hoof is in the air and not bearing any weight), blocks completely the hoof mechanism. In overgrown hooves, in physiologically incorrectly trimmed hooves (with too high heels, a too full sole, etc.), the hoof mechanism is blocked to some considerable degree, sometimes near fully.
— © Natalija Alesandrova
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Bibliography and mentioning of the hoof mechanism:
Bein, L.: "Pruefung eines elastischen Pferdehufbeschelages mit Hilft ungulogrphischer Untersuchungen im Vergleich zum Eisenbeschlag", Diss. University Zuerich, 1984
Bowker, R.: "A new theory about equine foot physiology", Michigan State University
Clark, B.: "A Series of Original Experiments on the Foot of the Living Horse, Exhibiting the Changes Produced by Shoeing, and the Causes of the Apparent Mystery of this Art", London, 1809
Clark, B.: "Some Account of the Circulation of the Blood in the Foot of the Horse", London, 1846
Dyhre-Poulsen P, Smedegaard HH, Roed J, et al.: "Equine hoof function investigated by pressure transducers inside the hoof and accelerometers mounted on the first phalanx", Equine Vet J 1994; 26:362-366
Pollitt, C.: "Equine Foot Studies", Queensland University, 1992
Rooney, J.R.: "Functional Anatomy of the Foot", in "Equine Podiatry", 2007, ISBN 978-0-7216-0383-4
Smedegaard, H.H.: Kgl. Daenische Veterinaer- und Landwirtschaftsschule "Hufvechanismus und Kraftdynamik", Reiter Revue, February, 1997
Strasser, H.: "The hoofcare specialist's handbook: Hoof orthopedics and holistic lameness rehabilitation", published by Sabine Kells, Canada, 2001
Strasser, H.: "A Lifetime of Soundness", 2000, ISBN 0-9685988-0-3
Strasser, H.: "Shoeing: A Necessary Evil?", 2000, ISBN 0-9685988-2-X
Teskey, Thomas G.: "The Unfettered Foot: A Paradigm Change for Equine Podiatry", Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, Volume 25, Issue 2, February 2005
Zierold, R.: "Ueber die Fleisch- und Hornblaettchen der Hufhaut des Pferdes", Dissertation at the Tieraerztlichen Hochschule, Dresden, 1910
Bein, L.: "Pruefung eines elastischen Pferdehufbeschelages mit Hilft ungulogrphischer Untersuchungen im Vergleich zum Eisenbeschlag", Diss. University Zuerich, 1984
Bowker, R.: "A new theory about equine foot physiology", Michigan State University
Clark, B.: "A Series of Original Experiments on the Foot of the Living Horse, Exhibiting the Changes Produced by Shoeing, and the Causes of the Apparent Mystery of this Art", London, 1809
Clark, B.: "Some Account of the Circulation of the Blood in the Foot of the Horse", London, 1846
Dyhre-Poulsen P, Smedegaard HH, Roed J, et al.: "Equine hoof function investigated by pressure transducers inside the hoof and accelerometers mounted on the first phalanx", Equine Vet J 1994; 26:362-366
Pollitt, C.: "Equine Foot Studies", Queensland University, 1992
Rooney, J.R.: "Functional Anatomy of the Foot", in "Equine Podiatry", 2007, ISBN 978-0-7216-0383-4
Smedegaard, H.H.: Kgl. Daenische Veterinaer- und Landwirtschaftsschule "Hufvechanismus und Kraftdynamik", Reiter Revue, February, 1997
Strasser, H.: "The hoofcare specialist's handbook: Hoof orthopedics and holistic lameness rehabilitation", published by Sabine Kells, Canada, 2001
Strasser, H.: "A Lifetime of Soundness", 2000, ISBN 0-9685988-0-3
Strasser, H.: "Shoeing: A Necessary Evil?", 2000, ISBN 0-9685988-2-X
Teskey, Thomas G.: "The Unfettered Foot: A Paradigm Change for Equine Podiatry", Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, Volume 25, Issue 2, February 2005
Zierold, R.: "Ueber die Fleisch- und Hornblaettchen der Hufhaut des Pferdes", Dissertation at the Tieraerztlichen Hochschule, Dresden, 1910
