Page 2 - Hoof Pads

If I Only Had Four Frogs

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 by Dawn Willoughby

"If I only had four frogs." Is this your horse's lament?

Pathological frogs are so common, that they have become the norm! Just as long toes and under run heels are normal for thoroughbreds, sick frogs are nearing normal for most horses. What else do we see in my home state of Delaware where we had an amazing 26" of rain in August, normally one of two driest months!

If you have not been following my posts in Notes From the Field, I hope you will check them out. The importance of the frog for excellent, barefoot movement is discussed in detail. When you know what a healthy frog looks like, how bad ones heal, along with the various soaks, topical treatments, and tips for, in Pete Ramey's words, out running thrush, you will have the tools to maintain frog health.

It can be a job, there's no question about that. Gird your loins and let's get to it!

Four butt cracks means four diseased frogs.

For starters, my most common errors in earlier days were:
(A) Not cleaning the area before treatment. (Thank you Linda Cowles!)
(B) Not taking frog health seriously until the horse was ouchy. Then inconsistent treatment.
(C) Stopping treatment too early, only to see the same sick frog in a month.
(D) And ever using Thrush Buster. It contains formaldehyde which kills healthy as well as diseased tissue, according to my chemist friend. Get rid of Thrush Buster!

Just Frogs

Healthy, functional frogs
Diseased and unhealthy frogs
Recovering frogs
Pick and **clean**
Treatment Recipes (Thank you Laura Florence, barefoot trimmer and body worker)
Soaking Recipes (ditto)
Thoughts on Out Running Thrush

1. Some Healthy Frogs

Meet Cadence, a quarter horse, on his first trim. Over time his foot became more oval but for this trim, I assumed the frog was where it needed to be, for ideal function. No need to 'pretty' things up. The back of the frog is broad and became even broader over time. What a landing pad! The frog's perfect center, the central sulcus, is a shallow thumbprint. Perfect! The lateral grooves on either side of the frog are about 3/4" at their deepest and they are dry.

I guess Mason, who hides his appaloosa spots, wins the prize on this one. BTW his trimmer is his owner, Carlyn. Massive, robust frog allows Mason to land solidly on the back of his foot. Again this was early in his career from bare to better.

Large pony, Kay, had been barefoot a long time with a pasture trim. Over time, as she grew out her flared wall, her toe shortened significantly. (Knowing more now, I would have brought it back.) Although not as pretty as the preceding frogs, the rear of the frog is wide, the center is free of disease. Looks like some older frog tissue is shedding and new coming in. I didn't 'beautify' it with my knife as there were no nooks or crannies for disease to settle into.

2. Unhealthy Frogs
The most common problem I saw during my years as a professional trimmer, was diseased central sulcus of the frog. It may or may not be sensitive. Doesn't matter. Butt Cracks are not healthy and should be treated rigorously. Technically many frogs don't have thrush; but they have something! Whether it's bacterial or fungal: pick/brush, clean and treat, soak, then outrun it.

The worst frog I ever saw was a puddle of black gooey thrush. The horse was stalled in a Philadelphia 'city barn' 22 hours a day and the stall was cleaned once a day. Standing purposely in urine relieved his itchy discomfort. The poor horse would never recover in my view. I suggested the owner relocate her horse to the country and field board him near her home. I gave her a plan for daily treatment. I did make the mistake of investigating the frog with my knife and it began to bleed immediately.

From the back you can clearly see Banjo's (OTTB, my very first trimming guinea pig) 'butt crack' between the heels bulbs. Remember to check the solar (bottom) view of the frog, either side of the frog and the bulbs as viewed here.

From the bottom or solar view, we see Banjo's pencil thin, deformed frog. It does look like the central sulcus is filling in with healthy tissue. Frog healing and the opening or decontraction of the heels takes time and patience. Banjo was pasture sound throughout. If I could go back in time, I would have put him in padded Epics with lots of Gold Bond Powder and hit the trails. Sound stimulation helps 'outrun disease'. I only had a long weekend of training under my apron and the occasional help from the barn's farrier when I first laid rasp on wall. Even so, Big Band Show was better off out of metal shoes. The improvement in his health was dramatic and almost instantaneous! You go Owner-Trimmers.

(Above) The Healing Frog and Contracted Heels: Banjo's photo above gives a nice view of heels that are very close together, contracted. They do this to protect the weak frog and above it, the digital cushion. With treatment and lots of sound, heel-first landings a foot like this recovers, every time. The heels start to decontract when the foot is ready. And internally the digital cushion and lateral cartilages come back to life.

Contracted Heels in Shoes: Just by watching horses pass by, you can tell when shod horses have a weak back of foot. The heels look pinched. The back of the shoe is almost touching. Above the hairline, that bulge pressing up the back of the foot, is the lateral cartilage. It's 100% non-functional. This is Cayuga, an unraced thoroughbred at 13, shod most of his life. Sadly I could go in almost any barn where horses are shod and find a variation on this theme.

I gingerly removed the shoe, nail by nail. Can you see how pinched the back of the frog is. The heels too are very close together, protecting the back of the foot. It can get worse; the heels can actually touch. This thoroughbred was not lame in or out of shoes. It took a long time to rehab his feet to health and repair his body. Soundness is a 'whole horse' issue. I fitted him in Epics with black sole pads and black frog pressure pads, to provide stimulation when ridden. He was ridden right out the barn.

The last time his owner tried barefoot, the horse was lame for 7 months before she gave up. The horse was lamed by aggressive trimming. Great hooves are grown. No need to match someones concept of 'ideal'.

For a horse like this, and sadly my own boy at the moment, the owner must make frog care an essential part of daily rooming. If you must, skip something, do not let it be hoof care. After all, no one died from a crappy looking tail!

3. Close to Recovery

The central sulcus of the frog heals from the inside out.

Now time to roll up your sleeves: I pick and brush each foot, using the combo hoof pick, then clean the foot, treat and boot for riding. Then and only then, I tackle any remaining grooming before heading out. This way the frog is assured of an hour or more of treatment. Even if I don't ride, I treat the frogs daily, in the field if I am pressed. If you can't visit your horse every day, perhaps you can hire someone at the barn to do it. Or do some swapping. Every other day should do the trick too.

