Approach

The natural hoof care approach

The horse’s hoof is an amazing structure. It is strong enough to support a horse through all it’s movement, over all kinds of terrain, yet is fluid enough to change with the seasons, environment, and changes in the body above it.

The natural hoof care approach is a simple one. It involves, diet, lifestyle and regular trimming.

There are many unknowns when it comes to what our horses need in their diet. What we do know is that they were designed to eat small amounts of low carb forage throughout the day. If we think about wild horses, they move all day long, taking a bite here and there as they go. Feeding large meals of high concentrate food twice a day is very stressful to the horse. He stands all day starving, only to gorge on more than his body can handle.

Along with our horse’s diet we must strive to bring him a more natural lifestyle. Wild horses move 20 to 30 miles a day. This would be hard to attain in domestication, but we can usually improve the situation for our horses with a little thought. Jaime Jackson’s “Paddock Paradise” is just the sort of out-of-the-box thinking that’s often needed.

If you have a reasonable diet and enough movement in your horses life, regularly scheduled natural trims are the easy part.

How is a natural trim different?

The hoof wall is not designed to be the main weight-bearing part of a hoof. Perhaps when a horse is standing on a hard flat surface it appears this way, but add movement and terrain, that has any give at all, and you will see that every part of the hoof bears weight.

When a horse is allowed to go barefoot it’s true form emerges: the walls wear to a height just above the sole, and a bevel or rounded edge is worn at the break over on the hoof wall. If the horse gets enough movement this will happen most of the way around the wall. If not, I will take the walls down and continue that bevel. When I do a natural trim, I “read” the hoof to determine what it needs at that particular time, and trim accordingly. Remember that the hoof is very adaptable and once shoes are removed and a more natural environment with regular trims is established, the hoof will undergo changes as it evolves into a healthier hoof.

Movement is such an important ingredient for a healthy hoof, and now hoof boots have made it possible for all horses to be barefoot. With boots and pads you don’t need to miss a day of riding. Many horses transition to barefoot riding, if all the other ingredients are correct (i.e. diet and lifestyle). Other horses will always need hoof boots when under saddle. With a little practice it becomes second nature to put them on. Taking your horse barefoot is the best thing you can do for it, but it does take some commitment. While barefoot is for all horses, it may not be for all owners.

To read a more detailed account of the hoof’s anatomy and learn how it is designed to work, check out my articles on the Hoof Talk page.