RANT, RANT, RANT!

Well... no calf for us this weekend, we had great hopes of finding one Sunday morning, but Mother Nature has played another trick on us, I'm sure she is laughing hard at us now! We are expecting it anytime, mom's udder is filled with milk and the passage way seems to have dialated fully... but still no calf! GGGRRRRRRR!!!! Ohh well, it'll be born this week for sure!

I was just reading something quite controvertial about hoof trimming and I would like to share my thoughts and perhaps hear yours. I will explain the concept first, then give you my opinion on everything. Here goes... (below is Dandy's Left Hinf foot after a barefoot performance trim)

I was reading about the Natural method to maintain your horse's feet. They suggest that shoes, barefoot trims, etc. are no good for our domestic horses. Wild horse trims are unrealistic for our horses since mustangs live in dry rocky areas, therefore have very short and hard feet and some other wild horses live in wet sandy conditions, therefore have long broken up feet. He says his method is Natural and suggests these steps to maintain our domestic horse's feet:

1. Remove all shoes and put horse in pasture where there is a lot of ground variance, hard ground AND soft ground.

2. Do not touch hooves for 6 to 9 MONTHS and take notes of changes that occur every month during that period (wideness, chips, cracks, etc).

3. Even though he doesn't suggest trimming the feet at all, he says you can trim your horse's feet after nine months... leave flare and lenght.

At first, I was very open to try his method, but after reading all of it, I thought it was ludicrous! First, he says not to base trimming on wild horses, then all he does, when suggesting light trimming, is compare to wild horses. So, if there is a better model out there as to what hooves should look like than the wild horse hoof, then TELL ME!!!!!! (Below is Peg's Left Hind foot after a barefoot performance trim).

Second of all, Wild horses travel mainly in the same sort of land, therefore, their hooves will certainly have adapted to wet or very dry conditions. Our domestic horses are most of the time in a softer environment (pasture, grass, dirt) and are forced to work on even softer or harder ground (arena, pavement, gravel, etc). Therefore, to maximize comfort, there will be work to do on domestic hooves. Also, since wild horses HAVE to travel over 25 miles per day to find food and water and a safe place away from predators, their hooves naturally wear the right way... yes, even horses that live on beaches and wet areas. Therefore, since our horses encounter all kinds of different terrain AND have to carry about 200 pounds on their back when working or hacking, we need to pay attention to hoof care.

We need to understand that our horses are confined, eating richer foods than what they could probably find in the wild and getting much, much less exercise than they would if left wild. To me, this means that, since they eat richer foods, greater attention should be paid to their feet, since the first signs of dietary changes show in the hoof. Then, we need to have our horses walking as much as possible between their food and water (even if this will never equal 25 miles or even close to, it is a good start to get the hooves working). We also need to incorporate different kinds of terrain in the pasture, make sure your horse HAS to cross a rocky area (please use round rocks, not crushed stone!), usually around water throughs or feeders. Pea gravel works best, they might even use it as a bean bag lounge area!

My horses pretty much live in a natural state, they are outside 24/7 all year round, they have access to a shelter that they rarely use, they have a huge pasture with muddy areas and rocky-er areas, free choice food and water, but the one thing I will not skip on, is farrier work. I have a friend who doesn't trim her horses every 8 weeks (8 weeks is a lot for me, I trim mine everytime they need it, even if only two weeks have passed), she feeds a rich mix of alfalfa (probably 90%) and timothy and her horses live in a mud pit for half of the year. She has 8 horses (ninth one on the way). Let me tell you that at least one of her horses as foundered, many more are prone to foundering, their white lines are not connected, which means the pedal bone is pressin gon the sole and crushing the digital cushiont causing them to be flat footed, lame and sore, these horses are rough to ride and will not willingly canter or even trot, they cannot work in a round pen or in any kind of circle. They have long toes, cracks that just keep getting further up the wall and regularly abcess (at least twice a year for big abcesses, all the time for small ones). These horses could not be left 9 months without a trim, they would've all foundered and died. It already breaks my heart to see the miserable state they are in after only 3 months without a trim.

I find that there is no harm done by nipping and rasping a foot. This mimicks the natural abrasion process that the hoof would endure if it could wear itself like a wild horse's, given the amount of daily mileage required to obtain a self maintaining hoof. In my opinion, a trimmed hoof also spreads the load much more evenly and alows the horse to walk, trot and canter comfortably. Leaving a hoof long is like pulling your finger nail off slowly by repeatedly hammering it against a hard surface.

I've bought Dandy as a two year old, never trimmed in her life. She had two big chunks of hoof missing from the inside of her fronts, where the hooves had self trimmed, but on the outside, long wall (about 6-9 inches) was left curling upwards and would've never broke off. I proceeded to start trimming her in the Barefoot performance trim and it worked very well. The fact that she was left two years with long wall on the outside of her fronts ad short on the inside has left her front feet tipping inwards, I guess the bone columns fused that way when she was growing. I am trying to get it back to level, but this will take time and patience until the bone column can adapt and realign. I don't think that leaving her feet grow out for 9 months would get rid of the problem, I have a feeling it would make it worst.

Anyways, this is the perfect example why you should always do your research before trying out something. I am a true advocate for Barefoot Performance simply because I have rehabilitated a founder case, my own horse (Dandy) and am seeing good changes in my rescues (wider heels, better frog, etc.) I am constantly trying to improve myself, but I will not stop trimming my horses for the reasons listed above, it just sounds like a poor excuse for horse expenses or hard work. You need to assess every horse and trim accordingly. I can trim Dandy's feet really short, where she pretty much walks on the edge of her sole and she never bats an eye, as for my rescues, I need to be careful to leave a bit of hoof for them to walk on and trim dead sole that could cause interference with the ground and solar bruising. I only remove part of the dead sole, I always leave some as a cushion! My horses have been comfortable (except for Peg I am exploring new ways to make her more comfortable) 100% of the way and can walk on asphalt, gravel, mud, sand and grass confidently and comfortably. They also have unrestricted movement. As for Peg, I am exploring new ideas to make her more comfortable during her rehabilitation. Peg was probably shod before she was two, maybe before her 1.5 year, so her hoof growth was stunted as of that day, her heels are very contracted and her hoof tends to grow lenghty, I need to assess the toe, but if I trim it the way I should to help solve the problem, she gets a little sore. She has been great since the Easywalker shoes are on, but they are constantly coming loose, since she walks in such a crooked way, so I plan on taking them off and giving her a few weeks of pasture rest, while I order those boots I wanted for her! I hope they work out, otherwise, she will be going to retirement for sure. She is already in pre-retirement, since we only use her about once every 3-4 weeks and rarely two weeks in a row for a trail ride that never exeeds 2 hours.

Anyways, tell me what you think about the "Natural" hoof care method. Until someone can prove it tried and true, I will not believe it! There is no way a horse can work comfortably with long hooves.