The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare ISSUE 28 – SUMMER/FALL 2007 Page 1 Yvonne Welz interviews Joe Camp: Yvonne: Please share with us the story of how you first became aware of, and then involved in, natural hoofcare. Joe: Kathleen and I were rank novices with no idea what we were doing when we took our blind leap into the world of horses. That was just two short years ago. Our first three went straightaway into stalls, wearing shoes, eating from table-high bins. We were told, “that’s the way it’s done.” Who were we to question? We were blank slates. But as our journey unfolded, and we began to peel back the layers of this truly enigmatic horse world, we found ourselves mystified at our discoveries. Most of the early information we gath- ered about traditional horse care, when applied against a body of logic, didn’t seem to make any sense. We seriously began to scratch our heads and say what’s going on here? Why, for exam- ple, is it okay to put a beast who has been running on the plains for fifty mil- lion years into a 12x12 cage. There have to be some genetic issues with that. Why does a flight animal, who has survived on his own, without humans, all that time, need metal shoes? The folks we asked would gener- ally shrug and, again, say, “that’s just the way it’s done.” Fortunately, along the way, we stumbled onto Monty Robert’s Join Up as a way to begin a rela- tionship with each of our horses. When my horse, Cash, willingly made the choice to walk up behind me in the round pen and nuzzle my shoulder, he was say- ing I trust you. And that changed everything. Literally. I was no longer an owner, but rather a trusted leader. I realized that I not only loved this horse, but I was truly responsible for his happiness and health. And that left me no choice but to do the work, to gain the knowledge, to make the right decisions for him, and all our horses. I was now emotionally involved, and that meant commitment. We dug deeper, consuming books, articles, and DVDs until I thought my head was going to burst, cramming at light speed to make up for all the years of experience that we didn’t have. To learn what makes these wonderful animals tick. There had to be better answers. It wasn’t long before I began reading everything I could find about feet, because Cash had come to us wearing only two shoes, on his fronts. I wanted to know why he didn’t need shoes on his rear feet, as well. After all, it was at least a quarter of a mile walk on asphalt to the local horse club arena. And his feet must be protected, right? I hadn’t yet discovered wild horses, but I was about to. I came across a magazine article that began by saying: a horse’s hoof is supposed to flex with every step taken. Huh? The article went on to say that the sim- ple act of the hoof flexing is just about the most important thing for a horse’s good health and long life. It provides shock absorption for the joints, tendons and ligaments, acts as a circulatory www.TheHorsesHoof.com Barefoot Hoofcare Magazine Issue 28 – Summer/Fall 2007 ™ In this Issue: Choosing the Right Boot ...2 From the Editors ...............3 Joe Camp, cont. ...............4 Horses First Racing ...........6 U.S. Barefoot Racing ........7 Eventing Barefoot .............7 Barrel Racing in Boots ......8 Reining Champions ...........9 Trim Apprenticeship........10 Wild Horse Hooves .........11 Trimming Insights............12 AANHCP Clinics .............14 UK Barefoot Conference .15 Spunky’s Story-Founder ..16 Coffin Bone Rotation ......17 Charlie’s Story-Navicular .18 Puncture Wounds............20 Shock Absorber ..............21 Order Form ....................21 Professional Corner.........22 Resources .......................23 Slicing Dissection ............24 Cash, an 11 yo Arab, is the clever star of Joe’s new book “The Naked Horse.” Right: Cash’s hooves. “He dances up the rocks of our natural pasture like a mountain goat.” All photos courtesy Joe Camp (cont. on page 4) Empty stalls and naked feet…that’s the heart of the message that Joe Camp is trying to spread to all the horse lovers of the world. And even if Joe’s name didn’t ring a bell, you probably know who he is: remember Benji, that canine superstar who pulled on our heart- strings? Is it any wonder that the man who cre- ated the Benji movies would find that special connection to horses that draws one towards natural horse care? A lifelong animal lover, Joe entered the horse world quite recently. His fresh eyes soon scruti- nized traditional horse care practices. His com- pelling story is best told in his own words, avail- able soon in his upcoming new book—but here’s a preview below, from my conversation with Joe.—Yvonne Welz Spreading the Barefoot Word with Joe Camp “Our 1 1/2 acre natural pasture was created inside a perimeter chain link fence, utilizing an inexpensive Premiere 1 electric fence system that creates a big circle around a smaller circle, in which hay is distributed morning and evening. They pretty much move around this large circle all day long.”
Transcript
The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare ISSUE 28 – SUMMER/FALL 2007 Page 1
Yvonne Welz interviews Joe Camp:
Yvonne: Please share with us the story of howyou first became aware of, and then involved in,natural hoofcare.
Joe: Kathleen and I were rank novices with noidea what we were doing when we took our blindleap into the world of horses. Thatwas just two short years ago. Our firstthree went straightaway into stalls,wearing shoes, eating from table-highbins. We were told, “that’s the way it’sdone.” Who were we to question? Wewere blank slates. But as our journeyunfolded, and we began to peel backthe layers of this truly enigmatic horseworld, we found ourselves mystified atour discoveries.
Most of the early information we gath-ered about traditional horse care, whenapplied against a body of logic, didn’tseem to make any sense. We seriouslybegan to scratch our heads and saywhat’s going on here? Why, for exam-ple, is it okay to put a beast who hasbeen running on the plains for fifty mil-lion years into a 12x12 cage. Therehave to be some genetic issues with
that. Why does a flight animal,who has survived on his own,without humans, all that time,need metal shoes?
The folks we asked would gener-ally shrug and, again, say, “that’sjust the way it’s done.”Fortunately, along the way, westumbled onto Monty Robert’sJoin Up as a way to begin a rela-tionship with each of our horses.When my horse, Cash, willinglymade the choice to walk upbehind me in the round pen andnuzzle my shoulder, he was say-ing I trust you. And that changedeverything. Literally. I was nolonger an owner, but rather atrusted leader. I realized that I notonly loved this horse, but I was truly responsiblefor his happiness and health. And that left me nochoice but to do the work, to gain the knowledge,to make the right decisions for him, and all ourhorses. I was now emotionally involved, and thatmeant commitment.
We dug deeper, consuming books, articles, andDVDs until I thought my head was going to burst,cramming at light speed to make up for all theyears of experience that we didn’t have. To learnwhat makes these wonderful animals tick. Therehad to be better answers.
It wasn’t long before I began readingeverything I could find about feet,because Cash had come to us wearingonly two shoes, on his fronts. I wantedto know why he didn’t need shoes onhis rear feet, as well. After all, it was atleast a quarter of a mile walk on asphaltto the local horse club arena. And hisfeet must be protected, right? I hadn’tyet discovered wild horses, but I wasabout to. I came across a magazinearticle that began by saying: a horse’shoof is supposed to flex with everystep taken. Huh?
The article went on to say that the sim-ple act of the hoof flexing is just aboutthe most important thing for a horse’sgood health and long life. It providesshock absorption for the joints, tendonsand ligaments, acts as a circulatory
Choosing the Right Boot ...2From the Editors ...............3Joe Camp, cont. ...............4Horses First Racing...........6U.S. Barefoot Racing ........7Eventing Barefoot .............7Barrel Racing in Boots ......8Reining Champions...........9Trim Apprenticeship........10Wild Horse Hooves .........11Trimming Insights............12
AANHCP Clinics.............14UK Barefoot Conference .15Spunky’s Story-Founder ..16Coffin Bone Rotation ......17Charlie’s Story-Navicular .18Puncture Wounds............20Shock Absorber ..............21Order Form ....................21Professional Corner.........22Resources .......................23Slicing Dissection............24
Cash, an 11 yo Arab, is the cleverstar of Joe’s new book “The NakedHorse.” Right: Cash’s hooves. “Hedances up the rocks of our naturalpasture like a mountain goat.”
All
phot
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(cont. on page 4)
Empty stalls and naked feet…that’s theheart of the message that Joe Camp is tryingto spread to all the horse lovers of the world.
And even if Joe’s name didn’t ring a bell, youprobably know who he is: remember Benji,that canine superstar who pulled on our heart-strings? Is it any wonder that the man who cre-ated the Benji movies would find that specialconnection to horses that draws one towardsnatural horse care?
A lifelong animal lover, Joe entered the horseworld quite recently. His fresh eyes soon scruti-nized traditional horse care practices. His com-pelling story is best told in his own words, avail-able soon in his upcoming new book—buthere’s a preview below, from my conversationwith Joe.—Yvonne Welz
Spreading the Barefoot Word with Joe Camp
“Our 1 1/2 acre natural pasture was created inside a perimeter chain linkfence, utilizing an inexpensive Premiere 1 electric fence system that createsa big circle around a smaller circle, in which hay is distributed morning andevening. They pretty much move around this large circle all day long.”
Barefoot Care
Choosing the Right Hoof Bootby Yvonne Welz
One of the most frequent questions that Ihear from horseowners is, “How do Ichoose the right boot for my horse?”
When I first became involved in barefoot, therewasn’t much to choose from. There were only acouple of boots available, and they tended to bevery difficult to use and/or very expensive. One ofthe most exciting developments over this pastdecade is the widespread availability of a largeselection of highly effective, reasonably-priced,easy-to-use hoof boots. This is such a boon forhorses and owners! However, newcomers to hoofboots can find themselves literally overwhelmed bythe selection.
There are many good brands of boots out there,so be sure to read up on them all. If you havefriends with boots, take a close look at their boots,and actually try them out, if you can. My person-al boot experience is mainly with the EasyCarebrands of boots. I was an initial user of theAustralian Old Mac’s Boots when they first cameout in 2001, and EasyCare now manufactures acouple versions of Old Mac’s, several variations ofthe Easyboot (including the Epic, Bare, and Grip),as well as the Boa Horse Boot.
My first recommendation is that a barefoot horse-owner have a pair of boots on hand to fit each of
their horses. But your horses don’t need boots?That’s great! However, one day when you leastexpect it, something will come up—almost guar-anteed—and it is much better if you are preparedahead of time. Case in point: my warmbloodmare with near-perfect hooves stepped on some-thing odd in the warm-up arena at a show, anddeveloped an acute abscess in that foot one weeklater. I had never even fitted her for boots, butluckily I had a pair on hand that happened to fit.Because of the boots, she was comfortableenough to continue on with lots of exercise, so theabscess resolved quicker than a blink.
Here’s a few things to consider when choosing aboot for your horse:
Will the boots be used for casual trail rid-ing, performance, or for a lame horse? Anyriding style boot will be suitable for casual riding,but performance riding may require some specialfeatures, depending on your discipline. For a lamehorse, boot comfort will be a top priority (espe-cially if they will be on for long periods of time),and there are some special boots available specif-ically for lame horses, which are not really intend-ed for riding.
If used for riding, what distances do youplan to ride in the boots? If you intend to ridelots and lots of hours in the boots, including long-distance and endurance riding, you will want topick out a boot that has been proven to excel indistance riding. Check with the manufacturer tofind out distance recommendations for theirboots. EasyCare recommends that their Boa’sand Old Mac’s be limited to less than 25 miles perweek or per ride, while the mileage for theEasyboot models is unlimited.
Will the boots be used frequently, or infre-quently? Will the boots be used only rarely—sortof a spare-tire for emergency situations, or per-haps only used for that once- or twice-a-yearrocky trail ride? In these cases, the durability of theboot may not be as important a factor, and easeof use may be much more important to you. Ifboots are used frequently and you want somethingthat will really last, one of the Easyboot modelsmay be a good choice for you, because all the sep-arate parts are replaceable.
How important is ease of use? Are you com-fortable making lots of adjustments to a boot everytime you ride, or do you want something that youcan literally slap-on-and-go? Old Mac’s and theBoa Horse Boot are both incredibly easy to apply.Easyboot models have always been a little moredifficult to apply, but the latest model of Epic isvery user-friendly. The Bare boots are more diffi-cult to apply at first, but once broken in, manypeople just love them.
What shape are your horse’s hooves? If yourhorse’s hooves are wider than they are long, you
should choose a boot such as the Old Mac’sOriginals, which are designed for a wide foot. Ifyour horse’s feet are equal length and width, orjust a bit narrow, you will find that most boots canfit. If you have a horse with excessively narrowhooves, you will want to look for a boot that canadjust the fit to that extremely narrow shape.
For more helpful tips on choosing a hoof boot,please visit this page on EasyCare’s website,which includes charts and boot comparisons:
Remember to always put a foam cushion pad intothe bottom of your boots, to reduce peripheralloading! See page 23 of this issue for a listing ofhoof boot websites.
The Easyboot Epics are now my personalfavorite boot, because they are so versatile.They work really well for both lame horses andperformance horses, and they don’t rub.
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If possible, have a professional fit your horse’sboots for you, and show you how to use them.
The Boa HorseBoot, with aunique dial lac-ing system, isextremely easyto fit and apply.I find they workbest on horsesthat have aslightly uprightpastern/hoofconformation.
The Easyboot Bares are similar to the Epics,but with a concave outer sole and a differentfront adjustment system. They are initially a lit-tle more difficult to fit and apply.
The Old Mac’s Boots are one of the easiest bootsto use and apply. However, rubbing is always apossible problem whenever a boot covers thecoronet area. The Old Mac’s Originals are madefor wide hooves, while the G2’s (shown above)are designed for slightly narrow hooves.
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Page 2 ISSUE 28 – SUMMER/FALL 2007 The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare
Who says God doesn’t have a sense ofhumor? Well, let me explain...
James & I have been riding together for 20years now. In all that time, we’ve never had asingle riding injury. Sure, we’ve had our shareof spills and thrills, but we try hard to be safe—though I know we were often just plain lucky.
