Barefootworks hoof trimming

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Rosielucky

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Hi

Has anyone any experience of barefoot trimming? Would like to get some feedback, as I cant find much info from google

does it vary much from a normal farriers trim?

my two have never been shod in their lives, and dont need to be so it isn't a problem for me to do without shoes

thanks in advance
 
Hi if this is the guy that advertises in a local publication then be careful
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My farrier seems to keep a bit more length on the hoof in order to protect the laminae on my unshod 4yr old; he rasps the length off the toe and reshapes the little side flair but not much else... It seems from looking on th web that you can get lots of different (and extreme) styles of 'natural farriery' some of which are heavily criticised, but I have entirely trusted my farrier and all seems well
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I wouldn't let someone do anything extreme. my gelding needs trimmed, and my mare needs some rebalancing/remedial work. I thought barefoot would suit my needs ?

both are laminitic, but have not had a bout of it for 5/6 years. touch wood

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Had a look at their website and all seems well, but I don't claim to be a professional
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Do you use a farrier for any of your other horses? Could you ask his opinion?
 
Why is this work not being done by a farrier? Especially if there is remedial trimming involved i would not be recommending barefoot trimmers. They do not have the depth of training.

Three bearefoot trimmers have been charged with cruelty to horses. No farrier has.

As a professional who underwent five years training im sorry but its not something i advocate.

I dont beleive in a 'pasture trim' as the barefoot trimmers love to call what we do. I trim each individual horse according to many factors including work/conformation/use/etc I trim for balance and functionality and will never agree that horses should be landing heel toe (as is a common barefoot encourage trim) as this is not natural and could cause huge damage to ligaments and the internal structure of the hoof.

Just would like to add that as a farrier i am not opposed to horses bieng barefoot which seems to be another misconception
 
The Farrier - have PM'd you as to why I am looking @ a barefoot trimmer

I dont have many horsey friends locally to ask - so I thought I would throw the question out on HHO and see if anyone used a barefoot trimmer, or reasons why they dont
 
Hi Rosie

I have replied to your pm.

Barefoot trimmers have several methods and minds. There work in reality (unless its more extreme method) is no different than a good trim from a farrier. But there are a few other more extreme methods like the stausser and the heel toe method. Horses are not designed to land heel toe and trimming to encourage this is detramental.

Trimming a horse so that its feet look like those of a mustang is also not always appropriate as this does not allow for the fact that the horse is typically carrying more weight than just its own body and trying to mimic natural wear when everything about how we keep horses (stabling, fields, rich feeds, the excersize we do with them, weight carrying etcis not natural and so having their feet taken care of is essential and it is important to trim to the individual and not as if it is a wild horse.
 
The other common misconception is that horses hould have square feet. Research was done by an English farrier on mustangs and he found that the only time they had square toes was in the winter when they had to forrage for food.

Mustages tend to have little quarters to their feet due to chipping, as this is where the majority of the weight of the horse is born i believe it is wrong to try and remove the quarters especially if asking the horse to carry more weight above and beyond that of its own body
 
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My farrier charges £15 and I've been told barefoot people charge £40+

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That and they charge double to triple what a farrier would reasonably charge.
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My 2 are both unshod, primarily to save money on shoes as 1 just does light hacking on grass and the other is retired, the horse needed remedial shoeing, she is now barefoot and sound. I have no experience of barefoot trimmers but would be very wary, my farrier who I have the upmost respect for, and who knows my horses feet trims them both regularly. I would advise that you ask around and get recommendations for a good farrier.
 
I never realised they were that dear. i used to be twenty pounds a trim.

i was not looking for anything radical - just a decent trim like they have always had. No odd shapes, no butchery, no new fangeled theories, nothing extreme. just something that worked for me and the ponies.

I didnt realised barefoot was so different, please excuse my naivety - I thought it was just like a farrier trim.
 
I used to use a 'barefoot practitioner'. Cost me £40 a go and to be honest I wasn't overly impressed. The only reason I used this person was because I had Ells on loan at the time and it was part of the loan agreement.

She now sees the farrier, who does a much better job (in my opinion) for less than half the price
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It isnt, and where it is like a farrier trim why would you not go to a farrier, especially when remedial work such as yours is required.

I would suggest to your farrier what the vet recons but he is the hoof specialist at the end of the day and may agree or have another suggestion.

Barefoot trimming is either exactly like what a farrier does or it is radically different.
 
I would only let my farrier trim my horse's feet, he's young and enthusatic about barefeet. He is happy to talk feed, conditioning of feet, using boots etc plus he has 4 year of college and on the job training and know's the horse's foot inside out.

He costs £20 for a trim and is fully insured should I need to sue him!

Alot of 'barefoot' trimmers have mearly gone on a course or 2 and are relatively self taught. They can get away with trimming healthy feet (which most people could do themselves after reading a book!) but can't rebalance feet or notice subtle changes etc.

My girl weaves and although she is out 24/7 her weaving has caused her feet to flare and her heels are tilted, he is able to trim without laming her which is a fete some farriers weren't able to do even when she was shod.

In short stick with a qualified farrier.
 
