Trim of the Week!

Meet Sport, a 6 year old Paint Horse gelding. Sport's shoes came of at the beginning of May. His toes were so long, they were practically in the next zip code!

Sport has been completely sound and comfortable throughout his transition. We fitted him with boots and pads when we pulled his shoes, but he has not needed them at all. He is growing quite a bit of bar, probably because he has some thrush issues; the feeder in his pasture gets pretty deep in manure, which makes frog hygiene difficult. For the same reason, he still has just a bit more heel than I would like to see. Keeping him comfortable with a tad more heel height will benefit him more at this point than lowering his heels too quickly.

The coronary band injury that Sport had on his right front when we first pulled his shoes in May is growing out nicely. I'll be careful, though, to keep that quarter scooped and beveled to curtail a crack as it gets a little closer to the ground.

Measuring Uniform, Adequate Sole Depth Using the Collateral Grooves

I wanted to clarify this because it seems to be a sticking point for a lot of folks, and it's come up a lot recently. I'm borrowing an image from Marjorie Smith's website, barefoothorse.com, (thank you, Marjorie!) but I've relabeled the image because there were a few landmarks unacknowledged or labeled by a different name than I generally use in the original.



First and foremost, we need to distinguish between the COLLATERAL GROOVES, which run along either side of the frog, and the CENTRAL SULCUS, or the midline at the back of the frog, running forward from the heel bulbs.

The CENTRAL SULCUS is an important indicator of frog health. In a healthy hoof, the CENTRAL SULCUS should be no more than a dimple down the midline of the frog. In an unhealthy hoof, the central sulcus becomes a deep fissure, which can run deep into the heel bulbs. This contracted central sulcus is created by infection, as well as by mechanical heel contraction (can be caused by small shoes, eggbar shoes, etc.) A deep central sulcus, therefore, is a sign of an unhealthy hoof, and if your horse's hoof has this problem, you'll be instructed to start practicing a strict hoof hygiene protocol, including chlorine dioxide soaking and scrubbing with a stiff brush and dish detergent.

The COLLATERAL GROOVES, on the other hand, should NOT be expected to be shallow. The depth of the collateral grooves, measured at the apex of the frog and at the heels, give us the most accurate read on uniform adequate sole depth we can possibly expect without an X-ray. Shallow collateral groove depth indicates thin soles! A good standard for adequate collateral groove depth at the frog apex is about 5/8", measured with your hoof pick at the side of the tip of the frog, to the edge of the sole plane adjacent to the lamina at either side. A good standard for adequate collateral groove depth at the heel is about 1", measured with your hoof pick at the back of the frog, to the edge of the sole plane adjacent to the lamina in the heel triangle. The bottom line is the entire goal of a good trim: adequate uniform sole depth.

Keep in mind that not all horses will meet those standards. Those are the ideals, but trimming every hoof to those parameters immediately is usually NOT a good idea. Our goal is to EASE the horse through the transition, towards the ideal, while keeping the horse as comfortable as possible without compromising hoof mechanism. A good trimmer will know when and how much to allow the collateral groove depth to vary.

It's also important to understand that hoof shape varies from horse to horse, largely dictated by the shape of the horse's coffin bone and lateral cartilages. The collateral grooves will look wider or narrower depending on the shape of the internal structures, but the depth of the grooves is still a consistent marker.

Pete Ramey describes the importance of the collateral grooves best:

"How do we know when we have adequate thickness, excess thickness, or not enough? Easy. Nature gave us a trustworthy guide in the collateral grooves. If we learn to read them, we will never have to wonder what needs to be done or not done to the bottom of the foot. The very special thing about the collateral grooves is that they are very consistent in their depth to the underlying inner structures. If you cut the grooves deeper on a cadaver hoof, you’ll find that it is about ½ inch to the sensitive corium; whether the rest of the sole is too thick or too thin. This means that if a horse has too much sole, the collateral grooves will be too deep. If there is not enough sole thickness the collateral grooves will be too shallow. Only a sub-solar abscess can push the grooves farther from the coffin bone, and I have never seen or heard of a situation that brings them too close.

All we have to do is understand how deep the grooves are naturally, and we will immediately be able to tell if the inner structures are too close to the outdoors or too far away. This applies to the front of the foot and to the back. We can’t put exact dimensions to this, because different coffin bones have different amounts of solar concavity, and of course it varies by hoof size. A little bit too much sole bothers horses far less than having too little, so I tend to begin by erring on the side of caution. Wild hooves and healthy domestic hooves with uniform sole thickness tend to have their collateral grooves (at the deepest part) about ¾” off the ground at the apex of the frog, and about an inch off the ground toward the back (Near the termination of the bars). These measurements can be taken by laying a rasp across the foot and measuring down to the bottom of the groove."

Read Pete's article in its entirety here:

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

How to Piss Off Your Horse in One Easy Lesson!

