International Hoof Care Week – January 21-24, 2025

History of International Hoof Care Week

International Hoof Care Week was first observed in 2003 when the “American Farriers Journal” organized its first International Hoof Care Summit. The week was created to reiterate the importance of hoof care and to educate the public on ways to manage their animals’ hooves. This follows the increase in dangers associated with animals having untended hooves due to their owner’s negligence.

For owners of hoofed animals, especially horses, hoof care is paramount to the healthy living of their beasts. It should be noted that when talking about hooves, it is almost impossible to exclude horses from the picture, as most hoof care sensitization targets them. This might be because they are widely owned as aesthetic animals and by royals, as is seen in their early domestication around 4000 B.C. Perhaps, the earliest horse owners in ancient Rome also realized the importance of hoof care, so they created a shoe-like object fitted to their horses’ hooves. The earliest forms of horseshoes first appeared in ancient Rome around 500 B.C.

In the 20th century, some men, known as farriers, skilled in the act of tending to hoofed animals, particularly horses, began to spring up. Farriers were regarded as authorities in the care of hoofed animals. The American Farriers Association (A.F.A.) was created in 1971, and books on hoof care were published. The 1976 book “Horseshoeing Theory and Hoof Care” by Leslie Emery, Jim Miller, and Nyles van Hoosen focused on the shape of natural hooves. Today, the “American Farriers Journal” publishes several annual papers that answer various questions about hoof care, both in domestic and wild animals trapped in zoos. They also chair the observation of International Hoof Care Week.