This horse is a 15yr. old gelding working at the Pistol Creek hunting camp in the Frank Church Wilderness. The hunting camp manager found this horse three legged lame with this deep quarter crack running to just below the hairline and bloody, the hoof wall from the crack to the heel was tearing away from the Sensitive Lamina taking part of the sole with it, the hooves were long overdue for trimming, how he injured the hoof is unknown. On discovering the injury the hunting camp manager left the horse in the valley with my Client to recover. These pictures begin in June 2012 when I was called to provide his treatment.

  Treatment for hoof cracks like this one can be very successful; one of the most important factors is regular hoof care. After my first appointment I scheduled the next appointment for five weeks with appointments following that at six weeks. My client was prepared to do whatever was necessary to help this horse. You can see by the photos this solid 1100lbs Quarter Horse has a good frog to help support his weight, another factor in my favor. For my first trim I removed a lot of hoof (as I stated earlier he was overdue, no fault of my client) and left as much healthy frog as I could. I removed as much damaged hoof wall around the crack as I felt I could without trimming into the sensitive hoof. I didn’t want him bearing weight on or around the crack. Pictures 1 and 2 

#1           

 #2

Pictures 3, 4, 5 shows my Bar shoe with a quarter clip on the medial branch, a clip just forward of the heel on the lateral branch and a Rockered toe.  

#3

#4

#5

Picture 6 is the shoe set for the second time, note how far the crack has moved down in just five weeks with no damage apparent at the coronary band.

#6

Pictures 7, 8, 9 are the third trim and reset. Note in picture #7 the hoof wall improvement from the crack to the heel since picture #1. In picture 8 and 9 you can see I have moved the two lateral nails ahead of the clip. The hoof being very flexible from approximately the widest part of the hoof back must be allowed to flex for best hoof health. We had to interfere with the expansion and contraction of the hoof for a period of time to stop the crack from flexing. 

#7

#8

#9

The last trim (not pictured) I pulled the shoe trimmed all feet and left him Barefoot. As stated earlier it’s unknown how the injury happened or when. I began treatment in June 21,2012 and four months later the crack has almost grown out. If the horse had been left to recover without intervention the affected hoof wall may have torn clear off (very painful) but the hoof may have in time recovered. I’ve seen injuries like that, recovery is at least one year, sometimes more. Worst case, the crack breaks clear to the hairline producing what is usually a permanent weak spot with poor growth that lasts the life of the horse.

History of the Barefoot Trim

  In this article I identify seven people that have been influential in the “Barefoot Movement”.

·         Dr. Hiltrude Strasser; Proper Trimming of a Sound Horse

·         Lyle Bergeleen; Hoof Talk Natural Trim

·         KC La Pierre; High Performance Trim

·         Dennis Manning; AFA trim

·         Gene Ovnicek; Natural Balance trim

·         Dr. Ric Redden; Four Point Trim

·         Michael Savoldi; Universal Sole Thickness UST

·         Natural hoof care

Dr. Hiltrude Strasser; Proper Trimming of a sound Horse

  Strasser is an advocate of “Natural Boarding” conditions. These conditions include plenty of natural movement (no box stalls), no legwraps bandages or other clothing, no greases, oils or hoof dressing. She advocates daily exposure to water, no horseshoes (ever). Strasser trims the foot to what she describes as a slanted cone. The front foot angle is 45 degrees the hind foot 55. With her method you must provide the horse the natural boarding conditions she outlines and immediately-permanently remove the shoes. The horse can now begin the recovery process which may happen in a period of months with a generally healthy hoof to a number of years for horses with worse pathologies such as founder or navicular.

  

KC La Pierre; High Performance Trim (HTP)

  Kinetic energy provides the stimuli required for the proper production of hoof horn and the formula, Structure + function=performance, without proper structure function is lost. The palmar aspect (rear two-thirds) is responsible for the dissipation of shock created at impact, shock stimulates hoof wall growth. All growth is not created at the hairline some is produced at what is described as the secondary laminae. One key element of the HTP method is loading the angle of the bars on impact.

