El, you are way too nice to some of these comments! I would like to chime in and say that, in my short 50 years of owning, training, shoeing, and now trimming and rehabilitating horses, I have found that the major problems with feet are flares, white line separation, under-run heals, and navicular-all caused mainly by blacksmiths.
Is a blacksmith really a farrier? lol... But. A good farrier is a good hoof doctor, a specialist even. And being able to get to the point of going barefoot, that's a process not an even....takes time and many mistakes to boot. El, well she's a blessing.... Until we want new shoes..lol
Your videos have been very helpful. I started my horses (5) barefoot almost a year ago. I've been working with a very good trimmer and have been maintaining the hoofs myself. I found your site a month or so ago. I appreciate that I can view your trimming videos and then go out the coral and get trimming. I ride very rocky country and put 20+ miles a week on my horses. My horses have black and white hoofs. No problems with cracking or soreness. Thanks again.
I asked my farrier to read some things, and try some things with them, as especially my two year old colt was starting to get platter footed, and had been on a reg. trimming scheduel. But my farrier treated me like I was an idiot, and would not read, nor try what I asked. Later I found out that many people have had such experiences, and that their hoses hooves needed corrective work, their farriers did not know how to do. This is what led me to start this.
Thanks, great information, all of it! Anyone still doubting that being barefoot is better than shoes should just keep learning, reading, and watching, with an open mind. In time, the truth will sink in!
Snow...I miss the snow. Use to sled all winter and ice scate in Pioneer Part in Billings when I was a kid. What fun that was. Snow angels, snow men, tractor tire marks with your feet, snow ball fights, snow forts. I miss the snow.
Well Thank YOU! Being able to help you is just a blessing in and of itself. I was born in Billings and raised there till 12...well kinda, Forsyth, Roundup, Harden back and forth to all those places with my Mom, till we moved to Wyoming. Also many years later Birney and Kalispell. There's something that happens in my heart the second you come over the state line, things change, the country changes, it really is BIG SKY Country. My ancestors homsteaded there.
I just found your channel and greatly appreciate and respect what you are doing here. Thank you for the details in the description. I am excited to learn with you.
A very BIG thanks from Lapland, Sweden! 💖 I always do my own horses feet, and i try to learn all i can. Your videos helped me and gave me confidence in what i do. I trim like you and that made me see that i do a good job. Thank you again! 😘👍
I think your horse's feet look great, and if your horses are happy and sound then you are doing right by them. Very good video, and I cannot believe the ignorant, rude, and immature comments that were being made here. If I found out my farrier talked like that to someone, I'd fire him instantly!!
I just would like to say thank you from Japan. I wish you could come here, I have a lot to talk about and share with you. Please keep making these great videos. You are always more than welcome if you are ever here in Japan..... Good luck.
El, thanks so much for posting these two videos. Makes so much sense! The picture of the wild horse hoof compared to how you do it tells the truth. I've got a 25+ Appy mare and a 4 yr Mustang mare that are both barefoot. This is what I needed. Blessings to you.
Wow, really good to hear from you. and THANKS. Not all, but on a some of the horses I'm doing they have very long flared toes. So I don't try and get everything together at one time, cause I noticed they get sore. So I just whack the toes way back and leave them the quarters to stand on, but I bevel the quarters, even through I don't scoop them. Then when I get more conncetion and right growth at the toe, I'll deal more with the quarters, but I do alway but a good bevel on them.
I love how people come on and curse and then think they'll have anyone believe their comments. lol Thanks for the videos - it clarifies some issues I had been wondering about.
Wonderful video. Thanks for the help. I'm on my first horse and would love nothing more than to keep her maintained by myself, without shawing her. What a great video, thanks again.
Thanks very much, glad I can help. I have much improved and leaned some new important things since these vidoes, but cameras been broke. Got a new one coming this week, and hope to share some really great stuff. Sounds like you have the ideal country to develop some great hooves.
Excellent. Always been worried about backing up the toe - but my horse is like molly in the early days - too long a toe and Ive always rasped the wall to try and remove flare. Thanks for the info.
Happy hoof: thx for these neat videos! Might you consider posting a video that shows each of the essential tools and how to use each, including how to position leg n hoof etc? I am a green beginner who wants to learn to bare trim my own from the beginning
This is an old video and I've changed some things since then. I do not take the quarters down any more. I was taught to do that. And I think you are right in what you said.
Thanks for the kind words. Yes I love that movie. And my mother had a book on the history of thoroughbreds, and when he died they weighed his heart and it was actually twice a big as a normal horses heart.
Hi there, I've had my horse barefoot for almost three years, and he's still very "owwie" on anything but pasture/paddock. My farrier is a natural balance guy, but he does (and always has) rasped down the hoof. Do you think that's causing what's causing my horse to never toughen his feet? My farrier has never given me a good answer, just that we humans walk "owwie" if we go barefoot ourselves. Thanks so much for your great video!
Btw: I saw your video on tools of the trade but what we are looking for now is for you to go back and demo usage of the essential ones -- basics for brand new beginners
In thinking about what you said and your reasoning behind it, it dawned on me that in some farrier schools they teach a tradition of "standing them up". Which is growing the heells longer than they would be naturally.
