- Deshoe: shoes restrict the movement of the hoof, thereby reducing blood flow and negatively affecting your horse’s health. With an understanding of barefoot transitioning techniques, all horses can and should go barefoot all the time. For the pasture pet to Olympic level performance horses, this will work. Have boots on hand for the transition.
- 24/7 Turnout: Horses are foragers, meant to walk and graze some 10-20 miles per day. Turn your horse out with a herd. Horses are naturally calm in their herd; they have a pecking order and jobs. They are comforted when they can scan the horizon for predators. (They don’t know that cougars are scarce in Delaware!) Stalling is the equivalent of solitary confinement. In my area, field board is always available. Please find it. If you are forced to stall half day, find like-minded boarders and arrange to have your unblanketed horses turned out together, regardless of season. Personally I like having a stall but that doesn’t mean my horse lives there. It’s a place for extra hay and clicker training. Check out Paddock Paradise aka the Track System on line and here.
- A horse’s diet should be 99.9% free choice (grass/timothy) hay or grass, fresh water, free choice loose iodized salt. Feed little grain; no sweet feed. Supplement based on the tests of your hay and pasture. Too much is just as bad as a deficiency. Check out Dr. Kellon’s courses and help in links.
Then say hi to your new healthy horse. Good bye to rain rot, thrush, hives, scratches or ”thin skin”. No more shelly Racehorse feet. Just a beautiful coat, an easy-keeper body, lovely gaits, energy to spare and a Very Happy Horse.
Wow, that sounds just like my rescued race horse, Love Sunny Days, by Not For Love (Northview Stallion Station)
Here is Sunny only 5 months into a Natural, Barefoot Lifestyle
12 Responses to Top Three Changes to Improve Your Horse’s Health
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I really enjoyed your video on barefoot trim. I am practicing your method for about four weeks and can see first improvements. We do have saddling issues, white spots behind the solders and undesired horse behavior. Our horse has no withers and has a wide and flat back. With interest I read the article about balance saddles. It does not give us details on how they changed the saddle. Is there a chance to do any of those balance changes to a western saddle? In desperation I took my full quarter horse western training saddle a part and rasped the tree and the bars to fit hopefully make the saddle fit the horses back better. It has not made a difference. It looked very good, but when we saddle and cinch it up it probably puts the pressure in the same sensitive spots. Her hair after riding becomes very curly in the affected bar spots. Do you have any suggestions for a proper western saddle? We have tried many saddles, but have not been able to come up with a proper fit. Nothing seems to be wide enough.
The left should of our horse is more developed than the right.
Siegfried
Hi Siegfried:
Regarding Saddles:
1. Contact the people at Balance International Saddles to discuss your problem. A long time ago they worked with Pat Parelli to design a western saddle. Carol told me that they were not entirely happy with the final product but it had about 80% of what she thought it needed. By now she may have more ideas.
http://www.balanceinternational.com Feel free to mention my name.
2. Balance has saddle fitters throughout the world. If one is near you they can sure help, otherwise if you go to the Balance site, then Download Centre, page down to Admin. Documents, you will find the Long Distance Consultation form. You can complete that and then they will suggest both Balance Saddles and other alternatives. They are all about the Horse and you will love them. Remember sometimes there are used saddles so don’t be put off by the cost. Maybe they could tweak an English saddle to meet your needs?
3. I would also ask them about a rehabilitation program for your horse because no doubt your horse is sore all over, whether he shows it or not. I like Linda Tellington Jone’s last book, also give the horse a few weeks off, hand walk especially on hills if you have them, back up on the flat (head down so you can see the back lift and relax), then back up gentle slopes at first and steeper slopes as the horse recovers (unmounted on a lead). When you mount, get on gently, do not put your weight on the back, and walk right off. Balance might suggest you ride on lots of saddle pads under a bareback pad for a month. Let the horse’s head go long and low. This encourages the horse to use his stomach muscles to raise and relax the back; he will also reach deeply under himself with hind legs. By asking him to move laterally he will reach under with his hind legs (leg yield). You can do this mounted or unmounted at a walk. Walk is the training gait.
4. Ask Balance about Duett Saddles http://www.duettsaddles.com/ This link is based in Germany. I don’t see anything western on the site though. Duet in the US is known for fitting wide horses with no withers .
In the meantime, get some body work for your horse, track down stretches and massage that you can do. Teach him to put his nose on the ground at walk and halt, to stretch the topline (poll to tail).
