Return to the Wild: the Barefoot Option
These days more and more horse owners are turning to more horse-centered practices; pastures and turnout are designed for movement and interaction, training methods are focusing on understanding the psychology of horses to develop a willing partner and many people are trying to feed in a more natural way (focusing on forage instead of hard feed). It stands to reason that this renaissance of “natural” horsekeeping would extend to hoof care; what could be more natural than allowing a horse’s feet to care for themselves, without the presence of shoes?
In the following series of articles, barefoot or “wild” trimming techniques and rationale will be discussed in the following sections:
I. Hoof and its natural function
II. Evolution of horseshoeing
III. Barefoot trim or “wild” trimming
IV. The case against barefoot trim
V. Tools and how to get started
Although this series will lean in favor of the
barefoot, or wild horse, trim, providing information and resources to understand the hoof and its function and helping you get started on the transition, ultimately the decision to go barefoot rests with you; pulling shoes and trimming naturally is only one part of the change that should also include ample turnout, close-to-wild feeding practices and an overall program of holistic horse care. Only you can decide if these practices will benefit your horse.
Part III Barefoot or "wild" trimming
Barefoot trimmers argue that horses do not need shoes; they look at literature from thousands of years ago, as well as evidence from horses in the wild to support their case for short toes and natural heels, bars that are even with the sole of the foot, and the mustang roll. Look at the hooves of the
feral horses of the barrier islands in the eastern United States; these horses' feet are untouched by humans, and yet they trim themselves quite naturally, adapting their style of trim to a sharper toe that can scoop away sand as they climb up the dunes on the island.
Other wild horses have feet with a different look, and some of them completely contradict the
myths surrounding what horse hooves should look like.These horses are self-sufficient in the area of hoof maintenance and diet, and yet lameness or
laminitisis virtually unheard of.
A "wild horse" hoof is fairly short: about three inches from top to the ground, with rounded edges (the mustang roll). The sole is slightly concave, and the bars are straight and level with the sole. Heels are lower, generally, than shod or "pasture trimmed" hooves. The white line is tight, and there is no flare. The frog is wide across the heels (shod horses tend to have compressed frogs), with wide, spread out bulbs. A domestic horse will not have hooves as short as a wild horse, mostly because they do not travel the miles that a wild horse does, and to get such a short hoof, the wall would need to be thinned, which would leave the horse sore.
On the other hand, "pasture trims" completed by the farrier generally consist of preparing a hoof for shoes; this means that a traditional farrier will leave long heels and toes and not trim to maintain the concavity in the sole, which helps the hoof act as a pump
(see Part I of this series for details)or the integrity of the toe callous; basically, the bottom of the foot is sliced off and filed down to a flat surface. Although this prepares a level, easy-to-shoe surface, trimming in this way does not allow a horse's feet to function at their peak.
In the next section we will look into the case against "wild horse" trimming and examine the cases in which shoes seem to be the best choice.
Suzannah Kolbeck. All Rights Reserved. 2008