Through much of my horse-owning life, I was spoiled by having a superb horse-shoer, the late Bob Ward.  He kept my horses sound year after year.   After Bob passed away,  I had several shoers work on the horses, and they were nice, nice people, but gradually my horses began to have problems.  Guy Doc began to be ouchy and uncomfortable on his fronts and Baby began to have some kind of tendon thing and dragging lameness on his right hind.

In 2005, I decided that I would take off all their shoes and start trimming their feet myself.  A barefoot trimmer showed me how to do the trim.  I did okay, but without really understanding what the hooves were telling me, it was monkey see, monkey do.  The horses were not getting worse but they were not getting better.  Finally, I got fed up with myself and embarked on a search to understand what I was seeing and learn how to correct it.

As a result of what I learned, I was able to get Guy Doc moving comfortably for the first time in almost three years.  Most remarkably, I was able to make almost miraculous improvements for Guy in a matter of a day.

Baby was a little more challenging because he had a hind leg problem that I thought could be related to an old injury.   I am now convinced that Baby's problem was induced, or at least exacerbated by uneducated trimming, the application of metal shoes, and diet, diet, diet, but read on.

2011 Emphasis*******    I wrote the above and the part following this section in  2005.   I want to skip to the chase with what I know now, that might help someone who is facing hoof problems now to put the various strategies in perspective and save you time and avoid pain for your horse.  Nic Barker and Sarah Braithwaite, in their book, Feet First - Barefoot Horse Performance and Hoof Rehabilitation, depict a healthy horse pyramid, which assigns the importance of diet at 65%, environment/exercise at 25% and trimming, as the icing on the cake, at 10%.  As I now understand it, trimming makes the foot look pretty and can provide  relief from pain due to leverage on peripherally loaded, sore feet, but trimming can't solve problems caused by feeding too much of the wrong things and not enough of the right ones.  It has taken a while for me to gather the information and to see from experience with my own horses, just how true this is.

Simplistically, From Barker's and Braithwaite's book, and I believe them, unless you are sure that your forage/hay is perfectly balanced in nutrients, the first four items below should form part of the horse's diet:     

Seaweed (50-100 g): for broad spectrum minerals and iodine.

Brewers' Yeast (25-100 g) - for B vitamins and selenium

Flax seed (100-500 g) - for omega 3s, protein and copper. Facilitates absorption of other minerals.

Magnesium oxide (or other bio-available magnesium source)   - balanced with calcium in the diet at 2:1 ratio; up to 25 gm of magnesium per day or as appropriate for high calcium diet.  Magnesium is the key mineral for feet, brain, gut, muscles. ( Read more from Dr. Joyce Harman or Melyni Worth PhD, PAS, Dipl ACAN ARPAS Board Certified Equine Nutritionist.

Alfalfa - for protein, high in calcium; feed no more than 1% of body weight per day.  Make sure calcium is balanced with magnesium.  Alfalfa is good for horses in moderate work.  

If your horse is an extreme case, with insulin resistance or Cushings, you may have to balance things more exquisitely, and consult with someone like Dr. Harman regarding supplementing with other minerals such as Vanadium.  

 I have been supplementing with copper, zinc, manganese, since early 2011, based on analysis levels of these minerals in the hays and supplements.   Supplementation with these minerals appears to have had a huge effect in reversing the increasing laminitis and descent towards founder that occurred for Baby in late 2010 but it wasn't yet enough.  At that time, I was not doing the Brewers' Yeast and magnesium oxide, which I will now incorporate.  I'm still not happy that I know enough, so I have signed up for Dr. Elaine Kellon's online horse nutrition course, and after I learn more, I may amend what I am doing.

I have gotten a lot out of reviewing  Sarah Braithwaite's and Nic Barker's  web sites.  They are continuing to refine their understanding of roles of nutrition and exercise in developing incredible, athletic, sound, barefoot horses.  They are noticing that for sensitive horses, even short intervals of exposure to pastures can cause what they call "footieness."     They also have amazing videos of  barefoot horses in eventing and even galloping and doing road work beside shod horses in  full on hunts.  Check out the video at the bottom of Paddy's page on Sarah's site - what a day!