Please let me know how this works out for you. Would love to have before and after photos!
Happy Trails!
Dawn
Be glad to look at any foot photos if you need help. I ask donation only now.
Siegfried,
I noticed Balance Saddles International was working on a western saddle last year. Not sure if they have made it yet. Let me know.
Dawn
HI Dawn,
My horse is a 8 yr old ottb whose been out of shoes since I got her from rescue 3 years ago. She had the typical long toe, underrun heel and thrush was an 8 out of 10 on the gawd-awful scale! She is in the pasture, on grass hay, timothy pellets, salt block with her nice little herd-mates. My barefoot trimmer and I have noticed superficial vertical cracking in her hoofs, and we are having difficulty gaining concavity in her front feet (back are great).
Our rainy season here in Northern California was pretty severe, but we are heading into 85 degree days. I’m booting her with my Cavallo Simple boots for daily hacks but not for arena work which is wonerfully groomed with fibar footing. Have you run across this issue before and if so, what has your experience told you on how to address the cracks and lack of concavity. We cast her front feet last fall with minimal sucess as my trimmer hadn’t done it before and they came off within a week, but we are willing to try again!
Thanks Carol,Danville, Ca
Hi Carol:
It sounds like your horse is very healthy so I would expect a well connected foot to grow out in 7-9 months, and you have had her for 3 years. So I think we need to tweak that trim. You can run your fingers from the hairline down to the ground and I bet you will feel a flare, often in the toe area but it might be the whole foot. Now some feet do flare right out of the hairline, but most have some connection (Hoof Wall to Coffin Bone, ie a tight or healthy laminae) at the top. With the correct trim, that connection will grow right in. As it passes the half way point of the hoof capsule, I start to notice concavity forming on the bottom. With full connection and low sugar grass, the concavity will run right to the laminae.
My horse normally has full concavity but with spring grass he looses about a half inch. I think of it as sub clinical laminitis. He is sound but prefers to avoid the gravel driveway that he could trot on with me aboard just a month ago.
Feet respond to diet and exercise. Since the hind feet carry a lot more weight (compare her butt to shoulders) AND they can’t cheat by toe walking, hind feet usually look better than fronts coming out of shoes and they get great faster. That is not to say some easy keeper can’t founder on all 4 but it’s harder!
Have you resolved the thrush? Of course since you have a wet season always keep an eye on those frogs and treat as soon as the central sulcus starts looking less like a thumb print and more like a butt crack! If the horse can’t land on the back of her foot, you will never get a good foot. I am pretty sure I have a list of treatments on the site. I often will switch every two weeks between treatments until the middle of the frog once again looks like a thumb print. Most people stop too soon.
Vertical cracks tell me that the mechanical pressures are working negatively on the hoof. Toe too long, flares, etc. It happens in even a good foot, but you do want to correct the trim. (Don’t tell anyone but I got a front crack on my Sunny and boy did that piss me off.)
The slowest thing to come around on these train wreck OTTB feet is the wall thickness, at least that’s what I see. And they might top out at about 1/4″, outer wall and inner wall. So it doesn’t take much stress to get a crack. In fact that’s why I specialized in teaching owners to trim. If you touch the feet up every week or two you can get a pretty nice foot on these OTTBs because they are always balanced, perfect. It’s not hard! I have before and after pics Of Sunny’s feet on the site under his rehab article.
Check out a draft some time. They are SO thick. It’s not fair!
The cool thing is that once you give the horse a better trim and relieve those stresses, some of the more superficial cracks close up the next day. I always say I need to photograph that because shoers never believe it! Maybe you can take pics and send them to me!
Remember that it is the job of the outer wall to “take the hit” so don’t be overly concerned; just fix it.
I would be glad to look at photos of the front feet and tell you what I would do. This is in no way a vote against your trimmer but we all run into challenges. I doubt this is a big one.
I don’t have a lot of experience with the Cavallo. I do think that since they are roundish, they are better for horses who have never been shod, like a Haflinger. As long as they don’t move more than “a nick” on the feet, in rotation they will be fine. Do check them without pads from time to time. If you trim off some of her toe, they may not fit but you can always sell them.
Typically I use Easy Care boots with pads because they have such a nice variety. But we can talk about that when the Cavallo’s don’t fit.