Lyle Bergeleen; Hoof Talk Natural Trim

  The Hoof Talk natural trim addresses the front-to-back and side-to-side positioning of the hoof capsule to place it correctly beneath the bony column. An important aspect of this method is the length of the hoof at the toe, as you begin the trim estimate the horses’ weight, a 1000 pound horses hoof should be 3 1/4“ long, 800lb horse 3 1/8” long, a 1200lb horse 3 3/8” and so on. Trim the apex (point) of the frog to where it meets or disappears into the sole, trim the sides of the frog to provide small openings at the heels to allow debris to escape. Measure from the blubs to the apex of the frog divide that distance by three, this should be the distanced from the point of the frog to the toe. The hoof wall must be rasped back (if necessary) to that point. Initially you may sacrifice the integrity of the hoof wall at the toe but in subsequent trims you grow a hoof wall down not forward of the bony column.

Dennis Manning; AFA trim

  Manning described the trim required of candidates for Certified Journeyman Farrier (CJF). The fourth of five achievement levels offered by the American Farriers Association (AFA) in the AFAs continuing education program. The healthy hoof wall must be flat with a continuous ring of hoof from heel to heel. The hoof must be balanced directly under the limb viewing from front. The angle of the hoof is in symmetry with hoof pastern and shoulder when viewed from the side. The sole is pared sparingly to avoid any primary ground contact. The frog is pared sparingly to the shape of the sensitive frog opening the channels to the heels to allow debris to work its way out, the frog must make contact with the ground at weight bearing. Flares are dressed but not beyond one third of the hoof wall height. Excessively removing any portion of the hoof is grounds for the candidate to be stopped as excessive removal of any of these support structures may lead to lameness.

         

Gene Ovnicek; Natural Balance Trim

  Ovnicek studied feral horses in Colorado to arrive at his theory of the Natural Balance Trim. The distal Phalanx (Coffin Bone) is parallel to the ground medial/lateral (inside to outside). The anterior/posterior (front to back) plain of the coffin bone should be elevated to the rear 3 to 5 degrees. To achieve this goal the sole is trimmed to the live callous at the toe, the bars are trimmed to the height of the outer wall or not at all. Keeping in mind this trim is dependent on the horse living in a natural environment, the frog is trimmed only when there is obvious exfoliation. The hoof wall behind the quarters is trimmed to the same height as the functional sole callus. The hoof wall is trimmed to bear weight equally with the toe callus and rockered.

       

Ric Redden; Four Point Trim

  His philosophy is leave everything the horse needs and leave nothing he doesn’t. Which means Redden leaves all sole and bars. The hoof has pillars at four points, the heels (posterior pillars) and the toe (anterior pillars) located at approximately the first and second nail area. Trim the heels to the widest point of the frog, square the break over, not the toe (don’t backup the hoof wall, work from the bottom of the foot) to within 1 inch of the apex of the frog. Trim the quarters from pillar to pillar being careful not to destroy the pillars. Remove the sole ever so slightly 1/16^th of an inch.

Michael Savoldi; Universal Sole Thickness (UST)

 The moisture line in the foot is extremely uniform in its vertical depth. Trimming to UST simply means trimming a hoof wall to the same plane of the healthy sole. The sole is the guideline for the hoof wall. Begin by trimming the sole to the point it appears (waxy) then trim the hoof wall accordingly. You will arrive at a slightly concave sole that models the plane of the Coffin bone.

In conclusion;

  Each of these theories provides valuable insight into healthy hoof care. An all or nothing approach will not provide your horse with the healthy hoof it needs to reach its full performance potential. I believe it is clear when viewing these seven theory’s together similarities exist with variations in the description, none provides the last word. You and your Farrier must consider many factors such as environment, riding discipline, genetics etc.

Happy Hoof care

The Farriers Corner

Spring is here,,I think.

Spring 2011

  When I became a Farrier (Barefoot) was the term we used for horses only being trimmed they didn’t need hoof protection because they were on a lighter riding schedule, off for the season, just a pasture horse etc.. A few years later along came a clip on boot that would fit over the horse’s foot in the event of a lost shoe and you still had a long way to go. It was a lot easier than carrying the tools you would need to replace a shoe. This became an excellent spare tire. I have used this method a number of times to complete a ride. But now we have reached a new stage (new, roughly ten years) where barefoot means something entirely different. There are four possibly five different barefoot philosophies each have an intensely loyal following, almost a religious zeal.        