Sunny's FEET Treatment bucket with all his daily needs: "Goop", Tea Tree Oil, Manuka Honey, Cotton Balls, Spray Bottle of Dilute Anti-bacterial Soap, Hand Towel and Hoof Pick.

I found that rigorous treatment was much less of a hassle when I finally broke down and got everything I needed and put it in one place, Sunny's Feet bucket. Note: Check with your vet on specifics on any of the recommended treatments or other ones you might find at the tack shop or on-line. The 'natural' claim doesn't always mean good.

First do no harm. If your horse flinches during care, find another pain-free way to work. Twice now, I have been hired to trim horses who kicked farriers because of previous rough and painful treatment by hoof pro, owner or vets. It took me one or just a few visits to gain the horses' trust using clicker training. Why traumatize the horses we love?

4. The Basics for Daily Cleaning

Hoof pick with brush. Hand towels.
Scrub brush, bucket and anti bacterial soap like Dawn dish detergent diluted or,
Fill a spray bottle with same or,
Fill a wormer tube or syringe with same.
All antiseptic liquids are diluted: Dawn, Lysol, etc.

I wouldn't treat my own deep cut without washing it first. Well same goes for my horse. Obviously scrubbing four feet (why not do all four since you are down there?) is much easier if you have a wash stall. Since I don't, I first tried filling up wormer tubes or syringes and irrigating the frog crevices with anti-bacterial soap, Dawn of course. But refilling was a hassle. I switched to a spray bottle and a small towel to 'floss' the area clean. I mixed a milk jug of cleaner for quick refills.

If the central sulcus were more like a deep crevice, I would certainly use the thin tipped syringes in addition to irrigate the wound. Q tips are handy too.

Medium pony, lame in shoes due to sore frogs

Medium pony lame in shoes. The central sulcus was 1.5" deep. First steps were to get her out of shoes, out of the stall and into a daily treatment regimen.

Her young owner could ride the pony in Epics with green pads.

One month later, the heels are decontracting a bit. The central sulcus isn't as deep. Full healing just takes time and diligent treatment.

5. The Basics for Treatment Pick a couple of alternatives. I rotate 3 to avoid tolerance.

Make your own Pete's Goop: 50% antibiotic cream and 50% anti fungal cream in syringe.
Purchase cow mastitis treatment like ToDay (12 syringes in a box), available on-line or at Tractor Supply. Recycle the syringes for Goop above or irrigation tool.
Tea Tree Oil from the health food store. Mine comes in a handy spray (onto cotton) bottle.
Mashed Garlic is anti-bacterial and comes in a jar. Check your grocery store.
Calendula Cream (Thanks again to Laura Florence, barefoot trimmer) from the health store.
Raw Honey wax free. No Smirks! Honestly! It's used on, among other things, human burn victims.
Or even better but more expensive (unless you're a kiwi), Manuka Honey from New Zealand. It has many uses, including repairing wrinkles! (I'll get back to you on that).
Cotton balls from the pharmacy. Q-tips are nice but not essential.

For Pete's goop and the others above, I have found 2 methods of application.
(A) The more time consuming one is to mix the 2 creams well. Then stuff into a fat wormer tube and then inject into an Exel 12 cc curved tip syringe. Perfect for deep crevices. Pull apart one cotton ball so there are no painful lumps and gently pack, using hoof pick, into the central sulcus.
(B) When the crevice isn't that deep, I dip the half cotton ball into the Goop or Honey and stuff it into the frog with a hoof pick. This eliminates the syringe filling step which is harder than you would think.

When I can no longer stuff a cotton ball in the sulcus, I spray Tea Tree Oil until 100% healthy.

Soaking for deep penetration of gases with White Lightening.

Bagged and booted for a soak in White Lightening.

6. The Basics for Soaking and Irrigating (Thanks to Laura Florence my favorite barefoot trimmer)
If frogs are particularly bad or you simply have the time, soaking the feet is a great idea to create an environment hostile to bad bugs. I soak once a week when treating frogs. I set Sunny up in his otherwise unused stall with some extra good hay and a fan. I hang out on a straw bale with a horse book. OK, honestly he makes me dip his hay in water and hand feed him. When he's full, we take our naps.

Soaks, alternate or use your favorite:

Easy Care Soaking Boots
White Lightening and White Vinegar. I use 1/8th cup of each.
If using above, sturdy waste bags and duct tape to fully enclose foot and capture gases.
Or 50% Apple Cider Vinegar with 50% water
Or 10% Bleach and 90% water
Or 1-2 Tablespoons/boot of Lysol with water
Or some Borax dissolved in water

According to the techs at Grand Circuit Products, makers of White Lightening, you can soak as often as every other day with White Lightening. The dilution is active for 8 hours. If you are short on funds but long on time, you may rotate one boot, 30 minutes a foot, to all feet. The foot must be bagged to capture the gases that provide a deep penetrating soak. I will use it on an abscess, cracks, etc. It's available online or at the farrier supply store. They recommend 1/4 cup but I think that's excessive since it's the gases that do the trick. Gases are released when you combine White Lightening and Vinegar. You can add the same amount of water to increase volume.

The rest of the soaks require soaking boots or buckets if your horse is quiet.

I generally irrigate the frog with the soaking material in a syringe after removing the boot.

Additionally:

Q tips for cleaning frog crevice.
Gold Bond Powder for riding boots keep the foot dry in many conditions and again, create an environment hostel to bugs.
I generally do not recommend the RX boot or Equicast because I don't want to enclose the foot.
Thrush Buster has formaldehyde. It kills healthy and unhealthy tissue!
Dr. Bowker once recommended leaving dirt in the collateral grooves on either side of the frog as it may have a role in hoof mechanics. But for my environment, it's just not practical or healthy.
The Horse's Hoof has an excellent series on hoof treatment.