You are right in everything that you say. But there are still some "misunderstandings" on both sides. When I got into this I did not know there was a big controversy between farriers and barefoot trimming enthusiasts. I tried to get my farrier to look at some of the principles regarding it. Not because I wanted to go shoeless, but because I had two horses that needed some corrective work, and that did not need to be shod, because they were not at the time being ridden.
@shaneshaneshoer It's really so very simple. The bottom and back of the foot are suppose to touch the ground in order for the pressure to cause expansion and contraction. Without expansion and contraction at every step, the heels gradually contract and the frog will atrophy.
IT is the entire hoof growing down and eventually flairing from lack of trimming that over time makes the whole thing sprread out into a "pancake" like shape, dropping the whole hoof to a lower state. As this happens a laminar wedge is developed between the hoofwall and the coffin bone.
I've rolled past the white line, in real flared toes, doing that rocker toe. But Ovinick also said just a strong roll will do the same thing. And now, I don't actually ROLL it, I just relieve that ground edge of the hardest part of the wall, leaving softer wall, and let them roll their own custom roll.
Thanks, go to abchoofcare and read all her articles, but especially on the right side of the page, mapping the hoof, finding the baseline heel height, and using the periople to find the heel height. I did this on this mare about about 6 weeks ago, and WOW, went from semi sound to fully sound and walking great. Have now doine it on every horse I do, and WOW what an improvment. Also don't be affraid to take off toe callous if the hoof is not balanced, it comes back.
They talk about medial/lateral balance (inside/outside). But the thing is you got inside toe, inside quater, and inside heel. And you got outside toe, quarter and heel. So 6 parts you got to get right and balanced. It can all look flat when you look "flat" at it, but once you start eyeing down it different ways, it could be high in any of those areas. You will also notice it in the coronet band, it will look crooked or jammed.
I mean hoof "capsil", almost like you just slightly twisted the lid of a jar, and it curved the horn tubuels too. And no matter what I did to the heels or the sides it never straightend out. Then in one trim I saw that, took care of it and the foot and leg straightend right out. Which is interesting because they always say, that if they toe in your long on the "outside" and visa versa. But in this case he was long on the inside toe and it was making him toe in. Got to remember we got 4 part here
Then to correct it you have to trim in such a say as to get the hoof wall to grown down and out connected to the bone, and grow out the flare, so that they toed will back up and run straight down the coffin bone again, growing out those wedges. But most farriers do not realize this, and just shoe the "platter foot", rasping down the wall and continuing to weaking the whole structure.
I don't blame you and I apologize for my AT THE TIME ignorance. Since that time, I have learned much more from BOTH sides and can equally bash barefoot trimmers: ) THERE IS GOOD AND BAD, TRUTH AND ERROR on both sides. The controversy is good, as it makes each strive for the right answers. I'm as prone to drawing misconceptions as anyone. Again, please forgive my ignorance, and if you can take any benefits from the other side that may be there, as I do now from your side.
Nice job! Question: in this video at about 8:40-8:50 looking at the bottom, is their seperation at the white line or is that normal? I am wondering about the dark area just inside of the hoof wall around the perimiter. Also, what do you use as a guide for how far back you roll the outside wall edge? Do you roll off just all of the dark, hard wall, or part of the white, soft wall as well? Do you ever roll all the way to the white line? Thanks!
I have learned a lot even since I did this video, and find there are things to be considdered from both sides. The main thing about some of the principles of barefoot trimming, IF you get into the right method, you do learn how to grow out a healthy hoof, and fix a lot of problems, that sometimes people do not even realize is going on.
Your videos give great instruction, thank you so much for posting them! I have a question regarding that arch you were showing on the side of the hoof wall - when you were sighting the bottom you were looking for it to be flat, so afterwards why do you want that arch appearing? Also, how can you tell when to stop rasping the bottom or the hoof, as in, how do you judge that the hoof is the proper height?
No it's not the callous that creates the imbalance in the toe it's your trimming. One slide slowly gets longer or higher and you don't notice it. Then the callous forms on the imbalance toe. You want the callous to form on a balanced toe. Callous is good, it makes the feet tough, and protects the toe. Just like a callous on a hard working hand.
It depends on what you want for your horse. We're not so much looking for "easy" as "healthy". Being wrongly shod or being shod too much ruins a horses hooves. Just going barefoot with improper hoof care can also be detrimental. It really all depnds on many variables, and the best thing to do is just take some time to educate yourself in order to make the proper decisions for your horse.
I saw that when I was doing it, and then on the video, and had the choice to take some more off and clean it up, but I did not want to rasp into the sole any more than I did. It had been awhile since she'd been trimmed, and there might have been a bit of seperation starting because of it. Plus it's really wet here now and muddy.
Different horses in different country roll different edges. Somewhere along the line, someone looked. I'll take some pictures of her hooves today and post them and we'll see what she's done in all this mud.
