Putting metal shoes on horses to protect their feet has been a tradition for centuries, but new techniques are helping horses and their owners discover wellness and improved performance by going barefoot.
Horse owners and aspiring barefoot horse trimmers learned about those techniques at a recent clinic taught by Ida Hammer of Illinois and held at Mad Dog Ranch, located between Siloam Springs and Lincoln, on Oct. 24 and 25.
Ten students from Northwest Arkansas and further destinations such as Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas spent the weekend learning about the anatomy and inner structure of the equine foot. Then they practiced trimming, first a cadaver horse hoof before moving to working on a live horse.
Hammer is an expert in the field of barefoot hoof trimming who learned under barefoot trimming pioneers such as Jeremy Jackson and trained alongside Pete Ramey, another well-known pioneer in the field. She not only passes on her knowledge to other professionals, but has a goal of empowering horse owners to trim their own horse's hooves.
Barefoot trimming is different than letting horses go without shoes, Hammer explained. The traditional methods of trimming used by most farriers focus on preparing the hooves for shoes. In contrast, barefoot trimming techniques are centered on trimming and balancing the hooves so the natural structures can do the jobs they were intended for, she said.
The tradition of putting metal shoes on horses began when the ancient Romans began keeping horses in stalls, Hammer said. Standing in one place for most of the day, often in damp conditions, weakened the hoof structure so that horses needed protection on their feet to continue performing.
Horses in disciplines from jumping to barrel racing have successfully competed barefoot, Hammer said. The top ten endurance horses in the Tevis Cup -- one of the world's most prestigious 100-mile races held annually in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains -- all ran the race barefoot last year, Hammer said.
Barefoot trimming is more than a hoof-care technique, it also includes a lifestyle with access to outdoor turnout or a stall run, as well as a proper diet, Hammer said.
Hammer first became interested in barefoot trimming after one of her horses came down with navicular disease. In the past she had other horses with the disease and had watched them decline with traditional treatments. She didn't want to watch this horse go down the same road so she started searching for other answers.
The worst of hoof problems can be treated with barefoot trimming, Hammer said. The technique has a high rate of success with horses who have problems such as founder or navicular disease, she said. Founder is an extremely painful condition affecting the inner structures of the hoof that can become so severe it requires the animal to be euthanized. Navicular disease is a chronic disorder that affects the navicular bone -- a small bone located in the pastern, or ankle, of a horse -- that can lead to disabling lameness.
The hoof naturally expands and contracts when a horse puts weight on it, causing blood to circulate through the sensitive structures and providing the animal with natural shock absorption. Metal shoes prevent much of the natural expansion and contraction, Hammer said.
Many farriers know that horses that are shod 12 months out of the year lose ground year after year, she said.
"The more horses are shod, the more they are dependent on shoes," Hammer said. "You take the shoes off and they have problems."
Horse owners may worry that their horses can't handle going barefoot or that it will require a long break in their work while they adapt. Rubber boots that function like tennis shoes are a perfect tool to transition horses who are not ready to go completely, she said.
Hammer still trims 300 to 400 horses a month in addition to teaching to keep her skills fresh but her ultimate goal is to empower horse owners to trim their own animal's feet. Professional hoof trimmers and farriers make drastic changes every six weeks, but horse owners can make smaller changes each week to optimize their horse's health, she said.
Every horse owner should be educated about their horse's hooves, whether they decide to take on the task of trimming them themselves or not, according to Cindy Martin, owner of Mad Dog Ranch.
"If you expect performance out of your horse that understanding of how the horse's foot functions and how it impacts performance is almost an obligation of a horse owner," Martin said. "What better way to understand it than literally hands on."
Martin said she especially appreciated Hammer's focus on anatomy and described her as a passionate instructor.
"She not only knows her stuff, she is a genuinely good teacher," Martin said.
Martin dismissed the idea of barefoot trimming when she first heard about it in 2006, but then one of her beloved horses was diagnosed with navicular disease. She had seen other horses with navicular disease decline with traditional treatments as the disease progressed and like Hammer decided to look for alternatives.
At the time Martin was living in California and found a local practitioner and gave it a try with a horse who wasn't in active work. She liked the way his feet looked and transitioned all of her horses to barefoot trimming. Her horse with navicular disease found healing and was able to continue performing for the rest of her career.
Martin has been trimming her own horses' feet for the past two years. Her two horses who have shown the most improvement were Thoroughbreds, a breed notorious for having bad feet. She has also been able to use the technique to rehabilitate a donkey with badly distorted hooves.
"You don't start with a perfect foot," Martin said. "You make the foot better. It's a really powerful message. We tend to think what is there we can't change, all we can do is protect it. Hooves change and they grow. No horse was born with bad feet other than a very few. Their feet became bad through environmental conditions and how they end up being shaped.
"If nothing else I've learned from this that things can change and change how effectively they function and how they appear," Martin said. "It can impact the entire horse."
Susanne Shelton, of Tulsa, said her four horses have always gone without shoes, but she just recently learned about barefoot trimming and started trimming her horses' hooves herself.
Shelton said she uses her horses for pleasure riding but has some horses that are not rideable, and never will be, because of hoof problems. She is hopeful the new techniques she learned during the clinic will make them more comfortable as they live out their lives.
"The structure of the hoof is just fascinating," she said.
Sharon O'Banion, of Tulsa, described the clinic as "fantastic."
"Ida is fun," O'Banion said. "This is a fun group of people."
O'Banion brought her Friesian horse, Staas, to the clinic so she could practice with him. She has been trimming his hooves for a number of years but wanted to sharpen her skills.
Staas was barefoot when O'Banion bought him. Her instincts told her putting metal nails in his hooves couldn't be a good thing and she found a barefoot certified trimmer to work on his feet. Then she learned to trim his hooves herself and has been doing so ever since. Once or twice a year she checks in with a professional to make sure she is still working in the right direction.
O'Banion and Staas compete together in the sport of dressage and also enjoy trail riding. So far O'Banion has seen improvement in the quality of Staas' hooves and his movement.
"You have a better understanding of what's going on when you're more involved with your horse's health," O'Banion said.
General News on 11/25/2015