Hoof Rehabilitation The Natural Way

What's in  a Trim anyway?

What makes Natural hoof care superior to other types of hoof care, in a nutshell.…. everything. Natural hoof care takes in to consideration three things where as conventional hoof care takes into account just one of the three.

Lets go over them shall we.

1. Environment

The hoof care provided by the professional is based on science not tradition. The hoof has been studied in its natural environment and key things were discovered. Hose hooves are designed to move 10-20 miles a day on various types of terrain. Dirt, grass, rock, sand, woodland brush, steep hills and cliffs, flat grass planes, rivers, swamps, beaches. You name it A mustangs hoof have been on it and through it. All this varied terrain allows the hoof to work itself into a rock hard protection foundation. The hoof in domestication isn't

subject to all of these harsh terrains, there are usually set up to live in a soft grass pasture, and a pine shaving bedded stall. It is ironic to think that a softer environment is worse for the hoof then a harsh one but that is the truth. The natural hoof care method takes into consideration these differences and trims the hoof accordingly. The hoof is trimmed to mimic the adaptations that the wild hoof makes in consideration to its environment. What are the differences? Each horse is different. Talk with your professional to find out where your horse stands.

2.Hoof Care

The most noticeable difference between natural hoof care and conventional hoof care is in the protection. The hoof is healthiest when left bare. I have yet to find a farrier book that doesn’t recommend periods of “recovery” time for the hoof. They all warn of the dangers of back to back to back shoeing. This thinking has been accepted for year because there was no other way of protecting the hoof other than nailed on shoes, but not anymore. New advancements in hoof care has allowed for new protection. Hoof boots are the 21 century horse shoe. As stated before the hoof adapts to its environment, If your environment is one that your ride in you shouldn’t need protection of any kind. The old saying “bed your horses where they work” has a new meaning. If you ride in different terrain than where your horse spends most of its time then protection is a smart choice.

The beauty of hoof boots is just that. With shoes you are locked in until someone takes the shoe off. With boots the rider can adapt the hoof protection based on the environment that they will be riding in. If you are in thick mud well put on some cleats and tear on through. When you are through the mud and move to a road well just take the cleats off and have a good time. You can even put some rubber soles on the boot to keep it form slipping on the asphalt. If your horse is of the show performance type and never see’s rock and you decide to take him on a trail ride through the mountains with your friends trial horses, throw on a pair of boots with soft insoles and have a good time. The possibilities are endless.

3.Diet.

A good diet is one of the three corner stones of natural hoof care and for good reason. The hoof is growing every step of everyday, what you feed that hoof is what type of hoof is grown. You are what you eat, we have all heard it from our mothers our whole lives. It is just as true for us as it is for our horses. There are vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins and carbohydrates that are needed to grow healthy hooves. The complex balances of macro and micro minerals are essential. The most common balance being a 2:1 ratio between Calcium and phosphorus, 2:1 ratio between copper and zinc, and even more in depth than that copper, zinc, manganese and magnesium. These balances are crucial for hoof health. There are two ways to determine a good diet. One is to test the forage the other is to test the horse. Forage testing should be done whether there are problems with your horses hooves or not. You have their yearly physical, shots, dental visits, regular farrier visits, why not the most important thing of all, food. Most of you will be surprised to find out that hay alone will provide just about everything that your horses need. Ask your farrier if he/she does forage testing, if not find someone who does and get your forage balanced, you will be surprised with the results.

If you are having problems with hoof health or over all health in general you can do a hair analysis. The difference between the forage test and the horse hair test is just because the horse is being feed the proper diet that doesn’t mean that your horse is absorbing the nutrition as it is being feed. As stated before the balance between minerals is crucial. Your horse may not be absorbing minerals the same as the general horse population. Your horse may need a 3:1 ratio of calcium and phosphorus, just because he isn’t absorbing calcium the same as everyone else. Hair testing is good for a one test one horse basis. You will still have to know what you are feeding before you will know just how much more to feed (or less) so get a good forage test and then a hair test.

These three things are the basis for a good hoof care program so get with a good hoof care professional and you will be happy and your horse will thank you. I guarantee it.