Well, thank you for the nice encouragment. I use nippers too if they are very long, but I think I was trying to show how to use a rasp. But I got to do some more videos, because wth all those coveralls on I was pretty clumsy. (not that I'm a real whiz anyway)
Not every horse can be barefoot, but many can. I mean, sometimes there are just a lot of factors that figgure in such as how you are going to use them, and they shape their hooves are in to begin with. Then too it takes time to develpe a this kind of hoof and lots of trims because you are really growing out a whole new hoof. Then you also have to have a pretty good enviorment, as wet climates tend to not develop hard hooves.
Trimming hte bars does not make a pancake foot, and in my opinion and that of many others, the bars are not what holds the whold hoof together. Rather the whole hoofwall being interlocked with tubuels and intertubular horn is what holds the hoofwall together. None of my horses have pancake hooves, and I have fixed quite a few cases of that. as well as very long streched out toes. Also this video is old, and I've improved and changed as we all should do, including farriers.
The reason I talk about toe callous like this, is because I was originally taught, and it is a barefoot trimming montra or sacred cow, that you don't touch that toe callous. So then if the hoof is imbalanced it will grow callous on an imbalance, and you don't balance the hoof because you've been taught not to touch that toe callous. So that's error. So you balalance the hoof, and the toe callous will form again on the ballanced hoof.
@bucci777 There might be some travel time there....I'm in Kansas, the southeast corner, close to Oaklahoma. But sure wish I could come trim and teach you have to do it for your self. Regards ( :
I trim my own horse barefoot. She wont respect anyone else when it comes to holding her hoof up for a long period of time. This was due to trauma from her first owner. But we are working through it. I had to learn and fast.
I only use nippers if the hoof is long, to save my arms and my rasp. Once the hooves are good, and you're just doing maintenance, you can just rasp (file) them down, kind of like your fingernails. Good luck.
I think because of the mantra and the attitude of the "holy" toe callous, never to "touch it", for in the day thou doest, thy horse shall surely die. ....that many barefooters never look at the balanace of the toe, I know I didn't. Just never looked that far down, at the whole hoof. Then when I finally did, I went "HUM"??? And my colt was not originally crooked like that, it was something that developed because of the toe inbalance. And it actually made the hoof capside twist to the inside.
I actually bevel it with that flat straight slanted cut, and let them round the edges themselves since I've then relieved the hardest part of the wall at ground level.
There are so many vairables, depending on the true condition of the horses hooves, the type of trim (not all natural trimmers, actually trim right.), and then your enviroment. Once feet are corrected, and the hoof is right, then the hoof has to be "forged". I mean you set them up, to forge and toughen their own hooves.
But now I understand how they get that way, either from a lack of hoof trimming, or from bad trimming. The whole hoof wall is interloced with horn tubuels and intertubular horn much like cement and rebar. The bars are simply "Hoof wall", and like the hoofwall should be trimmed down.
I have a question. I have looked forever for a video to help me with a horse I just got. Her outside hoof wall is bumpy and not smooth and in her right front hoof has a huge chunk missing out of it. The chunk goes about from the middle of the hoof to the soul. That is what is missing. What can I do to help her get healthy hooves and grown back this missing chunk?
Do you not use nippers at all then? Just the rasp? I have started trimming my mini's and now that they are done regular I don't have use for my rasp, when I got two of them their feet were so over grown I didnt have much choice but I really thought maybe I was doing something wrong if I didn't need my nippers?
Not really, I don't really follow any one person. I keep learning from all sorces and changing here and there, adding and tweeking the trim. What I do now is even slightly different than when I did this video, and getting much better results. It's like an art to learn to read and understand hoof growth, and then tweek each trim to grow the desired results. I learn a lot from regular folks that watch these videos and correspond with me. Everyone has something to share to make us all better.
@thehappyhoof What is the difference between a shod hoof and a barefoot hoof does it make a horse have more comfort when barefoot and I have heard they have better stability when barefoot and slip a little more with shoes but I really need to know if a barefoot horse needs less or more trimming and I mean I am not going to ride on gravel and stuff just dirt and leaves
Actually, as a country kid I hardly wore shoes regularly and didn't go owwie when I walked cause my feet had hardened on the bottom, the arch was nice and high and I could use my whole foot for balance. Once I started wearing shoes all the time I developed a back problem that I'd been compensating for quite well when I was barefoot.
I'll have to do a video on that, because it's hard to explain here. But best I can tell you is to take them down and back to the widest part of the back of the frog.
These old videos are wonderful. Cant wait to watch all of your new stuff. How much did you pay for all of your tools? It seems like getting nippers and rasps is a bit of an investment.
Therefore you would of course not trim the bars, because you are trying to grow heel on them. And this is really because you are trying to get the correct angle and balance of the hoof.
@YukiLoveless oh thank I am getting my first horse I am 12 and I have been to many many horse camps with my neighbor and her horse. So I was wandering if a horse is shod can he be barefoot right away or does it take a bit since you said it cuts off blood supply?
@slipknotgirl06 Chances are the horse has way too much hoof anyway, and is trying to self trim. I have seen this happen a lot. The bumps are called growth rings and there are varrious reasons for why you get them. Try hoofmechanics new videos, and learn more about how the hoof should really look, so that you c an judge more of where you are at and what to do.