Right after the last issue went to press in thefirst week of May, I landed on my butt in thedirt. Okay, more specifically, I landed on myright hip and was knocked unconscious for afew minutes! Belle must have had a gleefulmoment and forgot about me as she took offbucking. Normally, not a big deal, except that Iwas recovering from a flu, and probably shouldnot have been riding, after all.
Luckily, my friend was there to transport me tothe hospital (when I awoke, I jumped up andsaid, “I’m okay!”). My head was catscanned(thank goodness for my wonderful Troxel hel-met—I didn’t even have any symptoms of con-cussion), and my very sore right hip was x-rayed. Nothing broken, but it was news to methat I had an old, healed fracture of my pelvis!Must have been that time I was bucked off near-ly 20 years ago, when I got right back on andkept riding like nothing happened!
Well, this time around, it took a while before Iwas back in the saddle again. Okay, I did get onand walk around for a few minutes just 5 dayslater (and paid for it with severe muscle spasmsfor days after!)—but I really couldn’t ride forabout a month. The injury was pretty bad, prob-ably the worst I have ever been injured in mylife. It was enough to have me reaching for thepain pills! James even bought me crutches,because the first couple of days, I could hardlyeven walk.
But that’s just the beginning of the story.Exactly one week later, James lands on his buttin the dirt. I know—this sounds too weird to betrue. He was riding Kendra around barebackwith a neckrope, like he often does, when shedecided to take off at a wild gallop—very unusu-al! He knew he couldn’t stop her, so he decid-ed he would bail. And he landed—you guessedit—on his right hip. I honestly don’t know howhe made it back home, because I think he wasin worse shape than me. He got into bed andcouldn’t get up again for 3 days!
Well, at that point, what is there to do butlaugh? Every time I looked at him, I would burst
out into hysterical laughter—the situation wastoo ridiculous. How could we both be injured?I was still hobbling about, barely able to getaround myself, and now my caretaker wasworse off than I was! And since I had a bruisedrib, and James had a few broken ribs, it wasvery painful to laugh, but we still kept laughing!
For a little background information, James andI share a lot. Maybe too much, as this situationpoints out. We even share the same exact birth-day—yes, day and year!
James’ healing followed the same pattern asmine—I could literally predict what would hap-pen and how he would feel, based on myself.He was just one week behind me, with nearlyidentical injuries. At one month out, each of uswas back riding again, albeit slowly and careful-ly. By two months, we were pretty much nor-mal. Kendra and Belle, both good-natured,well-trained horses, are doing wonderfully,totally unaware of any commotion they caused.
Just 6 weeks after my accident, I couldn’t passup the opportunity to take a trail ride on aTennessee Walker while we were visiting theDallas, Texas, area for one of our clinics. HereI am right before our ride, on Alice Morgan’sgelding, Jubilee:
James & I figure that we are now both “pre-dis-astered” and good for another 20 years...
The information contained within this magazine isintended for educational purposes only. Readersshould seek advice from their veterinarian andqualified help from a barefoot trimmer/farrierbefore attempting any trimming of hooves.Opinions expressed herein are those of theauthors and do not necessarily reflect those ofthe publisher.
Subscription RatesThe Horse’s Hoof is published quarterly. Annualsubscription (4 issues) is $25 US/Canada, $35Foreign, and $15 Acrobat PDF. Please send pay-ment in American currency by check or moneyorder, or Visa, Mastercard, Discover and AMEX.Order Toll Free 1-877-594-3365.
Editorial PoliciesSubmissions are encouraged, including photos,articles and stories about barefoot horses. If youwould like to contribute, please contact us.Material that is published does not reflect endorse-ment by The Horse’s Hoof or any of its staff. The Horse’s Hoof is a generic barefootresource that supports all hoof care which createsfunctional, healthy hooves. We believe technologycan be useful, and we believe in compromise. Weadvocate more natural living conditions for all hors-es. We encourage all styles, methods, and tech-niques of hoof care that promote healthier hooves.The Horse’s Hoof is a division of Wishing WelzEquine, LLC.We respect privacy. We do not sell or distributeany subscriber information. If you would like tocontact a contributor or author, please send yourcontact info to The Horse’s Hoof, and we will for-ward that on to the appropriate person.
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From The Editors
Barefoot Article in Western Horseman Magazine!It was quite a surprise to see a natural hoof care article featured on the cover of the July 2007Western Horseman Magazine. The article by Heidi Nyland, “Barefoot Every Day: Is It Rightfor Your Horse?” features master farrier Gene Ovnicek describing the benefits of barefoot.Accompanying photos clearly demonstrate that desired heel-first landing. Gene suggests thateven shod horses should spend part of the year barefoot (and he does utilize his own specialtyshoes). Environment and daily care are emphasized as crucial components of barefoot success,and Gene finishes with this recommendation, “It’s not just about taking off your horse’s shoes.Ride your horse as much as you can. That’s the best maintenance.”
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pump for blood in the hoof mechanism, and helpsthe heart get that blood flowing back up the leg.And with a metal shoe nailed to the hoof, no flex-ing can occur.
I was dumbfounded. Logic has always been mylong suit. So how could this have escaped me? Iscurried to the internet and found Jaime Jackson’swild horse research, and Pete Ramey, and EddieDrabek, and this publication. And in a heartbeat,I was asking the same questions most of yourreaders must be asking. How have we humansbeen so misguided for so long?
The next day, Cash’s front shoes came off, and hereceived my kindergarten version of the wild horsetrim. Fortunately, we soon found Marci Lambert,our new natural hoof care specialist, and Cash nolonger had to put up with my fumbling. Over thenext few weeks, the shoes on our five other hors-es came off, and we’ve never looked back. Tosteal Pete Ramey’s phrase, we are now the proudparents of twenty-four “rock-crushing hooves.”
Yvonne: It seems like so many folks just ignorethe available information about barefoot and nat-ural care, unless they are actually seeking help fora lame horse, usually suffering from severefounder or navicular. One of our missions here atThe Horse’s Hoof is to reach people WAY beforedisaster strikes—to reach the ordinary horseown-ers before the hooves crash. Why do you thinkthat the barefoot concept really clicked for you, so
quickly, when you had no real hoof problems withyour horses?
Joe: I’m not so sure most folks are ignoring theinformation. I don’t think they know it’s available.When we began this journey, we weren’t evensure that wild horses still existed. We certainly did-n’t know that they had been around for fifty-fivemillion years. So, like most, we had given nothought to how they had survived all that time with
no assistance from humans. We had never readDr. Strasser, or Jaime Jackson, or Pete Ramey, orsought out your website or publication, so we did-n’t know about all the research into the amazinghealth and soundness of wild horse hooves. So, ofcourse, it follows that we had no idea why it wasso. We simply had no knowledge of any of it, sohow could it apply to us? Which, unfortunately, isthe case with most of the folks we’ve run into.Even those with years of experience. Theyhaven’t been exposed to it, so there’s no rele-vance to them. We need to be more tenaciousabout making sure they’re exposed to it.
For us, I suspect that coming at it with a cleanplate had a lot to do with being receptive. We hadno past filled with bad experiences. And once mybrain was pried open, the logic was irrefutable. Itmade sense. But so many folks who we’ve tried toconvince have had some negative experience thatthey believe is evidence that shoes are best. Likethe lady who said to me, “When my horse’s shoefalls off, he starts limping almost immediately. Andwhen the shoe is nailed back on, suddenly he’sfine. Doesn’t hurt anymore. Proof that the shoe isbetter for him than barefoot.”
I asked her if she had ever crossed her legs for solong that her foot went to sleep? We all have, andwe all know what’s happening. The leg cross cutsoff the circulation to the foot, and with no circula-tion, the nerve endings lose their sensitivity andfail to work. The second you uncross, or stand up,the circulation returns, as do the nerve endings.Ooohh! Ouch!
The same thing happens to a horse when a metalshoe is nailed on. The inability of the hoof to flexremoves its ability to pump blood, virtually elimi-
nating circulation in the hoof mechanism. Withoutproper circulation, the nerve endings quit trans-mitting, and the horse no longer feels the “ouch.”When the shoe falls off, the circulation returns andsuddenly he can feel again. Feel, in many cases,an unhealthy hoof that has been deprived of cir-culation while the shoe was nailed on. And, ofcourse, when the shoe is nailed back on, the cir-culation diminishes and the nerve endings quittransmitting again, and voila, the horse feels bet-ter. But for all the wrong reasons.
The lady went away scratching her head, hope-fully at least thinking about it. And that’s what weall need to do, for the horses. Know enough of theanswers to get folks to start digging on their own.If we can just get owners into it, introduce them tothe availability of the information base, then Ibelieve knowledge and logic will prevail.
And, again, for me, what I hope to spread is thenew emotional responsibility I feel toward Cash,which is what made me start digging in the firstplace. When you truly feel responsible, and carefor your horse’s happiness and health, how canyou not do the best for him?
Yvonne: What are all the changes you’ve seen inyour own herd since taking them barefoot andswitching to the natural lifestyle?
Joe: They are happy campers! Their feet are vir-tually maintaining themselves now. They’re goodto go on any surface. All six of them. And they’reall healthy. Scribbles was first into the natural pas-ture. He’s our quiet one. A gorgeous paint, butcharisma is not his long suit. Lazy would be a mer-ciful understatement. He has the best whoa of anyof our six, because it’s his favorite speed. No reinsneeded. Just sit back a little, then hold on for thescreech of tires.
Which is why his first venture into the natural pas-ture left me with my mouth hanging open inastonishment. As the halter fell away, he spun andwas gone like a bullet. Racing, kicking the air, toss-ing his head, having the best time I’d ever seen
(cont. from cover)
Scribbles, an 8 yo Paint gelding, at home in hisrocky pasture. After de-shoing, his hooves took7 months to regrow into a healthy, strong form.
Scenes from Joe’s natural pasture, which isbased upon Jamie Jackson’s model in his book“Paddock Paradise.”
Pocket, a Paint mare, boasts four healthy, rockhard feet—just like all of Joe’s horses.
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him have. This was not a horse I had met before.He went on for a good ten minutes, with me juststanding there, grinning like an idiot. That was thebeginning of a new way of life for Scribbles andhis five herd mates. And they all thank you“spreaders of the information” very much!
Yvonne: Your natural pastures—you have reallyset up a pretty spectacular living arrangement foryour horses. Tell us all about it.
Joe: Not spectacular at all, really. Very simple andstraightforward. A natural pasture, or as one per-son recently called it, “a Rock Spa.” Not the musickind. It’s very steep. No grass. The outer perime-ter is sort of a lopsided oval surrounded by an elec-tric fence on three sides and a six-foot chain linkon the fourth. The fencing encloses maybe anacre and a half. In the center is another lopsidedelectric-fenced circle that keeps the horses off thesteepest portions of the native boulders and pre-vents them from taking too many short cuts,because the whole point is to keep them moving.
Each horse gets half a scoop of Strategy andmaybe two pounds of alfalfa in the morning andevening, right out in the open, in the pasture.They all know where their tubs are. Then weclimb in the Gator and spread half a bale ofbermuda, morning and evening (a full bale a day),into more than fifty small piles scattered all theway around the pasture, with the heaviest con-centration being near the bottom, and very littlenear the top.
Most of the herd will make at least four full circlesduring a twenty-four hour period, sometimestwice that. The herd pecking order creates virtualconstant movement, except when they’re resting,because the grass is always greener on the otherside of… well, pretty much anything. There’s asmaller circle up the hill that we use to enclose ourolder guy for an hour or so morning and evening,because he gets a special diet that the otherswould love to steal. When the gate is opened,three of the group are always waiting to go in andclean up the dregs before heading down the hill.
They all get lots of terrific exercise. Lots of hoofflexing and circulation. And everyone gets theirREM sleep, which will usually never happen out-side of a herd environment. To get REM sleep, thehorse must lie down, all the way, on his side, headdown; and usually this will never happen withouta herd mate to guard the sleeper. Another reasonto keep them out of stalls. All six are in the pas-ture 24/7. Except, of course, when they’re outwith us. (There are photos and a video on ourwebsite, nakedhorsemanship.com). The wholething was amazingly simple and inexpensive toput together.
And it can work with much less space. Before wefinished this pasture, the herd was divided intothrees in two much smaller, steep, rocky turnouts.Each turnout was maybe 60' x 50' and operatedunder the same concept. Not as much room, butso much better than being caged in a stall.
Yvonne: What do you think it will take to con-vince horse owners that horses truly do NOTneed—and are far healthier without—both stallsand shoes?
Joe: Lots of attention on the subject. Over andover and over. And a concerted effort to say theright things that will trigger enough curiosity, orguilt, or emotion, to cause folks to dig it out ontheir own. Most of us with barefoot horses cameto it on our own because somebody or somethingmotivated us enough to examine the facts, andthe research. Not just because someone said it’sbetter.
Case histories are good. Tales of success.Conversation about how some horses take awhile for their hooves to heal, just like we doafter a knee operation. The pain will go away aswe heal and become healthy again. Articles,books, and websites are terrific because the writ-ten word is usually non-confrontational. There isno debate. Just knowledge, and emotion to stim-ulate motivation. Folks who have made theirhorses unhealthy for so long because of theshoes they wear feel like they must defend whatthey’ve done. How else can they live with them-selves? This makes it difficult for us, but worththe effort. That’s why my new book was written,and why it is not a technical book. It’s an emo-tional and entertaining journey that will, hope-fully, cause readers to feel the issues, to renewtheir relationship with their horses, and to realizethe responsibility they have accepted. And towant to do the very best for their horses. Whenthat happens, they will change. They will acceptthe challenge to spend the time. Like most of us,they won’t be able to help themselves.