Whether in field turnout, in-hand, being ponied or mounted, sound movement heals.

Jill Wilcox (80 yrs) work 'in-hand' with Runner (OTTB) at the walk. Working along the wall with a pole encourages, first straightness and then balance. She will progress to trot and canter in-hand. All her students work in-hand before mounting. (Note she uses reins attached to nose band, no bit and a neck band.) It's much easier for the horse to move correctly without the rider.

7. Out Running Thrush or Bacterial Infections
The first time I heard the phrase, out running thrush, at a clinic, I hadn't a clue to the meaning. I have learned the hard way that we have to grow healthy tissue faster than the bad bugs inflict damage. Simply treating a stalled horse, for instance, might not be adequate. One of our Barefoot Mantras: Sound Movement Heals.

If your horse is sound in padded boots, ride him, even if it's just at walk. If not, consider 'ponying' him, again in padded boots, off another horse. Turn him out with a busy herd or a nasty pony. No standing around in sheds with manure floors. No shoes. No stalling. If you are boarding in a mud hole, leave.

Pea Gravel feels good to even the sorest horse, human or dog.

Pea Gravel feels good, even to the sorest horse. It offers just the perfect amount of stimulation.

I have seen some farms where you just can't avoid a rocky path to the pasture. Consider covering it with cut up stall mats for your sore pony. Better yet, dig it up, add some landscaping material and fill with 4" of pea gravel. Add pea gravel to the loafing areas. It's a miracle cure that Dr. Robert Bowker has discussed in a published work. Make a copy for the owner if you board.

As for the trim, leave a little heel so the frog can get just the right stimulation to grow, but adequate protection. Once you've got a nice frog, those heels will come right down, where they want to be.

I'll trim the frog to remove flaps and hide-y-holes for disease. Beyond that, all I can say is think before you cut or snip. Removing diseased frog can be tricky. If you trim a sick frog and it bleeds, your horse is now open to infection. Cutting open the central sulcus to let the air in often lames the horse which in my view is abusive. I move cautiously and respectfully.

As you can see, I have become a passionate student of the frog! Most of the lessons were learned the hard way. I hope this helped you. Feel free to share and post at your barn.

Happy Trails,
Dawn

P.S. Find more good reading and free trimming videos go to my site 4sweetfeet.com
P.P.S. For my next post look for Clicker Training Your Horse During the Inevitable Down Time, December.

From Bad Feet With Shoes to Hoof Boots

Friday, September 16, 2011 by Hoof Boot Stories

I bought Dusty, a 5 year old Quarter Horse gelding because of his disposition. I needed a good quiet trail horse. I knew when I got him that his feet looked very bad. He had shoes on and I talked to the farrier who shod him about his front feet. He told me not to worry, Dusty was fine. Two weeks after I bought him his front shoes fell off. My farrier reset the shoes and two weeks later they fell off again. Poor Dusty had very weak hoof walls and two quarter cracks.

We decided to pull all his shoes and my farrier suggested hoof boots for the front. Dusty could hardly walk on his bare feet and I was very concerned. He also developed an abscess within 6 months. With EasySoakers and front hoof boots and a lot of trims, Dusty's front hooves are in much better shape.

The quarter cracks grew out. His feet have toughened up and he is much more comfortable now. Dusty is a big horse and I think his front feet are too small for his body. Putting shoes on him makes his hooves crack.

I believe in doing what works best for the horse. I am not anti-shoe, but think in most cases, barefoot is best. Hoof boots have made a difference for Dusty and I am glad I have them. I use Old Mac's G2 and they have lasted through four summers of trail riding just fine. I replace pads and gaiters now and then.

Name: Brenda H.
City: New Concord, Ohio, USA
Equine Discipline: Trail
Favorite Boot: Old Mac's G2

Equine Movement and the Importance of the Back of Foot

Thursday, September 1, 2011 by Dawn Willoughby

If you have been following my previous posts, you know that I like to provide information to folks new to barefoot. I was a trimmer for 6 years and during that time I specialized in teaching owners, mostly women, to trim. From time to time, I shared an educational handout similar to this post.

This month I've combined what I've learned from Dr. Robert Bowker at several of his clinics with Pete Ramey's discussion on equine movement in his DVD set, #4 Development of the Hoof and Navicular, Under the Horse. Bowker and many other top notch speakers will be attending The Whole Horse Conference in October 15-16, 2011. Not to be missed!

I first met 'Dr. Bob' at the EasyCare sponsored conference in Tucson in 2007 (my notes). His credentials, scientific insight and affection for the horse convinced me that his research was well worth following. Honestly, in the horse world there are so many egos spouting nonsense that it is hard to sift the proverbial wheat from the shaft. Because I was a small time trimmer, I needed experts I could rely on. Dr. Bob has PhD in Anatomy and a DVM from University of Pennsylvania and taught at Michigan State Vet School. He continues his research at his Corona Vista Equine Center.

Here is where it starts! 5 Hours Old. Feral or Domestic? Impossible to tell.

Tomorrow's Olympic Champions at Chesterland Farm, Unionville, Pa.

With just the right amount of hoof structure (exposure as well as protection), these future eventing champions appear to float in their buttercup pasture at Chesterland. With ample movement, diet and foot care, their hooves could development correctly, right into adulthood. But somewhere along the line, most of our domestic horses loose their 'float'.

This month I would like to discuss equine movement of the 'good footed' versus the 'bad footed' horse. These are Dr. Bob's term and I think they work quite well.

As the good footed horse begins to land, heel-first, the back of the foot expands. He may land heel first or flat footed at the walk but at other gaits, he lands heel first. In most cases, a bad footed horse lands toe first to protect his sore back-of-foot. In the traditional world he may have a diagnosis of navicular syndrome, and if there are changes in the bone, navicular disease. Both are misnomers. In fact the bone loss of P3, the coffin bone, is worse than that of the navicular. Fix the back of the foot, and you will rehabilitate 'navicular'.

As the horse loads his foot, the heels expand, the sole draws flat and the hoof dramatically expands. A huge vacuum (negative pressure) is created within the capsule. Mechanical engineers at Michigan State actually had a hard time measuring it!

