I'm alive!

Don't worry, I'm still alive!

I started a new job and I didn't have access to a computer for a while!

All horses are doing well, they are mischevious, as always. They have been put into a new grass pasture fenced by only an electric tape... they have broken out of there twice so they are back in their regular pasture since I don't really feel like being stressed over that all day, while I'm at work, 2 hours away... They broke out because of Dandy. She can't see very well and she constantly gets chased by the old girls, then runs in the tape and jumps over it. For a blind-ish horse, she is quite the escape artist! Then we went on a ride Friday night my SO and I, I took Dandy and he took Peg, his usual horse. We went out and enjoyed our ride... but when we came back, Pearl wanted to follow and she ran into the tape, and broke it!!! Now everyone was running free... since the tape was broke, we couldn't really shut the gate!

We rounded them up and put them back inside, where they belong. Fixed the fence and everything was great. Until last night, we had just left the farm and Dandy started running and went through the fence, she didn't break it, but she got outside (I don't know exactly how since I wasn't there). My SO's family tried to put her back in, but left the gate open, or probably didn't chase the horses from the gate when they opened it and all the horses got out... By the way, I was extremely mad at their stupidity, but what gives!?! They called my dad and he managed to get them in their old pasture, the one that is fenced with page wire. I was very happy, that's is where I would've put them. There is no point having them break loose every day!

So tonight, we will fix them up better so that they have access to the shelter, which was blocked off for some reason when we put them out in the new pasture.

I pulled Peg's shoes and trimmed her feet, Her walls have gotten MUCH thicker, that is a great thing since they were paper thin when I shod her. I trimmed her in a pasture trim with a toe rocker and she seems very comfortable. We went on our ride without her shoes and her feet held up great, no soreness, no lameness whatsoever! I was thrilled! Her feet aren't all deformed from the shoes, they actually took a better shape! I will put the shoes back on before the end of June, since we are participating in a parade on June 25, she will have her shoes to go on the concrete.

I also plan on shoeing Pearl with the same type of shoes. She will be ridden a lot this summer and I want her to be comfy! Their hooves have made good improvements since they are with us and I am glad that they are finaly comfortable enough to go on a short trail ride without being sore after.

I am planning to take more pictures soon. Misty is doing well with her training, she is now able to lead like a pro and I will be working on her feet very soon, I am up to touching below her knee on her front legs and her butt on her back legs (I work way slower with the back!!! :S). I will probably be working on picking up her feet very soon... I can't wait to see what they look like on the bottom. I also need a new pair of nippers, because my old ones are giving quite the run for my money and they are getting very dull, even after one sharpening, I don't think it is worth it to sharpen them again. I had Diamond nippers and I will be switching to Mustad for the next pair, I hear they are hard to beat so I'll give them a try.

That's pretty much all the news for now.

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.

Hoof trimming rant

Seems there is always a question running through my head about hooves. I see horse hooves and I immideatly start to assess them... trust me... it happens more often than not. I am a true critique when it comes to horse hooves. I know that Dandy's feet aren't perfect and it really bugs me to the highest point! I constantly look at old pictures and new ones to see what I could do better next time, what is not the way I'd like it.

I started to study the hoof about 2 years before I actually took nippers in my hands. I would read all kinds of information, study different ways to trim, the benefits and disadvantages of each and I came up with my own method, which is a combination of about two of them. I basically read about 2 hours or more a day for 2 years on hooves. Looked at the bone structure, how it is affected by long heels or any other imbalance of the hoof, looked at the muscle structure and basically vowed to understand all hoof ailments by name and description before I was done. I am actively trimming hooves for all of my horses and they all have their own issues. Dandy has hard-as-rock hooves but are slightly unbabalanced when they are resting on the ground. Peg is base-narrow and her hooves wear much more on one side than the other, I have to trim consequently to insure she is comfortable... forcing her leg in an unatural position for her will only make her lame. At her age, her bones will never change. Pearl has nice hooves but tends to grow long heels that could cause a mechanical founder, she also has a club-ish foot. She is as sound as any unridden 5 year old, at 18 years of age! I tend to not take so much toe off of Pearl since her hooves wear much more than Dandy's.