Yvonne: Tell us more about your book!
Joe: I’ve spent most of my life trying to lure folksinto the heart and soul of a dog… and now I’mtrying to lure them into the heart and soul of ahorse, because I believe from there, from that per-spective, the need for the changes we’re all tryingto bring about will be felt the most.
It’s a true story… a love story to our horses,because we discovered that we humans havetaken this majestic animal who has survived on theplanet for some fifty-five million years, fully capa-ble of keeping himself in the best of health andcondition, and stripped him of his genetic ability todo so—to take care of himself.
The journey of discovery was pretty astonishing.The more digging we did, the less sense any of itmade. Kathleen said this is either really amazing,or we’re certifiably nuts, because what we seemedto be finding was that not many folks had anymore of a clue about what is best for the horsethan we did.
That’s when the book was born. It’s a dual tale.The story of a wild herd that parallels Kathleen’sand my journey, written for everyone who hasever loved a horse, or even loved the idea of lov-ing a horse.
Yvonne: What would you most like this book toaccomplish?
Joe: To help horses everywhere. And to helppeople, because we found that the lessons thehorses have taught us are fantastic lessons for lifeamong humans, as well. We’re told that it’s a ter-rific read for non-horse owners, as well as horse-owners. Which, hopefully, means that we’ll beleaving a residue with folks who might have hors-es later on. Encouraging them to begin in a waythat is best for their horses.
Yvonne: How do you think we can get this mes-sage across to all the ordinary horse owners of theworld? And what can the average barefooter do tohelp spread the word?
Joe: We can, by presenting the story to the aver-age horse owner from the horse’s perspective,cause them to want to do better for their horses.When you or I say it, it’s often taken with a grainof salt. When the horses say it, I think people willlisten. Here’s something amazing that my hors-es have taught me.
And we should put special emphasis on newcom-ers, like Kathleen and me. We were untarnished,so to speak. We knew nothing. So we were veryreceptive to the logic, and the facts, and theresearch.
The average barefooter can keep talking.Everywhere, all the time. To everybody. Thatinfluence can be amazing. The average person inthis country has the opportunity to influence morethan one hundred people during the course ofone week. Think about that. By actual study, ahundred people! And chances are most of yourreaders are not average. Think of the differencewe can all make if we just keep talking. I know itgets frustrating. But if you only win one in ten, dothe math. It won’t take long for the flood of goodnews to spread.
Joe Camp’s new book will be published byRandom House Harmony Books in 2008. (Thecurrent working title for the book is TheNaked Horse, but that title is likely to change.)For more details, please visit Joe’s website at:www.nakedhorsemanship.com
See page 16 for more information about theRamey/Bowker clinic, hosted by Joe Camp,to be held in Valley Center, California onNov. 10-13, 2007.
“Horses First Racing” Blazes a Barefoot Trailby Kelly Baker
It is a time of great change and excitement atHorses First Racing (formerly known asSimon Earle Racing) at “The Beeches”
organic farm, in Sutton Veny, SW Wiltshire, inthe UK. New trainer Jeremy Gask is about tojoin us from Australia (where he was in the top5 trainers every year for the past 5 years, andtrained 50 wins from 30 horses last season).New horses, as well as new training methods,are about to be put in place, and the establish-ment looks set to go from strength to strength.
We have some incredibly talented barefoot horsesin training, the most impressive of which is possi-bly our 2 year old colt by Street Cry, Law OfAttraction. Street Cry is enjoying tremendous suc-cess as a sire. His son, Street Sense, easily wonthe Kentucky Derby and he has a large number ofvery talented offspring, including Street Soundand Street Magician, who are adding to the stal-lion’s already impressive reputation as a top classsire. We are delighted to have been sent one of hissons, and to make it even better, our colt’s femaleline means he is related to the Spinning Worldfamily, as is the Belmont winner Rags to Riches.With such impressive blood on both sides of hispedigree, and stunning good looks to match, thehopes are high for his future.
Law Of Attraction has been going on ourSoftwalker and doing regular work in our sandand rubber-based school to develop his feet andfitness. Although he was shod for a short whilebefore coming to us, his feet are structurally verygood, and he should have no problem racingbarefoot. His work will be slowly increased as webuild him up towards racing fitness. Withoutdoubt, he is worth keeping an eye out for, as allthe signs so far point to him becoming the mosthigh-profile and successful barefoot racehorse inthe world.
Godolphin are one of the biggest players in theworld of horseracing and know a nice horse whenthey see one. Maidanni, in their eyes and words,qualified as a very nice horse with a big futureahead of him. They raced him on the flat, where
he won nicely beforebreaking down infront. He was soldand broke downagain before beinggiven to us to transi-tion to barefoot. Bothour vet and naturalhoofcare practitioneragree that Maidanni’sleg is healing welland, with his feet alsodeveloping nicely,there is no reasonwhy he shouldn’tmake it back to thetrack this year withimproved feet andlegs. The horse willprobably go jumping(top jockey FrankieDettori got off himand said the horsewould be at homegoing around Cheltenham) as he is a big, toughguy who is built for the job. He has a real attitudeand, with the proven talent to match, shouldsoon be making a name for himself barefoot-styleon the track.
There is no doubt that going barefoot has savedthe careers of some of the horses at TheBeeches, and this is very true in the case of
Jahash. This lovely chestnut gelding reached thehighest levels of National Hunt racing, competingagainst the crème de la crème of steeplechasersat the Cheltenham Festival where he finished acredible 4th, beating some of the country’s tophorses. Not long afterwards, he developed prob-lems with his hind tendons and the owner wastold that he wouldn’t race again. Refusing tobelieve the horse’s racing days were behind him,Jahash was sent to us and transitioned to bare-foot. His feet were in a bad condition and would
have undoubtedly played a major role in the legproblems he had been experiencing. Off camethe shoes, and the hoof conditioning processbegan, with the horse using our walkers andschool and also doing plenty of work on tarmac.Eventually his feet improved, and Jahash made itback onto the racecourse. His previous trainer, avery talented and successful man, couldn’t believethe horse was back on the track, and actually saidthat he didn’t believe there was another racingyard that could have revived the horse’s career.We look forward to having a successful seasonwith the horse this winter, and he may well beheading back to the dizzy heights of Cheltenham.
Although he doesn’t have a Cheltenham Festivalto his name, Cap Classique is every bit as specialas Jahash. When Jahash had problems with hishind legs, it was his career in jeopardy; with CapClassique, it was his life. The temperamental baygelding, who is so highly-strung that he is trainedmainly from the field, had won impressively in abumper (a flat race for jumps horses) and shownplenty of ability in his following races before sus-taining an injury. That spring, he had repeatedhind foot abscesses and never came sound. Thefarrier found increasing difficulty in getting shoeson his front feet and said they were beyond shoe-ing properly. The vet was of the opinion that thehorse’s stance in the field indicated his hind sus-pensories were degrading to the point that theymight not function properly again, and recom-mended euthanasia. This was not an option thehorse’s owner, Deborah O’Brien, was willing toconsider. Deborah comments “I took the view thatif shoes were a problem, then going barefoot hadto be a possible solution, and remained convincedthat there must be an underlying issue causing himto deteriorate so quickly from sound racehorse tocripple. The people and facilities at The Beecheswere his only chance of useful life.”
Maidanni is a very talent-ed horse that brokedown, so he was transi-tioned to barefoot.
Law of Attraction, 2 year old colt by Street Cry.
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National Hunt Racing top contender Jahashfaced a career ending injury—until the shoescame off. Now he’s back on the racecourse.Notice his lovely heel-first step!
Cap Classique is a very special horse that near-ly lost his life due to hind leg problems. He wassent to The Beeches for rehabilitation, andbecame sound after only a few months.
(cont. on page 7)
Page 6 ISSUE 28 – SUMMER/FALL 2007 The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare
Horses First Racing, Cont.
In August 2006, Cap came home to us for hisrehabilitation. His story made him a perfectHorses First Club horse (see www.horsesfirst-club.com for more details) and so he was given tothe club free of charge. He arrived at the yard verylame behind and generally uncomfortable throughhis body. He obviously had multiple physical prob-lems, and so we turned him out in the field andallowed him to get better. Our chiropractor treat-ed him for a twisted pelvis and withers, and hisshoes were taken off to start the barefoot transi-tioning process which would improve the qualityof his feet, in turn helping his legs.
After a good few months, the horse becamesound. His feet were progressing well and it wastime for him to start work. The Softwalker andSeawalker (a walker designed by us in which thehorses walk and trot in chilled salt water) greatlyaided the horse’s rehabilitation, and he built up toprogress from the sea to the sand, doing sometrotting and cantering on the lunge in our school.The horse is now in ridden work and progressingmore every day. We are very proud at Horses Firstof being able to give him the chance he undoubt-edly deserves. The day he returns to the track willbe a very emotional one, with plenty of peoplecheering this courageous horse home.
For more news about Horses First Racing, pleasevisit: www.horsesfirstracing.com
Barefoot Sport
Barefoot Racing Success in the U.S.
Eventing Barefoot!
My Morgan, Mariah, was a rescue case—2weeks away from starvation when I bought her
at 2 1/2 years old. I first trained her through 2ndlevel dressage, but she got very bored with just the flatwork, and took to eventing like a fish to water (sheloves the cross-country).
I lived in Vermont for 15 years and had her shod inthe summers. When we moved to North Carolina ayear ago, I got into barefoot trimming. The barnowner where I board has done a lot of seminars withPete Ramey, and is trimming all her own horses’feet. She taught me how to do a lot of it myself, butwe still get a Barefoot Farrier (his name is Gil Goodin)out every 6 weeks, to do the majority of the work.He used to be a traditional farrier, but converted tobarefoot trimming. He will be part of a new“Barefoot Teaching Center” opening soon.
Mariah had some onset of Navicular disease, whichhas now totally gone away, and she has beenabsolutely sound since being barefoot—with a heavyeventing show schedule. I found out that Navicular isa “man-made” disease, and shoes are the culprit of it.
People actually ask me at shows, “how you can gocross-country without shoes and studs?” I think hors-es do a lot better barefoot, feeling where their feetare, and I never once had Mariah slip or take a badstep. —Brita Rizzi, www.barefootsaddles.net
Benny winning a Junior Championship in halter. Benny winning the race on June 17, 2007.
Benny placing 2nd in the 2006 MichiganJuvenile Stakes Race. Photo by Terri Holst.
Benny leading the pack out of the gate (asusual)...who says Barefoot horses have no trac-tion!!!! Photo by Terri Holst.
Photos from the June 2007 Lumber River Horse Trialsin Southern Pines, N.C., where Brita & Mariah wontheir division. Photos courtesy www.picsofyou.com
(cont. from page 6)Dressage
Cross-Country
Stadium Jumping
Sara Minsk and her husband, Brian, own Nine Maple Farm in Mendon, Massachusetts. Sarawrites, “I believe we were the first ones in the U.S. to breed, train, and race barefoot, as westarted in 2003 with Thoroughbreds. We created a particular environment for our horses to
allow their hooves to develop to their fullest potential. At the time, barefoot was NOT in fashion, andwe were quite the outcasts. It is great to see more people like Simon Earle joining the fight! However,us small farm owners have been doing the barefoot thing for a good bit now!”
These photos feature their homebred Arabian gelding, NMF Benraz Halim, aka “Benny,” trained byLeslie Bickel. Sara says, “He has trained and raced barefoot with zero training-related physical setbacks.He has never worn shoes. He races and trains on concrete hard American dirt tracks. He was stakesplaced as a Juvenile and just placed 2nd in the Michigan Derby Stakes Race on July 28, 2007. He has10 starts: 1 win, 4 times second, (including 2 stakes races), 1 time third.” Sara and Brian have had rac-ing success with both Arabians and Thoroughbreds. Visit their website at www.ninemaplefarm.com
Barrel racer C.J. Holdren became interestedin natural hoof care during a barrel race inGlenrose, Texas, early this year, where I
met her by chance. I had been discussing naturalhoof care with farrier Coty Cooper and C.J.’sfriend, Mike Newkirk. Mike was surprised thatCoty agreed with many of the principles of natu-ral hoof care, and said “C.J. needs to hear this.”We were introduced, and I explained some of thebenefits of barefoot.
When C.J. and Mike went home, Mike enrolled ina Pete Ramey clinic and began learning the natu-ral trim technique. C.J. began her own studies ofnatural hoof care and decided to take the plunge.On March 30th, I pulled the shoes off C.J.’s horse“Chuck” and gave him a set-up trim. Chuck is afourteen year old Thoroughbred that C.J. hasowned and barrel raced for several years. Chuckwas a little tender on his new bare feet, so I fittedhim in EasyCare Epics. The EasyCare bootsallowed C. J. to continue to ride, train and gain
confidence in Chuck andhis ability to handle himselfwithout shoes.
On April 22nd in Alvarado,Texas, Chuck was wearinghis Epics when he carriedC.J. to a money-winningfinish in the 3rd division of aB.R.A.T. (Barrel Racers ofTexas) race. Hopefully, thisaccomplishment will inspireothers to kick their steelshoes and get into thehealthy alternative of natu-ral hoof care.
After long years of beingshod, Chuck’s feet havesome issues. C.J. under-stands that it will take timeto heal Chuck’s feet and iscommitted to transitioningChuck to truly healthy, nat-ural feet. On July 2nd, Igave Chuck a slightly moreaggressive trim, in hopes of
speeding up this transition process. He didbecome just a bit tender again, but this wasn’t aproblem for Chuck, because C.J. has no problemriding him in EasyCare boots.
