The Natural Foot

There are a lot of good bare foot horse specialist out there and I do not disparage any of them by saying I follow Pete Ramey 100%. I wasted so much time and effort dealing with hoof cracks over the years all because I did not understand the form and function of the natural hoof.
His methods work wonders on hooves that most would have given up on and they improve even a very healthy hoof, provided that the horse gets to live as naturally as possible. Get his book, buy his videos, and go to his clinics. Might be the best thing that you ever do for your horse.
Tim Ware makes the great point that there is no one single model for a natural hoof. In fact the hoof develops to suit the terrain. Shacklefords and Corollas have very different hooves than mustangs from the western ranges. However, in my experience, the best hoof model for a horse to be heavily ridden over varied terrain is the western model that Ramey uses.
Take a close look at the feet of Croatoan's three year old handler in the picture above. She prefers the natural foot for herself too.