Grass & footiness- barefoot people please.

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teddyt

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Before i start, this isnt having a go at anyone or trying to create an argument - i am just trying to get my head round something. I have read lots on this but still cant seem to get an answer that makes sense! Therefore i would appreciate the input/ideas from people. :)

Time and again i read/hear that if a horse is to stay barefoot then diet is the key, one of the main points being to limit or remove grass intake. My question is why?

Its common knowledge that too much grass will cause laminitis, so by saying to limit grass in barefoot horses does that mean they are more susceptible somehow to laminitis than shod horses? Why is it that a barefoot horse (in many cases, not all) has to be removed or restricted from grass in order for it to stay sound?

Of course many horses, shod or not, need restricted grazing at certain times of year and i know much of the grass that people graze their horses on is unsuitable (grown for livestock). But i keep hearing that barefoot horses need restricting further as grass makes them footy or lame.

Surely this is just low grade or the beginnings of laminitis? Or is there some other reason?

I guess what i am trying to understand is why grass gets the blame in many cases for the failure of being sound when barefoot. When to me there could be other reasons, such as the soles being thin or if the horse is lame when it has access to grass then it is bordering laminitic. So barefoot or shod, to any horse too much grass is bad but why is this more the case in barefoot horses?

Thanks for reading and input gratefully received! :)
 
I think that's a very interesting query to pose. I don't know the answer to it and look forward to reading what others post on this. We've just had a barefoot horse on our yard go down with laminitis in last couple of weeks after being turned out on new field three weeks ago after the winter when the horses had had very limited grazing. He was left out 24/7 though there are 2 other horses out on the same pasture also unshod (rather than strictly barefoot I think) who (fingers crossed) seem fine, one ridden regularly, one not as retired. The horse that got laminitis is the classic native/good do-er type and the other 2 are finer so it might be purely a too rich grass issue rather than a barefoot thing.
 
Some horses just can't tollerate sugar in the diet whether it be grass or hard feed; the first place ( usually) to notice in barefooted horses is the feet ie being footy.
Shoes on shod horses stops a lot of the blood flow to the feet so obviously they don't feel
it so much
My opinion is all horses/ponies should have restricted grass, we just don't have the right enviroment for them to have ad lib grazing.

My two live out 24/7 on a track system which is grass, but restriced; they are fine with this although Ben is a little footy on sharp stones ( but he was when shod too)


They are fed Fast Fibre too
 
You get the message from horses about their comfort or otherwise a lot more directly when they are unshod, footiness sometimes being ouch thats a stone rather than ouch my feet hurt cos of lami.

And the type of beasties who often have good enough feet to be barefoot in the first place are often native types who are also good doers and therefore more at risk from rich grass perhaps.

so I think the two things are intertwined but not directly related.

I have one barefoot and one shod, think its horses for courses. the barefoot one is the native type and needs poor grazing due to breed not due to lack of shoes.
 
Just seen this and I'm on my way out again for the evening so don't have time to post my own explanation at the moment but in the meantime I recommend reading this article:

http://www.hoofrehab.com/LaminitisUpdate.htm

and this one:

http://www.unshod.co.uk/articles.php (go to the article called Low Grade Laminitis - A New Understanding of Hoof Pathology)

Basically it is not the fact of being barefoot that makes horses more sensitive to sugars in the grass rather that you can more easily see the consequences in the barefoot horse as the sole makes contact with the ground. The shod horse is just as likely to have minor inflammation in the feet but as sole is prevented from having ground contact by the addition of the shoe you don't notice the consequences as quickly or as definitively. But shod horses that get a bit pottery in the summer, or have undiagnosed intermittent lameness, or just a shorter stride, or even get a bit nappy, or start refusing jumps - all these things may be indicative of low grade bilateral foot pain caused by too much sugar in the diet.

Now I really must go and get ready!
 
Laminitis comes in various degrees, ranging from the very mild increased blood flow to the feet to the full blown dying laminia (i.e 'proper' laminitis). The fromer can't really be called 'lamitintis' as there's no actual imflamaition of the laminia, but it's is the exact same mechanism, and the prelude to true 'laminitis'.

This very mild laminitis doesn't have to make the feet sore, it just makes them more sensitive (think how your hands or feet become more sensitive when they're hot) - that won't be noticed by shod horses, who have great big bits of metal protecting their feet, but an unshod horse will notice more, leading to 'footiness'.