On July 22nd, C.J. raced Chuck wearing OldMac’s Boots at the “Intervet Race For The Truck”in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Chuck again made a suc-cessful run that placed him in the third division,however it wasn’t a money-winning placement.
Congratulations to C.J. Holdren for being one ofthe pioneers in using boots to race in, while herhorse is transitioning to healthy bare feet. I amproud to have been a part of these history-makingevents that will eventually lead to longer, healthier,and sounder lives for performance horses, asmore and more people realize that they don’thave to sacrifice health for performance.
About the author: Johnny Holder and his wifeLiz live in Weatherford, Texas, where they raiseand train barrel racing horses. They race all
their horses barefoot. Johnny learned his trim-ming through much self-study and practice ontheir horses. Johnny says “I chose the wildhorse hoof as my model soon after I first start-ed trimming and before I had heard of PeteRamey; however, when I did discover Pete, histechniques brought my trimming to a newlevel.” Johnny has attended Pete Ramey’s clin-ic, Dr. Bowker’s seminar, EasyCare’s hoof boot-ing clinic, James and Yvonne Welz hoof trim-ming clinic and is an EasyCare dealer. Johnnycan be reached at (817) 597-0129.
Barefoot Sport
Barrel Racing in EasyCare Boots!
Chuck’s first barefoot trim.
C.J. and her friend Michael Newkirk celebrateher winning run.
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C.J. Holdren and her horse "Chuck" at a Barrel Racers of Texas (BRAT) raceheld in Alvarado, TX, on April 22, 2007. Johnny Holder pulled Chuck'sshoes and fitted him in EasyCare Epics about a month before this race. C.J.did her part by continuing to ride and train and gain confidence in his newboots. C.J. placed 5th in the 3rd division, with a time of 16.514 seconds.
Close-up of Chuck’s Epic boots after his run.
Above: CJ and Chuck after their run in GuthrieOklahoma, July 22, where Chuck raced in OldMac’s Boots (close-up below).
Page 8 ISSUE 28 – SUMMER/FALL 2007 The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare
by Tiffany Drabek
Reining horses must be shod on the rearhooves with sliding plates in order toacheive the exaggerated sliding stops,
so they aren’t technically barefoot all around.However, several natural-trimmed horses com-peted at a popular reining show recently, the2007 National Reining Breeders Classic inKaty, Texas. In particular, a couple of thesehorses were past navicular cases!
Ribs
Ribs (Mister Millenium) went lame and wasshod by “the best of the best” farriers and vetsat Texas A&M and, while there, had nearly$8000 spent on him, trying to help him. Hisx-rays showed holes in the navicular bone.They truly triedeverything traditional:injections, pads, cor-rective shoes, evenshock therapy, andfinally said he just had“bad genetics” andwas hopeless. Theytold his owner toeither have his nervescut and put him outto pasture, or put himdown.
Having nothing elseto lose, the ownerfinally decided to givemy husband, barefootprofessional EddieDrabek, a try trim-ming. Ribs was back
in training within afew months andback in the showring by 6 months!That was nearly 3years ago—he is 7years old now, andobviously, sincethese photos arejust a couplemonths old, he’sstill going strong!
Coffee
Coffee (CustomCoffee) had startedshowing signs ofnavicular, so withthe success of Ribs,they decided to gobarefoot with him,as well, and several other horses in their train-ing barn...and more and more followed!
All the Reining trainers that Eddie trims forkeep their horses barefoot all the time on thefronts, and as much as possible on the rears.They are now getting healthy front hooves andmore healthy, balanced rear hooves, despitethe shoes, and as much barefoot time as pos-sible in-between competitions, which is farmore than what they were getting before. Thehealth of the hooves and horses and their per-formance all show great improvements! Thetrainers have also made many changes in theirhorsekeeping practices, like diet changes,more natural alternatives to medications/sup-plements, and greatly increasing turnout time.
This is the only equestrian sport we’ve foundwhere, unfortunately, the rear shoes are nec-
essary. Without them, thehorses will rub/burn theirheel bulbs and back oftheir hooves in the spinsand slides, plus they won’tbe able to acheive thesame distance of slide, asthose with sliders. While Imay not agree with havingto use “adaptive equip-ment” in order to performa task, I’m glad a naturaltrimmer can at least dotheir part to make thesereining horses as comfort-able as possible, as muchas possible. With thedevelopment of theMarquis Sliding Boot,Eddie hopes to greatlydecrease, and hopefully
one day eliminate, the amount of time the rearhooves have to be shod at all.
About the author: Tiffany Drabek residesin Texas with her husband Eddie (a naturaltrimmer) and their 2 children. They are“owned” by 7 horses. Tiffany grew up on aracehorse training/breeding farm, whichgave her a lifelong love of horses that,thankfully, rubbed off on her husband...andhis hoof obsession rubbed off on her! Shewas a Therapeutic Riding Instructor fornearly 9 years, but, for now, is a stay-at-home mom. She and Eddie can be reachedat [email protected]
Barefoot Sport
Reining Champions: From Navicular to Bare Front
Ribs was navicular and “hopelessly lame” at age4, but with natural hoof care, he is still goingstrong in the show ring at age 7!
Ribs in a slide. Reining horses need “slidingplates”—special rear shoes that help createthe desirable long slides. It is hopeful that ahoof boot may soon replace these shoes.
Coffee, like Ribs, was a past navicular horse. Here he is competing barefootin front at the 2007 National Reining Breeders Classic in Katy, Texas.
Reining trainers now have the option of keep-ing their horses barefoot in front, and shoeingthe hinds only part time, mainly for shows. Thisgreatly increases the health of the hooves andthe horses!
My Bare Hoof Trimming Apprenticeshipby Rhiannon Fugatt
It’s been over a year now since that first trim-ming lesson. The experience of learning andworking with barefoot professional Phil
Morarre provided me with a lot more than justthe basic knowledge of how to trim an alreadyhealthy hoof—Phil and I developed a wonderfulfriendship, as well. We worked on hooves withjust about every problem and saw the healingresults of what correct bare hoof trimming has tooffer. Phil was extensively informative about howto deal with many hoof lameness issues, and hehelped me to see each horse’s hoof as a veryunique experience. I feel that learning and beingout in the field offered more than I expected, andexposed me to some lessons that one needs toexperience first-hand to learn.
For me, becoming a natural bare hoof trimmerbegan a year ago when my family got ourIcelandic pony, Snickers. He came from a rescuewith a sprained fetlock joint. The rescue hadstalled him for four months, he had shoes on,and was pretty much living on a donation diet.I’d already been doing pasture trims on all ourhorses for two years prior to Snickers cominginto our lives, so I pulled his shoes immediately.
He had second stage laminitis and refused towalk on anything except very soft dirt; eventhen, he moved slowly, as if in pain. Here is a listof his symptoms: white line separation at the toethat was one inch spread apart, swollen RF dig-ital flexor tendon sheath, both heels pinched andcontracted at least one quarter of an inch. Hisfeet looked like elf shoes and were extremelyflared out at the toes. I started trimming him, butI didn’t see his foot issues getting any better withjust a pasture trim.
I have been a holistic therapist working with peo-ple for over seventeen years, and I knew there
had to be a different way togo about getting his feet backto a healthy shape. Aboutthis same time, a good friendof mine told me about PhilMorarre, so I called him.While we were on the phoneI went out to Snickers andcleaned his feet, while Philasked questions and gaveadvice about what and whereto trim. He was very thor-ough about what was goingon in the feet. We also dis-cussed Snicker’s diet and liv-ing conditions—I needed tochange his diet to a grasshay/no grain diet, as we’vefound him to be insulin-resistant.
That same day, with this new information abouthow to deal with his hooves, I trimmed Snickersagain. That’s when I decided to seek more train-ing. I was totally intrigued and felt ready toembark on a new career adventure. I wantedsomething new, but similar—something holistic.Something that emphasized the connectedwhole self of the horse, not just perceiving thehorse as separate parts that are unrelated. Philtold me if I was good with the tools and caughton quickly, I could do an apprenticeship withhim, and learn the profession.
Phil requested that I attend one of his clinics ortake a private lesson before beginning myapprenticeship. I chose the lesson, and tookSnickers and my horse Fearn out to Phil’s houseto spend the day trimming them, and learning asmuch as possible. Fearn had started a slight limpjust a day before. After we finished trimming her,we watched the bones of p1, p2, and p3 in herback left leg realign themselves into their correctposition, and the limp was gone! Snickers alsoresponded positively within a week after his firsttrim.
Desensitizing the horses to the angle grinderhappened more quickly than I previouslythought it would. I learned that you should neverapproach a new horse with the angle grinder likeit’s “some big deal” or something to be afraid of.You should always remain calm and relaxed, likeit’s just normal and nothing to be afraid of, anduse approach and retreat methods until thehorse is relaxed around the noise. Then, holdthe leg and hoof while rubbing the angle grinderdisk on the hoof and repeatedly firing it off forshort periods of time, until the horse is acceptingof it.
Using the angle grinder came quite easily, as Ialready had experience using smaller power tools(dremels, drills, carving tools, etc.) while doing
wood carvings as a hobby. I have seen some peo-ple who only trim their own horses take sometime getting used to the grinder, so it might not beeasy for everyone. It is definitely much easier thanusing a rasp and nippers. Getting balance correctwasn’t too difficult, as I also have a good eye fordimension and balance, having spent much of mylife involved in various artistic pursuits. I found thattrimming the right side of the horse with my lefthand proved a little more difficult, as I hadn’t builtup the muscles in my left arm for that yet. But, astime went by and I continued trimming regularly,things got better.
After my first day of training, I did as muchresearch as I could, via the internet and books,and began going with Phil to learn, observe,and, eventually, assist and do some of the trim-ming. I also joined the naturalhorsetrim andabrasivetrim e-mail lists, which I found very help-
Rhiannon trimming Snickers, while daughter Fionna watches on.
Rhiannon with her daughter Fionna, andSnickers, the Icelandic pony that started it all.
Rhiannon’s previous experience in woodworkingaided her greatly in her trimming application.
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(cont. on page 11)
Page 10 ISSUE 28 – SUMMER/FALL 2007 The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare
Barefoot Hooves
Wild Horse Hoovesby Dr. Hiltrud Strasser, translation bySabine Kells
In the course of their evolution and during theirinteraction with humans, horses have becomeadapted to many climates and many different
types of terrain, though hard and dry ground isprobably the closest to their original habitat.
In North America, most of the terrain on whichwild living horses are found seems to be dry androcky. Accordingly, many people look at thehoof form found among these horses and think,“The hooves of our domestic horses should be assimilar to these wild horse hooves as possible; so,as barefoot trimmers, we should reproduce thehoof form of the wild mustangs.” And the hoovesof these mustangs are similar to those of theLusitanos in Spain, for example, since the terrainis similar there.
I would like to point out that horses’ hoovesbecome adapted to various terrain conditionsvia various hoof forms. As such, when trim-ming domestic horses, it is not enough to con-sider the form of a wild horse’s hoof—onemust also take into consideration the terrainthe domestic horse lives on.
For trimming, it is not so important that the hooflooks pretty from the outside, but that the hoofcan accomplish its functions properly, and this isonly possible when its form is in harmony with theterrain.
Furthermore, it is important that hoof careassures that the coffin bone is ground-parallel.Only then can the hoof capsule be loadedevenly, with no part of the coffin bone sus-pension overstressed, and the hoof capsule will
not become deformed over time.
The accompanying photos of wild horses inareas with sandy and soft terrain clarify howvariable hoof form can be. This makes hoofcare more difficult, since we must be able toconsider the deviations from the norm in con-nection with the origin of the horse, or the ter-rain in which it lives.
About the author: With her doctorate in vet-erinary medicine, Dr. Strasser has researchedthe horse’s hoof for over two decades. She hasstudied the hooves of wild horses in Syria,South Africa (in areas of completely differentterrains, with completely different hoof forms),New Zealand, Australia, England, NorthernGermany and Mongolia; and she has studiedthe hooves of self-trimming horses inScandinavia, Turkey, Namibia and Germany.She finds it of interest to note that the old far-rier textbooks in Europe still show uncontract-ed hooves, the way they would be formed bynatural wear in Europe.
South African wild horse hooves living on soft,sandy terrain.
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Above & below: a wild horse hoof capsule foundin New Zealand. This horse lived on sandy terrain.
Horses living on dry, sandy terrain.
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Apprenticeship, cont.
ful. When I first began learning from other hors-es Phil works on, I observed and asked questionsabout anything I didn’t quite yet understand. Ialso started working on my friend’s horses, andmore often on my own horses, having amazingresults. I worked on Snickers once a week forfour months after that. Being able to work withsuch a variety of horses with different behaviorshelped me to learn some new techniques to helpget the trim done.
During my studies, I continued to encounterresults that confirmed how the return of circula-tion to an unhealthy hoof hastened the healingof lameness. It only took four months forSnickers to heal and be perfectly comfortable
walking on gravel again. I saw how the blowingout of an abscess during healing can releasepressure and remove necrotic materials from thehoof. I saw how scooping the quarters got rid ofthe unnatural arching in the hairline. I witnessedhow the time that healing takes in different hors-es is affected by different prior conditions (shoes,how long shod, poor trimming, neglect, etc.).
I kept thinking of an old friend of mine, anacupuncturist, who once told me about howour own feet pump blood in the arches, andhow high heels and arch supports are bad foryou and stop circulation. This brought to mymind the concept of the “Second Heart,”which is how I decided on a name for my newbusiness, “Second Heart Hoof Care.” I amproud to say that I am now a Certified
Softouch Natural Horse Care Practitioner, andI look forward to doing more for our barehoofed equine family.