I take ALL the blame for this one. And in all fairness, nobody did anything really "wrong". The problem is that I had not prepared the horse appropriately for the group lesson I blythely rode him in to. Here is a nice little horse that I started in the way that I have learned, and which has turned out some very nice colts: soft, relaxed, self confident, and willing. My horsemanship in the recent decade has focused on the Cowboy of the Californios tradition, a la Bill Dorrance, Buck Brannaman, and other fabulous horsemen like them. The constant in this style of horsemanship is that the horse is taught to find a release from pressure; all pressure can be mitigated by just finding the correct answer to the question the rider poses. The amazing thing is, when this is done correctly, as training progresses, the amount of pressure necessary to elicit a "try" from the horse becomes increasingly subtle! I whole heartedly believe in this philosophy; it turns out a responsible, thinking, accountable horse.

Uninterested in working cattle or handling a rope, which are the more common pursuits of individuals who practice horsemanship through feel, I started to investigate classical dressage. I became more and more convinced of the similarities between this and the Vaquero style of riding. I decided that this was a good path to take my riding to a higher level. Mind you, the level of competitive dressage in this country left me a little queasy; I saw too much heavy-handed riding, too many unhappy, restrained, Rollkured horses. When a dressage rider came to the ranch that showed the sort of feel and finesse I knew should be what dressage is all about, and when she graciously agreed to help some of us improve our riding, you had better believe I was all over it like fleas on a dog. But in my eagerness, I forgot where I've come from, what I've learned, and the sort of partnership I want with my horses.

Well ridden dressage is spectacular. But there is no disguising the fact that it is complete control of every inch of the horse by the rider. With very, very rare exception, the task of making the horse accept that level of unmitigated mechanical control is embarked upon with an aggressive timeline. The ultimate goal is competition...and winning. The horse is quite literally secondary to the goal.

I handle a LOT of different horses every day, and I can make some broad generalizations that many folks won't like much, but are unfailingly true: many horses well educated for the dressage arena according to traditional methods have learned to expect minute direction, not just in the dressage arena, but upon every interaction with humans. Let me editorialize a little and tell you one thing: it is a FULL TIME JOB working with a horse like that. You know what I find much more sensible and enjoyable? A horse that knows what to do when I do nothing but give him a loose rein or a slack lead line. I find it infinitely more rewarding to bring along a horse that can think sensibly for himself, and STILL manage to do exactly what I expect of him, than to take entirely all of the autonomy out of the horse and develop a creature that is helpless to help me unless I dictate precisely what to do.

Now, don't misconstrue that to mean that I think dressage riders do not care about their horses. But suffice it to say a truly driven dressage rider will sell a horse to buy a more talented horse, to further their dream. (Likewise, a driven reining enthusiast, jumper, etc.) Maybe I'm a creampuff, but if my horse isn't talented enough for a particular career, well, then, I won't be pursuing that avenue. That said, I STILL want to evolve my horsemanship, and my horse's training.

I have this steadfast belief that ANYTHING can be accomplished with a horse without force or mechanical devices. So when a flash noseband was strapped tightly around Mixer's nose in the first two minutes of the group lesson, I was crestfallen. Undeniably, woefully disappointed. So was he...and I felt like a traitor for letting it happen. I gave it a fair shot, and to his credit, he settled and worked. But honestly? His heart wasn't in it. I had let him down in a big way. Why? Because a piece of equipment like a flash applies constant, unrelieved pressure. There is no finding the release. Mixer was thoroughly confused and unprepared; I thought he was going to flip over backwards trying to find the "release" he was SURE was there. I've spent the last five days trying to make it up to him, and unselfish creature that he is, I think I've been forgiven.

What now? Back to my roots. Back to Bill Dorrance, and Buck Brannaman, and Leslie Desmond, and true horsemanship through feel. And a remarkable relationship with a smart little horse who deserves a 50/50 partnership, and no less.

How Good is Your Horsekeeping Situation?

As I made my rounds today, I was depressed to find several of the horses in my care still suffering from nasty, chronic thrush. While a good trim is essential to grow a healthy hoof, it is utterly useless if the horse lives in conditions that literally rot the hoof...small pens that make it impossible for the horse not to stand in urine or manure; deep, soft bedding or footing that holds moisture and easily packs into the hoof; and minimal exercise.

It brought to mind the story often told about how horseshoeing became popular in medieval times: horses kept in stalls in the castle, standing in urine and manure, quickly developed soft, rotten, painful feet. An enterprising blacksmith nailed a metal semi-circle on the bottom of a horse's feet, lifting him out of the muck, and the hoof seemed much healthier. We didn't know then what damage that nailed on shoe was really doing (and never mind that it has taken us an embarrassing span of time to finally figure it out), but it did seem to solve the problem of the hoof falling apart in horrendously unsanitary stabling conditions.