The people I admire the most are those farriers who have come to understand the principles of barefoot trimming and incorporate it into farrier work, who in fact to both. This is best medieum, taking the best truths from both sides, while also learning to get rid of some of the erronious traditions, which always creeps in to any field. Like this guy at farrierart dot com. Have to write it this way because youtube will not let you post urls.
@pecoslover97 Your seeing better now, that I did when I originally did this video. This mare had a LOT of problems, heals most probably are high but mainly they look high because she's got NO FROG, it atrophied. She's also got compressed heels, retained or "false sole" and both the frog and the sole are way stretched forward. Her foot has changed A LOT in the last several years since I did this video, better trimming, better hoof.
It could just be stained, it's very poreous right there. If you keep them maintained, like filing off a fingernail, they won't get that. But she kind of get's left to last. My colt never has that, because I do him like clockwork. But the little seperation there is that's what it is is very minor not to the bone, not yet a flare.
BUT the reason for this, is because in reality the tie over time has flared, stretching the sole and white line forward with it, so that when you trim you come to a nice clean white line, and assume this is the natural length of the toe. And consiquently you want to bring the heels up to get the angles right.
Yeah, I know it's sacriligious according to barefoot "tradition". But think about this. A callous developes where ever the sole get's enough ground contact and friction, just like you and me. So if the toe is imbalanced it will still develope callous on an imbalanced toe. And if you get her balanced, it will come back, on a level playing field. But leaving an imbalance will cause arthritus or something else later on.
im not trying to be mean or anything im just genuinely asking a question because i wanna become a natural barefoot trimmer but at 6:36 it looks like the hoof has high heels and low/long toes but i can tell its very concave which is good and the outside is curved which is good ( i think) im just confused haha
Did you mean he rasps down the outside of the wall fairly high on the wall? If he's doing that continually, yes that will keep them ouchy too. And if the horse has flares, and flat feet and that's never been really corrected that will also make them ouchy. And if they have hidden thrush that will also make them ouchy. And .....let's see. lots of things make them ouchy.
@slipknotgirl06 Here is the exact name of that video and you can click into their web sight and by the series for about 20.00 Barefoot Hoof Trim - The Basics - Video Intro
If your mare is imbalanced like that, you will probably only be taking off more on one side than the other and you'll probably find she's still got some of that callous, left, even after you balance her.
@AmericanPitbulls1 If you mean can you take the shoes off right away, then yes, however he will be very sore so it will take a bit. The slow way is the fast way. It takes a full year for a hoof to grow out so after 3 years of having metal nailed into his hoof it'll probably take another 3 years for him to fully adjust to barefoot. Just take it slow.
@AmericanPitbulls1 Ultimately a barefoot hoof is ideal because that's what a horse is born with a shod hoof will do more bad than good despite what people think. It cuts off the blood flow and thus rots the hoof. A barefoot horse will probably need to be trimmed about 4-6 weeks. If you really need a shod horse then use a hoof boot, it's a lot easier because the horse is still barefoot yet still has protection. But if you're just riding on leaves and dirt I wouldn't worry. :)
@thehappyhoof On second thought I am going to leave them in the hopes that one of your clients will happen by here and recognize the mantality of the person they have doing their horse. Also your mentality is in reality pretty common among your profession, and frankly your customers recognize it, and it's one of the reasons they are learning to do their own horses.
Hoof wall flat to the sole...........NO. You want a couple of millimeters of hoof wall above the sole and beveled to create the Mustang roll. And get you hoof stand fixed so it is comfortable for the horse.
To properly sight the foot you have to let foot hang freely. You don't want your thumb touching the bulbs. Hold the leg and let the foot flop into its natural position, then sight the foot.
I do not think that people into this often realize that wild horse hooves are in reality FORGED. Now you can take a lot of the principles and learn a lot from barefoot trimming, but you can't always "forge" the hoof to be exactly like that of a mustang. Yet some horses to get very very tough hooves from following these principles. And many growth problems can also be corrected.
Well I had a head start because my husband use to trim and shoe our horses, so we had a box of all the tools. But he had not done it for years and I had a farrier doing it. But my horses feet kept getting bigger and bigger and worse and worse and this guy was coming every 6 weeks like clockwork. I aksed him to roll the edges of the hoof wall, and he never called me again.
El, you are way too nice to some of these comments! I would like to chime in and say that, in my short 50 years of owning, training, shoeing, and now trimming and rehabilitating horses, I have found that the major problems with feet are flares, white line separation, under-run heals, and navicular-all caused mainly by blacksmiths.
Is a blacksmith really a farrier? lol... But. A good farrier is a good hoof doctor, a specialist even. And being able to get to the point of going barefoot, that's a process not an even....takes time and many mistakes to boot. El, well she's a blessing.... Until we want new shoes..lol
Your videos have been very helpful. I started my horses (5) barefoot almost a year ago. I've been working with a very good trimmer and have been maintaining the hoofs myself. I found your site a month or so ago. I appreciate that I can view your trimming videos and then go out the coral and get trimming. I ride very rocky country and put 20+ miles a week on my horses. My horses have black and white hoofs. No problems with cracking or soreness.
Thanks again.
