"Four white feet and a white nose-take off his hide and feed him to the crows."
Common racetrack lore holds that white or striped hooves are delicate cousins to their darker, plain brethren, weak in comparison and plagued by chronic problems. Fifty years ago, white hooves may have just as well been tattooed "no deal" in red bold letters, because many old-time horsemen refused to buy a horse with fair feet.
That bit of unsubstantiated wisdom is still prevalent on racetracks, although it is less common than in the past. Most recently, trainer Bill Mott cited the white hoof as a contributing factor to the recent problems 1995 Horse of the Year Cigar has had with his right front foot, which has been bothered by bruises and slight quarter cracks.
A white hoof is technically defined as a hoof that lacks pigmentation. Often, horses with white socks have white hooves on the same legs. And many times, those final extensions to a white leg are dismissed as weak and vulnerable.
Anecdotal evidence exists on both sides of the argument. However, no scientific evidence has yet to be produced to indicate that a white hoof is weaker than a darker one. A 1976 study by James E. Dinger of the University of Maryland entitled "Recent Findings in Hoof Physiology" found no correlation between hardness of the hoof wall and the pigmentation of the hoof. More recently, scientists have viewed cross-section slides of hooves under electron microscopes and failed to find any structural differences between white and black hoof walls, according to Mitch Taylor, a certified journeyman farrier with 22 years' experience and owner of the Kentucky Horse Shoeing School in Mt. Eden, Kentucky.
Taylor believes that the scientific evidence proves a white hoof is not more susceptible to injury than a dark hoof. Nonetheless, he notes, the majority of horsemen cling to the myth and, therefore, the white hoof "is a scapegoat for a lot of other problems."
Even without looking at the data, some horsemen side with Taylor, believing that the tale of the weak white hoof is a myth perpetuated by established prejudices that have little foundation in scientific theory.
"It is a tremendous overgeneralization to say a white hoof is weaker than a darker hoof," said Tom Amoss, 35-year-old trainer based on the Kentucky circuit, who began working at Louisiana tracks when he was 13. "I can remember back ... in those days hearing the old Cajun trainers saying, 'Four white feet, cut them off and feed them to the crows.' But the better adage is, 'No foot, no horse,' and that has nothing to do with whether it is white or not."
Jack Van Berg, second-generation Hall of Fame trainer who is the son of the great Nebraska-based conditioner Marion Van Berg, also does not buy into the white hoof myth. "The old theory was that horses with white hooves had tender feet," Van Berg, 59, said. "That could be a little bit true, but I've had ones with black feet that are just as tender as ones with white feet."
But citing the weakness of a white hoof is a hard habit to break for some trainers and farriers, mainly because the belief has circulated for so many years at so many racetracks. Blaming a white hoof became commonplace and, for every white hoof that someone pointed out as a problem, another white hoof with a strong, tough wall was rarely, if ever, mentioned to balance out the argument.
But if little or nothing backs up the theory, why has it survived? Because there are enough "backside experts"-trainers and farriers-who support and cite the weak white hoof theory to lend it credence. Henry Heymering, a farrier with 23 years' experience who is active in compiling scientific research on hooves, said that white hooves are a "little softer, but just slightly softer," even though he is aware the scientific evidence does not support his belief.
Taylor acknowledged those arguments, despite their lack of scientific evidence, and said there may be other variables that research has not addressed. "It may be that a white foot deals with radiation-the heat of the sun-different than black feet," Taylor said. "I don't know about that, and that could have some effect on how it handles moisture."
Still, Taylor does not believe trainers can logically use the white hoof as an excuse for a problem area. "(Trainers) should recognize that the answer to a lot of problems is good, regular, proper hoof care," he said. "If you don't care for the feet on a regular basis, you are going to have problems, white hoof or not."