Equids, members of the horse family including horses, donkeys and zebras, share curious features called chestnuts. Found on every horse, they appear as toughened growths on their limbs, and can be clipped back if they grow too large. Anyone following the charming and rugged farrier Sam Wolfenden on TikTok will have seen his expert chestnut clipping.
Chestnuts are fascinating little entities – remnants of toe pads that were present in the prehistoric relatives of both domestic and wild horses. They’re also unique to each animal; you can think of them as an individual fingerprint.
