As the hoof has to carry the horse and withstand ground forces with every stride, it is important to understand why and recognize how a healthy hoof has to look.

	From the front the hoof needs to be level, both walls of the same length and the coronet band on a horizontal line.
	Depending on the breed, the lateral walls diverge a lot  - in Warmbloods, Friesians, Draft horses...
	...or they diverge less - in hard hoofed horses like Quarterhorses, Andalusians, Arabians etc.
	Some terminology: The blue line indicates the coronet band (hairline), the red line marks what we name toe height, the green line marks toe length.
	This is a fairly healthy looking front hoof. The hairline rises from the back to the front at 30°, thus ensuring a ground parallel coffin bone.  The heel is about 3 cm high and the toe line runs at about 45° to the ground.
	In a healthy front hoof the relationship between the rise of the (30°) hairline and the angle (45°) of the toe line is 105°.
	In a healthy hind hoof the relationship between the rise of the (30°) hairline and the angle (55°) of the toe line is 95°.
	Why the difference between the front and the hind hoof toe line angles? Because the coffin bone of any healthy front hoof has a toe angle of about 45°, the toe angle of a hind coffin bone is about 55°.
	In a sole view the bars should end in the middle of the frog, the sole should be smooth and vaulted.
	The heels should be broad and smooth, the frog as wide as possible.
	The only part of the sole that should be weight bearing is the "moon sickle" in front of the frog

When all these parameters are met, you are looking at a healthy hoof.