The Horse's Hoof

As most of you probably know, I'm now a huge barefoot proponent with horses. This is after years of riding horses in steel horse shoes, but now that I've done my research I have changed my ways.

Mustang horses have notoriously good feet and can go barefoot easier than most horses (typically). Years of evolution have created a hoof that is very versatile. That's not to say that domestic horses can't go barefoot! Many horses have proven that they can go barefoot, even horses with notoriously difficult hooves like Thoroughbreds.

I've caught a lot of flack from other riders and non-riders alike for not using horseshoes, some people even saying it's cruel. "Would you want to run around barefoot?" they say. To which I reply, "No, but I wouldn't want metal shoes on all day either!" I then usually explain how different horse's feet are then humans, but by that point people have stopped listening. They are right in one respect, pulling off a horses shoes and expecting the horse to then go over all types of terrain barefoot is cruel! This is why any decent barefoot trimmer will tell you that you need to transition your horse to barefoot: going from shoes, to hoof boots all the time, to hoof boots only when riding, to hoof boots only over harder terrain, etc.

The problem is going back to barefoot from shoes isn't easy. I never dealt with this transition with Calvin, he was born barefoot and stayed that way, hence he was able to develop healthy tissue early in life. Going from shoes, one has to buy hoof boots and put them on every time they ride.This is difficult as many people are used to just getting on and riding like they would with shoes. It's much more convenient to use shoes, until your horse throws a shoe and you can't ride anymore until the farrier comes.

Calvin's feet weren't sore, but he has feet that flare out due to stress likes these. The hooves in the picture are more extreme than Calvin's, but even a mild flare is more prone to chipping and flares (tiny chips on bottom of hoof). A healthy hoof should just be straight up and down like this picture. As you can see, this hoof is fairly straight on the outsides without flaring. Since he has flares, I've had to take a rasp (basically a huge metal nail file) and file down any chips on a tri-weekly basis. This is more work than most people are willing to put in, but I'm committed to having him have healthy feet.

The key is that barefoot is healthier for horses and as others have said, "horses aren't born with steel on their feet." The hoof is meant to naturally expand and contract. You can see here that in rubber shoes from Easycare, the hoof can flex naturally, this wouldn't happen with steel. The hoof also has blood circulated throughout due to this natural flexion. So when shoes are placed on the hoof, the feet become rigid and lose circulation. Here is a thermograph shown of a horse with 3 barefoot hooves and one with steel, want to guess which one has the horseshoe? That's right, the darker leg. When we shoe horses, we mess with their entire circulatory system. Not to mention that it's been found that walking a shod horse on pavement has more concussion than trotting a barefoot horse on pavement!

All of these have confirmed that barefoot is the way to stay. Others are catching on too, there have been some racehorse breeders who have realized that barefoot leads to a healthier and faster horse. Same with jumping, dressage, western, and of course endurance. Most major competitions require that horses have shoes and until the rules change, a serious competitor cannot compete completely barefoot.

So since you lovely readers made it through that huge rant, I give you some very cool videos to watch! the first video shows the amount of concussion in shod hooves (be sure to look at how much the hoof travels once landed, crazy!). The second video shows barefoot hoof concussion. Decide for yourself which looks more detrimental to the horse.