Trimming a hoof to make it healthier...

...is a bit like having liposuction to get yourself fitter. It may well improve appearances - it may even make a weak, rubbishy foot look superficially more similar to a rock-crunching, healthy hoof..but the changes will be just that - superficial.

Both regular exercise AND liposuction can make you look thinner. But there is only one of those which can improve your cardio-vascular fitness, build muscle and enhance your overall health. The other is only skin deep.

Interestingly, both these sets of photos (which I picked off google at random) show apparently dramatic improvements. The first one illustrates the effects of liposuction.

The second illustrates the benefits of exercise and an improved diet. Both changes are equally impressive and you'd be forgiven for thinking that liposuction would be a far quicker way to get the same result...

...But obviously that's an illusion.

Liposuction may give the appearance of fitness but delivers none of the real benefits - neither improved health nor increased performance. Its instant and it looks pretty but to build overall health or fitness you need a sensible, holistic approach which includes a good diet, regular exercise and a certain amount of commitment and perseverance.

The benefits won't be immediately apparent but over weeks and months as you become fitter you can see the changes at a superficial level. The difference is that they aren't skin deep. Of course, hooves are just the same but all too often the emphasis is on trimming a hoof to make it conform to the"correct" appearance.

Without attention to diet and exercise this is never going to improve the health of the hoof (or its performance), simply the appearance (a couple of reminders in the form of Legend's hooves!).

Ironically, the more you focus on diet and exercise, the more likely the hoof will grow a healthier hoof capsule and along with improved health and better performance you will develop a better appearance - but that's a consequence of a healthier hoof, not the cause of a healthier hoof.