# Hoof color myth?



## PandaJinxes (Mar 4, 2014)

I was always told that pink hooves crack a lot more than black, and they require more care. Is this a myth or is there any truth to it? I've never owned a horse with pink or striped hooves so I have no earthly idea. :shock:


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## MandiFree (Mar 9, 2014)

Hello. I am a farrier and it is a myth. The hoof is not affected in any way by the pigmentation (color) or the hoof itself. Nutrition, exercise, climate, injuries and conformation are what decides on the well being of the hoof and limb.


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## lilruffian (Jun 28, 2010)

^ Pretty much.Although, though it could just be his hoof, my friend has an Arab with 3 blacks and 1 white and the white never chips out as neatly as the blacks. It always just grows and splays out while the others will break off.
My mare, however has the same 3 blacks and 1 white and they all grow the same. She has extremely good feet, though, which i LOVE in a horse.


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## SullysRider (Feb 11, 2012)

Complete and total myth, just makes imperfections easier to see. If it were true my horse would have horrible feet because he has white and striped hooves, but my farrier loves his feet.


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## Peppy Barrel Racing (Aug 16, 2011)

Myth. I have a horse with four white feet. He has the best feet out of all of my horses
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Roux (Aug 23, 2013)

What I have seen is that hardness is no different but the white foot can be more brittle. 

I AM not saying ALL white feet on ALL horses. Just in general this is has been my observation. 

I currently have one horse with 4 whites and one with two and they both have really good hard feet. 

Depends more on diet, climate, genetics and trims.


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## horseNpony (Sep 27, 2013)

Like everyone else said, huge myth. At my riding school there's an arab with tanned hooves and his hooves are always in great condition, whereas theres a thoroughbred with black hooves and his hooves aren't in the best condition. I think it's really up to the horse and the conditions it lives in, hooves vary from horse to horse.


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## speedy da fish (May 7, 2009)

Myth! 

Although blemishes will show up more on white hooves.

There might even be an element of optical allusion... Especially with horses that have one white hoof.


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## EdmontonHorseGal (Jun 2, 2013)

and here i've heard the myth that white hooves are softer, lol.

my old gelding had two black back feet and two white front. all four hooves were great condition, and no colour cracked/chipped/was softer than the other. this gelding also foundered quite badly at one time, and his front white feet were just as non chipping/non cracking after, even with all the laminar separation.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

My pinto has 'white' feet and although she came with shoes on has been barefoot ever since. She's never sore and has never had a chip or a crack in them.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

white feet are softer, black feet are softer, striped feet are softer...etc.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

My horse also has 4 white feet. He had front shoes since I got him, which I had pulled this winter and he's doing just as well without them as he did with them. He only chipped around the old nail holes (which any hoof would do) Now that the nail holes have grown out there have been no cracks or chips at all.


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## Cynical25 (Mar 7, 2013)

It's luck of the draw, not an absolute.

I had a 4-white-hooved Paint with horrendous feet and a 2-white-hooved Paint with ehh feet. Many great footed dark hooves, and a few dark hooved horses with crappy feet.


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## ForeverSunRider (Jun 27, 2013)

I don't know but Sonny's feet are all white and he's been sound his entire life without any chipping or any issues whatsoever. 

Nick, has two white feet and two black feet and our farrier has yet to complain about any of them (he's new though so I'll keep you posted :wink

ZsaZsa, the mare that was sold had one white foot and three black ones and all of them were just bad. But that was just because her feet were bad and falling apart - along with the rest of her - so I doubt her hoof color had anything to do with it.


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## Elizabeth Bowers (Jan 26, 2012)

My mom swore up and down that white feet were softer, but her old appaloosa mare had striped feet, and wasn't shod until she was 13yo, and 3 foals later. Out of that mare came a colt named Shadow (whom i now own and will be 22), and he has all 4 white hooves, and never once has gone lame or had hoof issues never shod either. I'v ridden him on rocky steep trails, and on the road, no problems.
I have a paint mare who has awesomely striped hooves like 1/2 black and 1/2 white, and she's as sound as ever. My colt has 3 black 1 white, and the one black grows with a seam or crease from an old injury as a foal, he's sound. And my smoky cream mare has all white hooves too, and she's my best trail horse yet!