I have been accused of not having the knowledge or experience to trim hooves, but having seen what I have seen, I'm just as good as any farrier. I've seen a navicular horse barely able to walk, not being trimmed to resolve the problem. Sure, I am not accredited for my knowledge, but I do have it under my belt. I have trimmed horses that were foundered, navicular, flat soled, and with "White Line Desease" all with pretty good results. I am not going to stop trimming my horse's feet because I trust no one else to do it to my liking. I know how to manage my horses and am able to recognize their faults and qualities. I do not think that I am the best barefoot performance hoof trimmer on the face of the Earth, if there is something that I've learned over the years is that you are always better than someone in at least one field, but there is always someone better than you in your best field. I have mentors in the trimming world that have asked me to hold a two-day training in my region... the reason that I do not do that is because, where I come from, people think they are the best in everything. I don't want to give out information that will be twisted and misused on an animal. I post pictures of my trims because I have been asked to by so many people, way before this blog ever existed.

I do not abuse my horses, judging from their fat bellies and their ability to run, buck and play in my field is proof of that. Before anyone thinks they can trim hooves, you need to read up on it, know what a good hoof looks like, know what a bad hoof looks like and how to correct it. I am not aiming any of my readers here, this is not the point, but I have been "attacked" on the subject of trimming hooves before. Anyone that has the guts to say things like that without even knowing what I have been through to get where I am need to shut up. I am currently building a photo gallery to get accreditation and a certificate from the American Hoof Association for my knowledge.

I didn't just get up one day and decided that I would trim hooves, I am not that kind of person. I research everything touroughly and it just so happened that hooves took two years, because it is a complicated structure that has other purposes besides the obvious. I've read the same things over and over and over to make sure that I wouldn't miss anything. I took two years to make sure that I would know what I was doing when I finally took these nippers in my hands. My first trim took 2 hours for two hooves, mostly because my horse wasn't trained and that her hooves were in really bad shape, but I took my time and didn't remove too much. Dandy was sound after the trim and has been ever since.

I know what I am doing and can probably advise anyone who has questions about hooves or problems on what to do to resolve or get better results. You can send me pictures and I will certainly try to help you trim better if you are trimming your horses. I will not bash your work but simply give my best advice. I prone barefoot-ness, but I know that some horses wear shoes and will always do. I have nothing against that, at all... I am even considering putting shoes on the Standards, but again, I will have to reasearch more on that. If I can put them in boots, I would be happy.

So please don't judge a book by its cover, you don't know what people have done in their lives, what obstacles they have overcome and what kind of past they've had. This blog is only a way for me to tell the world about my interesting horse stories and hoof trimming, since it is part of my horse life. I am a complete horse nut, I still look at horse classifieds every day, in case I saw something interesting, that I can't really have at the moment. I am all for rescuing horses, but I am not for pressuring people into rescuing, saving or thinking they can save horses. People have financial responsibilities and horse ownership is a big one to add only because you want to be a hero in the "supposedly" horse world! Don't do it if you know you can't you will regret it for years and people will not instantly become nicer because you have rescued a rank, grade, ugly little un-guelded, untrained, probaly lame two year old colt from the auction. We can try to make a difference, but we will never save all of them, and I'm sorry if I am the one to break it to you. There are only so many good homes, God knows that more than half of the rescued from auction horses end up right back in there. If I would've took in all of the horses I felt sorry for, I would probably have over 50. I can't handle 50 horses, so I have to pass up. Sure, I feel bad, but my savings (or whatever is left of them) thank me!

I will post a bit later about something else... I just had to rant about that! Thanks for putting up with me! :)