END OF EMPHASIS SECTION

It is clear that trimming alone cannot remedy the disastrous effects of diet (and lack of exercise).  The guy at the feed store said, "we didn't see these problems with feet years ago.  I think it's the feed.  Even old-timers who never had problems with horse's feet before, are having bad problems now."   And he's right.  Now I know that much of the feed that is sold now makes nice, fat shiny horses with sick, sick feet.  The feed is grown on over-fertilized, under-mineralized soils.  

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Feeds Advisory....  The nutritive value of feeds will get lower.  Roundup Ready alfalfa has was approved by the FDA for 2011.  Per Professor Emeritas of Plant Pathology, Dr. Don Huber of Purdue University, there are three main reasons to be concerned about.   1.   Roundup Ready alfalfa, means that the farmer can spray the growing GMO alfalfa crop and the weeds together and only the weeds die, because the genetic modification of the crop prevents it from being killed by the glyphosate. The mechanism by which Roundup (glyphosate) works, is to reduce the uptake of minerals in plants to which it is applied.  So the crop doesn't die, but it is less nutritive.  Does your horse need less nutritive feed?  Does your horse have a glyphostate deficiency?  

2.  The microbiology of the soil, the microbes that work in partnership with the plant roots to 

3.  

End of 2011 Update

According to online advice in an Equisearch chat session Dr. Joyce Harmon, DVM, that I cut and pasted here "the first thing to do is remove all sugar from the diet. Get rid of sweet feed and molasses. Carrots and apples are OK, but moderation. Apples are actually better than carrots because they don't have as much glucose. Then, restrict grazing or other sources of rich food--things like alfalfa hay. For some horses you can't even feed them good quality grass hay, they can only tolerate lesser quality hay--hay that's cut late, but is clean. It has a poor color, but good smell. You can find that hay cheap from farmers--and it's great for the obese horses. Only use grains that are simple and don't have much molasses. All they need is a handful or two--to carry their supplements in. Then, after we have the feed taken care of, we need to provide minerals. These horses crave minerals. I use a free choice mineral that has no salt in it........cresty necks  are the classic pre-founder symptom. It's similar to the cellulite described above. You can put horses like this on flax meal, magnesium, and free choice minerals and reduce the chances of founder....To treat them, we have to get insulin into the cells so food can be burned as fuel. What we'll do here, is get insulin in to the cells. We'll need essential fatty acids so the insulin can come in. Essential fatty acids come from flax seed oil, or hemp oil and seeds. It's similar to fish oils, but horses aren't fish-eating animals....flax oil makes the cells more permeable to insulin and kicks in the fat-burning metabolic pathways in the liver."     This is only a tiny fraction of the information vets like Dr. Harmon are providing online and in books and tapes.  Definitely, check out whatever you can read from Dr. Harmon at www.harmanyequine.com regarding founder, laminitis, Cushingoid Syndrome, insulin resistance and treatments for these conditions, including the hazards of bute.  Dr. Harmon has also done a lot of work connecting the links between badly fitting saddles, sore backs and foot problems.  The first article of Dr. Harmon's that I encountered at http://www.wingedwolf.citymax.com/goodhorsekeeping.html explained to me in 2006 or so, why I could tell how Baby's hind feet were feeling by looking at his back and how his healing had to involve the whole chain of hoof, bones, joints, tendons, and muscles right up into his back.

These are some of the other web sites where  I have learned and continue to learn about hooves.

