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For those people who are lucky enough to own, and have a relationship with a horse, the overall health and soundness of that horse is always a concern. However, many horse owners may not fully appreciate the importance of good hoof health and function until they are faced with a lameness issue. The fact is that the number of horses and horse owners is constantly growing, yet the amount of space available in which the horses have to live is rapidly decreasing.  This fact is partially responsible for the increase in the number of hoof related lameness cases over the last 20 to 30 years.  One goal of the Equine Lameness Prevention Organization is to offer education and information to horse owners and equine health care professionals on ways to better manage the hoof care and health care needs of our domestic equine friends. With the assistance of practicing veterinarians, farriers, and other equine professionals, the E.L.P.O. is developing some practical and common sense guidelines for managing horses in a variety of environments and living situations. At the same time, with assistance from the E.L.P.O. members and the scientific community, we hope to gather meaningful research data that will offer support and direction for current and future hoof care programs. Through these combined efforts, we hope that the E.L.P.O. and other organization like this will be able to offer comprehensive guidelines to assist hoof care providers in the treatment of modern day equine pathologies, and ultimately help prevent lameness problems from occurring in the future.