I would never ever ever go back to a farrier after having tried several and my horse's feet being completely messed up. I don't know of any farriers in my area who actually spend time balancing a foot, most think that if the horse is barefoot then they can just come out rasp a bit of flare off the fronts, leave the backs entirely (unless I'm stood over them making sure they bl**dy well do them which is difficult when I'm at work and rely on yard manager to give the instructions, no farrier will come out on a weekend when I'm about), and charge me £20 for the privilage. Oh and wallop my horse with a rasp if she dares lean on him a bit.

Had my full of egotistic, arrogant farriers and went down the barefoot trimmer route. Have had Helen, my EP trim my guys for a few years now and the difference is unbelievable. My mares feet are in brilliant shape and she's able to hunt, x-c and everything without shoes.

Helen spends time making sure the feet are perfectly balanced, she explains everything fully and takes photos and notes after each trim so we can keep track on the improvement. She charges £40 for a performance trim but only £20 for my youngster as it's only a field trim (exactly the same level of work just without the notes and photos which take so much time). She's with me for about 2 hours if she's doing both horses. She's calm, patient and always on time. Worth every single penny IMO

PS. I know there are some fantastic farriers out there - but unfortunately none in my area
 
I've always been lead to believe that a horse should land heel first not toe first... as explained in this article far more eloquently than I could:

http://www.alltechfeigames.com/news/detail.aspx?id=2532

I've just taken one of my horses barefoot - after my newish farrier, with just three sets of shoes had made a complete 'dogs b's' of his once problem free feet. I called Ross and Mel Barker and they've been brilliant - definitely recommend using them. The shape of my horse's feet is back to how it should be (farrier had allowed a horrible flare to develop) and we completed a 40k EGB ride successfully yesterday - our first with no shoes.

There are good farriers out there but also plenty of bad ones. And there are bad barefoot trimmers out there just as there are good ones who have many years of training behind them. If you have a good farrier then stick with him if he's prepared to be supportive about being shoeless but in my experience farriers are very close minded about alternative ways of managing a horse's feet. And yes if you want your horse to perform barefooted it's about so much more than a good trim - diet, exercise and general management are just as important.
 
horses should not land heel or toe first they should be landing even and level and flat.

Horses land flat and then load their weight through the fetlock and tendons, this then swings back and pulls the foot up off the ground and the last point to break over is the toe.

Their anatomy is not designed to land any other way.
 
Helen looks after my retired mare in Surrey. I'm not there to watch her every time as my horse lives with my friend, but I do know one important thing. With the farrier trimming, I watched a crack first creep all the way up my mare's hoof from top to bottom, and then for the next 12 months or so the farrier just told me it was the way her hoof was and nothing to be done about it. Helen has been trimming her for about a year and the crack has nearly gone.
To be honest, for the 3 horses I have close to home, the only reason I went to a barefoot trimmer at first was because I simply couldn't find a reliable farrier to do the job. I was very pleased with the trims my current farrier did, although not happy that he kept postponing his visits. My horses regularly had chips and cracks in their hooves, which was put down to the weather normally, but since changing to the trimmer all that has changed. Haven't seen any cracks or chips at all this year, that is after she's been trimming them for about 12 months.
So I'm on the fence, for me it just happens that I get a better service and better results with the trimmer, but I'm not against farriers, and I am sure that some of them would do just as good a job.
£20 a horse by the way, bargain. Horses sound as a pound working on varied terrain.
 
I personally would not use a barefoot trimmer as my farrier in my opinion is someone who is fully qualified, very experienced, and does a fab job. We have a lady in our area who trims a few peoples horses does them every week( she says they need doing every week) however, these horses are forever getting abcesses, deep corns and have to wear mac boots because they are so sore. Her answer is that they have to go through the pain for a while until they adjust. Load of B...KS as far as i can understand.
 
I recently looked into this. I am not 100% happy with my French Farrier and went to watch a bare foot trimmer at work. He trained in the USA and was very particular and professional. He measured constantly and the demo. was impressive. Another English lady who attended insisted her ID and Spanish Horse had never been shod and were better for it.

I was almost convinced. Particularly as my own farrier was becoming increasingly slipshod. However, one of my mares came back from stud very sore after 6 weeks without shoes and is much happier WITH them.

I have now found a new farrier whose trimming and care are far superior to the one I have been using. So I won't go for bare foot trimming. The original farrier is going to loose 11 horses!!
 
My dad is a trimmer, been doing it for 30 years as when we lived in Africa, no such thing as a farrier, so had to learn pretty sharpish to do it yourself. He trims as a farrier should, none of these silly extreme methods.
 
Why not use a regular farrier. They have five years training under their belt and, contrary to what 'barefoot' advocates say, know exactly what they are doing with trims and are perfectly capable of trimming for every needs. Mine all work with trims done by a farrier.
 
Sigh. There is nothing extreme about barefoot trimming. In my experience anyway, my trimmer applies gallons of common-sense. She does just what is needed and the hooves are in great shape. No of the squared off toes that my ex-farrier seemed to think were essential. I wouldn't leave a horse sore to take it barefoot, if I felt it was right to keep shoes off I would use boots to help the transition. And - I'd have the horse shod if that was what it needed. Strangely enough, none of them have needed shoes yet, and their feet are all very different.
The only extreme approach is Strasser, which is widely discredited, and in any case any right-minded person would throw a trimmer off the yard that made their horses feet bleed.
 
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