Barefoot diet - can it be used for shod horses?

In my understanding the other thing needed to get the pedal bone in a better (higher) position in the hoof capsule, along with a well developed digital cushion, is good laminar connection. The comfortable exercize develops the digital cushion and other internal structures and diet is vital for good laminar connection. Diet is also important for enabling a thick sole to develop. Not trimming the sole regularly is needed to allow that sole to grow thick and compact into strong dense material capable of protecting the pedal bone and other structures.
 
Because my horse goes barefoot on two and shod on two I could be considered to be sitting on the fence. However, I'm inclined to think it's a mistake to talk about "barefoot trimming" per se, as there are a number of different techniques varying from some that have been the subject of welfare prosecutions, through to the traditional farrier who trims and balances the foot correctly and leaves the horse unshod.

I'd be interested to know which systems you all use and why.

What does worry me is that anyone can trim their own horses' hooves with the minimum of training and that others can charge good money for trimming but may have little training and experience. There is no official body controlling barefoot trimmers and their training and, just as there are some incompetent farriers, there must be some incompetent barefoot trimmers but whilst there is at least some control over the former, no-one polices the latter until it's too late.
 
Last edited:
The question of trimmers and a governing body has been discussed at length on here. Trimmers are in favour of this but the financial will to fund it isn't forthcoming anytime soon. Trimming orgs have been closely involved with drawing up the NOS guidelines for trimming but that's as far as it's got. FRC do not wish to take them on and tbh, FRC's role in policing farriers is very hit and miss. Look at the Welfair case for a recent example!
 
Last edited:
Ellen Durow said:
Because my horse goes barefoot on two and shod on two I could be considered to be sitting on the fence. However, I'm inclined to think it's a mistake to talk about "barefoot trimming" per se, as there are a number of different techniques varying from some that have been the subject of welfare prosecutions, through to the traditional farrier who trims and balances the foot correctly and leaves the horse unshod.

I'd be interested to know which systems you all use and why.

What does worry me is that anyone can trim their own horses' hoves with the minimum of training and that others can charge good money for trimming but may have little training and experience. There is no official body controlling barefoot trimmers and their training and, just as there are some incompetant farriers, there must be some incompetant barefoot trimmers but whilst there is at least some control over the former, no-one polices the latter until it's too late.
Click to expand...

'Trims and balances the foot correctly' - it's an easy thing to say, but how do you define a correctly balanced hoof? Ime far too many hooves are 'balanced' without consideration for the leg above it.

It may worry you that I trim my own horses' feet, but where once I had a lame horse, now I have a sound one. Where once there was reverse rotation, now p3 is at a positive angle. Where once my horses were sore after a trim, now they are not.
 
Farriers trim to fit shoes, which is ok if you shoe your horse.

In my view the trim is the least important of the keys to keeping horses barefoot. Diet and exercise being vital to get somewhere near.
As far as I'm concerned, the less trimming the better, but when necessary less is more.
 
Ellen Durow said:
trims and balances the foot correctly
Click to expand...

Discuss :D

THAThoof.jpg
 
Pale Rider said:
Farriers trim to fit shoes, which is ok if you shoe your horse.

In my view the trim is the least important of the keys to keeping horses barefoot. Diet and exercise being vital to get somewhere near.
As far as I'm concerned, the less trimming the better, but when necessary less is more.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Horse should do most of it him /herself.
 
cptrayes said:
Some horses, when they have a lot of wear, look as if they develop flat feet. Actually, if you look at the point of the frog there is depth in the groove in which the frog sits. That foot isn't really "flat" in the sense that the pedal bone is low in the foot. It's just got a phenomenally thick sole which has worn down level. You can't change these feet with diet, and indeed you do not need to.
Click to expand...


And again, thank you. Every time I read your posts I learn something new about my mare's feet. Apparently we're doing better than I thought :D
 
Ellen Durow said:
I'd be interested to know which systems you all use and why.
Click to expand...

The only system I believe in is feed the horse right, give it the right amount and type of exercise, and watch what he wants from his own feet. Try to match wear with growth, and if you are forced to trim do it conservatively and cause no harm.

I think you will find that most paid trimmers (I am not one) subscribe to a similar approach with different names.


What does worry me is that anyone can trim their own horses' hooves with the minimum of training and that others can charge good money for trimming but may have little training and experience. There is no official body controlling barefoot trimmers and their training and, just as there are some incompetent farriers, there must be some incompetent barefoot trimmers but whilst there is at least some control over the former, no-one polices the latter until it's too late.
Click to expand...

Your concerns are shared by most of us. Though the case of Mark Wellfair shows how pathetic the control of bad farriers is.
 
Ellen Durow said:
through to the traditional farrier who trims and balances the foot correctly and leaves the horse unshod.
.
Click to expand...

I do not share your faith in any human being able to decide what the correct foot balance is for any horse which is not perfectly conformed and perfectly symmetrical. Friends, aquaintances and I now have dozens of cases of horses which, shod and unshod, which were not sound when "balanced" by human hand.

When those horses are put into the right work on abrasive surfaces and allowed to shape the feet for themselves, they have grown asymmetric and deviated feet which look far from perfect, the one above being the most extreme example. They are then sound. If the deviations are removed, the horses are once again unsound. I've come to a firmly held belief that the horse knows best how to produce a foot which is perfectly adjusted to his own imperfect body.

The one I have now is a case in point. Unsound for three years every time he was worked in shoes, including remedial bar wedges. Turned away for a year with no shoes on and still unsound when brought back into work. A couple of months of steady work with me, and he has grown a pair of the most "unbalanced" BACK feet I have ever seen. And yet he was never unsound on the back. His fronts look more normal but are "unbalanced" in a subtle way as well. But guess what? He is consistently sound in hard work on roads and in the school, and will go jumping next week to see if he can cope with that too.


ps one of my favourite conversations with a vet a few years ago, following my progress with a written off horse was "ah, but how long will they stay sound?"

To which my answer was "who cares, they weren't sound in shoes, they are sound now, and every day is a bonus".

The answer to his question, many years later, is that the first one has now done, from memory, seven seasons of the exceptionally long hunting season on Exmoor and is going strong. The horse suffered repeated check ligament strains in shoes and was gifted to Rockley, when it came sound and has ever since been sound.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top