Pete Ramey's site, www.hoofrehab.com   Pete Ramey puts things together from a myriad of sources in a way that I can understand.  Pete goes from the theoretical to the practical.  Pete is a barefoot trimmer and the theories have to measure up to what he sees with real hooves.   When you see how horses that are living lives of excruciating hoof pain can be brought back to ride-able, happy animal, it will surely give you hope if your horse is having hoof problems.   For instance, it was on Pete's web site that I learned that ouchiness and toe-first landings signaled heel pain and to duct tape some foam on Guy Doc's frogs.  Guy took his first ouchless steps in three years and with my trimming according to what I've learned and what the hooves are telling me, Guy Doc has not looked back.   Pete also explains how hoof boots may be needed for some horses to get them comfortable immediately while their hooves are healing.  Probably you should buy Pete's book first, Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You.  I did it the other way around.   Inow  have Pete's 10 DVD series, Under the Horse and I think it is terrific.   I took the DVDs with me when I went to stay at Selket Arabians in Michigan to get to know Sygnet and see if she was right for me.  Jim Andreson, Ron Hevener and I would sit in the living room feeding the wood stove (it was snowing outside) and watching the DVDs.  Between DVDs we would practice saying terminology such as, "lamellar wedge."  Jim said, now I understand why I see a degradation in older horses in the movement that they had as youngsters.

The power of applying these basic truths to the actual physical act of trimming seems so magical that for a long time I got scared that I might make a mistake. Yet three months after I taped those foam pieces on Guy Docs frogs, his feet were tough enough that even though I had him in hoof boots, when one came off on the trail, Guy Doc kept going and never flinched or broke stride.  I was totally surprised to look down and see the bare hoof.   We ran back and found the boot, but it demonstrated to me that if Guy Doc is doing this well in three months, he would surely be incredible when he had grown a whole new hoof.   Years ago, when he was in metal shoes and supposedly comfortable, I would have described Guy Doc as a log with legs.  Three months into his rehab from chronic laminitis and rotated coffin bones, Guy Doc had suspension like a stocky, little European warm blood.  I said, Whoa, Guy Doc, don't you know you are not a youngster?   But I'm digressing again.  (Sadly, we lost Guy Doc to a mysterious, neurological problem in his hind legs in 2008 - I was in Australia at the time, but I was on the phone to Dr. Mannie at the last and agreed that letting my dear friend go was the kindest thing to do.)  

Paige Poss, Ruth Allison and Kim Cassidy's web site, www.ironfreehoof.com  is very informative.  I like the way the trimming methodology is explained on this web page.  It particularly helped me to understand how to recognize and remove hoof flare and gives a process to work by.  I particularly like removing flare from the top.   It took me a while to really understand how to remove flare by rasping at the same angle as the hoof is growing out from the coronet band.  They also have a nice description of how to know when to stop rasping.   They clued me in as to why Baby's sheath was swollen and how it related to his foot health. - It's the DIET! 

Marjory Smith's site, www.barefoothorse.com   Marjorie provides many examples of trimming and links to learn from.  Marjorie is very generous of spirit.

Priority *****   Learn about feeds at www.safergrass.org   You may well be killing your horse with kindness through feeds which are destroying him.  Learn about how even the grasses are being modified to make cattle fatter, faster - not to maintain healthy horses.  Learn the symptoms that will tell you if your horse is in trouble diet-wise.

If you are thinking of continuing having your horse shod, challenge yourself by reading  www.naturalhorsetrim.com/Dr_Teskey.htm .  It is a particularly powerful, moving and significant piece written by a veterinarian.  Every horse owner should read it before they ever let another shoe be put on their horse. If, in spite of everything, you decide to continue having your horse shod, at least get familiar with the natural balance method, http://www.hopeforsoundness.com/natbalance/nbtrim.html 

The Easycare web site at http://www.easycareinc.com/ is another place I visit periodically.  I really like Steve Karshner's articles, there and also his web site at http://www.navicular-founder-rehab.com/ .   

