04/15/2026
🙌 True or false? - The digital cushion in the horses foot doesn’t develop in mature horses 🙌
Here’s the thing about digital cushion (DC) - conformation of the ungular cartilage (UC) in particular influences haemodynamics and health of the entire foot. I have witnessed and documented incredible changes to density and conformation of DC, and I have witnessed deterioration and no changes to DC in response to interventions in adult horses, so the initial statement made by this farrier, according to the documentation, evidence and observations I have made or been made aware of - cannot therefore be true.
I can fully appreciate why a hoof care provider might hold this belief. If you work on horses with unbalanced and less than ideal hooves, and you DO NOT alter forces in an unbalanced hoof to allow for opportunity for improved circulation in the caudal hoof, and therefore encourage opportunity for DC development then DC cannot improve in individuals where there IS capacity to develop it!
So if you haven’t seen and appreciated how the digital cushion CAN imprive, (which I have), and you always do what you always did, you get the same result! And the interventions one imposes, or observe imposed, in terms of either reductive trimming or additive interventions, may even contribute to the loss of health of DC, and if this is all one knows, then one might naturally believe the initial statement to be true!
Here’s what I theorise: DC health is determined by metabolic status (a net value of ALL systems if you like, and in particular, immune health) circulation, which is also determined by the health of associated tissues in the digit, as the UC plays a really, really important role in haemodynamics. I will discuss this in a future post.
In horses exposed to poor stimulus from a young age (factors can be intrinsic and extrinsic), the structures which form the foundation of the hoof don’t develop optimum hoof morphology (form + function) thus less than optimal circulation, thus negatively influencing how they develop in the future. THIS is what really determines the ability of DC to develop in a mature horse or not, because the tissues rely on healthy haemodynamics and metabolism to be given the opportunity to develop, if the extrinsic environment is deemed appropriate, (eg, proper hoof care which provides correct balance and both static and dynamic equilibrium around the coffin joint in 3D). DC has interesting properties which, under the right conditions, can become larger and denser, and it helps support correct phalangeal alignment of the bony column, resistance to distortion and appropriate suspension of the internal foot within the capsule.
It is critical, in other words, to proper form and function of the barefoot horse. In shod horses, with less than ideal morphology, and therefore a weak digital cushion, form and function can be supported artificially via a prosthetic or orthotic additive via appropriate reductive and additive shoeing package.
The right conditions for optimum DC in both populations of barefoot AND shod horses from my experience and according to welfare studies on domestic populations of horses in the UK suggest that this is rarely provided.
PLUS there needs to be sufficient health to the foot foundation tissues to actually perpetuate or develop DC health. So for example, if the ideal shoeing package is provided, but pathology prevents neutral posture, then the load on the caudal hoof wont necessary alter sufficiently to ensure adequate circulation for DC development. Or, if the posture and shoeing package are ideal and the foot placed in neutral, but the UG and pedal bone was overloaded as a yearling TB in race training, both situations may lead to be the incorrect conformation of foot foundation tissues to support sufficient blood flow and haemodynamics to the caudal hoof to restore it to its full potential, and the horse wil need permanant internventions to provide and/or sustain neutral posture to help prevent degradation of the foot and related pathology in the limbs and body.
In the UK, farriers sometimes use DIM (dental impression material used as hoof packing material) in an appropriate additive shoeing package to either support a permamantly disabled hoof (as above), or to help stimulate development of the caudal hoof. I sometime recommend it for use in in-shod horses. It works to create even load on all the structures in the caudal hoof, and in particular the DC, via the frog, collateral grooves and sole, as well as the heel wall at the seat of corn to help support heel tubule development when rehabbing low plantar or palmar P3 angles/broken back hoof-pastern axis.
It can also be used to cushion the heel bulb and quarters to allow for casting over a properly applied shoe, to help reduce shoe loss, to facilitate circulation by stabilising the foot, especially the caudal foot, to minimise excessive 3-dimensional distortion in a weak foot (with weak DC), and to accelerate healthy growth and development of cartilage and h***y tissues in the foot and hoof.
I would never recommend loading the wall alone when shoeing, which, especially in a weak footed horse, which potentially leads to a reduction in appropriate circulation to DC (and other tissues), overloading of the sole, frog, wall, coronary band and UC, distortion of the h***y tissues, and all while potentiating further caudal and even distal collapse in horses with weak circulation and caudal tissues.
Whether barefoot trimming or shoeing, hoof care must address the needs of the individual horse, and in relation to the horses balance, posture, age, fitness, and of course - their individual welfare state, in relation to their environmental stimulus received and to be received.
My advice? - Be discerning when choosing hoof care (or any) interventions which are to be imposed on your horse and which have the potential to potentially or negatively impact welfare states, comfort, soundness, resilience and longevity.
Blanket statements like the one in this post which may feel true to the individual sharing this belief, but are they factually correct?
You get to decide 🤓
That is what being an equine advocate means to me.
Be authentic. Don’t follow a person, method, group or organisation - instead apply sound science and reasoning, use logic and an open inquiring mind, and always, follow the evidence…
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