Flying Hearts Farm
Horseback Riding Lessons and Hoof Rehabilitation
Natural Barefoot Trimming Services:
Trim: $40
Mileage: .60/mile one way, will travel any distance
I am happy to help teach those interested in learning to trim their own horses as well.
Click Here for my Case Studies
Click Here for my Barefoot Horses At Work
Looking for Lily's Blog? Click Here!
A Little Basic Info About Natural Barefoot Trimming
Natural Barefoot Trimming is a simple, common sense approach to hoof care - trim the hoof to allow it to heal itself.
Metal shoes inhibit circulation, and the trim under the shoe is often aimed at masking the problem instead of fixing it. The general attitude is that founder and navicular can only be managed and not healed. But we're starting to know better, and now that has been proven wrong many, many times!
Natural barefoot trimming is also helpful for issues such as weak, shelly walls, chronic thrush, club foot, chipping and cracking, underrun heels, etc... It's also the healthiest option for sound horses.
Are you worried your horse can't go barefoot? There are many removeable hoof boot options that provide the best of both worlds - allowing the horse protection when needed, while allowing the horse all the benefits of going barefoot the rest of the time. There have been many advancements in boot technology recently, and there are now many padding options as well.
Basic Overview of Founder and Navicular Treatment
In a foundered hoof, the lamina (connection between the inside of the hoof wall and the coffin bone) separate, allowing the coffin bone to rotate and point downwards. Treatment using natural barefoot trimming lowers the heels to restore the coffin bone to it's normal ground parallel position (this often relieves much pain as the bone is no longer stabbing downwards), and keeps the toe short so there is no leverage pulling the lamina apart. This allows for a new strong laminar connection to grow in, an essential part of healing the foundered horse.
As far as navicular goes... many sound horses have navicular lesions and they are not always the source of the pain. Most navicular horses have high heels, contracted feet, and excess bar. By allowing the hooves to decontract with proper trimming and removing excess bar, you remove excess pressure on the navicular area. Many horses experience great relief with just one correct trim.
There is a wealth of information available about this trimming method both online and in book form, so I won't bother with another repetitive site. This page is just an introduction to natural hoofcare, and a place for me to share my case studies. However, you do owe it to yourself and your horse to at least educate yourself about this option by reading the following websites to see if it's right for you and your horse.
Links:
http://www.thehorseshoof.com
http://www.barefoothorse.com
http://www.naturalhorsetrim.com
Please keep in mind that there are a few different styles of natural barefoot trimming, and different things work best for different horses in different situations. I do not adhere to any one style, I believe in doing what works for the individual.
A common misconception is that if a horse is in regular, hard work or ridden on hard or rough terrain that they need shoes. This has been proven wrong again and again. I do agree that if your horse lives the "conventional" lifestyle - in a deeply bedded stall for 20+ hours, ridden in a soft arena for an hour, maybe turned out on grass for a couple hours, etc, that they probably would not do well barefoot. Management plays an important role in keeping a barefoot performance horse at the top of their game. You have to take the amount of turnout, footing, and conditioning into the picture. But again, there are many other websites with in depth information on this topic and so I won't be repetitive. I just want to share our barefoot horses with you here. They all work hard in various ways and our sights are set high in years to come. One of my biggest goals is to have barefoot horses showing at the top of their game in years to come, so world, watch out!
All of our lesson horses here at Flying Hearts Farm are barefoot. They teach up to two lessons a day in the arena, they regularly go out back on the trails, they are sound ridden across all terrain including gravel. Their lessons can be anything from an easy lunge lesson with a beginner, to going out jumping cross country. Check out my Barefoot Horses At Work link at the top of this page for photos.