I've used Easycare boots for a long time.  I really liked the Bares even though they are a bit of a challenge to get on and off, but I LOVE DA GLOVE. I now have Gloves for the front feet of all my horses. I have also used them for paddock protection in special circumstances.  When the front of Baby's right hind hoof fell off in 2009 (it was a delayed result of my being in Australia for a year and my husband and the farm crew did their best but had some problems), I actually didn't worry.   There was at time when I would have had a conniption, but I could see that the hoof was well attached above and that in spite of how it looked Baby was not lame.  So I put a Glove boot on to protect the foot 24-7 till the hoof grew out and now Baby is fine without the boot.  

I haven't tried the Power Strap yet, but that is an option if you can see that the Glove boot is not quite a perfect fit.  I haven't had trouble with the boots coming off except for once when Baby galloped, jumped, reared and spun in the boot I was using on the foot with the missing front.  This was paddock hijinks, I wasn't on him. Obviously it is pretty hard to get a boot to stay on in such conditions when a good part of the foot is missing.  The boot was okay but the gaiter got trashed  before he calmed down and stopped rushing around like a nut.  But I liked that he felt good enough to cavort like that.  There was no harm done to his foot.  Thanks Easycare for a marvellous product.

Learning all this stuff is painful for you.  You are the responsible party for your horse.  Turning the responsibility over to a vet or farrier may give you some emotional relief, but if they don't help your horse to attain and maintain consistently healthy, pain-free feet, you made the wrong choices.   I agonize over my horses when they are not well, and it hurts my head to try to figure out what a particular article or expert  is saying and how it applies to my horses.  It is a horrible feeling when one realizes that some of one's past care decisions actually harmed the horses one loves.  One moves past that and makes up for it by applying the learned knowledge for the betterment of the horses in one's charge now.  I am now at the point where Igetting more comfortable about what I am doing with my horses' feet and their diet, environment and exercise.  I know I'm not an expert, but I've made my horses more comfortable and we're headed towards greater hoof health so I have the luxury of time to continue learning.

BABY BACK ON THE TRAIL 6/2/2006   I thought it would take eight months to get Baby and his broken back (negative plane coffin bone) right hind to the point where I could ride him.  You should have seen him three months ago at his worst.  His back was hollow and pulled down.  To drag his right hind leg forward, he would have to throw his head and neck forward and down.  Then he would bring his left hind leg forward in a short stilted step, in a low arc to minimize the weight bearing time on the other leg.  Picking up the hind feet had to be done carefully because the pain would make it necessary for him to put the feet down frequently.   I have been working on him now with diet change and a trimming strategy based on real insight on this foot problem for only about 2 months.  He is not healed by any means, but he is able to go out and ride at a walk, trot and even a tiny canter, and come home without limping.  His back is much improved and doesn't look pulled down.  He has wonderful suspension in his gaits already, more than I remember him having when he wore shoes.   I am thrilled and inspired, and moved to tears!  He doesn't seem to know that his right hind foot looks completely weird, but he is comfortable in an Easyboot Bare.  

YOYOs.  6/11/2006  New hazard to horses identified!   Walking home from the trail , Baby stepped with his good bare RH, on, of all things, a broken half of a yoyo.  The metal spline of the yoyo drove up into his foot by the front of the frog. I looked down to see what was going on.  He danced around in a strange way for a moment, then settled down and calmly walked the 300 ft to our gate.   I couldn't see anything wrong with his leg so I picked up the foot and there was the half yoyo.  I pried it out and it bled copiously.  I doctored him up and put a boot on the foot to protect it.   He healed without any complications.   Watch out for yoyos!