Coffin bone to the right, lateral cartilage to the left or the back of the foot. In the domestic horse the lateral cartilages will be half this size and not as thick. Lack of development is due to care, not genetics. You can see and feel the top of the cartilages on your horse. It's the bulge above the hairline.

Blood is literally sucked into the caudal (back) foot by negative pressure. In a good foot, blood is sucked into the entire foot but of particular interest for us is the filling of the mass of specialized blood vessels in the healthy frog, the lateral (side) cartilages, the cartilage floor and the digital cushion. (The cartilage floor, connecting the lateral cartilages, although common in feral horses is rare in domestic. It is one of the markers of a superior foot. Neither the floor nor the digital cushions were included in the Glass Horse program, above!)

The primary function of the dilated and specialized blood vessels, found only in the foot, is to serve as a cushion for the horse's foot: the back of the foot and the sole. Just like a top athletic shoe with gel pads, the blood-filled vessels or vasculature dissipate or disperse energy.

Total energy from impact as well as from vibration pass through the hoof structures (the frog, the digital cushion, the lateral cartilages and the cartilage floor). The better the back-of-foot, the more efficient the energy transfer.

Mikayla, a competitive, warmblood mare, had always been barefoot. Her hooves became even better when her owner began to trim her. This is a healthy frog, broad in the back, with a disease-free central sulcas that looks like a thumb print. No doubt there's a healthy digital cushion above it.

What of relative energy? It depends on a few factors:

(A) How developed is the back-of-foot: Frog, above it the Cartilage Floor, then the Digital Cushion and to either side the Lateral Cartilages.

The good foot lands on a healthy, robust frog as pictured above. Pressure-release of the horse's weight onto the frog develops an increasingly fibrous digital cushion filled with tiny blood vessels as well as proprioceptor nerves which tell the horse where his feet are in space. Hoof movement from side to side on uneven ground develops the lateral cartilages and the floor.

It's hard to tell what's what on this aged Arab mare.
(Ignore letter labels)

(B) Relative Energy Transfer is effected by hoof structure.

The energy transfer will be efficient in a well trimmed foot with adequate back of foot structure.
A pasture trim has poor mechanics. So does the horse shod with rubber or metal shoes. The foot will be much less efficient. Energy won't disperse correctly but rather will travel through the tendons, ligaments and bones of the foot and leg. In part this explains the epidemic of lame domestic horses.

Lame in shoes, this pony had an unhealthy frog. My finger on the syringe applicator shows how deep the central sulcas was. Over an inch!

Moving on hard surfaces will generate greater vibrational energy. (Worst case scenario: Amish horses on asphalt.)
On soft surfaces the horse will face less impact force. In padded boots your horse will experience low impact force. The correct balance of exposure and protection, will allow your horse to rehab his feet. 'Toughing it out' usually results in the incorrect toe-first landing.

Dr. Bob shared this analogy, another view on energy transfer.
The Good Footed Horse: correct trim, strong back-of-foot
Imagine the lateral cartilages as large, heated (heat is energy) blocks loaded with tiny tubes (the micro vessels) filled with water. As water passes through the tubes, heat-energy transfers efficiently and correctly from the block to the water in the tubes. The water warms; energy is transferred. All is good.

The Bad Footed Horse: incorrect trim or shod in rubber or metal shoes
The heated blocks (ie the lateral cartilages) are very thin with just a few tubes (blood vessels) to carry water. Little heat-energy is transferred. In fact the water may not even warm. The heat, or in our horse's case, energy, must go somewhere, right? It travels to the bones of the foot and leg as well as surrounding connective tissue. This is pathology.

Pathology: The conditions and processes of disease. Any deviation from healthy, normal, efficient condition.

Back to our moving horse...

As the horse's weight presses down on the entire foot in mid stride, erectile tissues in the sole are stimulated. (This is a new one for me.) They are only stimulated by pressure. No pressure, no function! This is a good reminder to all of us that sound movement, pressure-release, is what develops great feet.

At peak impact the blood is pinched off and the pressure then rises dramatically. At full impact, the pastern descends. In a good footed horse, the pastern is stopped by a strong back-of-foot. In a bad footed horse where the back-of-foot is weak and the tendons and ligaments take the hit.

When the heels lift, and the toe 'breaks over', pressure is released within the foot and the massive force drives blood up the leg. Similar to our legs, as we move, blood travels up the veins through valves. When a valve closes, it prevents the blood from draining down. Horses have an additional mechanism. The veins in the legs pulsate, moving the blood up.

Pete Ramey likens equine hemodynamics to an hydraulic pump which I encourage you to read about in Wikipedia if you don't know how one works. I didn't!

Most of our horses live on uneven ground so they may break over to the right, to the left or at center. Lateral cartilages respond to this movement. The mustang roll enables the horse to move correctly. I routinely rasp a break over on all Easy Care boots from 10:00 to 2:00 by rounding the edge. You could round the entire edge of the boot.

Along with the forward momentum of the horse, the suspensory apparatus of the leg and secondarily the ligaments, spring the pastern back.

The elastic walls of the hoof spring back to the unexpanded position. The bars play a role too. Most of the mechanics of movement discussed above, drive the foot into expansion. At the end of foot fall, there are a few structures that spring the hoof back together. It's critical not to rob the horse of these mechanisms with opening cuts at either side of the frog, digging out bars (they do not impact into the foot) and other misguided attempts to redesign the hoof.

Apply a natural trim, rehab frog, ride in padded boots if you need them and most horses' feet will improve dramatically. Heels will decontract naturally (open up) as the frog and internal structures begin to work properly.

