Popular Horse Sayings Ignored...

No foot; No horse!

I want to wright a post for every horse owner that has ever felt like "piggy in the middle": not knowing which way to turn, or whom to believe.  For every horse owner who at times has lost sight of real logic and doesn't have all the right facts at their finger tips to argue with, when the experts of course, say that they do!

A post written for every horse whose 'call' for reason and human awareness of a horses real needs, remains unheard.

This blog seeks to help you love your horse so much that you can find the strength to tread the path least trodden so your horse can walk - with strong, healthy feet, as horses should without metal shoes on, regardless of breed type.

This blog is about horses living barefoot not shod.

I'll keep the detailed steps of the barefoot  journey that I have taken with my own horses to a minimum.  I'll try to present FACTS that I have learnt and never knew until this new world of new information opened up before me.

Ultimately I'll leave you to form your own view hoping you make sure it is your OWN and that you have stopped to consider the real truth behind a horses physical needs, while in your care.

 

To begin...

1. Science teaches us that it takes between 5,000 - 10,000 years to even begin to change the basic genetics of any species.

So what? So, no matter what anyone might tell you, a few hundred years of selective horse breeding has no effect on the horse's genetic ability to grow the healthy solid foot he was born to have!

2. As a prey animal the horse only has his ability to flee as a survival tool.  If in the wild the horse didn't have incredible feet he would be extinct.

So what? The wild horse and the domestic horse of today are genetically the same. The domestic horse's foot is not genetically weak and unhealthy. The conditions under which the horse lives can cause ill health, but the horse's genetics can fix that given the chance.

3. DNA sequencing done on bones of horses dating 12,000 - 28,000 years old compared to today's domestic horse prove basic genetics of every horse on the planet are the same.

So what?  Science confirms for us that every horse on this earth "retains the ability to return successfully to the wild or feral state" - which includes growing a great foot capable of travelling 8-20 miles a day.

4. A horses hoof is supposed to flex on impact with the ground. Every time it hits the ground it flexes outward and then snaps back when the hoof comes off the ground. This flexing sucks enormous amounts of blood into the structure of the foot.

So what? This flow of blood helps keep the hoof healthy, grow properly, and fight off problems. It is this blood flow that helps provide an hydraulic-like shock absorption for joints, ligaments and tendons in the leg.

The hoof is not 'one big fingernail' it has form, function and each part has a role to play. 

5. When the hoof lifts off the ground and the flexed hoof snaps back, the power of that contraction forces the blood in the hoof capsule back up the leg, taking strain off the heart.

So what? What happens to these positive benefits when a metal shoe is nailed to the foot? For starters...

-No circulation (or substantially reduced at best)!
-No shock absorption.
-No assistance to the heart in getting the blood back up the leg.

Thermograph imagery makes the point visually:

Front Feet Shod with Metal Shoes; no blood flow (red) in foot area

Back Feet UN Shod with blood flow shown in red

6. The American Farriers Association's mission is:

"To further the professional development of farriers, to provide leadership and resources for the benefit of the farrier industry, and to improve the welfare of the horse through continuing farrier education".  

So the welfare of the horse does NOT precede the interests of the farrier industry and those that work within it?!  

So what?  Without the horse there would be no farriers, farrier industry and resources but there in lies the point!  Man's need to fulfil his ego, his desire for identity and money - seems to precede the needs of the horse. Isn't that the tail wagging the dog? 

(The same is being suggested today about the Pharmaceutical industry controlling Doctors so the patient is 3rd in line when it comes to patient welfare,care and decision making).

7. According to the American Farriers Association 95% of domestic horses have some degree of hoof lameness.

So what?  We know genetic changes aren't to blame.  Leaving us with issues such as movement, diet, stress, lifestyle, workload and metal shoes playing a contributory part to the lameness statistic.  All of which as owners we can influence and improve or avoid.

8. Barefoot horses allegedly can't jump, event or gallop at speed, safely.  Yet, the Farriers Registration Council in the UK notified its members in May 2013 that the Hurlingham Polo Club has updated its rules and minuted that:

"A pony may be played without all four shoes or without hind shoes"

So what?  The barefoot horse competes in every equine discipline.  The barefoot hoof has more natural ability to grip than a metal shod foot.  This applies on tarmac, concrete, gravel or grass. In Houston, Texas all 40 mounted police horses are barefoot working on concrete, asphalt and marble every day.

9.  There is no definition of 'shoe' according to the Farriers Registration Council in the UK! Bizarre seeing as that is what the profession is built upon! 

So what?  Without 'meaning' or a focus on horse comfort and welfare it's hardly surprising that alternatives to shoeing are coming from outside the Farrier industry; invented by people putting horse comfort and long term hoof health at the top of the agenda, as examples:

• Glue-on plastic shoes/ Epona shoe.  Created by those studying horse biomechanics and the way horses behave in nature.  Interestingly the Epona website backs up the negative impact of metal shoes on the foot's circulation, quoting that ...
  "the nature of EponaShoe makes it the ideal compromise between metal shoeing and barefoot trimming. Unlike metal shoes, which restrict and impede the hoof from flexing, the EponaShoe allows the whole hoof to flex; much like a barefoot horse. Research shows this aids in blood flow and yields a healthier foot"
  the website goes on to state
  "EponaShoe absorbs shock better than Metal. If you were to hit a metal shoe with a hammer, and then an EponaShoe, you would feel the difference. The EponaShoe absorbs the shock that your horse would otherwise feel on his joints"
  
  
• "Hoof wraps".  Consisting of a length of bandage like material which is impregnated with a synthetic resin which is soft when wrapped around the foot but having been soaked in water dries, forming a rigid, solid structure around the hoof.   A technique Pioneered by Pete Ramey and Equine Podiatrist K.C. La Pierre in the USA farriers no more as both questioned the integrity and methods of their own profession. 

  And lastly...

    
  10. Horses have survived for 52 million years without our help!
  
  
  So what?  Mother Nature knew what she was doing and it didn't include nailing metal to horses feet!  What makes us think we know better?
  
  
  In the old days (and in old vets books) both vets and farriers would tell horse owners to remove their horse's shoes for the winter.  Horses feet got to repair.  It wan't challenged and seen as harmful.  Nor did it cause a threat to vets, farriers or their respective money spinning industries.
  
  What happened to all that common sense?  It seems that today, we chose not to think about the meaning of "no foot; no horse", believing instead that we can 'plaster over the cracks' and between bute and remedial farrier work; keep a horse going like an overworked machine.
  
  Horses are not machines; not a tractor, motorcycle or any other vehicle taking us from A to B.  
  Horses are animals; living breathing feeling. They are our chosen partners.  They deserve to be treated accordingly and allowed to follow their own true nature.  Their ability to do so is in our hands.
  
  It is only you, and I - one person at a time who can elect to follow a path different from the norm, chosen with thought, research and reason. 
  
  
  It is a path of compromise and hard work.  It didn't save me money (initially) and it did mean a period without riding. However, if "we reap what we sow" these compromises have had a fast and rewarding payback that will continue to appreciate. 
  
  
  Would I do it again?  Yes!  I chose happy hooves and healthy feet and legs every time, anytime.
  
  
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  (I'll post photos of my own horses transformation to barefoot as a separate blog posting).