And now my mom has 2 palomino QH's with all four hooves white, barefoot, and she says she's never had horses so sound, and careful with their feet, and no hoof issues hardly at all. 

I'v never believed in those old wivestales/myths. Like was said before it depends on the horse, diet, and regular hoof care, and some may be a roll of the genetics too. Best of luck!!


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## IndiesaurusRex (Feb 23, 2011)

I remember growing up and always hearing this one rhyme, still remember it to this day!

One white foot buy him.
Two white feet try him.
Three white feet, look well about him.
Four white feet, do without him.
Four white feet and a long white nose,
Knock him on the head and feed him to the crows. 

I now know it's all phooey, can't imagine what on earth is wrong with a white nose though!


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## wakiya (Feb 7, 2009)

Both of my horses have excellent feet and were never shod.

One 4 white feet the other 4 mainly white with lots of striping


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## MangoRoX87 (Oct 19, 2009)

Guess I'm the odd one out and every white footed horse I ever had, always had to have shoes and had to be kept on hoof supplements and bruised easily. Hehe.

One interesting observation I made, while working at an APHA show, what the insane amount of footwork the white hooves had done over the black hooves. Maybe just coincidence, but I saw it on all sizes and disciplines of horses.


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## huntseat11 (Mar 3, 2014)

It's a myth. People just used to think that because scratches show up more on white hooves.


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## Captain Evil (Apr 18, 2012)

MangoRoX87 said:


> Guess I'm the odd one out and every white footed horse I ever had, always had to have shoes and had to be kept on hoof supplements and bruised easily.


So, I know it's a myth that white feet are softer, but my experience is 100% down that line. My first horse had black hooves and they were as tough as could be. 

My Arab had three black and one barely striped hoof ( he was actually 1/4 Appaloosa, so that was his appaloosa hoof!) and the farriers would swear at his feet as they were so hard. 

The Arab's mom had four white feet, and they were so soft that she needed shoes for any kind of riding outside of a grass paddock whatsoever. One small jaunt down the road, and her feet would be worn like an eraser, and they would also bruise quickly. 

Then, I took care of a thoroughbred for about a year, two black front feet and two white hind feet, and the hind shoes would be thrown in four weeks, no exceptions, while the fronts never were lost.

Finally, Ahab has four black hooves, and the farrier makes sure to have fresh rasps with him and even an electric grinder as they are so hard.

So, although I have to believe that there is no real difference, it is hard for me to truly accept this fact. I do, I do, but sheesh!


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## CandyCanes (Jul 1, 2013)

There's also the one about white socks (horses with white socks usually have white feet)
One white sock, buy a horse
Two white socks, try a horse
Three white socks, be on the sly
Four white socks, pass him by. 

Older folks tend to go by this rule still... When I getting ponies when I was younger, my grandmother who is a great horse women, but old fashioned, often came along and if the horse had four white feet, we were to go home immediately. She didn't like any more than one white sock. Imagine the blazes when she saw candy with her three white socks!!!


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

^That's interesting! I've never heard anything like that before xD


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## Peppy Barrel Racing (Aug 16, 2011)

I live in the rocky hills of eastern Oklahoma. My palomino mare has 3 black feet and one white and all four crack and chip. And her front feet grow very fast she has to be trimmed every 4 or 5 weeks. So if I ride her a lot she must have shoes. My almost completely white Sorrel DW paint has 4 white feet. He has excellent feet that never need shoes, they never look chippy or cracked. My dunskin colt has four black feet and they get a lil chipped but no cracks. My bay colt has four black feet they are awesome feet and require minimal maintenance (thank goodness he didn't get mothers feet, the palomino I talked about). And my grey tobiano has white feet some have a few black stripes she also has lovely feet I don't have to keep her shod. So it really just depends on the genetics of the horse. I think my five are good proof of that. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## hollahonney (Mar 22, 2014)

from all the horses I've ridden the ones with black feet were fine and those with white all needed shoeing as they wore their feet so much. So I think the "myth" is true for most horses 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## ponyboy (Jul 24, 2008)

I used to have a dog with both black & white nails. I did her nails with a PediPaws and I swear the white ones would grind down twice as fast as the black ones. I think the only fair way to compare is with feet on the same animal.


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