Ideas for rehabilitating the back of foot:

Clean and carefully inspect the bottom of your horse's feet, daily if possible. Rigorously treat as needed.
Make it your mission to have 4 healthy frog. In a wet climate, it's a job. I know!
Find healthy frogs online so you know what they look like.
If your horse has unhealthy frogs, leave the heels a little higher to give the frog just the right amount of protection and stimulation.
Allow your horse as much sound and varied (hills) movement as possible. No stalling.
If lame in pasture, use Rx boots with a half inch pad or Equicastes if you can't remove the boot daily.
Ride in padded boots. Of particular concern is padding the frog. Stimulation encourages rehabilitation. 1/4 cup of Gold Bond Powder in the boots will help keep the foot dry.
Add 4" pea gravel to your horse's standing areas. It's a hoof miracle cure.

***

Since frogs are critical to equine movement, next month I'll post some photos of healthy and sick frogs, soaks and treatments. Until then, check out the Equine Frog series in The Horse's Hoof, by Heiki Bean and Dr. Platz, under Education, Articles.

Bonus Babies:

1. A story from the UK of the comeback of Saucy Night, from death row to a champion barefoot steeplechaser.

2. From Australia:

I look forward to hearing from you below.

Until the next time,
Happy Trails!
Dawn

4SweetFeet.com is my educational site with free trimming videos. Have a visit!

From the Farm to the Track

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 by Kate Saunders

I never thought I would ever trim for thoroughbred race horses. After all, my barn is full of off-the-track race horses who have come to me with terrible feet. OK, so I currently only have 3 horses, and 2 of them are off the track thoroughbreds. But I have owned 5 of them myself, and trim many on a regular basis. From what I knew about the racing industry, race horses have three strikes against them when it comes to natural hoof care: A sweet feed diet; no turn out (although they do get galloped and walked on a wheel each day); and nail-on shoes on their feet. Certainly, there was nothing I was going to be able to offer to people in this corner of the horse world.

And yet, I had met a woman about 4 years ago, way before I knew I was going to become a trimmer, who did seem to have a very different approach to horse racing: an approach that sounded promising. I met Lisa Meaux when she was looking for a home for a newly-retired race horse named Blondie. My neighbor, knowing my love for thoroughbreds off the track, suggested that my barn was the place for Blondie. I agreed before even meeting the horse, and so met Blondie and Lisa on the same day, when she pulled up to my barn with my new "present".

From the moment Bondie arrived, he had a calmness not often seen in race horses

Unlike other trainers, Lisa starts every young thoroughbred by first working intensely on ground manners, using methods from Clinton Anderson. Once the horses begin their racing career, Lisa will incorporate other techniques not often seen in the racing industry, such as chiropractor, acupuncture, and message therapy to keep her horses happy and comfortable.

With her less traditional methods of training in mind, I figured just maybe she'd be interested to hear about my new exploits in natural hoof care. Low and behold, she was very excited to hear that I may offer something different from her track farriers! No, no. She wasn't about to have me rush over to the track to start pulling the shoes off of her race horses. After all, no one down in Louisiana has ever heard of thoroughbreds racing barefoot. However, her husband Victor Arceneaux did have a beloved pony horse at his farm who had been struggling with sore feet for over 2 years.

When I got to poor old "91", he had shoes on all four feet, and large foam pads duck taped to the bottoms of his front feet in a desperate attempt to relieve his pain. 91's shoes were pulled and I trimmed his aching feet while he stood on foam padding. Next, he was fitted with Easyboot Epics, and we discussed changing his feed from a sweet feed to a dry pellet. Lisa followed all of my suggestions with him, changing his feed to a low starch pellet, taking him off of pasture (necessary in cases such as severe obesity and EMS), making sure I trimmed him regularly, and getting him plenty of exercise in his new hoof boots. Within a few months, the horse that they were about to give up on was back to his old mischievous self-- barefoot! Lisa and Victor were thrilled!

With this natural hoof care triumph, Lisa began pulling sore-footed race horses out of training for me to rehabilitate. I noted that the horses brought to the farm for rehabilitation had been left with no heel and no sole. Their feet were flat and their soles soft. Each horse was fitted with EasyBoot Epics (my personal favorites), their diet was changed to a dry pellet, and they were sent out to play and exercise.

In no time, Lisa was able to identify the healthy hoof as it grew from hairline to the ground, and noticed the difference in heel height and sole concavity that happens with natural hoof care, compared to farrier-shod race horse feet. She began bringing pairs of hoof boots over to the race track training center for any horses who showed lameness, and began requesting more and more for the farriers to leave shoes off of her horses at the track. And yes, she is now giving me a shot at a few of her thoroughbreds in training at the track!

Cautiously optimistic, I realize that there are many hurdles we have to face in this new adventure. After all, many in the racing industry still believe that a horse cannot race without shoes, and the few that do believe racing barefoot is possible also believe that barefoot horses wouldn't have a chance against shod competitors. Then there are the issues with diet and exercise. Most horses in the racing industry are fed sweet feed, an enemy of the healthy hoof; and race tracks are certainly not known for their ample pasture space.

Am I getting in over my head? Possibly. But with one trainer willing to give natural hoof care a try, I feel that I have to gamble on a win for the barefoot horse, and for the chance of encouraging the racing industry to make changes toward healthier, happier athletes.

The Horse That Wasn't Allowed to Race - Update

Monday, August 22, 2011 by Garrett Ford

We had a very good meeting with the director of racing and the three stewards at the Arapahoe Park race track. Although I'm disappointed that Clunk was not allowed to participate in the Sunday August 21st Stakes Race, I believe the Saturday August 20th meeting laid a solid foundation for allowing our shoes to participate at Arapahoe in 2012.

Clunk made it home Saturday night and is turned out with some of the other geldings. Clunk is the second grey to the left. We are looking at giving the Texas tracks a try in September.

From my perspective, the stewards were very impressed with the Easyboot Race shoe and they believed our shoe would be beneficial to track horses in training and competition. I heard “very nice job” and “looks exactly like an aluminum plate” on multiple occasions. In addition, I believe they all were under the assumption that the new sole pattern was identical to the current aluminum race plates being used at the track. I believe that each of stewards felt the Easyboot Race shoe fell well within the current rules but all want the final decision to come from a higher power or the rule-making committee. We are in this for the long haul and I’m happy to go through the process.