Horses aren't designed to eat grasss, at least not the grass we have in most parts of britian. They're meant to be eating woody dry scrubby rubbish (and lots of it) but most horses are given plenty of lush green grass, which has far too much sugar in it.

And this overload of sugar causes 'laminitis'. A vast majority of horses will have some very very low grade laminitis in the spring and summer - every horse who's got growth rings in their feet! But because they have shoes on it's not noticed - they're possibly a little sluggish or slightly short striding etc (as Mr darcy said) but they're not lame as such.

it's the unshod horses that show it more, as their feet have to work harder - they start to notice those stones and bumps that they strode over before, plus most barefoot owners a bit more clued up and preceptive (i.e 'obsessed' ;) ) when it comes to all things feet related.

I've cetainly noticed that Toby is a little more sensitive now that he was 2months ago. Feet still look exactly the same, and he's doing the same work, he just noticed the stones a bit more. So he's on a more restricted diet now.

Basically, grass is bad of all horses (really, it is), it's just noticed more in barefoot horses!
 
Grass...bad for horses? What total rubbish.

Equines have evolved over millenia to eat herbage, mainly grasses, and wild horses such as zebra eat nothing but grasses. They follow the rains, eating the new growth as it appears, and walk for miles without shoes.

It's the modern management of horses, the type of grass available to them, the use of cereals in their diets, stresses of artificial living conditions and regimes, and the lack of common sense in some owners which cause foot problems in horses.

I visit lots of yards through my work and I can't believe the variation in shoeing performed by different farriers. Too much heel; not enough heel; toes dumped; splayed feet; boxy feet..........each of them with their own idea of what is correct and good for that horse.

Not all horses are suited to being barefoot. There are many reasons for this, such as their breed, foot and leg conformation, what they are fed, how they are kept, and the beliefs of their owners/farriers/EPs.

I have five horses, all native types, all kept out all year at grass and fed haylage in the winter. Four of them are unshod, one is generally shod because he does a lot of road work. At certain times of the year they have access to an area of steep banks and exposed gravel surfaces and their feet are always in fair order, I've kept them this way for twelve years and none of them have ever had laminitis.
 
I'd just like to point out that "our" horses have not evolved in any way- back when survival of the fittest was paramount there were no thoroughbreds or KWPNs roaming the earth so how is it possible to say that horses evolved to eat a certain type of grass and be barefoot? Horses were selectively bred, some to run fast, some to jump high and over the last maybe 200 years we have inbred the things so much that they do have poor conformation, do have poor feet, do have to eat hard feed.

If we are looking at a wild equine such as a zebra, as Aengus mentions- they eat what they can and they don't need shoes because they live in a natural environment doing what they were made to do- survive.

I feed my horses as individuals, tailored to the work they do and their body condition and there is no way that I would consider locking any of them in a stable for half the day because I believe grass is bad for them. How "natural" is that?

I know that I will be shot down for this but frankly I don't care, my horses are happy and healthy. I do have one who is barefoot too but I wouldn't hesitate for one moment to put shoes on her if I needed to. Thanks for listening ;)
 
Like I said, some can be on grass 24/7 365 days a year some can't.

Its like some humans; one may get diabetes the next might not.

There's no gereralization, its just all individual and only the owner knows how/what the horse needs/and can tollerate

Both my ponies are natives and they could be on lush grass all day and never show any laminitc signs;( I've had one for nearly 9 years) BUT I don't let them as they would be the size of a house!
 
I think seasonal comromise and discomfort is a thing that most horses live with to one extent or another - whether it is a full blown laminitis event, an episode of LGL, or as subtle as a hoof ring and maybe a bit of WLS.

On the whole you are going to notice any compromise much earlier in a barefoot horse (WLS case in point - you can't see it in a shod horse because the shoe covers it up - so you only see that every 6 weeks!). Shoes do have an effect on the hoof sensitivity and they act a bit like a local anesthetic in some ways, so a horse who is shod will have a fair bit more compromise before the usual symptoms show - but very often all of the other indicators (behavioural, itching, altered gait and stance) will be there before they show any signs of unsoundness.

By the time the problem is visible in a shod horse, much more preventable damage has already been done, and leaving shoes on a laminitic is going to be very damaging for them (explain how peripheral loading helps a hoof where the wall and solar connection is compromised, and the sole is in a bridging rather than a supporting function? I can't.)