About the author: Rhiannon Fugatt liveswith her family and four horses near Chico,California. She is a certified barehoof trim-mer through Soft Touch Natural Horse Care,as taught by Phil Morarre. She has also beena massage, bio-energetic, and acupressure/Shiatsu therapist for eighteen years, as wellas an attuned Reiki Master with much workin Chinese Medicine. She has spent most ofher life doing various forms of art, is licensedin permanent cosmetics, and has a good eyefor balance. She has spent countless hoursworking with wood, carving burl wood, oakbowls, etc.
My trimming decisions are based on acombination of my past education, trialand error throughout many years, and
some theories I have developed along the way. Itis not enough for me to see a technique work—I need to know how and why it works.
The theories that form the basis for my trimmingdecisions were featured in my article in THH 27,“A Different View of Hoof Mechanism.” Thisarticle provided a “cliff notes” summary of thesetheories, which I hope to expand upon further infuture articles. For now, I will examine their prac-tical application.
Like many, I often trim using my instincts. Whenyou are trimming in the field, it usually isn’t nec-essary to explain your decisions, or to describeyour course of action. So while I gave muchthought to the cause and effect of trimming tech-niques, I gave little thought to the continuity ofexactly what I did—how it related to steps thatcould be communicated to others. It was notuntil I began giving clinics, that a pattern beganto emerge. This article will describe the way Icurrently trim, and will hopefully provide helpfulinformation for owners and professionals fromall backgrounds.
Target the problem area
The first thing I do with a foot is assess what thebiggest problem area is, and work from there. Ilocate areas of deviation from normal, and con-sider those to be my target areas to correct. Thesteps below are provided in an ordinary and log-ical sequence, but I will often work out ofsequence when addressing problems. Note: eachseparate hoof is trimmed individually and unique-ly. One of the biggest errors people can make isto attempt to trim hooves to “match.” Each hoofwill have its own different problem areas to workon.
1) Heels
The typical first step in my trimming is to estab-lish the desired heel height. In most cases, andcertainly with a healthy hoof, heels are trimmedto just above the level of the live sole. Live sole,or new sole, is usually quite easy to distinguishfrom the flaky old sole. I am quite insistent aboutkeeping the heels to a comfortable height: itdoes no good to over-shorten the heels andcause the horse to stand on its toes.
2) Wall
From the solar surface, I even out the wall asneeded. This includes removing protruding walls(wall overstand). Some horses that don’t work onhard ground can tolerate a slight wall overstand,while others cannot—I judge this by the stresslines in the hoof wall, and the coronary bandconnection.
3) Bars
I am very picky about trimming bars. When trim-ming bar, ONLY the bar should be touched. Oneof the biggest mistakes that people make is to trimsole at the same time as they trim bar. Anothermistake they make is to not touch the bars at all,with the idea that the bars will magically take careof themselves. If the walls need trimming, the barsprobably need trimming, too. Bars are an exten-sion of the wall—neither the walls nor the barsshould bear too much weight. The same signs ofperipheral loading that I can now readily recog-nize in weight-bearing hoof walls, are also becom-ing apparent in weight-bearing bars. The bar hasa distinct function, which I believe is to limit exces-sive hoof mechanism, and in order to performtheir function, they must be shaped properly.
Bars should taper with the concavity of the hoof,and should bear weight only in the very rear por-tion. I trim the bars separately, fairly straight, andflat on top. I have had the best results in hoofhealth when the bars are trimmed to end at themid-point of the frog. This corresponds with thelocation where the bar laminae end.
The rear of the bar and heel form a weight-bearing platform of support, or “heel pur-chase” area. I decided to encourage this after I
observed that most wild horse hooves demon-strated this characteristic.
4) Sole
I want soles to be as thick as they possibly can be.Horses with excess built-up sole will usually pres-ent flaky growth that can be “trimmed” with ahoofpick. In most cases, the only sole that istrimmed is a blending in of the area of thetrimmed bar. However, when I trim this area, Itrim it in a very slightly convex shape, rather thanconcave. As outlined in my previous article, thismatches the actual shape of the underside of thecoffin bone, which is really a complex S-curve.The overall concavity of the hoof is evident in thetoe area just in front of the apex, which is an areathat is not routinely trimmed. I also want soles tobe uniform in thickness and not have lumps orunevenness that will cause problems on hardground.
5) Frog
I usually do not trim the frogs very much, as I wantthem to be as full as possible. I do, however, trimout the frog’s central sulcus, to make sure there isno area for infection.
6) Mustang Roll
My reason for applying the mustang roll is to
A first time trim (by me) on a 2 yo Quarter horse gelding. The before and afters, all front left, lookmore dramatic because of the initial excess hoof, but aside from the wall stress and bruising of thequarters from the overloaded walls, these are pretty healthy feet. Notice the relieved quarters inthe last photo (scooping)—this is a natural trimming result, which also corresponds with thepushed up hairline at the quarters. With consistent trimming, this will smooth out.
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Trimming Insights Cont.
relieve areas of stress that show up in the coro-nary connection, and reduce peripheral loading. Ihave found that the mustang roll, correctly appliedover time, will create a thicker hoof wall, greaterconcavity, and a full, robust, healthy coronaryconnection.
The first step of the mustang roll is to address thetoe. If the toe is too long, I shorten the toe from
the front (never from underneath, as that wouldremove toe sole). To start, I apply a 90 degreestraight cut to back the toe up until I reach thedesired location. Then this cut is rounded off even-ly, and from there, the top and bottom arebeveled a couple of times until the roll is smoothand rounded (beveling the bevel). I roll the entireouter wall, toe to heel. When the mustang roll isapplied to the entire foot, a natural scooping ofthe quarters will appear, without any need to trimfor that specifically. It is already in the hoof!
The mustang roll effects are so powerful that trim-mers can often achieve fairly good results simplyby applying a mustang roll combined with shortheels and short toes. This kind of trim is oftengenerically termed a mustang or wild-horse-styletrim. However, I believe that trimmers will findeven greater success by trimming the bars verycarefully and precisely as needed, encouraging aheel purchase area, and shaping the sole out fromthe bars in a very slightly convex shape. In myexperience, these elements increase soundnessand hoof health.
Notes
Terrain considerations: I’ve recently traveledaround much of the central and western parts ofthe U.S. and consider the various terrain to be well-suited to trimming to a mustang model. In wetparts of the Northeast and Southeast, as well asother countries, things may be a little different.Nonetheless, I believe it is paramount to minimizethe peripheral load on the hoof wall. With hardground, this means a bigger mustang roll. On soft-er ground, watch for stress lines in the hoof (suresigns of peripheral loading) and relieve that wall.
Measurements: I don’t use any measurementswhen I trim. While originally intended to beuseful teaching aids, measurements oftencause problems.
Tools: I frequently use power tools to trim, butthey are inconsequential to the way I trim. Iconsider them tools, nothing more and noth-ing less. I perform the same trim with handtools or power tools.
It is easy to write down a list of trimming steps—deceptively easy! What is so difficult is conveyingthe decision process involved—what to remove,when and why, as well as what not to remove. Itreally only takes a few days to learn how to trim ahoof—then it usually takes a few years to learnhow to make the complex decisions necessary totrim well. And then, you better to be prepared tokeep learning, because that never ends.
About the author: James Welz graduated in2001 from North America’s first available year-long barefoot hoofcare professional course(ESHOP/Dr. Hiltrud Strasser). Since then, hehas trimmed for a client base of 200 horses permonth. These horses (the best teachers) contin-ued his education, which was also greatly influ-enced by wild horse hooves and the work ofJaime Jackson and Dr. Robert Bowker.
Above: This hoof belongs to a 5 yo gelding thatI have trimmed monthly from birth. His feet areso sound, he can be easily ridden over rockswithout any conditioning for it. Notice the wideheel bulb—there is no dip at all. This is a veryhealthy hoof. The “heel purchase” area is clear-ly visible in a hoof like this.
Another first-time trim on a fairly healthy hoof (left front), which looks less dramatic because lesshoof is removed. But this is no less important! Just like the first example, it is consistency in cor-rect trimming over time which will increase the health and improve the form of these hooves.
Above: this is the straight back cut I do first, toshorten overgrown toes. If you try to shortenAND round at the same time, you are more like-ly to make mistakes. Below: this hoof did nothave overgrown toes, so it is simply rounded.Here I am, “beveling the bevel.”
AANHCP Clinics: A Resounding AchievementFrom the American Association of NaturalHoof Care PractitionersA Resounding Achievement for the AANHCP Training & Certification Program
Nearly 100 students and certified hoof carepractitioners came together inWarrenton, Missouri, from April 20-25,
2007 for the first-time event that came to beknown as the “Cluster Clinic”—four accreditedorientation clinics, plus a Natural Trim Workshop.Participants came from far and wide within theUnited States, Australia, Canada, Denmark,Scotland and Germany.
On Friday, Jaime Jackson, president andfounder of the AANHCP, started things offwith a terrific Introduction to NaturalTrimming and the Wild Horse Model Clinic.Highlights of the day included tales of fascinat-ing events and pictures from Jaime’s historicexpedition into wild horse country.
Participants also handled and inspected wild horsehooves, true treasures from Jaime’s earlyresearch. They also watched a BLM video of theAANHCP “model,” wild horses in their naturalhaunts of the open rangelands of western UnitedStates. Nick Hill (CP–UK) also gave an enlighten-ing, entertaining firsthand account of the benefitsof Paddock Paradise, Jaime’s natural boardingparadigm that is sweeping the horse world.
But for many, the day culminated with trimming.First, participants watched Jaime, an authenticmaster trimmer and the progenitor of the naturalhoof care movement, trim a laminitic hoof. Then,after Ann Corso (CP–KY) gave a brief overview ofthe Official AANHCP Trimming Guidelines, theparticipants broke out into small groups to see theguidelines put into action by some of the best hoofcare practitioners in the world, including Nick Hill(CP–Scotland), Neal Valk DVM, DACVS(CP–TN), John Graves (CP–CO), Ann Corso(CP–KY), Scott McConaughey (CP–WI) and KerryKirkland (CP–MO). It was quite a first day.
Saturday, Day 2: Richard Drewry, vice-presidentand co-founder of the AANHCP, jump started theday with his newly-revised, highly informativeHorse Boot Clinic. Richard described why suc-cessful booting is so integral to the ultimate suc-cess of the natural hoof care movement, theinherent difficulties associated with booting, theadvantages and disadvantages of different bootmodels, and methods for fitting and modifyingboots for optimal comfort and protection for hors-es trimmed to the wild horse model. There weremany “Aha!” moments for participants whogained insights that often come only after lengthytrial-and-error.
Saturday afternoon, Neal Valk, DVM, DACVStalked about veterinarian/hoof care provider
relations and the impact they have on equine hoofcare. Topics included veterinary background andtraining, modern veterinary diagnostics and thera-py, and the benefits of an amicable relationshipbetween the veterinarian and hoof care provider.Neal also talked about the importance and bene-fits of incorporating natural hoof/horse care in thetreatment of common equine maladies, and theshortfalls of current veterinary therapy. Severalspecific examples of common equine lamenessissues were also discussed. What a special oppor-tunity this was for clinic participants to listen to aveterinarian that successfully completed the AAN-HCP hoof care certification program from begin-ning to end. And participants took advantage,keeping Dr. Valk front and center with questionafter question at the end of the lecture.
Saturday evening: Richard Drewry cooked andserved up a bunch of Arkansas pork shoulders,potato salad, coleslaw and cake to clinic partici-pants and their guests. It was a great time for peo-ple to catch up with old friends and to make newones. More that 100 people attended. Very cool!
Sunday & Monday morning: Bruce Nock, Ph.D.added an air of cutting edge science to the eventin his Lifeway and the Natural Hoof Clinic.Bruce kicked off the clinic by explaining that manyfactors contribute to determining hoof integrityand that hoof health can’t be carved into a footbut must develop from within. Stress is one key
factor in determining horse/hoof health.Participants were led step-by-step from the physi-ology and biochemistry of stress to the risk ofpathological conditions like laminitis. The role ofobesity, insulin resistance, reduced glucose avail-ability, atherosclerosis, vasoconstriction, endothe-lial damage, bone loss and sub-clinical inflamma-tion were all described.
Great stuff, and it was all presented in under-standable terms. Quite a feat! The process ofjoint closure, the biomechanics of movementand riding, and the meaning of the term “natu-ral” were also discussed in relation to hoof care.The importance of saddle fitting to hoof carewas also covered. The clinic ended on Mondaymorning with a session on assessing movementin domesticated and wild horses. All-in-all, theclinic was a unique blend of in-depth informationabout how a horse’s lifeway can impact hoofhealth and the success or failure of even the best-trained hoof care professional.
The five-day event culminated in the new NaturalTrim Workshop (NTW), an opportunity for par-ticipants to dive in and try their hand at trimmingcadaver hooves. For some new students, theNTW was their first opportunity to trim a hoof; forothers it was a doorway to training with live hors-es. For certified practitioners and advanced stu-dents, it was a chance to show off their stuff,maybe pickup a pointer or two, and hone theirtrimming skills.
