Hoof Balance Pt 1 The Butterfly Effect

A Tempest in Tokyo
A Tempest in Tokyo

It is often stated that a butterfly flapping its wings in San Francisco can result in a tempest in Tokyo or some variation of that. This is a somewhat hyperbolic reference to that branch of mathematics known as Chaos Theory. Put as simply as possible, it is the notion that in a complex system a small occurrence can have a huge impact on a greater aspect of that system.

In the horse's hoof, we indeed have a complex system, vis a vis, Chaos in the mathematical, physical sense. A small aspect of breeding, or husbandry, or farriery, or exercise, can have disastrous, ultimately career-ending consequences, often creeping up insidiously on an unsuspecting owner.

We farriers can only make an input to that complex system once every 4-6 weeks. Rest assured, just as our butterfly friend could unwittingly wreak havoc, what we do can have a huge impact on your horse, either positively or negatively. In the x-ray image above there was a cascade of mistakes both on the part of the attending farrier and the horse owner, resulting in, over time, the disaster you see.

Chaos. Tempests in Tokyo.

Armed with enough knowledge of anatomy, physiology and *biomechanics; plus a working knowledge of applied materials science in so much as it applies to our profession, we can tip the odds in your horse's favour, notwithstanding all those other factors mentioned above.

Follow me on this journey through what I am looking at, what you might not be aware that I am evaluating even as we might be chatting about something completely unrelated.

Look out for Pt 2, Traditional Ideas of Hoof Balance.

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