The other thing simply is that more barefoot horses do have laminitis, navicular and other hoof pathologies - that's very often why they are barefoot in the first place. So yes, the incidence is higher among barefoot horses.

What I have no patience with is the "barefoot mantra" assumption that if you're going down the barefoot route then your horse has to come off grass and ont o a track system/stables. That kind of lifestyle adjustment for a horse should only be made when you're sure that grass is an issue.

P.S. All of mine are barefoot. 2 have 24x7 grass, one has restricted, and one can have none.
 
My two barefooters are on unrestricted grazing. I think the basic premise is that a barefoot horse will show up any laminitic style changes in a grumbling before a full blown attack. That allows the owner to make minor changes before anything irreversable happens.

A few years ago, a friend and very experienced horse owner who has always managed her horse in a sensible way was shocked (as were we all) when her horse develpoed acute laminitis in all four feet. He was in alot of pain and it took time for him to recover. He is now muzzled in the field and micro managed to avoid another attack. His owner lives in fear of another acute attack comeing from nowhere.

If he were my horse I would take his shoes off, graze at night only and remove the commercial feed (labeled Laminitic Safe) which is covered in mollasses. This would allow the owner to relax a little as she would spot the warning signs long before an acute attack again.

He is not my horse though, so I keep my mouth shut.......
 
One thing I notice missing from this discussion so far is the fact that laminitis is a symptom, not the disease itself. The disease itself is an inability to digest sugars in grasses properly, and horses that have it have more going on in their bodies than simply feeling stones when they tread on them. Their liver is affected, and in one extreme case that I have now, they can be terribly itchy, get gastric ulcers, and have some odd behaviours, presumably because they feel like us when we have an overworked liver, hung over. Day after day throughout the spring, summer and autumn.

Don't forget that the theory is that a bug (staphylococcus bovi, I think) jumps the gut wall and travels to the feet to attack the laminae. If that theory is correct then their whole body is being attacked by those bugs in the bloodstream, it just shows in the feet. It's my belief that it shows more in the feet of a barefoot horse than a shod one because there is a greater blood supply to the foot of a barefoot horse. (doppler ultrasound and thermographs both show this, and it also explains why barefoot feet grow at approximately twice the rate of a shod foot on the same horse.)

I and many other barefooters would rather listen to the fact that our horses are not as sound on stones as they are in the winter, and remove them from grass during the day in spring. It's not so I can ride him over stones, I would put boots on him for that. It's so his whole body is healthy. I consider it a big benefit to barefoot that it lets me know early that my horse has problems with the quality and volume of spring grass.
 
Some valid points and interesting opinions from lots of people, thank you. Thanks for the links mrdarcy, very helpful- particularly the first one.

Don't forget that the theory is that a bug (staphylococcus bovi, I think) jumps the gut wall and travels to the feet to attack the laminae. If that theory is correct then their whole body is being attacked by those bugs in the bloodstream, it just shows in the feet. It's my belief that it shows more in the feet of a barefoot horse than a shod one because there is a greater blood supply to the foot of a barefoot horse. (doppler ultrasound and thermographs both show this, and it also explains why barefoot feet grow at approximately twice the rate of a shod foot on the same horse.)
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From reading mr darcys links this is what i gathered- that because of the increased blood flow to the feet, barefoot horses are more susceptible. In the first of the following links, it also says that the foot is more susceptible to free radical damage, hence the problem shows up more in the feet.

http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/equitalk.pdf

This link (about latest research) confirms what i suspected that it is too much grass, rather than grass itself that causes problems.-

http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2010/05/002.shtml

What i didnt know is that itchiness can be an early symptom of too much grass. I have learnt lots from this thread. Thank you everyone. :)
 
A friend of mine is a trimmer for barefoot horses and I have never heard her say anythign about limiting grass.
 
My itchy one is unusual TeddyT, he is very compromised. He doesn't appear to be able to tolerate grass sugars at all, his feet go so thin that you can bend his soles with your fingers. He's probably insulin resistant (he produces far too much insulin when he gets grass sugars). He hasn't been tested but he has all the symptoms.

But I know of three definite itchies in the near area, mine, one of my friend's and another friend who has one whose skin comes up in lumps if she has carrots in winter and spring grass.