I asked my farrier to read some things, and try some things with them, as especially my two year old colt was starting to get platter footed, and had been on a reg. trimming scheduel. But my farrier treated me like I was an idiot, and would not read, nor try what I asked. Later I found out that many people have had such experiences, and that their hoses hooves needed corrective work, their farriers did not know how to do. This is what led me to start this.
Thanks, great information, all of it! Anyone still doubting that being barefoot is better than shoes should just keep learning, reading, and watching, with an open mind. In time, the truth will sink in!
Snow...I miss the snow. Use to sled all winter and ice scate in Pioneer Part in Billings when I was a kid. What fun that was. Snow angels, snow men, tractor tire marks with your feet, snow ball fights, snow forts. I miss the snow.
Well Thank YOU! Being able to help you is just a blessing in and of itself. I was born in Billings and raised there till 12...well kinda, Forsyth, Roundup, Harden back and forth to all those places with my Mom, till we moved to Wyoming. Also many years later Birney and Kalispell. There's something that happens in my heart the second you come over the state line, things change, the country changes, it really is BIG SKY Country. My ancestors homsteaded there.
I just found your channel and greatly appreciate and respect what you are doing here. Thank you for the details in the description. I am excited to learn with you.
Nunca veran un casco asi de sano y balanceado usando herraduras. Excelente trabajo!!!
Thankyou for your kind encouraging words. It makes it all worth while.
Your Happy Hoof is my HAPPY HORSE..... Thank YOU.....❤️❤️❤️🤠
A very BIG thanks from Lapland, Sweden! 💖 I always do my own horses feet, and i try to learn all i can. Your videos helped me and gave me confidence in what i do. I trim like you and that made me see that i do a good job. Thank you again! 😘👍
I think your horse's feet look great, and if your horses are happy and sound then you are doing right by them. Very good video, and I cannot believe the ignorant, rude, and immature comments that were being made here. If I found out my farrier talked like that to someone, I'd fire him instantly!!
I just would like to say thank you from Japan. I wish you could come here, I have a lot to talk about and share with you.
Please keep making these great videos. You are always more than welcome if you are ever here in Japan..... Good luck.
El, thanks so much for posting these two videos. Makes so much sense! The picture of the wild horse hoof compared to how you do it tells the truth. I've got a 25+ Appy mare and a 4 yr Mustang mare that are both barefoot. This is what I needed. Blessings to you.
Wow, really good to hear from you. and THANKS. Not all, but on a some of the horses I'm doing they have very long flared toes. So I don't try and get everything together at one time, cause I noticed they get sore. So I just whack the toes way back and leave them the quarters to stand on, but I bevel the quarters, even through I don't scoop them. Then when I get more conncetion and right growth at the toe, I'll deal more with the quarters, but I do alway but a good bevel on them.
I love how people come on and curse and then think they'll have anyone believe their comments. lol Thanks for the videos - it clarifies some issues I had been wondering about.
Wonderful video. Thanks for the help. I'm on my first horse and would love nothing more than to keep her maintained by myself, without shawing her. What a great video, thanks again.
Thanks very much, glad I can help. I have much improved and leaned some new important things since these vidoes, but cameras been broke. Got a new one coming this week, and hope to share some really great stuff. Sounds like you have the ideal country to develop some great hooves.
Excellent. Always been worried about backing up the toe - but my horse is like molly in the early days - too long a toe and Ive always rasped the wall to try and remove flare. Thanks for the info.
Happy hoof: thx for these neat videos! Might you consider posting a video that shows each of the essential tools and how to use each, including how to position leg n hoof etc? I am a green beginner who wants to learn to bare trim my own from the beginning
This is an old video and I've changed some things since then. I do not take the quarters down any more. I was taught to do that. And I think you are right in what you said.
I'd like to know what she said:::: 😂
But really I do...
i got "my" hooves done today by a lady and i must say she did a very good job :)
ladies rule ;)
nice video =D
They should add a Happy horseshoe emoji to my keyboard.....🤠🤠♎♎
Thanks for the kind words.
Yes I love that movie. And my mother had a book on the history of thoroughbreds, and when he died they weighed his heart and it was actually twice a big as a normal horses heart.
Hi there, I've had my horse barefoot for almost three years, and he's still very "owwie" on anything but pasture/paddock. My farrier is a natural balance guy, but he does (and always has) rasped down the hoof. Do you think that's causing what's causing my horse to never toughen his feet? My farrier has never given me a good answer, just that we humans walk "owwie" if we go barefoot ourselves. Thanks so much for your great video!
Some horses are just not meant to be on rocks...only on occasions...
Btw: I saw your video on tools of the trade but what we are looking for now is for you to go back and demo usage of the essential ones -- basics for brand new beginners
In thinking about what you said and your reasoning behind it, it dawned on me that in some farrier schools they teach a tradition of "standing them up". Which is growing the heells longer than they would be naturally.
I agree, horses definitely have been and are a tremendous blessing in our lives.
You are right in everything that you say. But there are still some "misunderstandings" on both sides.
When I got into this I did not know there was a big controversy between farriers and barefoot trimming enthusiasts. I tried to get my farrier to look at some of the principles regarding it. Not because I wanted to go shoeless, but because I had two horses that needed some corrective work, and that did not need to be shod, because they were not at the time being ridden.