The director encouraged us to participate in aluminum plates but we decided it would be the best decision to scratch Clunk. Clunk has been at the Arapahoe track and training in the Easyboot Race shoe since August 8^th. After our meeting on Saturday August 20^th and looking at our hoof protection options, I decided that it would be in the best interest of the horse, jockey and other horses and riders to scratch Clunk from the race. Clunk was training and performing in the Easyboot Race shoe for over 40 days and I just didn’t think it was safe or smart to change equipment the day before the race. Yes, we could have come home with some money if Clunk ran in the August 21^st event but I thought the safety of horses and riders was more important.

I’ve taken some time to summarize the products shown at the meeting (with photos) and the subsequent reactions from the stewards.

The Easyboot Race plate next to and aluminum racing plate. The stewards said there was no difference between the products and the Easyboot Race plate did not violate the rules. Our Easyboot Race shoe could be glued and nailed in this configuration.

The Easyboot Race plate with sole intact next to an aluminum racing plate with pad. The stewards said there was no difference between the products and the Easyboot Race plate with sole plate did not violate the rules. Our Easyboot Race shoe could be glued and nailed in this configuration.

The Easyboot Race plate with sole intact and including the cuff system next to an aluminum racing plate with clips. The stewards said there was no difference between the products and the Easyboot Race with sole intact and including the cuff system was no different than an aluminum racing plate with clips. Therefore it would not violate the rules. Our Easyboot Race shoe could be glued and nailed in this configuration. The cuff system allows for a very large gluing surface and a very secure bond.

The Easyboot Race shoe next to an aluminum racing plate. The stewards all could not find a portion of the Easyboot Race shoe that violated the rules. Our Easyboot Race shoe could be glued and nailed in this configuration. The cuff system allows for a very large gluing surface and a very secure bond.

Another perspective of the Easyboot Race. The heel can easily be trimmed from the rear of the shoe if needed.

Despite the disappointing outcome of the Saturday August 20th meeting, I’m looking forward to the September 13^th commission meeting. We have indicated that we would like to be part part of the meeting as we would like to do everything possible to hit the ground running for the 2012 Arapahoe race season.

I fully believe we will be racing at Arapahoe Park in the Easyboot Race in 2012. We will keep you posted on our progress.

Riding on the Sunny Side of the Cloud

Saturday, August 20, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Susan Gill, Team Easyboot 2011 Member in Australia

Jenny Moncur and I have just come home from a fantastic weekend which involved travelling 5+ hours each way with another special friend - Colette - to compete at our first 80km endurance ride in a long time. My last serious ride was the National Tom Quilty 100 miler in 2009. Since then I've had a bit of a holiday as I've brought along 2 youngsters and just completed 20km and 40km training rides. Jenny is in the same position but more so, her last long endurance ride being in 2006. My mare Joby was going to be completing her first 80km ride, and Jen's mare Promise was under the 13-month rule so running to novice times as well. Colette came along as Camp Boss and strapper, and did an awesome job of organizing us both so we could relax and enjoy the ride.

Weather where we live has been wet, wet, wet. In the end I decided to wait until we arrived to glue on Joby's Easyboot Gloves because the afternoon was forecast to be quite fine. Her feet aren't the best barefoot examples at the moment, with dodgy frogs due to persistent thrush from her environment. I just wonder what so many of the shod horses hooves look like from a worm's eye view! So glueing on her boots seemed like the hassle free option to provide maximum comfort for the longer distance - Sikaflex cushions make her feel like she is striding across grass when she's travelling along bitumen and gravel roads. And the ride conditions were very "ordinary" - wet, cold, and plenty of mud - again another reason to glue to minimize time and effort checking boots between legs. Jen had originally planned to do the 40km training ride but stepped up to the challenge on the day, so she was riding Promise in Easyboot Gloves with hoof pads.

Never one to be totally in the background, I pre-painted Joby's Easyboot Gloves in bright blue to match my riding colours - it would have looked a picture if my shirt wasn't hidden under wet weather gear! I approached the glueing process with a typical aussie attitude of "she'll be right mate" which probably should have been refined slightly but got me through nearly the whole ride without a glitch. Yes Kevin I agree, boot fit AND preparation are key factors - I did lose one boot around the 60km mark but Jen spotted it flying off so it was easy to find!

Each hoof was cleaned up on the sole with a hoof pick and then scrubbed with a wire brush, but remained moist due to the wet conditions of the past week. I wasn't worrying about the dampness as Sikaflex reacts in a positive way to moisture. The hoof wall was dry-scrubbed of mud, but possibly a fine residue remained in places - the boots were definitely less bonded then normal. Perhaps I should have given them an actual wash.

A little touch up trimming, taking off a bit more toe, just to help fit and breakover, and a light rasp on the hoof wall if I remembered. This is her off-fore. You can see she's got a few trouble spots, a sad frog, and a bit of a flare to one side - a case of go with what you've got on the day.

starting to put a bead of sikaflex around the shell's inner edge

Starting to put a bead of sikaflex around the inner rim of the boot.

Doesn't the boot look beautiful although it got covered in mud soon enough. The gaitor is still attached at this stage. Again in hindsight, I could have used a greater quantity of glue - I hardly had any oozing out of the boot, and no mess on me at all - a dead giveaway when I think about it.

Putting the sikaflex on Joby's sole. Jenny is well dressed in her TEB tee-shirt, so am I under my woolly jumper. We're great friends with totally different ideas about temperatures.

I just squiggled a quantity of sikaflex onto the sole, into the collateral grooves, and the concave area of her sole, knowing that when her boot was put on, the glue would ooze into position as needed because it is quite liquid under pressure. Boots actually go on easier too, because it acts like a lubricant on the hoof.

Once on, the gaitor is wrapped around to help keep the shell in position while the Sikaflex is going off, but I also added super glue around the rim.

The fit isn't that tight, the vee isn't stretched at all, but she actually needs that size for length. So 4 boots in places, she snoozes quietly in her yard, and we fill in the rest of the evening. I think the whole process for each hoof took less than 10 minutes - I was pretty cruisy about it.