The latest laminitis theory is that it is excess calories over requirements which is causing the problem. This does fit with the fact that they are easier to control if kept off grass during daylight, when the calories are highest. But I am personally unconvinced that fructans (short chain sugars) are not involved. The fructan theory has been debunked because the research was very flawed - it delivered directly into the horse's stomach more fructans than a horse can physically eat in one day. But the theory that it is simply excess calorie intake over what is needed just does not fit what I see with my warmblood. He is always fit and lean. I adjust his hard food and daytime forage so that he stays fit and lean. In other words, his calorie intake matches his needs. But if he grazes between 10am and 7pm, he is unable to go on the stonier paths around here without feeling the stones as he treads on them. I have also seen research which is suggesting that short chain sugars in fizzy drinks (corn syrup - i.e. fructose) is believed to be causing type two diabetes and heart disease in children. I know horses are not humans, but I can also see every reason why a constant drip-feed of fructans would be an equal issue in horses.

We need more research!!!

Brandy, either your friend has not got around to telling you, or she is missing part of her education. Excess grass consumption is one big reason that shoes are put back onto horses which have "failed" barefoot. I hear of so many horses that are fine in winter and then go footie in spring or summer, and their owners, and usually their farriers, assume that the reason is that the ground has gone hard. If they took them off the grass they might well be fine.

Your friend also needs to know about mineral balances. My friend's horses and mine were on the same regime for the last five years, yet mine consistently outperformed hers in their ability to crunch rocks. I wracked my brains until I realised her water comes from a deeper source than mine (we are both on springs). The deeper water source, I knew, is contaminated heavily with manganese and iron. I asked a nutritionist (Maggie...) who posts on here, and she told me that excess manganese and iron will prevent the uptake of copper. I looked at my own nearly black horse, who had turned red during the winter when fed local forage (I normally buy in from further away) and a light went on! My friend now supplements copper and her horses match mine in their ability to tread on stones. Her mare, who used to have to be kept off grass full time to keep her sound, is now able to graze overnight (copper also has a role in insulin regulation, and it looks like this mare's deficiency was preventing her using grass sugars properly).

There is a AWFUL lot more to barefoot than a trim. Having said that, there are plenty of horses out there that do it very easily with no real change except taking off the shoes. It's a case of listening to the individual horse.
 
Interesting thread.....

My 8yr old novicey Neice, overhearing conversations about a neighbours pony, thought that Laminitis was kept at bay by literally keeping their feet off the grass - rather than 'off the grass'. And wondered how they were going to turn out or compete on the grass at shows - bless her!

She thought walking on the stuff gave them laminitis - she has subsequently been thoroughly educated :-)
 
I've got 4 TBs who are all unshod. They live out through summer on 28 well hedged acres of good grazing with 80 sheep. I've never noticed in all my time of them being unshod being 'footy' during summer other than the 'I've stood on something sharp get my foot off it quick'

I've watched them in the field through the day and they aren't your head down eat as much as you can kind of horses. They drift around, sleep and sunbathe (when there is sun), play but they never seem to just eat continuously. I suppose you could say that they are restricting themselves maybe. Maybe those horses who are on compuslory restricted grazing feel the need to stuff themselves silly when they are allowed on grass because grass isn't readily available to them all of the time and then that causes your problems. A bit like binge drinking or binge eating in humans?
 
Indy said:
Maybe those horses who are on compuslory restricted grazing feel the need to stuff themselves silly when they are allowed on grass because grass isn't readily available to them all of the time and then that causes your problems. A bit like binge drinking or binge eating in humans?
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Yes, that has actually been proven- that when horses that are restricted do get access to grass they will eat more in the short period that they are allowed grass than if they were allowed out for longer.

Unfortunately though there are frequent posts on here where YO/YM dont allow strip grazing or splitting of paddocks. Many people have to use what they are given- too much grass or too little! I am also of the opinion that many people think it is the YO duty to manage the land, when often they should do it themselves. Grass management is all part of owning a horse, wherever you keep it. And its not always easy and varies from year to year. This means that alongside the inappropriate grass itself, many fields are managed badly and this is to the detriment of the horse.
 
cptrayes - I think in that case she is missing a bit of education. Worrying as she is working on people horses and getting paid for it. We have had longt and in depth discussions about the pros and cons of barefoot with her obviously being an advocate and me. while thinking its a grand idea, also think that it will never work for every horse. So as I say, the discussions have been lengthy, and never has this come up.

Interesting. About to go back and read whole post.......

Also, as an aside - do any of your trim? And if so, under what method? Just curious.
 