Ann Corso, Assistant Director of AANHCPOperations, started things off with an overview ofthe Official AANHCP Trimming Guidelines.Then, participants broke out into small groupswith a NTW clinician: Ann Corso (CP–KY), JohnGraves (CP–CO), Nick Hill (CP–UK), SteveJohnson (CP–TN), Kerry Kirkland (CP–MO),Monica Meer (CP–WI) or Mike Stelske (CP–WI).Each NTW clinician demonstrated and describedthe natural trim to his/her group, and then par-ticipants were turned loose to practice. All thewhile, the NTW clinician was there to answerquestions and provide expert assistance if andwhen needed. Some 350 cadaver hooves weretrimmed on Tuesday, the final day of the event.All of the CPs who attended the NTW for contin-uing education and many intermediate andadvanced students passed the “three hoof chal-lenge” to become Workshop Qualified. It was aterrific success with Jaime, assisted by RichardDrewry, John Graves and Nick Hill, personallyevaluating each and every hoof in detail withoutknowledge of who trimmed it.
All-in-all, the Cluster Clinic was a great event forteachers and students alike, enjoyable as well aseducational. Misinformation and misconceptionswere dispelled, and students and CPs headed
(cont. on page 15)
Jaime Jackson working with his students in his“Introduction to Natural Trimming and the WildHorse Model Clinic.”
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Nick Hill, CP–Scotland, discussing the form andfunction of a wild hoof with clinic participants.
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AANHCP Clinics, Cont.
home with a clear, deep understanding of the the-ory behind the authentic Natural Trim.
Below is a sample of what participants wrote afterthe cluster clinic:
“Danny [Pryor, Houston Police Mounted Unit,AANHCP Practitioner in Training] and I wouldlike to thank you for a very pleasant experience—and thank all of the other instructors and cliniciansas well. What an amazing collection of peoplefrom around the globe, all interested in improvingthe lives of horses. I am looking forward to thenew and improved program you have in theworks, and look forward to attending that one andmore in the future. This organization is one welook forward to being an active part of as we workour way through the certification process andbeyond. Anything myself or Danny and theHouston Police Mounted unit can do to help, letus know.” Scott Berry, Houston Police MountedUnit, AANHCP Practitioner in Training.
“Just wanted to thank you for the great workshop.I was very impressed with you as our instructor.You were very good at putting us at ease and
being sure we understood the guidelines... It wasone of the best experiences I have had in the pro-gram, and I am on step 9. Just wanted to sharemy appreciation.” Kathy Beagle, Practitioner inTraining.
“The clinics were great.” Monica Meer, AANHCPCertified Practitioner.
“All of the clinics were wonderful.” DebraEdwards, AANHCP Practitioner in Training.
“I am sooooo glad I attended the Missouri event.This is just what I needed to fine tune myself.”Gudrun Buchhofer, AANHCP CertifiedPractitioner (Canada).
“Warrenton is a great place and everything was soconvenient. Even the weather cooperated!”Marcia Cummings, AANHCP Practitioner inTraining.
The next Cluster Clinic is scheduled forSeptember 21-26, 2007, in Warrenton, MO. Itwill be a great time to jump start a career in hoofcare, complete continuing education require-ments, or just come and find out what’s new andenjoy the camaraderie.
This article is available on the web, with lotsmore photos, at the AANHCP website: http://www.aanhcp.net/AprilClusterClinic.pdf
For more information about the AANHCP pro-grams, visit aanhcp.net
Details and registration info for the Septemberclinics are located here:http://aanhcp.net/SeptClusterClinic.pdf
Hands-on trimming in the new “Natural TrimWorkshop.”
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Barefoot Events
UK Farrier’s Conference on Barefootby Gill Nash
Worshipful Company of Farriers’Conference in the U.K, April 26th, 2007
Aconference day was arranged by theWorshipful Company of Farriers in theU.K., in response to the growing interest
in barefoot that some of its members (registeredfarriers) are reporting. The speakers includedtwo vets and three farriers, as well as two fieldinstructors (Sarah Braithewaite and NicolaBarker) from the UKNHCP—UK NaturalHoofcare Practitioners.
About 250 people attended the conference.While the majority of the audience had a gen-uine interest in barefoot and was there tolearn, there was clearly a small number of dis-senters who were there specifically to chal-lenge barefoot.
The accent on the conference was “Trimmingfor Soundness,” with the inference that someworking horses could manage very well withoutshoes, as long as certain criteria was met. Thespeakers, whether strictly pro-barefoot or not,were well aware that this subject is still contro-versial in the U.K. and focused their lectures onmany aspects of hoof health, including lipidchemistry, bone remodeling, tubule density anddifferent rates of moisture absorption in the hoofwall, and how these influence soundness.
The pro-barefoot farriers spoke, amongst otherthings, of the importance of correct balance to
achieve a healthy foot with strong lateral carti-lages and digital cushion. Speakers from theUKNHCP spoke about achieving performancebarefoot and conditioning the foot throughappropriate paddock management.
Simon Earle, the racehorse trainer in the U.K.who prefers to race horses barefoot, spoke ofsome of the difficulties he has encountered infinding the right combination of farriery andveterinary care for his barefoot racers. Whilesome horse owners place their horses in train-ing with Simon specifically because they wantthem to run barefoot, others find the transitionperiod from shoes to barefoot too long andexpensive, and decide to run their horsesshod. The fact that many thoroughbreds areshod from the age of two makes transition tobarefoot particularly difficult.
Objections were raised by some members of theaudience who felt it had been suggested that atruly healthy, functional hoof was, indeed, anunshod one. Objections were also raised to theletters that barefoot trimmers put after names,e.g. EP, EHP, UKNHCP, etc. Some farriers feltthat as they train for four years, they had to bemore knowledgeable than a barefoot trimmer,whose training was generally only between 1-2years. They criticized the fact that there is nogoverning or disciplining body in the U.K. cov-ering all barefoot trimmers. The statement wasalso made that shoeing had been going on forcenturies, and therefore couldn’t be wrong.
The law in the U.K. dictates that only a farriercan prepare a foot for a shoe, but some at theconference wanted to have it changed so thattrimming a foot and then fitting a hoof boot istantamount to fitting a shoe, and is therefore anoffense. I had a look at the law as stated on theFarriers Registration Councils’ website.
Farriery is defined in the ACT as: “any work inconnection with the preparation or treatment ofthe foot of the horse for the immediate receptionof a shoe thereon, the fitting by nailing or other-wise of a shoe to the foot or the finishing off ofsuch work to the foot.”
This means that “barefoot trimming” i.e. trim-ming that is not in preparation for the applica-tion of a shoe does not fall within the definition.
The key words here are probably “immediate”and “shoe.” The dictionary defines a shoe as ametal plate attached to the underside of the footand a boot as a covering for the foot. But evenif a shoe and a boot were legally defined as thesame thing (which they are not), provided theboot was not fitted immediately after the trim,the law would not be broken.
Although the majority of working horses in theU.K. are still shod, the number of horses doingit all barefoot has increased tremendously dur-ing the last seven years. The conference wasnot as pro-barefoot as we enthusiasts wouldhave liked, but I think it is a major triumph thatit happened at all.
Spunky was given to me 2 1/2 years ago,when I moved to Tennessee. He, along
with 3 other horses, “came with” the farm myfamily and I had bought. I didn’t have much his-tory on him, except that he was in his 20’s, hadbeen chronically foundered in all 4 hooves formany years, and had a history of abuse. He wasnoticeably lame in all 4 hooves, and walked withtremendous stiffness. His coat was in poor con-dition, and he appeared to have Cushing’s dis-ease. Mentally, he was no longer interested inhis surroundings, and very depressed from hav-ing to constantly deal with pain. Life was nolonger worth living for this little guy, or so hethought.
Despite the fact that I had just enrolled in theStrasser Certification course and had very littletrimming experience, I immediately began trim-ming him to the best of my ability, and slowlybut surely he began to make progress. As themonths went by and I learned more and gainedmore experience, he began to do even better
and better. A year later, you could catch himtrotting and cantering with my other pony,despite the fact that his hooves still neededmuch work. And talk about a beautiful coat.Wow! This certainly did not look or act anythinglike the pony that had been given to me just ayear prior. He began living up to his name.
Now, 2 1/2 years later, his coffin bones arecompletely resuspended in his hinds, and 1/2way resuspended in his fronts. I have donenothing special for this pony other than to pro-vide him with natural living conditions and applythe Strasser trim on a weekly basis. He still hasa little more progress to make on his fronts, buthe is certainly getting there. I am very happy tosee how much this pony has changed; he hasmade leaps and bounds, and I thank theStrasser trim for that.
About the author: Jennifer Vallieres is a cer-tified Strasser Hoofcare Professional (SHP),graduated in 2005. She has a ranch in MiddleTennessee, and lives there with her 6 horses,4 goats, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 6 chickens.
Spunky Before, Nov. ‘04 Spunky After, May ‘07
Page 16 ISSUE 28 – SUMMER/FALL 2007 The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare
Don’t Miss Event:Ramey/Bowker Clinic inCalifornia
Dr. Robert M. Bowker joins Pete Ramey inValley Center, California—to be Ramey’slast Clinic anywhere for at least two years!
World renowned natural hoof care specialistPete Ramey will be joined by Robert M.Bowker VMD, PhD, Professor of Anatomy,Michigan State University College ofVeterinary Medicine, at his hoof care clinicin Valley Center, CA on November 10th and11th, 2007. Dr. Bowker will hold his two-day clinic immediately following Ramey’s,on November 12th and 13th.
“What an amazing opportunity for horseowners everywhere,” said Valley Center res-ident Joe Camp, one of the three sponsorsof the clinics. “These are two of the mostknowledgeable specialists in the entire worldof hoof care placing their knowledge andexperience up close and personal. It’s reallya coup to get both of these guys in one set-ting,” Camp said.
This clinic will be Pete Ramey’s last one forat least two years. Ramey, known the worldover for saving horses on a regular basis thatothers have said should be put down, says“The time spent preparing for and puttingon these clinics has severely limited the timeI can spend doing research that will benefithorses in my care,” Ramey said. “I needsome time to do more research, trim horsesand write my next book.”
At a recent Ramey symposium, an equinevet stood up and announced to the crowdthat after four years of vet school, fifteenyears as an equine vet, numerous clinics andtwo trips to the Bluegrass LaminitisSymposium, he had just learned more abouthooves from Ramey’s clinic than during therest of his entire career combined.Veterinarians and vet techs can earn 20hours of Continuing Education credits byattending Ramey’s clinics and 16 additionalhours of CE credits for attending Dr.Bowker’s clinic. (AAVSB RACE Approved).
Ramey brings his Hoof Rehabilitation Clinicto The Oaks Indian Hill Ranch in ValleyCenter November 10th and 11th, 2007,followed by Dr. Bowker’s clinic onNovember 12th and 13th, both sponsoredby Joe & Kathleen Camp, veterinarian MattMathews, and natural hoof specialist MarciLambert, all of Valley Center.
Laminitis, founder, and coffin bone rotation canbe intimidating for the horse’s owner and very
painful for the horse. Once a horse is diagnosedwith such hoof conditions, many owners mayassume their horse has a death sentence. Thisdoes not always have to be the case.
The horse in this article is a 21 year old Arabiangelding. He had been barefoot most of his life.Two years ago, the horse suffered from laminitis.The horse was put on stall rest and anti inflam-matory drugs until the laminitic episode passed.One year after the first laminitic attack, all four ofthe horse’s coffin bones rotated. The horse wasstill barefoot at this time. He was again put on stallrest, with large doses of anti-inflammatory drugs.Within two weeks, he had stomach ulcers and wasput on additional medication.
The farrier was called in and applied standardhorse shoes on all four hooves. One month afterthe first set of shoes were applied, the coffinbones began to rotate again. Orthopedic “correc-tive” shoes were than prescribed by the horse’sveterinarian. Two weeks after administration ofthe orthopedic shoes, the coffin bones rotated fur-ther. The horse’s vet was called, and immediateeuthanasia was suggested.
The day the horse was supposed to be euthanized,the Fischer Equine Lameness Foundation was con-tacted. Instead of being killed, the horse was res-cued by the foundation. The foundation veterinar-ian was called in to perform a baseline healthassessment, draw blood tests and take fresh x-rays.
Once trimming began, the horse was put on therubber clinic floor, and the hind hooves weretrimmed. X-rays were taken immediately after firsttrim, to ensure the coffin bones achieved aground-parallel position. A week later, the rightfront hoof was trimmed; x-rays were taken imme-diately after the trim to be sure the leg and hoofbones were in proper alignment. One monthlater, the left front hoof was trimmed, and x-rayswere also taken immediately after the first trim.After the first trim on both fronts, the bonecolumns were realigned, and the horse was on hisway to recovery. The rehabilitation process wasfacilitated by scans on the Biomeridian machine,which directed the use of homeopathic anddietary supplements.
In just four months of rehabilitative trimming atthe Fischer Equine Lameness Foundation, the cof-fin bones are now ground parallel and the coffinbone rotation is no longer present. The geldingcontinues to progress and is doing well.
About the author: Sheri Fischer, along withher husband Mark, own and operate theFischer Equine Lameness Foundation, locatednear Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit her websiteat www.healthehoof.com
Page 18 ISSUE 28 – SUMMER/FALL 2007 The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare
Barefoot Rehab
Charlie’s Story, A Navicular Rehabby Gill Nash
Charlie is a 10 year old Thoroughbredgelding who used to enjoy regular successin show jumping, eventing and dressage.
He was always a willing jumper, but just over twoyears ago, his owner started to notice a reluc-tance at larger jumps. At first, this was thought tobe a bit of laziness, but, unfortunately in themonths that followed, Charlie developed stiff-ness, further loss of performance, and acutelameness.
