Breaking More Rocks Than a Chain Gang

Here is a view of Comet's hoof from several years ago as I prepared it for a trim. At that time, like nearly every one else, I thought that I was preparing for a trim when, in reality, I was only preparing it for a shoe to be nailed on. That was the fundamental error that farriers made for several hundred years.

Fortunately, in the last thirty years serious horseman have begun looking to the horse's natural hoof in its natural environment to determine how a horse's hoof should be trimmed. Jaime Brown, Pete Ramey, and a host of other serious students of a healthy hoof have made it possible for a domestic horse to have a life without the periodic lameness that accompanies a lifestyle marred by stable confinement, lack of movement, and obesity.

A proper trim leads to a concave hoof. Heels are widened, and the bars are kept well in check. The outer portion of the hoof should not be weight bearing but should instead be rolled upward with the rasp. The portion of the hoof outside of the white line was the portion that bore nearly all of the horse's weight under the traditional style of hoof trimming. As a result, that portion constantly chipped and cracked. The horse owner then was advised to spend a fortune on hoof supplements, more misguided hoof trimming, oils and salves to 'restore the hoof," and worst of all, to keep the horse stall confined until the hoof "healed."

Unfortunately that was the state of the art for hundreds of years. My father had professional training as a farrier and a blacksmith in the 1960's and the techniques that he was taught as absolutely essential, we now realize, are absolutely destructive.

So how is it that we can say that natural hoof care is essential to a healthy horse? Well, the proof is in the pasture. Comet's hooves are trimmed to mimic that of a wild horse. He lives in a herd on hard ground and has the constant opportunity for movement. As long as I have had him he has never stood in a stable and been exposed to the corrosive power of horse urine or hoof deforming soft bedding. Tradewind, who foundered in the wild to the degree that he walked on the side of his hoof, does 50 miles in a day without the slightest hint of discomfort.

Comet trots through gravel and road rock. He does not limp or give way to tender feet. He treats gravel like sand. Just the way he was naturally designed to do.