Hoof capsule distortions associated with hoof imbalance typically aren’t severe, they can affect horses’ comfort and be challenging for owners and their farriers to manage. | Photo: iStock

Hoof capsule distortions—any change in shape from “normal”—associated with hoof imbalance typically aren’t severe, they can affect horses’ comfort and be challenging for owners and their farriers to manage.

Andrew Parks, MA, VetMB, Dipl. ACVS, MRCVS, professor and head of the department of large animal medicine at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, in Athens, described how to handle these during the 2018 British Equine Veterinary Association Congress, held Sept. 12-15 in Birmingham, U.K.

The hoof capsule responds to stress in three ways, said