The vet was called, x-rays were taken, and he wasdiagnosed with navicular. Heartbar shoes wererecommended by the vet, and with these fitted,Charlie deteriorated further. They were eventual-ly removed, and he was turned out barefoot.During this time, the owner noticed an improve-ment, but this coincided with a routine visit by thevet, who thought the horse would be furtherhelped by shoeing with wedges. In wedge shoes,Charlie’s strides became shorter and more pot-tery, even though he was often on 2 bute a dayIn fact, he was worse than ever, and the vet toldthe owner that the disease was degenerative, andthe future looked grim. At this point, there wasnothing to lose by trying barefoot.
The intended purpose of wedges (arrows) underthe shoe is to support the deep flexor tendon andrelieve pressure on the navicular bursa. However,to us barefooters it is common knowledge thatthey reduce circulation and disrupt the balancebetween the flexor and extensor tendons. Theunnatural angle created by the wedges also caus-es strain on muscles higher up. How would wefeel if we were condemned to walk in high-heeledshoes all the time? I’ve often asked myself this
question: what might it do long term to my backand hips, especially if the shoes were made ofrigid metal that stopped my toes spreading slight-ly when I walked?
So why are shoes with wedges recommended? Itis possible that they can afford temporary relief,as the weight is shifted forward onto a less tenderspot. But again, I feel you can apply this philoso-phy to a human situation. If you had a tenderspot near the back of your heel and you put awedge directly under your ankle to relieve pres-sure on it, you might get some relief at first. Butover time, that part below the ankle would alsobecome painful from abnormal loading. If youwent back to the shoes that caused your tenderheel, you would probably have two sore spots todeal with, rather than one.
Unless the cause of navicular is removed, weknow there can be no permanent relief from painor a cure.
In a nutshell, the cause is a dysfunctional hoof,either as a result of shoeing or inappropriate hoofmaintenance. But why doesn’t most of the horseworld want to accept this simple explanation?Apart from a human reluctance to acceptchange, could it be the huge amount of moneythat is earned by various professionals and thepharmaceutical industry from ignoring the causesand treating navicular in the conventional way?
If a prospective client is unconvinced about bare-foot, I try to make them think of the hoof like anyother muscle. If its use is restricted, it will getweaker, smaller and less functional. Anyonewho has had a limb in plaster or spent sometimeconfined to bed through illness will be familiarwith the feeling of weakness caused by anenforced lack of mobility.
I tell them that as the hoof capsule is unable toflex naturally when the foot is shod, the horse’sability to absorb shock through the movement ofthe toe bones is greatly compromised. In additionto providing shock absorption, it is this move-ment of the bones that is responsible for goodblood circulation within the hoof, which in turn isresponsible for good quality hoof horn andhealthy internal tissue. It is the inability to absorbshock as the horse moves, as well as inhibitedhoof function, which leads to the internal damageassociated with navicular. Unable to grow, flex orexercise naturally with a rigid shoe fixed to itsbase, the hoof becomes smaller and weaker,pinching and cramping internal structures.
The pro-barefoot vets and farriers (who knowthat getting those hooves back into functionalshape can rehabilitate navicular) explain the caus-es in slightly different ways, each making a valu-able contribution to our understanding of it.
While the views of Dr. Strasser, Dr. Bowker, Dr.Teskey, Pete Ramey, K.C. La Pierre, JamieJackson and others will be well known to mostreaders of The Horse’s Hoof, I came across thisexplanation from Dr. Brian McLaren (www.photonictherapy.com.au) given on one ofhis phototonic therapy CD’s.
“True Navicular syndrome is a condition of adhe-sion of the deep flexor tendon to the flexor sur-face of the navicular bone. This is the result ofcontinued trauma, improper trimming, pro-longed shoeing and when the heels have beenleft too long. Eggbar shoes or shoes that havebeen nailed on behind the widest point of the footprevent proper heel action or expansion andcontraction and contribute to this condition byproducing primary navicular bursitis (inflamma-tion of the navicular bursa). Left alone this healswith a deposition of scar tissue mainly in theimpar ligament. The process is then repeatedand repeated until the navicular syndromeoccurs.
“There are also small ligaments attached laterallyto the wings of the coffin bone and inside the sur-face of the hoof wall. This means that the navic-ular bone is an active part of the extension andflexion mechanism of the hoof. As changed pres-sures reduce the blood flow the body tries to com-pensate by increasing the flow through the nutri-ent foramina (natural passages through the bone)to feed the bone. These foramina become largerand show up as lollipop lesions on x-rays. Vetsare taught that this increased blood flow throughthe enlarged foramina is the problem, but it isnothing more than the body’s response to theproblem and is not the cause of pain.”
The two photos that follow show Charlie’s leftand right fores immediately after shoe removal.On both feet, the heels have been allowed toslope too far forward (arrows) causing the tubulesto buckle, leading to stress cracks in the hoof wall.On the right fore, the farrier has also made themistake of leaving the bars lower than wall, andplaced the shoe and wedges over them, causingthe horse additional discomfort.
Horn tubules buckled under (left) and normal(right), diagram courtesy of Dr. Strasser:
Above photo: right fore, four weeks after shoeremoval. A callous has developed on the toe toprotect the thin sole. The bars have been trimmedjust below the walls, and the position of the heelshave been adjusted as far back as possible.
The two preceding photos show the left and rightfores, eight months after barefoot trimming com-menced. Notice how the frog and heels havebroadened.
Nine months after barefoot trimming com-menced, Charlie is now competing and doingeverything that he did before he was diagnosedwith navicular.
Below are solar views of the left hind one monthafter shoe removal and nine months later.
From the lateral views of the left fore, we can alsosee how much bigger the hooves have become,now that growth and function have been unhin-dered by the shoes for nine months.
The owner says, nobody believes he was everdiagnosed with navicular. The diagnosing vethas also seen Charlie on another issue sincehis recovery. In spite of the evidence in frontof him, he expressed a low opinion of barefoottrimmers.
About the author: Gill Nash (age 60) is aStrasser graduate 2004, and takes a keen ininterest in all barefoot trimming methods. Shesays barefoot trimming is the most exhaustingand the most rewarding job she has ever done.UKNHCP trainee, Wendy Leach, accompaniesGill on many of her rounds and helps to copewith the increasing barefoot clientele. Gill hastwo Welsh cobs and a small Arab and likeshacking, hunting and 15 mile pleasure rides.
Charlie is now back competing, doing all thethings he did before the navicular diagnosis!
Right fore, immediately after shoe removal.A
ll ph
otos
cou
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y G
ill N
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Right fore, 4 weeks later.
Left hind, one month after shoe removal.
Left fore, one month after shoe removal.
Left hind, nine months after shoe removal.Left fore, 8 months into barefoot trimming.
Right fore, 8 months into barefoot trimming.
Left fore, nine months after shoe removal.
Barefoot Health
Patrick’s Punctureby Sandy Judy
On November 21, 2006, my friend Lynnrode her warmblood gelding, Patrick, at afoxhound trial in Hoffman, North
Carolina, where he came up suddenly lame.Veterinarian diagnosis: strained suspensory liga-ment. Recommendation: stall rest and wrapping.
Lynn opted not to stall rest and came home. Shecalled me that night, assuming it was indeed astrained ligament, and turned him out in a smallpaddock with a few other horses. I told her overthe phone that the best thing for a strained liga-ment is good circulation, brought about by goodhoof mechanism. I trimmed Patrick the next day.
Patrick was profoundly lame and reluctant to putany weight on the foot. Lynn had soaked the footin water, and said he was feeling somewhat better.As soon as I picked the foot up, the real reason forthe lameness was a surprise! My knife revealed ahuge wood splinter (3/8 inch in diameter) jammedinto the sole, near the tip of the frog. I knew wewould need a vet to anesthetize the foot, in orderto remove the splinter. The horse would also needa tetanus serum, if vaccinations weren’t current. X-rays would be needed to determine the depth.
The vet, new to us, came while I was still there.Lynn and I talked to her about our barefoot hors-es and discussed our conversion to natural horse-keeping methods. The vet said she was a lame-ness expert and, in her opinion, some horses“need shoes and wedge pads.” After looking atthe foot, she decided she must have the horse inher clinic under sterile conditions for surgery andx-rays, but it wouldn’t be convenient for her untilthe next morning. She advised pain-killers andstall rest in a bedded stall, then fitted him with acanvas boot for the night. Lynn felt she had nochoice but to comply.
Anyone who has ever had even a small splinter ina foot or finger knows how painful it is. You wantit OUT NOW! This horse had already gone 24hours walking around on this thing. Now he wasgoing to go another 24! Lynn tried in vain to
remove the splinter herself that night, but it wasimpossible, so she took Patrick to the vet’s officethe next morning.
The x-ray showed that the splinter went all theway to the coffin bone. The vet wanted the injuredhoof to be packed in a salt-based chemical to“draw the infection out.” Lynn opted to follow theholistic protocol of soaking in a dilution of applecider vinegar, trimming for mechanism, andmovement, instead. This is what his foot lookedlike after the vet cut out the splinter:
Do thick soles prevent puncture wounds? Lynnhad been leaving the sole thick because she wasfox hunting, thinking a thicker sole would offermore protection. The true thickness of the solewas revealed by the vet’s excavation. The soleproved to be approximately 1.5 cms thick. Evenmustangs with really hard, healthy hooves can sus-tain catastrophic injuries to their hooves.
Do shoes prevent puncture wounds? My horsethat died from a puncture wound ten years agohad shoes on. The shoes did not protect his frogor sole from a puncture wound which led toeuthanasia as the final treatment.
Do boots prevent puncture wounds? The preven-tion for this type of injury might have been bootsor pads, or even just avoiding areas that havesmall trees cut sharply. But it is difficult to know inadvance over what type of terrain you might foxhunt! Hoffman territory is sand trails, and gener-ally not a problem for our barefoot horses. Bootsare difficult to use in sand, but who knew theywould be needed? Since barefoot horses can feeltheir feet, they will usually avoid putting full weighton a sharp object. Ironically, my own hunt horse,Dewees, also stepped on something while fox-hunting, causing a similar puncture wound injury(more on this in the next issue of THH).
Lynn and I trimmed Patrick and consulted withhoofcare professional Nancy Filbert. We kept upthrough phone and emails to Nancy, Sabine Kellsand Dr. Strasser about the case. I took Patrick fordaily walks of 4 miles on the high school’s rub-
berized running track near my house. While hewas out in the pasture during the over 2 monthlong healing period, he was kept in soaking bootsalmost 24/7, changed several times a day.
I trimmed Patrick according to what I learnedfrom the SHP course, along with Nancy’s long-distance guidance. I kept the bars very short. I alsoremoved displaced heel horn and set the weight-bearing heel point outside of the bulb. I checkedfor mechanism, and we were consistent withsoaking and walking daily on the rubber track.
A bonus was that Patrick’s left front had alwaysbeen the most contracted. It significantly de-con-tracted and the sheared heel improved, too. Asmany may know, when one foot is injured, some-times the other foot “founders”. My plan was tomake both front feet as flexible as possible formaximum blood flow, and use this rehab oppor-tunity to our advantage to improve both feet.
Patrick fully recovered and was able to finish outthe fox hunting season.
Later I found a research paper, “How to Managea Penetrative Hoof Wound”, written by Italian vet-erinarian, Dr. Andrea Bertuglia, addressing theXIV European Equine Veterinary Congress inItaly. In it he wrote: “Penetrating injuries of thesolar surface are common clinical problems
The x-ray showed that the splinter went all the wayto the coffin bone.
Patrick’s right front after surgery
Patrick’s healing puncture on Feb. 15, 2007.
Close up of healed wound on March 26, 2007.
All
phot
os c
ourt
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San
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udy
(cont. on page 21)
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encountered in practice and are often a challengefor the veterinarian... The fact that the structuresof the distal limb are contained within the hoofcapsule can make both diagnosis and surgical pro-cedures extremely difficult. The foot is always con-taminated by environmental dirt and feces....Clinical approach needs to be guided by the rulethat even the smallest most innocuous lookingwound in a critical site of the sole may provefatal.” (translation excerpt)
I contacted Dr. Bertuglia via email and he wroteme saying, “I really agree with your strategy oftreatment, because I guess that a good circulationin the palmar/plantar portion of the equine foot isthe key to success (also) in many other diseasesother than puncture wounds of the sole.”
This kind of potentially fatal injury can be healedIF horse owners would embrace the barefootholistic approach to horsekeeping.
About the author: Sandy Judy lives in ruralNorth Carolina with her husband, son, andhorses. She is an equine portrait artist and alsoworked as a scientific illustrator for a scienceand health education company. She was a stu-dent in the 2005-06 N.A. Strasser HoofcareProfessionals course and consults on hoof careand horse behavior.
The Horse's Hoof Order Form Please mail this order form with your check or money order (All payments in US Dollars). Make checkspayable to The Horse's Hoof. Visit The Horse’s Hoof Store online at www.TheHorsesHoof.comThe Horse's Hoof • P.O. Box 40 Litchfield Park, AZ 85340-0040Toll-Free Phone: 1-877-594-3365Order by Fax: (623) 935-3572Here are just a few items we sell: Quantity Each Total
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Book Shipping ChargesUSA: $7.00 for 1 or 2 books, + $2.50 each add'l.Canada: $10.00 for 1 book, call for price on more.Foreign: $15.00 for 1 book, call for price on more.
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Newly Discovered ShockAbsorber in the Equine Footby Pete Ramey
Important note: These are just preliminaryobservations. They are my interpretationafter several conversations about it with Dr.Bowker. The completed research project iscoming eventually, but people who went toBowker’s last clinic are buzzing about it, so Ithought I’d try to clear it up.