Brandy the only thing I would change about what you say is that it will never work for every horse/owner combination. I'm sure it will work for most horses, but not all owners are able to provide what their particular horse needs. This is no criticism, it's just a fact of life. Strip grazing is a good example. As is some dry footing in winter for horses turned out 24/7. And some of them need Sherlock Holmes to get to grips with their mineral imbalances, cereal intolerances and toxic reaction to wormers!

Your friends lack of concern/knowledge about nutrition when she is a paid and presumably qualified trimmer is worrying.

I trim for myself and I would say that there isn't, or shouldn't be, "a method". I trim to replicate what my horses create for themselves if I give them enough work on abrasive surfaces. They grow the foot they need in order to balance the leg above it, which like us is not always perfect :) Feet change through the seasons, with work and with different food. Jaime Jackson, for example, sees lots of mustangs in the US with their frogs not in contact with the floor on a flat surface. I believe that AEPs are taught that this is correct and to trim for higher heels to make the frog ground passive (please someone correct me if I am wrong). In the UK, in wetter climate than JJ is used to, the vast majority of hard working barefoot horses have their frog in full contact with the floor if stood on a hard flat surface. (Bowker, also in the US, advocates frog contact so that you cannot slide a steel ruler between the frog and the floor). I couldn't make my horses grow longer heels if I tried. For many horses in this country, particularly the TB types, if their heels are allowed to grow longer all they will do is slide forwards and underrun the foot.

So basically, after all that - it's horses for courses, they are all different and there is no one "correct" answer except "listen to the horse".
 
teddyt said:
From reading mr darcys links this is what i gathered- that because of the increased blood flow to the feet, barefoot horses are more susceptible. In the first of the following links, it also says that the foot is more susceptible to free radical damage, hence the problem shows up more in the feet.
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Shoes appear to have a numbing affect on the feet, so its not that barefoot horses are more susceptible more that they can actually feel the ground underneath their feet properly.

Someone else also rubbished that fact that grass is bad for horses, grass isn't bad for horses per se, more that the type of grass most of our horses are kept on is bad for them, over fertilised single species rye grass isn't what horses digestive systems were designed for.
I also watch people restrict their horses all summer and then spend all winter stuffing them with food, maybe if a few more people allowed their horses to get a little leaner in the winter they wouldn't have to spend all summer starving them? Just a thought!
 
Worrying as she is working on people horses and getting paid for it.
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Which is why it is so important to use someone actually qualified to look after a horses feet, rather than someone who's done a couple of days training, which they think makes them qualified.:o
 
cptrayes said:
Feet change through the seasons, with work and with different food. Jaime Jackson, for example, sees lots of mustangs in the US with their frogs not in contact with the floor on a flat surface. I believe that AEPs are taught that this is correct and to trim for higher heels to make the frog ground passive (please someone correct me if I am wrong). In the UK, in wetter climate than JJ is used to, the vast majority of hard working barefoot horses have their frog in full contact with the floor if stood on a hard flat surface. (Bowker, also in the US, advocates frog contact so that you cannot slide a steel ruler between the frog and the floor). I couldn't make my horses grow longer heels if I tried. For many horses in this country, particularly the TB types, if their heels are allowed to grow longer all they will do is slide forwards and underrun the foot.
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Here I am to correct you! We aren't trained to leave the heels higher to make the frog ground passive... not sure where you got that from as it is completely wrong. There is also the myth that Jaime teaches to rasp/cut concavity into the sole. Again a complete falsehood - the AANHCP has never taught that and never would. I can point you in the direction of our trimming guidelines if you're interested. The AANHCP trimming method is completely uninvasive - wish I could say the same of the trim Pete Ramey teaches! Or the things some other trimmers do. I've heard of trimmers who are so obsessed with the frog having to make ground contact that they will rasp away at the heels until they bleed. That is totally wrong in my book and one of the dangers of people doing a few days of training, reading a few books, going on a forum or two and thinking they know what they're doing. The AANHCP guidelines let the individual foot tell us how it wants to be. If the frog touches the ground with a correct trim then that's what that foot wants to do, if the frog doesn't touch the ground then that's okay too.
 
maggiesmum said:
Shoes appear to have a numbing affect on the feet, so its not that barefoot horses are more susceptible more that they can actually feel the ground underneath their feet properly.
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Of course they feel the ground more but if they have increased blood flow to the feet then it also means they receive more of the triggers of laminar degradation- so they are more susceptible.