@shaneshaneshoer It's really so very simple. The bottom and back of the foot are suppose to touch the ground in order for the pressure to cause expansion and contraction. Without expansion and contraction at every step, the heels gradually contract and the frog will atrophy.
IT is the entire hoof growing down and eventually flairing from lack of trimming that over time makes the whole thing sprread out into a "pancake" like shape, dropping the whole hoof to a lower state. As this happens a laminar wedge is developed between the hoofwall and the coffin bone.
I've rolled past the white line, in real flared toes, doing that rocker toe. But Ovinick also said just a strong roll will do the same thing. And now, I don't actually ROLL it, I just relieve that ground edge of the hardest part of the wall, leaving softer wall, and let them roll their own custom roll.
Thanks, go to abchoofcare and read all her articles, but especially on the right side of the page, mapping the hoof, finding the baseline heel height, and using the periople to find the heel height. I did this on this mare about about 6 weeks ago, and WOW, went from semi sound to fully sound and walking great. Have now doine it on every horse I do, and WOW what an improvment. Also don't be affraid to take off toe callous if the hoof is not balanced, it comes back.
They talk about medial/lateral balance (inside/outside). But the thing is you got inside toe, inside quater, and inside heel. And you got outside toe, quarter and heel. So 6 parts you got to get right and balanced. It can all look flat when you look "flat" at it, but once you start eyeing down it different ways, it could be high in any of those areas. You will also notice it in the coronet band, it will look crooked or jammed.
I mean hoof "capsil", almost like you just slightly twisted the lid of a jar, and it curved the horn tubuels too. And no matter what I did to the heels or the sides it never straightend out. Then in one trim I saw that, took care of it and the foot and leg straightend right out. Which is interesting because they always say, that if they toe in your long on the "outside" and visa versa. But in this case he was long on the inside toe and it was making him toe in. Got to remember we got 4 part here
Then to correct it you have to trim in such a say as to get the hoof wall to grown down and out connected to the bone, and grow out the flare, so that they toed will back up and run straight down the coffin bone again, growing out those wedges. But most farriers do not realize this, and just shoe the "platter foot", rasping down the wall and continuing to weaking the whole structure.
I don't blame you and I apologize for my AT THE TIME ignorance. Since that time, I have learned much more from BOTH sides and can equally bash barefoot trimmers: ) THERE IS GOOD AND BAD, TRUTH AND ERROR on both sides. The controversy is good, as it makes each strive for the right answers. I'm as prone to drawing misconceptions as anyone. Again, please forgive my ignorance, and if you can take any benefits from the other side that may be there, as I do now from your side.
Nice job! Question: in this video at about 8:40-8:50 looking at the bottom, is their seperation at the white line or is that normal? I am wondering about the dark area just inside of the hoof wall around the perimiter. Also, what do you use as a guide for how far back you roll the outside wall edge? Do you roll off just all of the dark, hard wall, or part of the white, soft wall as well? Do you ever roll all the way to the white line? Thanks!
Thanks, and as soon as the weather clears I'll see about doing something like that.
Thank you, Horses have saved me (that is the Lord through them, many times). And I'm just glad that I can now do something to help pay them back.
I have learned a lot even since I did this video, and find there are things to be considdered from both sides. The main thing about some of the principles of barefoot trimming, IF you get into the right method, you do learn how to grow out a healthy hoof, and fix a lot of problems, that sometimes people do not even realize is going on.
@pecoslover97 And another thing is she also had jammed coronary bands.
Your videos give great instruction, thank you so much for posting them!
I have a question regarding that arch you were showing on the side of the hoof wall - when you were sighting the bottom you were looking for it to be flat, so afterwards why do you want that arch appearing? Also, how can you tell when to stop rasping the bottom or the hoof, as in, how do you judge that the hoof is the proper height?
No it's not the callous that creates the imbalance in the toe it's your trimming. One slide slowly gets longer or higher and you don't notice it.
Then the callous forms on the imbalance toe. You want the callous to form on a balanced toe. Callous is good, it makes the feet tough, and protects the toe. Just like a callous on a hard working hand.
It depends on what you want for your horse. We're not so much looking for "easy" as "healthy". Being wrongly shod or being shod too much ruins a horses hooves. Just going barefoot with improper hoof care can also be detrimental. It really all depnds on many variables, and the best thing to do is just take some time to educate yourself in order to make the proper decisions for your horse.
I saw that when I was doing it, and then on the video, and had the choice to take some more off and clean it up, but I did not want to rasp into the sole any more than I did. It had been awhile since she'd been trimmed, and there might have been a bit of seperation starting because of it. Plus it's really wet here now and muddy.
Different horses in different country roll different edges. Somewhere along the line, someone looked. I'll take some pictures of her hooves today and post them and we'll see what she's done in all this mud.
Well, thank you for the nice encouragment. I use nippers too if they are very long, but I think I was trying to show how to use a rasp.
But I got to do some more videos, because wth all those coveralls on I was pretty clumsy. (not that I'm a real whiz anyway)
Not every horse can be barefoot, but many can. I mean, sometimes there are just a lot of factors that figgure in such as how you are going to use them, and they shape their hooves are in to begin with. Then too it takes time to develpe a this kind of hoof and lots of trims because you are really growing out a whole new hoof. Then you also have to have a pretty good enviorment, as wet climates tend to not develop hard hooves.