Robert Bowker VMD, PhD has been teach-ing for many years that the blood flow in
the equine foot acts as a hydraulic shockabsorber. Most of his focus has been on the backhalf of the foot, but more recently he’s payingmore attention to energy-dissipating features inthe front half of the foot, as well.
Recent data shows that peripheral loading ofthe foot reduces hoof perfusion by almost50%...immediately. This does not necessarilycause tissue death, because the sole’s corium isfilled with a huge number of micro-vessels—atremendous amount more than is needed forhealthy tissue life. Bowker feels these “extra”blood vessels are for hydraulic energy dissipa-tion, but more recently he’s discovered that theentire structure of the sole’s corium is a mix-ture of venous microvasculature surrounded byproteoglycans—an extremely elastic structure(along with a “honeycomb” framework of ker-atinized sole). This type of structure is knownto have “use it or lose it” tendencies. The more
it is used, the better it develops.
Bowker has noticed that unhealthy or underde-veloped equine feet have a thin solar corium thatis fairly uniform all the way across (1-3 mm), buthealthy, well-developed feet have a much thick-er corium in the outer periphery. This thickercorium may be 3-5 mm thick (or more) in thehealthiest hooves.
Aside from a tremendous “Gel Pad” shockabsorber, this thicker corium also allows for agreat deal of expansion room of the front half ofthe foot. This is very significant, as many peoplestill think the expansion of the foot only hap-
pens in the back half of the foot, where thefoundation for the hoof capsule is cartilage,instead of bone.
Photos above are 10mm thick slices taken12mm behind the apex of the frog. Notice as Iapply hard pressure with my hand, the solarcorium flattens, the frog moves to the ground,and the walls spread dramatically. The forcerequired to do this is basically “as hard as I canpush.” As this is studied more, we’ll elaborate,but I thought you’d like to hear about it now.
For more info, please visit Pete & IvyRamey’s website at www.hoofrehab.com
The walls can spread significantly as pressure is applied to P3, and the sole flattens. The thickercorium at the distal border of P3 is compressed, pushing blood to the back of the foot through anenergy-dampening network of micro-vessels. Then, when the load is released, the elastic nature ofthe sole’s corium and spring tension in the hoof capsule snaps it all back into place for the nextstride. (These pictures are the exact same size, of the same slice, and taken from the exact samerange, 2 second time lapse.) Also note that this pressure does not create a separational force onthe laminae; they actually compress!!! If the wall was not allowed to expand, the same downwardforce would stretch the laminae. The thin corium at the center of P3 seems to thicken with weightbearing, as the corium at the outer periphery is compressed.
Professional CornerAdvice, news, & information—for professionals and serious hoof enthusiasts.
EasyCare, Inc. Announces Scholarship Program for the Equine Sciences Academy EasyCare, Inc. and the Equine Sciences Academy are pleased to announce that EasyCare will beoffering a total of eight first-term scholarships in the amount of $1,000 to the Equine SciencesAcademy. Four scholarships will be awarded to the Fall 2007 class, and four to the Spring 2008 class.
Each scholarship has a $1,000 value and will be applied toward first term tuition. EasyCare will reim-burse the student for the scholarship amount once they have successfully completed their first yearstudies.
Applicants must first apply to and be accepted into the Academy. Once accepted, students may applyto EasyCare. Recipients of the first-term scholarships may also reapply for a second scholarship in thespring. In the event that a student receives a second scholarship, the award would be applied to thesecond term tuition.
“As the field of natural hoof care continues to grow, so will the demand for qualified professionals.EasyCare is excited to be able to assist those looking to make natural hoof care a career. We are cur-rently working on expanding this new scholarship program to include additional programs and organ-izations that educate and train qualified applicants in the natural care of horse’s hooves”, said compa-ny president Garrett Ford.
For more information and application requirements, please contact the Equine Sciences Academy at:http://www.equinesciencesacademy.com.
Information about the Academy:
The purpose of the Equine Sciences Academy is to educate students in all key aspects of the care andcustody of domesticated equines based on the study of the life of the wild horse.
A university format includes comprehensive studies on all required coursework, practical instruction,rigorous testing, and practical exams. The goal of the Equine Sciences Academy is to be the most com-prehensive and professional training program in natural horse and hoof care available.
The program will basically follow a distance learning university format, with the exception of requiredpracticums. The program is designed as a two year course, but actual completion time may vary basedon a number of factors including, but not limited to, scheduling, ability to pass all required elementsbefore progressing, prior experience etc.
EasyCare, Inc. has been a leader in the hoof boot industry for years, beginning with the invention ofthe Easyboot back in the early 70’s. Since then, the need for boots has grown tremendously as moreand more horse owners see the healthy advantages of pulling shoes and switching to natural hoof care.EasyCare is excited about being part of this growing trend. For more information please contactEasyCare, Inc., at 1-800-447-8836, e-mail: [email protected] or visit our website atwww.easycareinc.com.
American Hoof Association (AHA)
by Paige Poss, www.ironfreehoof.com
I am one of the founding members of theAmerican Hoof Association. I was kindlyasked by Pete Ramey to join and help devel-op a new organization. AHA is not your typ-ical hoof care organization because it is nota teaching certification. AHA is about form-ing alliances and resources. We do not wantto be just another list of trimmers, but anorganization that promotes sharing amongstpeers.
Over the months, we have tried to define anAHA trim. After many attempts, we realizedthat there is no such definition. Because ofour varied experiences, we all approach thehoof differently. We then realized it is notthe actual trim that unites us, it is the trim-ming philosophies. We tend to be a humblegroup of trimmers that realize there isalways more to learn. Horses are our teach-ers. Because we willingly share our experi-ences and differing perspectives, we areessentially increasing our experience.Collectively, we have seen more horses,more living conditions, and more healthissues. While less is often better when itcomes to trimming, more is better when itcomes to gathering experience.
Organizing and developing this associationhas been a larger project than we anticipat-ed. We are finally accepting applications, buthave not completely worked out all of thebugs. Have patience, we are working hardto become an organization that benefitsboth the member and the horse owner.
For more information on the AHA, pleasevisit: americanhoofassociation.org
American Association of Natural Hoof Care Practitioners“Cluster Clinic” - Six Concurrent Accredited ClinicsWhen: September 21 – 26, 2007Where: Warrenton, Missouri (about 45 minutes west of St. Louis)Considering a career in hoof care or just want to know more about the natural hoof care movement?This is a great opportunity to jump start your education.September 21: Jaime Jackson, Introduction to Natural Trimming and the Wild Horse Model Clinic.September 22: Richard Drewry, Horse Boot Clinic.September 22, PM: Neal Valk, DVM, Veterinary Affairs Orientation Clinic.September 23: Neal Valk, DVM, Introduction To Natural Hoof Care Clinic. (This clinic is specifi-cally designed for veterinarians.)September 23 & 24 AM: Bruce Nock, Ph.D., Lifeway and the Natural Hoof Clinic.September 24 PM, 25 & 26: Ann Corso, Natural Trim Workshop.Clinic Attendance Is Limited To Registered Participants
For more information about the AANHCP programs, visit aanhcp.net Details and registration infofor the September clinics are located here: http://aanhcp.net/SeptClusterClinic.pdf
Hoof Care Professional CoursesThis is just a sample list of some of the hoof carecourses currently available:
American Assoc. of Natural Hoof CarePractitioners (AANHCP)http://www.aanhcp.net
International Center For Equine Artshttp://www.internationalcenterforequinearts.com
Institute of Applied Equine Podiatryhttp://www.equinepodiatry.net
Oregon School of Natural Hoof Carehttp://abchoofcare.com
Strasser Hoofcare Professional Coursehttp://www.strasserhoofcare.org
UK Natural Hoof Care Practitioners UKNHCPhttp://www.uknhcp.org
Page 22 ISSUE 28 – SUMMER/FALL 2007 The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare
ResourcesBarefooters: what you need to know, and where to find it.
Hoof Boot WebsitesThis is a sample list of some hoof boot websites,listed by boot name, alphabetically. (EasyCareboots available at The Horse’s Hoof store.)
Boa Horse BootVery easy to apply boot, with a unique dial lac-ing system, from EasyCare.http://easycareinc.com
Castle Hoof BootsSlip on boots with a velcro closure.http://www.castleplastics.com/hoofboots.htm
Davis Manufacturing Makers of Davis Barrier Boots and soakingHorse Boots. (Soaking boots available at TheHorse’s Hoof store.)http://www.davismanufacturing.com
EasybootThe original performance horse boot, inventedin 1970, from EasyCare.http://easycareinc.com
Easyboot BareEasyboot model with gator, concave sole andunique bungee adjustment system.http://easycareinc.com
Easyboot EpicEasyboot model with gator and low profilecomfort strap.http://easycareinc.com
Easyboot GripEssentially the Easyboot Epic with an aggressivesole and traction tread pattern.http://easycareinc.com
EasySoakerFor soaking or medicating, from EasyCare.http://easycareinc.com
Hoofwings Lightweight, easy to use boots. http://www.horsesneaker.com/hoofwings.htm
Horse-MocsCustom made from hoof tracings.http://www.horsemocs.com/index2.htm
HorseSneakers Custom-made hoof boots, made to yourhorse’s individual measurements. http://www.horsesneaker.com
Marquis Supergrip Horse BootBoots with an ergonomic fit provided by uniqueair chambers. All parts are replaceable.StrideEquus, Vernon, BC, Canada.http://www.marquisboot.com/
Old Mac’s Original Horse BootsVery easy to use boots. The Originals are greatfor horses with very wide hooves.http://easycareinc.com
Old Mac’s G2 Horse BootsThe G2 boot is a new and improved version,with a sleeker design, more narrow in shape.http://easycareinc.com
Sabre Sneaker Cushioned, lightweight boot for sore hooves.Laces up the front, like a sneaker.http://www.sabresneaker.com
The Simple BootA boot that is simple to measure, fit, and apply.From Cavallo Horse & Rider. http://www.cavallo-inc.com
Soft-Ride Equine Comfort BootsHospital-type boots provide comfort to lamehorses—include removable, washable orthoticinsert cushions.http://www.soft-ride.com
Swiss Horse BootOfficial USA website, includes informationabout the boot and links to locate a fitter.http://www.swissboot.com
FREE Hoof Boot Sales/Swap PageBought the wrong size? Have some extras tosell? Maybe you can sell or trade them fromthis page, on Gretchen Fathauer’s website.http://www.naturalhorsetrim.com/boot_swap.htm
EasyCare, Inc. Seeking Name for New Hoof Boot DesignEasyCare, Inc. is currently in development with a new innovative hoof boot design. This new horsehoof boot will be a lower profile version of the Easyboot Epic. The totally new hoof boot designwill feature a lower fitting shell, a new fastening system and a low profile flexible gaiter that willconform to the heel area.
The first person to submit the winning name for the new boot will win a one year supply for onehorse of the new hoof boots once they are released. Entries may be submitted beginning onAugust 1st and the contest will end on September 15th. There is no limit to the number of namesuggestions that each person can submit, however there will be only one winner. Submissions willbe reviewed from September 16 through the 30th and the name of the new hoof boot will beannounced on October 1st.
To submit a suggested name for the new boot simply send an email to EasyCare at this emailaddress: [email protected]. In the subject header put “New Boot Name Suggestion.”
EasyCare, Inc. website: www.easycareinc.com.
Holistic Horsekeeping BookOne of our favorite books is Dr. Madalyn Ward’sbook, Holistic Horsekeeping. This very com-prehensive book has wonderful recommenda-tions for more natural horse care, including nutri-tion and supplements, hoof care, joint health,homeopathic remedies, vaccinations, parasitecontrol and holistic first aid. Covers equine dis-ease and illness, and the holistic approach totheir treatment. Includes a special section onperformance horses. This book is excellent, bothas an introduction to holistic horse care, and asa comprehensive handbook for the moreadvanced natural horsekeeper. Now available inThe Horse’s Hoof Store for $19.95.
New Hoof Care ToolThe Precision Pick combines both a measur-ing device and a hoof pick in one! Laser cutfrom durable steel and sealed with a zinc coat-ing, the Precision Pick has a 1/8 inch meas-urement scale etched on both sides of thehandle and tip of the pick. You can use thetool to measure heel height, concavity, collat-eral groove depth, check for flares, etc. Lotsmore photos are available on their website:www.precisionhoofpick.com
Pete Ramey DVD Series Coming Soon
“Under the Horse” is a 16 hour hoof reha-bilitation DVD series (10 disks) set for officialrelease on September 21, 2007.
This video is designed to teach equine pro-fessionals and horse owners new ways torecognize and treat hoof pathology. It focus-es on the ability to identify and recognize atruly healthy equine foot and demonstratessteps taken to drive a pathological hooftowards a healthier state. The combination ofcontemporary veterinary research with prac-tical, real-world field work presented willenable viewers to arrive at sound, valuableprotocols that can be used immediately tobenefit the horse.
Includes 9 hours of classroom instruction and7 hours of live trimming on 11 differenthorses with a wide range hoof problems. TheDVD set can be pre-ordered on Pete’s web-site www.hoofrehab.com, and will be carriedin The Horse’s Hoof store.
Hoof Slicing DissectionHere are some photos from a hoof slicing dis-
section, during one of our clinics. Dissectinga hoof in this way has many benefits—not onlydo the slices provide a very detailed image of theinner structures of the hoof, but the slices them-selves can be re-frozen and saved for future study.We started out with a frozen hoof capsule, foreasier cutting. A bandsaw with a sharp blade wasused to slice the hoof capsule, starting at the heel,in about 1/2 inch vertical slices. These photoswere taken after every slice, beginning at theheel, and travelling to the toe.—THH 10
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