Around midnight the rain started - we must have brought it with us. I listened to the leaks in the horsefloat where we were sleeping, and wondered what else would be getting wet - pretty well everything due to more leaks or just condensation. A 6am ride start meant getting up at 5am to get organised. Jen put on Promise's Gloves in the rain. I was one up on her via glueing the afternoon before although I did need to unscrew all the gaitors (Experience Tip: don't clog up the screw heads with paint, otherwise the screwdriver won't grab and undo the screw!). We both got equally we saddling up the horses!

Off in the dark to start our first 40km loop. Apparently it was really miserably cold and wet the whole day but we didn't notice because we were having too much fun! Joby took it all in her stride like a seasoned campaigner, taking her example from Promise who knew what it was all about. We rode to the conditions and enjoyed nearly the whole loop. One section was quite daunting to most riders - it was a very boggy slippery track up a very steep hill, and down the other side. Yes the boots slipped a bit but we just sat quietly on the horses and allowed them to choose their path, trusting that we were safer on then off them. Promise did a couple of metre long skids on the way down and looked like an elegant ice-skater, totally relaxed and unfazed by the experience - she almost looked like they were deliberate by the way she coped!

Back in camp, great parameters for both horses although Jen was starting to feel the pain from an extremely dodgy ankle. Out again in continuing wet and cold weather. Although the rain cleared up intermittently, apparently temperatures never made it to 6 degrees celcius for the entire day (according to the weather chart it actually felt like only 1.5 degrees for most of it) - but the horses just kept going like they were having as much fun as me. Jen was past it, but her attitude kept her going to the end.

Joby and Promise vetted through beautifully, with Joby winning the Best Managed Novice Horse Award which kept me grinning. At a ride where some riders didn't bother starting due to the perceived conditions of the track, we felt really comfortable about going ahead, knowing that we'd all be ok. Mind-set is everything, setting yourself up in a positive way makes all the difference! My attitude was easy to maintain - I knew that I'd rather be out riding than not, so I was happy. Jen's attitude was much stronger - it had to be for her to get over the pain and continue on. We crossed the finish line together, knowing that the four of us have just passed one milestone and are now set up beautifully ready for our next adventure - a mini marathon in August.

Jenny was a little worse for wear after the event, succumbing to hypothermia, but was much better the next morning after sleeping with 2 hot water bottles and a Jack Russell Terrier :)

Lesson 1. Dress for the conditions, even if you think you don't feel the cold.
Lesson 2. Be a tad fussier with preparation and enjoy the results.
Lesson 3. Attitude makes all the difference!

The Horse That Wasn't Allowed To Race

Thursday, August 18, 2011 by Garrett Ford

A Horse Named Clunk

Racetrack Intrigue
I've always been a bit intrigued by the racetrack industry and the mystique that surrounds the horses, trainers, owners and conditioning process. The stories of horses like Man O'War, Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Big Brown fueled my interest and the draw to someday own a racehorse.

Shoe or Boot?
EasyCare hoof boots have been used in just about every equine sport, but have yet to make an impact in flat track racing. Until recently, hoof boots have been much too heavy and bulky to allow a race horse to be competitive. When the Easyboot Glue-On was developed, it started my curiosity about campaigning an Arabian track horse in a modified version of the Easyboot Glue-On shoe.

Why Bother?
Life on the race track presents challenges to the equine hoof. Many track horses have challenges with brittle walls, tender feet, lack of support, and contracted heels from continuous shoeing. Track horses that rip off a shoe and lose hoof wall also have a difficult time holding shoes and as a result miss conditioning and races. Track horses are subjected to pounding workouts and as a result are prone to injury. It is for these reasons I believe the sport could benefit from a more supportive shoe.

Imagine: The Easyboot Race

The Easyboot Race will allow the hoof to expand and contract as nature intended.
The Easyboot Race will provide support and comfort for quarter cracks.
The Easyboot Race will allow farriers and trainers another tool for problem feet that will not hold nails.
The Easyboot Race will allow farriers and trainers an option that flexes and absorbs concussion to extend the horse's health and longevity.
The Easyboot Race can be trimmed and modified to suit a specific horse, track or surface.
The Easyboot Race will be less likely to hurt horses, jockeys or spectators if they do come off.
The Easyboot Race will allow trainers to train the horses harder and on less than perfect surface conditions.
The Easyboot Race will bring the track an affordable glue-on solution.

I probably heard my college football coach utter the phrase "speed kills" a hundred times. Size, strength and athletic ability nearly always fail when confronted with speed. We often entered a game as the bigger and strong team, but left the field beaten badly by a team with more speed.

The term "speed kills" is very relevant to the horse, shoes and the hoof boot world. Getting shoes and hoof boots to work for a leisurely trail ride at a walk is comparatively easy. As speed is added, shoes and hoof boots are put under a great deal of stress and torque. The race track is the ultimate equine speed sport and the next arena for Easycare product testing. Participation in the race track industry will make our products lighter and sleeker, allowing us to perfect the product line for all equine disciplines.

I've tried unsuccessfully to convince race track trainers and race track owners to use hoof boots for flat track training. I wasn't convinced they were right. I thought a custom designed racing shoe/boot would give horses that run at speed a comfort advantage and extended longevity. Rather than continue to wonder, I decided to purchase a racetrack Arabian. My plan was to pull the aluminum racing plates, improve the trim on his feet, condition him a bit in the Colorado hills and then take him back and race him in the new Easyboot Race shoes.

Clunk was purchased for the experiment. He's a well breed Arab gelding that I knew I could later use for endurance. I wanted a horse that was currently running and one that I could take back to the track in a short period with the change to Easyboot Race shoes.

Clunk's front feet before pulling shoes. Long in the toe, long hoof capsule. Contracted in the heel.

Front feet up close.

I removed the aluminum plates before I turned Clunk out.

Modifying the Easyboot tread to mimic an aluminum racing plate: first prototype.