Trimming hte bars does not make a pancake foot, and in my opinion and that of many others, the bars are not what holds the whold hoof together. Rather the whole hoofwall being interlocked with tubuels and intertubular horn is what holds the hoofwall together. None of my horses have pancake hooves, and I have fixed quite a few cases of that. as well as very long streched out toes. Also this video is old, and I've improved and changed as we all should do, including farriers.
The reason I talk about toe callous like this, is because I was originally taught, and it is a barefoot trimming montra or sacred cow, that you don't touch that toe callous. So then if the hoof is imbalanced it will grow callous on an imbalance, and you don't balance the hoof because you've been taught not to touch that toe callous. So that's error. So you balalance the hoof, and the toe callous will form again on the ballanced hoof.
@bucci777 There might be some travel time there....I'm in Kansas, the southeast corner, close to Oaklahoma. But sure wish I could come trim and teach you have to do it for your self. Regards ( :
I trim my own horse barefoot. She wont respect anyone else when it comes to holding her hoof up for a long period of time. This was due to trauma from her first owner. But we are working through it. I had to learn and fast.
I only use nippers if the hoof is long, to save my arms and my rasp. Once the hooves are good, and you're just doing maintenance, you can just rasp (file) them down, kind of like your fingernails. Good luck.
I think because of the mantra and the attitude of the "holy" toe callous, never to "touch it", for in the day thou doest, thy horse shall surely die. ....that many barefooters never look at the balanace of the toe, I know I didn't. Just never looked that far down, at the whole hoof. Then when I finally did, I went "HUM"??? And my colt was not originally crooked like that, it was something that developed because of the toe inbalance. And it actually made the hoof capside twist to the inside.
I actually bevel it with that flat straight slanted cut, and let them round the edges themselves since I've then relieved the hardest part of the wall at ground level.
There are so many vairables, depending on the true condition of the horses hooves, the type of trim (not all natural trimmers, actually trim right.), and then your enviroment. Once feet are corrected, and the hoof is right, then the hoof has to be "forged". I mean you set them up, to forge and toughen their own hooves.
Question for you-Why have you stopped taking down the quarters, if you don't, it just cracks and chips off anyway. Ron
Do you do consult with video and pics? Tried to explain my situation, but not enough charachters.
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing
I was wondering were you got your hoof jack
and how much did you pay for it? and thanks for the videos
But now I understand how they get that way, either from a lack of hoof trimming, or from bad trimming. The whole hoof wall is interloced with horn tubuels and intertubular horn much like cement and rebar. The bars are simply "Hoof wall", and like the hoofwall should be trimmed down.
Hey, Thankyou very much. They have definately been a tremendous blessing for my life, and have taught me much. Pease Back.
I have a question. I have looked forever for a video to help me with a horse I just got. Her outside hoof wall is bumpy and not smooth and in her right front hoof has a huge chunk missing out of it. The chunk goes about from the middle of the hoof to the soul. That is what is missing. What can I do to help her get healthy hooves and grown back this missing chunk?
Do you not use nippers at all then? Just the rasp? I have started trimming my mini's and now that they are done regular I don't have use for my rasp, when I got two of them their feet were so over grown I didnt have much choice but I really thought maybe I was doing something wrong if I didn't need my nippers?
Not really, I don't really follow any one person. I keep learning from all sorces and changing here and there, adding and tweeking the trim. What I do now is even slightly different than when I did this video, and getting much better results. It's like an art to learn to read and understand hoof growth, and then tweek each trim to grow the desired results. I learn a lot from regular folks that watch these videos and correspond with me. Everyone has something to share to make us all better.
@thehappyhoof What is the difference between a shod hoof and a barefoot hoof does it make a horse have more comfort when barefoot and I have heard they have better stability when barefoot and slip a little more with shoes but I really need to know if a barefoot horse needs less or more trimming and I mean I am not going to ride on gravel and stuff just dirt and leaves
Actually, as a country kid I hardly wore shoes regularly and didn't go owwie when I walked cause my feet had hardened on the bottom, the arch was nice and high and I could use my whole foot for balance. Once I started wearing shoes all the time I developed a back problem that I'd been compensating for quite well when I was barefoot.
The joke at @8:00, I LOL'ed so hard!
I'll have to do a video on that, because it's hard to explain here. But best I can tell you is to take them down and back to the widest part of the back of the frog.
These old videos are wonderful. Cant wait to watch all of your new stuff. How much did you pay for all of your tools? It seems like getting nippers and rasps is a bit of an investment.
Therefore you would of course not trim the bars, because you are trying to grow heel on them. And this is really because you are trying to get the correct angle and balance of the hoof.
@YukiLoveless oh thank I am getting my first horse I am 12 and I have been to many many horse camps with my neighbor and her horse. So I was wandering if a horse is shod can he be barefoot right away or does it take a bit since you said it cuts off blood supply?
@slipknotgirl06 Chances are the horse has way too much hoof anyway, and is trying to self trim. I have seen this happen a lot. The bumps are called growth rings and there are varrious reasons for why you get them. Try hoofmechanics new videos, and learn more about how the hoof should really look, so that you c an judge more of where you are at and what to do.
