The development of the digital cushion and the health of the frog will be key to how comfortable your horse is landing heel first. Most of us know what the frog is. A healthy frog should be full and firm, with no signs of thrush. A well developed digital cushion is a thick fibrous mass, which lies inside the back of the hoof between the lateral cartilage. It contains the sensory nerves which help the horse to “feel” the ground.

When a foal is born the digital cushion is a soft pad of fat. If the young horse has enough movement and good frog and sole pressure, the fat pad will become more and more fibrous. This thick fibrous pad in conjunction with a firm healthy frog will provide a pain free heel first landing for the adult horse.

Unfortunately for many of our domestic horses this development falls behind and we end up with a full size horse on a digital cushion that can’t comfortably support it. The sensory nerves are not well protected and it hurts to land heel first. The horse then shortens it’s stride and comes down toe first. This creates a whole new set of problems, navicular syndrome among them. With the horse landing toe first the digital cushion will never develop. High heels and thrushy frogs often accompany this situation.

What causes this under development? In the young horse, lack of movement on a firm surface. Overgrown hooves lifting the frog and sole off the ground. Shoeing before the digital cushion has a chance to develop. Even thrush can cause enough pain for the young horse to avoid heel pressure, thus starting the cycle of toe first landing and under development of the digital cushion.

You can learn to feel for the digital cushion. Lift the horse’s hoof and put your thumbs on top of the heel bulbs pressing down towards the hoof in the space between them. It should feel thick and firm. Compare front and back. It is usually better developed in the rears.

Pay attention to those young hooves. Keep those hoof walls trimmed right from the start and if you plan to shoe, put it off as long as possible. Provide plenty of movement. The digital cushion can improve later on in a horses life, but it is a slow process and takes a great deal of commitment. The horse will need to move on surfaces that don’t cause heel pain or it will just switch to the toe first landing. Riding in hoof boots with pads for support is very effective in getting a heel first landing, on a horse that is sore in the palmer hoof. I would suggest Pete Ramey’s book Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You, available at http://www.hoofrehab.com.