Totally agree with the over feeding bit. Over rugging is an issue too. I see loads of cob types rugged up to their ears and fed in the winter :rolleyes:


I've heard of trimmers who are so obsessed with the frog having to make ground contact that they will rasp away at the heels until they bleed. That is totally wrong in my book and one of the dangers of people doing a few days of training, reading a few books, going on a forum or two and thinking they know what they're doing.
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This is the sort of thing that makes me so angry :mad: The amount of people who use people who arent properly trained is horrifying- not just for feet but for teeth and backs too. There really needs to be a law on this sort of thing
 
I would be alarmed if a "trimmer" had never heard of diet issues. It is a big part of the transition from shod to barefoot.
 
I have also just remember that there was an article a couple of years ago by, I think, Robert Eustace, who said that an awful lot of people take horses to vets thinking that their (show) horse has a bad back, shoulder, etc. etc. when in fact they are suffering from their feet, in that state of nearly but not quite full blown laminitis.
 
Thanks for that correction Mr Darcy, I got the wrong info from someone who was JJ trained and used to post on here and on UKNHCP under different names. I understood her to say that the frog should not touch the floor (I could have misinterpreted what she said, but my impression was strongly reinforced by a co-founder of the UKNHCP). I am happy to hear you say that the AANHCP training allows the horse to create the foot that it needs. If a horse is sound on all surfaces, then I wouldn't argue with it!

I think there is still a problem with "qualified" trimmers. I'm aware of one set of qualifications which requires (or did when I last looked two months ago) the trainee to have done the same 5 day course 5 times in order to qualify. With one man as the trainer. And the same man as the examiner. Another organisation offering qualifications does not, I am told, teach its trainees even a basic modicum of how nutrition affects the feet. And at the same time I know of completely unqualified trimmers who have rock crunching horses and know about nutrition. Right at the moment I would say that a good trimmer is the one who can show you horses that they trim doing eventing, showjumping, long distance, hunting and hacking plenty of miles on tarmac and stony paths, whether they are qualified or not.

I originally started trimming myself because there was no-one in this area who I could trust to pay to do it for me. I personally think that the future of barefoot lies in the Worshipful Company of Farriers teaching their trainees how to support hard working barefoot horses, and make it obligatory for them to encourage their clients not to shoe their horses unless they really need to. Some horse/owner combinations are always going to need shoes, and if we could get back to a situation where the farrier is the all round hoofcare professional everyone would know where they stand again.

Did I see a pink pig float gently past my window then :) ?
 
cptrayes said:
but my impression was strongly reinforced by a co-founder of the UKNHCP).
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As I understand it the founders of the UKNHCP all started with the AANHCP... so they must have misunderstood what they were taught. They shouldn't really be going round stating things about other organisations that aren't true - it'll get them in trouble if they're not careful. The AANHCP has recently revamped their whole training program because they weren't happy with the standard of some of their field instructors. JJ wants the highest possible standards and some people just weren't cutting it. Those field instructors who refused to redo the parts of their training in which they were deficient were invited to leave the organisation! We all now sing from the same hymn sheet.

Here's a brief summary of the AANHCP approach to trimming:

"We use the AANHCP Trimming Guidelines to conduct the natural trim -- our method of natural hoof care based upon the hooves of the wild, free-roaming horses of the U.S. Great Basin. When adhered to properly, these guidelines enable NHC practitioners to "mimic" the exemplary hooves of the wild horse, which provides the template and foundation for natural hoof care. This method prohibits invasive trimming practices as well as those that leave excessive growth which may also have a deleterious impact on the hoof's integrity. The natural trim does not yield a 'cookie cutter' approach but instead facilitates the unique individual growth patterns of each horse without causing harm or obstructing the natural gaits"

And a useful question and answer session:

http://www.isnhcp.net/News---Articles.html

As you can see from that article the frog is most definitely accepted as having ground contact and a weight bearing role, along with the hoof wall, bars, heel bulbs and sole. This is what the AANHCP has always taught - maybe you could point out to the UKNHCP folk that they are mistaken?
 
teddyt said:
Of course they feel the ground more but if they have increased blood flow to the feet then it also means they receive more of the triggers of laminar degradation- so they are more susceptible.
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I think I was going along the thought train of them having 'normal' circulation rather than increased circulation and that shod feet have 'decreased' circulation, I think??? LOL
 
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