Horse Care Glossary

Here in the horse care glossary you will find a list of common terms, and their meanings, used in natural horse care.

Hoof Care Terms

Anterior or Dorsal - Located towards the front of the body (eg the front of the hoof).

Anterior/Posterior or A/P - Front to back.

Distal - The bottom of an anatomical structure (eg the distal edge of the coffin bone would be the bottom: furthest away from the joint with the short pastern bone).

Distal Phalanx - Also known as the third phalanx, P3, or the coffin bone in the equine foot.

Lateral - Situated at, relating to, or on the side (eg the outside of the limb).

Medial - Situated in, relating to, or extending towards the middle (eg the inside of the limb).

Medial/Lateral or M/L - From the inside to the outside or side-to-side.

Posterior or Caudal - Located towards the back of the body (eg the back portion of the limb).

Proximal - The top of an anatomical structure (eg the proximal edge of the coffin bone would be at the top, where it joins with the short pastern bone).

Ventral - The lower surface (eg the bottom of the hoof).

Dead Sole - Flaky, chalky sole material that exfoliates easily on scraping.

Live Tissue - Sole tissue that is seen as waxy in appearance surface.

Quarters - In hoof care terminology, this refers to the sides of the hoof wall. When looking at the sole of a hoof, where the middle of the toe is at 12:00, the quarters would be roughly between the 2:00 and 4:00 and the 8:00 and 10:00 positions.

Toe Callus - Area behind the toe wall which consists of calloused sole and protects and supports the tip of the coffin bone.

hoof courses terminology

Commonly Used Abbreviations

ACE - Acepromazine

ACTH - Andrenocorticotropic Hormone

ACV - Apple Cider Vinegar

A/P - Anterior/Posterior

BCS - Body Condition Score

BP - Beet Pulp

CS - Colloidal Silver

DE - Diatomatous Earth

DEX Test - Dexmethasone Suppression Test

DMSO - Dimethyl Sulfoxide

ECD - Equine Cushings Disease

EPSM - Equine Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy

FF - Farriers' Formula

FFS - Foward Foot Syndrome

GTT - Glucose Tolerance Test

HPA - Hoof Pastern Axis

IR - Insulin Resistance

Jherb - Jiaogulan

LIM - Less is More

LTLH - Long toe/low heel

M/L - Medial/Lateral

NSC - Non Structual Carbohydrates (sugar+starch)

NFC - Non Fiber Carbohydrates

NO - Nitric Oxide

RBO - Rice Bran Oil

ROA - Recurrent Airway Obstruction

WLD - White Line Disease

Return from Horse Care Glossary to Natural Horse Care home page

Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.