  April brought the first Endurance ride of the season to Southwest Idaho, the (Tough Sucker ride) it proved many have waited too long between hoof care appointments. Our personal horses run true barefoot five months of the year we ride year around, Nance’s horse “The Mighty Quinn” has some of the best hooves I’ve ever seen, if any horse could go barefoot its Quinn. We train in the mountains between Boise and Idaho city the ground here is made up largely of decomposing Granite and we usually have moderate snow fall 2’ to 3’. Many do not realize snow is very abrasive to horse hooves, so is the ground whether its mud or dust. During the Endurance ride season our horses must have hoof protection to prevent excess wear, prior to the Tough Sucker ride I did little more than flatten the bottom Quinns hooves with my rasp and pare just enough sole to prevent sole contact. Quinn performed at his usual 100%.

  I was called by a client just days before this ride to shoe a horse just purchased. The horses hoof care was performed by the individual boarding the horse and practicing (Barefoot hoof care) for the winter. This horse was so badly unbalanced I could not return the horse to complete balance in one trim, but I set the shoes as careful as possible and the horse performed admirably through a twenty five mile ride.

  On Friday of the Tough Sucker ride, watching horses “Vetting in” I saw one horse during the trot out that couldn’t actually limp because all four hooves hurt so bad, the rider had 30 min to attempt to resolve the problem, booted the horse for the trot out and was able to continue.

 On Saturday I left the ride sight to attend an informal “Hammer in” Farrier competition at the Idaho center Horse Expo. During the course of the day a beautiful Shire Draft weighing in at probably 1700lbs was brought in, the owner asked us to look at the feet explaining she had been practicing “Natural hoof care” and trimming the feet herself but might be interested in paying someone instead. As I approached the horse the first thing I noticed, the horse appeared to have three toes on each front foot because of two deep vertical cracks on each running clear to the hairline at about where the first nail hole would be located if the horse was shod. Picking up the foot I saw a badly distorted untrimmed frog, overgrown sole and feet badly out of balance. Following a short discussion (mainly price) she decided to continue her own “Natural hoof care”.

 On Sunday I received a call from a client (somewhat frantic) hoping I could trim and shoe her horse last minutes. She is documenting the life style of Southwest Idaho Buckaroos and was asked to accompany them as they ride above Silver City to gather cattle for Branding. She explained she had recently purchased the horse and brought it home just days ago; once again the former owner practices “Natural Hoof care”. These hooves had poor growth and bad distortion from long term inattention.

  All of this and more in just one week.

  Folks be honest with yourselves if you aren’t or can’t care for the hooves please a call a professional, a (Farrier) we are the studied professionals. We can provide all hoof care from Barefoot to your choice of hoof protection. Your horse is worth it.              

The Incredible Horse

The owner is more informed than ever before, our horses live longer than ever before their competitive careers often spanning 10 to 15 years, their life expectancy may be over thirty. This can be attributed to a number of factors such as better nutrition, advanced Veterinary medicine, care of teeth, chiropractic and certainly advanced Farrier science.

Their have been a number of studies of the hooves and the affect of different breeding, different climates, feral vs. domestic etc. In coming articles we will explore the evolution and significance of various studies. Ask your questions or provide your thoughts, where would you like to start?

Welcome to the Farriers corner

We are proud to offer our site as a one stop information source for Horse owners-Trainers, Veterinarians, Hoof care professionals or just anyone interested in horses. 

There is a tremendous amount of information about hoof care. In our forum we look at what works, what doesn’t and why. Your input is solicited, valued and appreciated. 

We look forward to these future discussions.

Hoof care for 2011

Welcome everyone to my blog. 

In the coming months we will talk about horses.  We will talk with Veterinarians, trainers, owners and hoof care professionals.

Everyone's opinion will be valued because every horse is different, and no one knows your horse’s needs better than you.

This blog is dedicated to generating the knowledge and wisdom necessary to get the most out of your horse.

Regards,

Bruce Worman