Like we humans often do, we approached the solution from entirely the wrong angle initially, and are only now realizing the repercussions. Not only was the horseshoe a bad solution to the problem, it was only addressing a symptom of the problem. The problem, it turns out, is really the stabling of a horse in a very small space where he is forced to stand around in his own excrement. That's not to say that a horse in a 10 acre pasture won't walk through manure; but that is entirely different than standing in it for hours on end. It's as if the hoof melts. The wall flares. The sole grows in desperately, in lumps and ridges, but crumbles from the constant soaking in muck. The frog becomes mushy, full of flaps, black, stinky, and sludgy, not to mention painful.

If you love your horse, find a way to improve his living situation. Pay for daily -- and I mean all day -- turnout in a drylot pasture. Find pasture board (but be very picky about the forage in the pasture!). Rent two adjoining pens, make them into one larger pen; then invest in pea gravel and/or sand to fill it, do everything in your power to see that the pen is cleaned not just once but TWICE a day, and make sure the horse's hooves are cleaned daily. Be creative; think outside the 24X24 box.

Sound extreme? Not really. Just extremely different than the way we've done it for far too long. And it's not just about the horse's hooves. You haven't met a truly happy horse until you've met a horse that lives in a herd, in a pasture, where they can gallop for a quarter mile without having to think about turning.

When they'll gallop that quarter mile to the sound of your voice calling their names, just for the chance to go for a ride, then you've met a truly happy horse.

I'm often asked if every horse can go barefoot...

The answer is physiologically, yes, every horse can go barefoot.

Unfortunately, barefoot requires a level of commitment from the horse's owner that not all owners are willing to accommodate. To grow and maintain a truly healthy hoof requires:

1. Adequate, proper movement, preferably over the same type of terrain upon which the horse will be required to work. That means as many heel-first landings as you can possibly encourage in any 24 hour period. Lots of steps that are NOT heel first won't cut it. Stimulation of the proprioceptors that generate healthy digital cushion and lateral cartilage in the horse's hoof requires pressure and release to the back of the hoof. If your horse lacks well-developed digital cushion or lateral cartilage, we CANNOT create them without hundreds of heel first landings. Hoof boots and pads are the only tool we currently have to help facilitate heel-first landings. They take a few minutes to put on, and they cost about as much as one shoeing, but they last indefinitely. You might break a nail putting them on. Your horse might need to get used to them. But they may very well be an absolutely critical element for your horse's rehablitation. Not willing to learn how to use hoof boots, and commit to getting your horse moving as much as possible? Then you are probably not a barefoot horse owner.

2. The right diet. Dietary imbalances and metabolic issues are always dramatically reflected in the health of the hoof. Obesity is very dangerous for hoof health. Not willing to cut the molasses, alfalfa, non-structural carbs, sweet feeds, oats, and green grass grazing from your horse's diet? Then you are flirting with laminitis, and you are probably not a barefoot horse owner.

3. Good, balanced physiological hoof trimming performed on at least a four week schedule. Trying to save some money by stretching trims to 8, 10 or 12 weeks? Then you are probably not a barefoot horse owner, unless you are willing to learn how to maintain the trim between your hoofcare professional's visits.

My goal is to build healthy bare hooves and promote the benefits of natural hoofcare, and expose the dangers of nailed on shoes and traditional farriery techniques. Trimming alone will help grow a healthier hoof, but if all of the factors are not addressed, the process is not only slower, but sometimes impossible.

So, yes, every horse can positively thrive barefoot. Just as long as his/her owner commits to the lifestyle required to make it successful. As your barefoot hoofcare specialist, I will prescribe diet changes, booting, and horsekeeping changes based upon the most recent research. I will also provide you with literature supporting my recommendations. Whether or not to follow my guidance is entirely up to you. But remember that my ultimate goal is the healthiest bare hoof I can create, and I consider my reputation, as well as the credibility of the barefoot movement, at stake with each and every horse. Your willingness to educate yourself on the topic, and/or follow my guidance, is critical, and I reserve the right to refuse my services to owners not willing to make the commitment.

"A bare, unprotected hoof that cannot function comfortably and properly in the terrain the horse normally lives and works in is no less “sick” than any other part of the body that is not capable of doing its intended job. When any other part of the body is not functioning correctly, we immediately try to fix it. When the hooves aren’t functioning correctly, tradition demands that we just try to cover them up. The problem is that it only works for a little while and actually brings the hooves farther out of normal function. "

-- Pete Ramey, Laminitis Update 3-20-05

Still Think Horses Can't Go Barefoot? Check Out The Houston Mounted Patrol

As of April 2008, all thirty six horses of the Houston Mounted Patrol are barefoot, working on asphalt and concrete daily. Read the whole story here:

http://www.thehorseshoof.com/success_Houston1.html

And check out some photos of the horses here:

http://easycareinc.typepad.com/photos/houston_police_mounted_pa/index.html

The Thoughtful Horseman Newsletter Debuts This Week!

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