Update 4/21/2011  Excess Iron and Insufficient Copper- Zinc-Manganese  Last year, Baby, the grand old man  who is 26 now, started having renewed problems with his front feet.   He was basically heading toward founder in spite of everything I did.  His feet started to take on that canoe look as the heels grew and the toes didn't.   He seemed to be in chronic laminitis and uncomfortable on his front feet.  I put him in Easyboot Bare glue-ons to give him some comfort as I tried to trim to relieve discomfort from leverage on the walls.   Applying the glue-ons is not difficult but Baby had become very protective of his front feet and not cooperative about picking them up or holding them up for me.  He typically resisted picking up the foot, then leaned and backed up while I had the foot up.   Alternatively he would shift his 1200 lbs and push into me, so I had to put the foot down and get out of the way.   I realized these behaviors were due to his fear of being hurt, not his left brain extrovert aggressive tendency  (well, maybe some of his punk LBE is in there too).  I used the natural horsemanship friendly game and approach and retreat to work with him.   Initially it took two to three hours to get the boots off, hooves trimmed and boots re-glued.    With patience, I got it down to about an hour.   (He is still cautious but workable with his front feet and very cooperative with his hinds.)  

Update 10/2011 - The Babe gives me hassle now only on the RF foot.  I take him out in the yard and play with him at liberty, driving game on yielding the front and  hindquarters, then circling, and some yoyo game.  When he gets annoyed with me, he makes little aggressive feints at me, ducking his head down as though to bite me.  I act to block his feints.  He doesn't bite me, and he always stops and backs off when I ask, but he is clearly aggressive as he has always been.  He doesn't try to use his hind end on me but I use 80% trust and 20% caution.  He actually loves these games and will try to initiate them with me and will not run off to end the games, even though he is at liberty.

Continuation of main thread...  I also started researching what might be going on.   On Pete Ramey's page at http://www.hoofrehab.com/diet.htm I got a clue/answer with respect to the importance of copper, zinc and manganese.   The salt block I had given the horses was one of those big, expensive, brown ones with iron in it.  We get imported hay here, so it is impossible to know the iron content, but I assumed that I had been providing too much iron and too little copper, zinc and manganese.  I went out early the next morning to throw the big salt blocks out of the stalls, and off to the feed store to see what  Copper-Zinc-Manganese supplements were available.  I read all the labels and Millenium Gold seemed to be the best, even though there is iron in that too.  I started the horses on Millenium Gold in addition to the Source I always give.   Three weeks later during a period of very wet weather, I had  Baby and Dolcezza out on our very wet lawn.  Baby started cavorting around, sliding and showing off.  Then he lay down and rolled on the grass and when he jumped up, he popped off both of the glueons that were due for resetting.   He trotted comfortably up the gravel driveway that would have been ouchy to him a few weeks earlier.  It is hard to believe that his feet felt so much better in just three weeks, but I was impressed and left the glueons off just to see what would happen.  Baby stayed comfortable even though his feet looked dreadful  with his toes long and low in front and his heels trying to contract and roll under.    With fear and trepidation, I cut back into the lamellar wedge at the toe as I had seen Pete Ramey do on the DVDs and cut a sloping angle on the heels without trying to level from heel to toe.  Baby stayed comfortable on the feet no matter what I did.   As of April, 2011, I am still working to restore hoof angles to normal, keep the toes cut back and understand what the hooves are telling me.    

10/2011 After Baby's founder attempt, I ended up  give Source, plus measured amounts of  Uckele Copper, Zinc and Manganese.  I have since amended to Uckele's Equi-VM supplement, Source and garlic flavored brewers' yeast.  Currently, all four horses seem to be totally comfortable barefoot on the gravel in the yard, even Baby on his not yet fully recovered feet.   I want to up Baby's exercise to increase the hoof growth rate, but his fronts got out of lateral balance during the founder attempt and he developed some bumps on the front of his knees.  I have the left front almost back in balance, but the right is not balanced yet.  I don't want to exercise him too much and possibly exacerbate the situation with the knee bumps.  Fortunately, the bumps don't seem to bother him.   I am also trying a magnetic knee pad on him to help with the bumps.  A natural horse care contact wrote me that she had had success with the magnets in reduce a bony protruberance that had developed duing a laminitis attack.   I'm concentrating  on the right side, and I have the sense that the bump on that side is getting softer and reducing slightly in size.  It's wait and see, at the moment.  This horse is coming up to 28, so I'm thrilled that I've been able to keep him on his feet.

Last revised, October, 2011