If you send photos to my email 4sweet.feet@gmail.com please:
1. Pick and wash and dry the feet.
2. Take photos on clean, swept and well lit area
3. I like A) front view from pretty close to the ground, and B) the side view.
4. Then pick up the foot for A)straight on, B) if you can take a side view to get the concavity, and C) from the heels forward, just get the heels in, like straight down.
I have an article up on the photographic angles.
I am glad to help out and if you want to donate anything to support my efforts I have PayPal on my front page. It’s totally up to you. I am glad to offer my services.
I look forward to hearing from you,
And congrats on your mare. OTTBs are the best!
Dawn
Just wanted to thank you very much for posting your trimming videos on UTube. I have been trimming my horses who are all barefoot for over 25 years. Just lately I wasn’t happy with how they were looking and it’s funny that you watch something and remember that you knew that but had just forgotten it. I was making a mistake by not pulling my heels out. Out to the barn today and did some horses and the results were wonderful. THANK YOU!!! from me and my ponies.
Hey! So very glad to help you. I know exactly what you mean. I used to always forget to bevel the heels on a flat footed horse…that’s a Pete Ramey trick. It just wasn’t what I learned first! At some point I wrote a reminder on my hoof stand!!! Big hug to you and your poinies.
Sorry for the late reply.
OBTW I have written a ton of articles for Easy Care Blog, under Notes from the Field. I haven’t had a chance to copy them over to this location.
Hello!
I am learning how to trimm, and i saw a lot of videos in you tube. I found yours and i am very happy that finally i found someone to learn from who does it the same way i think it must be the best way!
Thank you,
Sandra
Thanks for stopping by! Good luck to you. If you need help, my friend Maureen is a very experienced trimmer who will help online or by phone. http://www.barefoottrimming.com/ Also my early posts on the Easy Care Blog, Notes from the Field, explain and show you the inside of the foot. Thanks you for keeping your horse barefoot! Dawn
Hi Dawn,
I can’t believe that I found your site. I have been having issues with my halflinger, Micah, with his trims. After he has been trimmed he becomes sore walking down hills after 1 to 3 weeks. Had the vet out and he wanted the farrier to trim more and to do a mustang roll. The farrier is new and the only one that I can get in my area. She completed the trim as the vet requested but was relucant to trim as short as the vet requested. But my horse showed immediate improvement when walking down hill. She has trimmed a second time and left the heel high and after 4 weeks he is starting to be sore walking down hills. I also keep him in a small lot (24′x 38′) with packed limestone at night. So I am wondering if the combination of having him on the lot at night and the high heels could be causing him these problems. I have owned him for 8 months and still trying to figure out what to do. The farrier has been very humble and admits that something is wrong with but she just goes back to her training.
I am going to review your vidoes and try to do my own trimming between trims. My question is how do you get the foot balance. I am concerned that I may make a mistake and cause more problems. And the heels seem to be an issue. Should I insist that he have the heels trimmed short during the farrier’s trim? Starting tonight I am turning him out in the arena (loose limestone). During the day he is on pasture.
I just obtained my theapeutic riding certification from PATH International and I really want to do what is best for my horse because his movement affects the rider’s movement. And when he is feeling good and not sore he is such a happy horse
Thanks for being generous with your time and sharing your information.
Greatly appreciate any feedback.
Dawn
So very sorry for the late reply! Here is my recommendation. My friend Maureen Tierney is really an excellent trimmer and she is now teaching online for a very reasonable price. I think its $35. Contact her. She will want very good photos of clean feet to look at and she will mark them up. Maureen has a wonderful saying, “Leave the heels alone and they will come home.” She doesn’t let them go higher than 3/8″ but she stays after the toe and the rest of the foot will right itself.
“Maureen Tierney” Please google her name and trimming for the trimming site. She has many good articles and is coming out with a book very shortly.
I am doing a lot less since I saw the really great feet Maureen is producing! I thought my Sunny’s feet were pretty good before, but they are better now. When it cools off in Delaware, I will put up a video using her method.
If you horse is sore in the short term, measure and call Easy Care for their suggestion on boots. I would get a boot that can accept a black pad as that would be nice during the transition.
Let me know how it goes, 4sweet.feet@gmail.com
I am up to my eyeballs in body work now but still want to support barefoot.
Again, so very sorry for the month delay!
“Maureen Tierney” Sorry, that full email didn’t make it into my note!
maureen@forthehorse.net