Hoof problems split cleanly once you know what each professional treats. The farrier's ground is the shoe, the trim, and the balance of the foot; the vet's ground is pain, injury, infection, and anything inside the hoof. Most owners hesitate over the middle cases, so the lists below are worth learning before you need them. One rule sits above both lists: when in doubt, route to the vet. A vet who finds a farriery problem has cost you a call-out; a farrier who finds a medical emergency has cost you time the hoof may not have.
Call the Vet
Heat in the hoof together with a bounding digital pulse, the strong throbbing pulse felt at the fetlock, is a vet sign, because that pairing points to serious inflammation inside the foot. A puncture or nail penetration is always veterinary: a nail in the sole can reach deep structures, and what looks like a small hole can be a serious injury, so leave a penetrating object where it is if it is still present and call. Severe lameness, and any lameness where the horse will not bear weight on the leg, belongs to the vet the same day. Suspected laminitis is a vet emergency with recognisable signs: a rocked-back stance as the horse shifts weight off the front feet, reluctance to move, and difficulty turning in a tight circle. A suspected abscess with marked pain — a horse suddenly very lame, often with heat and a raised pulse in the foot — needs the vet to confirm and manage it. A crack that bleeds, or any crack accompanied by lameness, also crosses to the vet side.
Call the Farrier
The farrier list is the mechanical one. A loose shoe, heard as a rattle or seen twisting, and a lost shoe are farrier calls, ideally before the horse works on the unprotected foot. A worn or thin shoe, where the metal has ground down toward the hoof, is farriery timing rather than illness. A minor crack with no lameness — a surface crack in the wall while the horse moves soundly — is a farrier assessment at or before the next visit. A routine trim that is simply overdue, with long toes and overgrown walls on a sound horse, is the farrier's ordinary work. Mild thrush caught early, the soft black discharge in the grooves beside the frog with no pain on pressure, starts on the farrier side, raised at the next visit or sooner if you want guidance. The boundary is clear: thrush that is deep, painful, or bleeding leaves the farrier list and goes to the vet.
The Grey Ground Between Them
Some presentations sit between the lists until they declare themselves. A horse mildly lame with a warm foot might have a brewing abscess, a bruise, or early laminitis, and the diagnosis belongs to the vet, while the farrier's shoeing records genuinely help the vet reach it. The two professionals routinely work the same hoof together: the vet diagnoses and directs treatment, the farrier applies corrective shoeing the vet has asked for. Your part is accurate reporting to both — when the lameness started, which leg, what the horse was doing, any recent shoeing, and what has changed since. Photographs and a short video of the horse moving, taken before anyone arrives, are worth more than a worried summary from memory.
After the Visit, Whoever Came
Record the outcome the same day: what was found, who attended, what was done, and what follow-up was agreed, whether a recheck, a shorter shoeing interval, or watching for a named sign. Hoof problems recur in patterns, and a horse that has had one abscess, one bout of laminitis, or repeated cracks carries a history the next professional needs before touching the foot. A written shoeing and treatment timeline also protects the routine cases, because a trim drifting overdue or a crack slowly lengthening shows up in dated notes long before it shows up as lameness.
KinsLe's Pet Passport keeps shoeing dates, hoof findings, and veterinary treatment side by side, so the whole hoof story is there for whichever professional picks up the foot next.