How low do you take the heels? I can't tell from the video.
The people I admire the most are those farriers who have come to understand the principles of barefoot trimming and incorporate it into farrier work, who in fact to both. This is best medieum, taking the best truths from both sides, while also learning to get rid of some of the erronious traditions, which always creeps in to any field. Like this guy at farrierart dot com. Have to write it this way because youtube will not let you post urls.
@pecoslover97 Your seeing better now, that I did when I originally did this video. This mare had a LOT of problems, heals most probably are high but mainly they look high because she's got NO FROG, it atrophied. She's also got compressed heels, retained or "false sole" and both the frog and the sole are way stretched forward. Her foot has changed A LOT in the last several years since I did this video, better trimming, better hoof.
It could just be stained, it's very poreous right there. If you keep them maintained, like filing off a fingernail, they won't get that. But she kind of get's left to last. My colt never has that, because I do him like clockwork. But the little seperation there is that's what it is is very minor not to the bone, not yet a flare.
BUT the reason for this, is because in reality the tie over time has flared, stretching the sole and white line forward with it, so that when you trim you come to a nice clean white line, and assume this is the natural length of the toe. And consiquently you want to bring the heels up to get the angles right.
So, my understanding is to have the hoof so weight can be distributed evenly?
Where are you in the u.s.? I'm in dallas, Texas ..would pay you to do this to Cisco.
Good video. Thanks for posting this.
Yeah, I know it's sacriligious according to barefoot "tradition". But think about this. A callous developes where ever the sole get's enough ground contact and friction, just like you and me. So if the toe is imbalanced it will still develope callous on an imbalanced toe. And if you get her balanced, it will come back, on a level playing field. But leaving an imbalance will cause arthritus or something else later on.
im not trying to be mean or anything im just genuinely asking a question because i wanna become a natural barefoot trimmer but at 6:36 it looks like the hoof has high heels and low/long toes but i can tell its very concave which is good and the outside is curved which is good ( i think) im just confused haha
Did you mean he rasps down the outside of the wall fairly high on the wall? If he's doing that continually, yes that will keep them ouchy too. And if the horse has flares, and flat feet and that's never been really corrected that will also make them ouchy. And if they have hidden thrush that will also make them ouchy. And .....let's see. lots of things make them ouchy.
@slipknotgirl06 Here is the exact name of that video and you can click into their web sight and by the series for about 20.00 Barefoot Hoof Trim - The Basics - Video Intro
Is it easier to have a horse shoed, or just let them walk bare foot?
If your mare is imbalanced like that, you will probably only be taking off more on one side than the other and you'll probably find she's still got some of that callous, left, even after you balance her.
I'm watching these videos, and thinking one of my roosters is crowing, but it's not, is it?
ps I LUV that movie Pharlap, not many people have seen it.
This woman is the best ever!!!!
@AmericanPitbulls1 If you mean can you take the shoes off right away, then yes, however he will be very sore so it will take a bit. The slow way is the fast way. It takes a full year for a hoof to grow out so after 3 years of having metal nailed into his hoof it'll probably take another 3 years for him to fully adjust to barefoot. Just take it slow.
@AmericanPitbulls1 Ultimately a barefoot hoof is ideal because that's what a horse is born with a shod hoof will do more bad than good despite what people think. It cuts off the blood flow and thus rots the hoof. A barefoot horse will probably need to be trimmed about 4-6 weeks. If you really need a shod horse then use a hoof boot, it's a lot easier because the horse is still barefoot yet still has protection. But if you're just riding on leaves and dirt I wouldn't worry. :)
@thehappyhoof On second thought I am going to leave them in the hopes that one of your clients will happen by here and recognize the mantality of the person they have doing their horse. Also your mentality is in reality pretty common among your profession, and frankly your customers recognize it, and it's one of the reasons they are learning to do their own horses.
Hoof wall flat to the sole...........NO. You want a couple of millimeters of hoof wall above the sole and beveled to create the Mustang roll. And get you hoof stand fixed so it is comfortable for the horse.
To properly sight the foot you have to let foot hang freely. You don't want your thumb touching the bulbs. Hold the leg and let the foot flop into its natural position, then sight the foot.
I do not think that people into this often realize that wild horse hooves are in reality FORGED. Now you can take a lot of the principles and learn a lot from barefoot trimming, but you can't always "forge" the hoof to be exactly like that of a mustang. Yet some horses to get very very tough hooves from following these principles. And many growth problems can also be corrected.
Thankyou for the kind and gracious words. I've written you a message with my email address, if I can be of any more help.
To balance and level the toe.
Well I had a head start because my husband use to trim and shoe our horses, so we had a box of all the tools. But he had not done it for years and I had a farrier doing it. But my horses feet kept getting bigger and bigger and worse and worse and this guy was coming every 6 weeks like clockwork. I aksed him to roll the edges of the hoof wall, and he never called me again.
we'd like to talk with you about hosting your videos on our horse community site. Can you provide a contact source- we'd love to speak with you
muy buenos todos los videos
Pete ramey school?