Barefoot Horses

SHOELESS, NOT CLUELESS! WHY MY HORSES ARE BAREFOOT

Did you know a horse has five hearts? The big one in his chest and a smaller one in each hoof.

I happily had the farrier shoe my horses every 7 weeks as that was what I had grown up believing the correct thing to do. After all its what everyone did and my horses all seemed perfectly sound and happy with iron nailed to their hooves. But when my first special foal came along I woke up to how he ran alongside his dam over rocks, across concrete and through streams without shoes and without any apparent damage to his hooves. I began to question their necessity! I began reading scientific literature, informing myself about the history of horse shoes, learning about hoof mechanism and asking questions. Lots of questions!

When a hoof makes contact with the ground it expands, reducing impact and allowing blood to enter the internal structure, the sole being concave to help this action. When the hoof is lifted, it contracts, expelling the blood, thus acting as a small heart. Unlike us, horses don´t have lower leg muscle to help the circulation of blood to the extremities. The shod hoof doesn´t allow this function, increasing impact and decreasing circulation. Peripheral loading caused be the shoe of the shod hoof causes far greater ´shock´to the hoof and leg with every step the horse takes, stopping the natural mechanism of the hoof.

Barefoot hooves themselves, should have balance. A nice, full shape with a prominent frog and concave sole that is dense and calloused. Thick, consistent wall around the perimeter with no flares, cracks or ripples. The hoof will also be resilient and flexible enough to absorb and dissipate shock. It will be at an angle that causes the least amount of stress on the tendons and ligaments of the leg, promoting good circulation that not only minimizes injuries but aides in healing as well. That is the real beauty of natural hooves and why my horses are barefoot.

A pasture trim is not the answer. Nor is going barefoot a cheap alternative to the farrier. The transition from shod to barefoot can take between 2 or 3 months up to a year or more. Consulting with a professional hoof trimmer is just the beginning. When you love you equine friend and want to do the right thing by them a lot of patience may be required on your part, as well as maybe a period of no riding! I know for me that would be very difficult to bare, but certainly worth the sacrifice. Investing in a pair of Hoof Boots which are now available is a very viable option during this time.

Trimming is just the start. Diet and husbandry are other important factors. A paddock paradise is just one of the answers to maintaining those hooves barefoot and sound, but it is a big answer.

The day will soon arrive when in order to stay competitive, competition horses will have to go barefoot.

This 10 year-old pony (below) came to us with severe founder. Full rotation/penetration of the coffin bone on his fronts and rotation on his hinds. He couldn´t walk. A farrier had reverse shod his fronts, soldering bars across to raise the sole from the ground, thus disguising the pain of walking on bone, but not resolving it!

The following sequence shows the change in his hooves over 4 trims, in 4 weeks. You can see the red colouration from bruising and broken capillaries. With this kind of severity things always look worse before they look better. The second time I trimmed, you could almost hear the hooves breath a deep sigh of relief as all the backed up wall (which appeared like abscesses at the coronet band) began to find a way down, and out, thus relieving a lot of pain for this pony.

He has been receiving a special diet, consisting in the beginning of all fibre (forage) with just a handful of hard feed to medicate him with natural supplements and natural pain-killers. Bute was not an option due to the time he would need to be taking pain killers and the poor condition in general of the pony.

At the time of posting these photos he has now been with us 5 weeks and trimmed 5 times. Yesterday, of his own free will, he trotted out across the arena and on to the gravel path!! You can´t imagine the joy on all our faces!