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

Even more important, I learned how trimming alone cannot remedy the disastrous effects of diet.  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.   Baby is big horse, but when he began to get cellulite on his rear, it was a signal that he was in the founder danger zone.  Fortunately, he didn't founder.   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 why I can tell how Baby's hind feet are feeling by looking at his back and how his healing will have to involve the whole chain of hoof, bones, joints, tendons, and muscles right up into his back.

These are some of the 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 heels.  Guy took his first ouchless steps in three years and with my trimming according to the 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. 

The power of applying these basic truths seems so magical that I still get scared that I might make a mistake. Yet three months after I taped those foam pieces on Guy Docs heels, his feet are 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 will surely be incredible when he has grown a whole new hoof.  Once he has actually grown that healthy, unflared hoof all the way down, I will have to learn how to change from a rehabilitation trim to more of a maintenance trim.  Years ago, when he was in metal shoes and supposedly comfortable, I would have described Guy Doc as a log with legs.  Now, three months into his rehab from chronic laminitis and rotated coffin bones, Guy Doc has suspension like a little, stocky European warm blood.  Whoa, Guy Doc, don't you know you are not a youngster?   But I'm digressing again.

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 to continue 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  

I know there are farriers around who are speaking strongly against the barefoot movement.  From what I can tell, there are some extreme approaches to barefoot trimming that appear dangerous and unnecessary to me, that I would never allow to be performed on my horses without second opinions from experts like Pete Ramey.  In my humble opinion, Pete Ramey is a great guide to help you learn what is a safe and effective procedure and what is a dangerous and invasive one.    Always question the extreme procedure.  Learn to differentiate the mechanistic procedure from the procedure based on reading and understanding what the individual hoof is saying.   The barefoot movement is well supported in theory and in the evidence of so many horses rescued from founder, laminitis, navicular, etc.,  that couldn't be saved by the treatments based in the current, conventional wisdom.   At this point, I have joined the ranks of those who believe that shoeing is not only unnecessary, it ALWAYS harms the horse, no matter how expert the farrier.

If you get a chance, look at a real dissected horse leg.  When you understand how the structure looks and how close the sole and the hoof wall are to the coffin bone, you get a profound respect for the engineering of the hoof and a better idea of how to exercise care in removing wall and sole.  Then go back and read Pete Ramey again and all the stuff on his links page.

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 choice.   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 I feel pretty 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 comfortable and we're headed towards hoof health so I have the luxury of time to continue learning.

I hope this helps others and gives them confidence to make the change, and that it saves some horses from pain and early demise .

 I just realized that  I have essentially joined a "movement" for better lives for all horses.  I like that.

Liz

P.S. 6/2/2006   Breaking news.....   Baby is back on the trail again.  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 which he wears all the time.   I'll take a picture of his RH,  and put before and after shots here so you can see. 

P.P.S.  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.  He danced around in a strange way, then settled down and 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 seemed to be okay the next day so hopefully the wound will heal without complications.   Watch out for yoyos!