The Natural Trim: Marking the Hoof
This is geared for my clients but marking the foot and trying to understand the structure of your horse’s hooves is always a good exercise. It will help keep you focused on your horse’s issues as well as the positive remodeling.
- On all 4 hooves, feel from the coronary band down. The initial 1 inch of wall coming out of the hairline is the “healing angle”. If that runs all the way down, good for you. If the wall turns in (inside the vertical) or flares out, your horse still has some remodeling to do. Mark where there are issues. This will remind you to follow the rehab of that area.
- Mark any cracks. Are they caused by long toes, flare or something else?
- When you pick up the hoof, note the quality of the frog. Is the central sulcus like a thumb print or is it a crevasse? If the later, run your pick gently down and if the horse flinches, treat for thrush after the trim. Diluted Lysol as noted on bottle.
- Mark the bars.
- Note any irregularities on the sole. How far does the concavity go; does it flatten out or go right to the white line?
- Draw a line at the widest part of the frog. Mark where your horse’s heels are. Normally they move back after the trim. Whether or not they every reach the widest part of the frog is based on the individual horse.
- Draw the widest part of the hoof. If the hoof is round, the widest part is obvious. Otherwise identify the end of bar which should be about 1” behind frog apex. that will be the widest part of the foot aka the quarters or “arch” of the foot. Extend the line onto the outer wall so you can see the mark when trimming from above the hoof.
- Mark the toe quarters. 2:00 to 10:00; this is “break over”. (Extend lines to outer wall) Eventually when you look at the front soles of your horse, 2/3’s of the foot will be behind the midline or quarters. 1/3 of the hoof will be located between the quarters and breakover. Initially a 50:50 ratio is acceptable. 40:60 and so on is definitely a long toe. On the hind feet a 50:50 ratio is ideal.
- Mark the center line of the sole, mid toe to mid frog. Extend the line at the toe, outer wall. These lines will give you a sense of hoof balance.
- Run your rasp gently over the top of the outer wall to inner wall to white line, so you can see all the parts. Or wash well. Mark the inner wall which is the middle, bright white line. You will bevel (and make the mustang roll) to and including the inner wall.
- Place the hoof down. Sight down the center of the pastern and mark the midline on the hoof, from hairline to ground, connecting with mid-sole line in #9.
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Posted in General Articles, Hoof Articles, Trimming | Tagged barefeet, training, trimming 2 Comments
I have about 12-15 horses I trim regularily and would like to know how exactly you arrive at an accurate measurement for the 2/3rd-1/3rd hoof ratio. Thank you so much for your very informative website!
I followed many suggested ratios and angles when I started but I have learned to trust the horse! So it’s pretty simple really.
(1) Feel from the hairline down, all around the hoof and mark where it flares out. Those are the spots I would bring to or thru the “broken” laminae. In most cases this is the toe. One of the few RULES OF TRIMMING: Keep the toe back. If there is flare, take it right to the laminae. Stay on top of it, 10:00-2:00, the foot will move under the horse very quickly. (2) Balance the heels, don’t lower them more than 1/2 inch (that’s the rescued horse) at one time, and let them stand 1/4″ (or less if they trim them) over back of foot, EVEN if they appear forward from where they should be. The heel will move back and lower themselves as the back of the foot rehabs itself. This is a mistake I have made, lowering the heels too much. Balance, but leave them alone and in a few months you will have a perfect hoof. It’s the toe that drag the heels forward. Stay on top of toes and you are good to go. Some horse like 50/50 also. Please check out my friend, Maureen Tierney’s, site on natural trimming. I link to her in my last Post for Easy Care about her re-racing Chance, au naturelle. http://www.barefoottrimming.com/ She will help you online and by phone too. Good luck! Dawn