Horses do not have much variety in foot color, unless they happen to be owned by little girls who like to embellish them with polishes, then they may even glitter. But, the natural colors of the horse's hooves are basic white, black or brown, and combinations of the two called striped or parti-colored hooves. Not saddled with fashion mores of humans, they can wear mix.
While shoers aren't about to put down a horse with all white feet, the saying demonstrates the passion surrounding this black vs. white hooves debate. Science has been trying to prove that this poem is a myth, but many farriers today still believe that white hooves are structurally weaker than their darker counterparts.
The hooves and skin are all part of the same system, so thinner soles, thinner walls on the hooves-there's less material there than some cross-bred horse." But hoof color doesn't contribute to its structure so, aside from personal aesthetics, it shouldn't contribute to the evaluation of an animal. Does your horse display the characteristics of his color? Are white hooves something to steer clear of? Horsemen say these colors reflect a horse's personality. Do white hooves require different maintenance compared to black hooves? No, both white and black hooves require the same level of maintenance.
Regular trimming, cleaning, and proper hoof care are necessary for keeping any horse's hooves healthy, regardless of their color. Mostly, the color of a horse's hoof is determined by color pigment. Often, when the horse has white markings it will have white hooves, and horses that have black legs tend to have black hooves.
Some horses that have a mixture of colors on their legs will have a mixture of colors on their hooves, ie. striped hooves. Historically, a horse's hoof color was used as a measure of its potential usefulness.
Although this reasoning was baseless and incorrect, the color of a horse's hoof isn't totally insignificant or even consistent either. A horse's hoof can change color. In fact, in some cases, it is totally normal for a horse's hoof to change color.
When this color change is coupled with negative. Chestnut versus sorrel? Paint or pinto? And how do you breed for color? Use our guidelines to about coat color and equine color genetics. I have always wondered but never asked why black hoofs seem to be preferred over hooves that have white in them.
I ask now because our new horse has white hooves. The Truth About Hoof Colour The color of horses' hooves depends on the color of their legs at the coronary band or the hair line. A horse with white socks will usually have white hooves.
A bay or chestnut with no white on his legs will have dark hooves. A paint horse with a mix of brown or black and white will probably have striped hooves.