Weights of the aluminum race plates and the modified Easyboot Race shoe were taken after the Race shoes were modified. The average weight of the aluminum plate was 9.5 ounces. There were variances of + .1 ounces and - .1 ounces. These shoes had 1 race on them, on a soft racing surface, and exhibited little to no wear and tear. They were removed within three hours of finishing the race.

The average weight of the reconfigured EasyCare Race shoe was 6.5 ounces. After adding the appropriate amount of glue for proper adhesion, the final weight was 9.55 ounces. The variance was + or - .15 ounces.

Clunk in endurance tack and Easyboot Gloves. I did roughly two weeks of conditioning with him in the Colorado mountains after we purchased the horse.

Clunk after hill repeats carrying 225 lbs.

During this process, we had been working with the stewards (race officials) at the Arapahoe Park Race Track in Aurora, Colorado. We discussed with them new Easyboot Race shoe and the prospect of racing Clunk in the new design on August 7th, 2011. The stewards were initially very receptive to the design and thought it could be beneficial for many reasons. They didn't see any problems with the shoe and asked to see Clunk do an official workout the week before the August 7th race.

Steve Kulinski and I fit Clunk with Easyboot Race shoes before the event.

Clunk's Easyboot Race shoes installed and ready to go. A very thin upper flange is used to glue the shoes to the hoof.

To Race, or Not To Race?
Clunk's race shoes were applied Tuesday August 2, 2011, in anticipation of the workout in front of stewards on Wednesday August 3rd. Clunk did a flawless workout in front of the stewards, track vet and several jockeys. The jockey was very impressed and said the horse felt more confident and stable. The track vet had no objections and saw many benefits that could help track horses.

The stewards, however, subsequently changed their opinion, informing us that Clunk would not be able to race on August 7th if he wore the Easyboot Glue-On Race Shoes. They were unable to give a reason or cite a rule in support of their decision.

On Friday August 5th, we filed a formal appeal and asked the stewards and director for a reason and rule that would not allow Clunk to race in the new EasyCare hoof wear. The director responded with a written response and that our new shoe went against rule number 7.608:

"7.608 - Bar plates may be used only with the consent of the Division Veterinarian. The commission may limit the height of toe grabs for any breed at a live race meet. Toe grabs with a height greater than the maximum set by the commission, bends, jar caulks, stickers and any other traction device worn on the front hooves of horses while racing or training on all surfaces, are prohibited. The horse shall be scratched and the trainer may be subject to fine for any violation of this rule. We thought about removing Clunk's Easyboot Race shoes and allowing him to race in aluminum plates but decided to scratch him and stick to what we set out to accomplish. We quickly finished a new mold that was exactly the same shape of the aluminum plate removed from Clunk's hoof after he was purchased."

The Easyboot Race bottom surface mimics an aluminum plate but is made of urethane. Patent applications are complete. The photo above shows the finished Easyboot Race straight out of the mold: the exact pattern of the aluminum racing plate but molded in urethane.

Barrier After Barrier
Although Clunk was not allowed to race on August 7th, he remained entered in the August 21st Milemaker's Classic race. We believed that we could modify the Easyboot Race to be an exact copy of an aluminum plate and the stewards could not say it violated rule 7.608. We continued to press forward and quickly finished a new Easyboot Race mold. During the mold process we presented photos and drawings to the Arapahoe Park race director, Don Burmania, and the racing stewards.

To our disbelief, Don and the stewards said the new racing plate still violated the 7.608 rule as it was a "Traction Device" and they would not allow Clunk to race in the new design despite the fact it was an exact copy of an aluminum plate. On Wednesday August 17th, Don Burmania informed us via e-mail the following:

"please be aware that we will be unable to provide you with suggested changes to the product to get it to conform to Commission rules. No matter what changes you suggest, it will not change the fact that the device is a traction device prohibited under the Rule 7.608. "

Looking at Don's written response, I’m especially confused that he and the stewards are unable to provide guidance and suggestions that would allow our shoe device to conform to the Commission rules. And in the next sentence, Don states that regardless of the changes we make, it will not change the fact that the device is a traction device prohibited under Rule 7.608. Confusing and frustrating. If Don is able to make that statement, there are obviously some areas of the shoe that Don believes are a traction device. Until EasyCare knows the portions of our shoe that Don and stewards believe don’t conform to commission rules, Don is correct stating that we will be unable to make changes. It will be difficult to make changes if we don’t know what to change and what elements of our shoe violate a rule.

We can make many changes: we just need to know what is allowed and what isn't. Here are some examples.

The Easyboot Race sole with center and glue-on walls removed next to an aluminum plate. Does this design violate the traction rule? Shoes can be made of urethane and colored black?

Easyboot Race with center pad next to an aluminum plate. Does this design violate the traction rule? Shoes can be made of urethane, colored black and be used with pads?

Easyboot Race with glue-on cuff next to an aluminum plate. Does this design violate the traction rule? Shoes can be made of urethane, colored black and glued-on with a cuff or clips?

Easyboot Race prefered

Easyboot Race with center pad and glue-on cuff next to an aluminum plate. Does this design violate the traction rule? Shoes can be made of urethane, colored black and glued-on with a cuff or clips?

Easyboot Race all options

All the options available with the Easyboot Race pictured next to an aluminum plate that conforms to the traction rule.

I have to say it's been a frustrating process. It's hard to see horses being shipped off to slaughter when we are fighting to race a horse in a product that we believe will help prolong the racing careers of thousands of horses. It's difficult to see state employees that are paid with tax dollars make arbitrary and capricious decisions. Polyurethane glue-on racing shoes are already out there and being used by some of the best horses and trainers in the sport. Big Brown ran to victory in the 134th Kentucky Derby wearing glued-on poly-flex shoes.

I hope to pull some of the horses with foot issues off the slaughter wagons at various tracks and fit them in the new Easyboot Race shoes. I would like nothing more than to show the racing public that a horse heading for a processing plant in Mexico was saved and winning races in Easyboot Race shoes.

We believe in rules and intend to follow the rules. On the other hand it's hard to follow rules when state officials can't explain what portion of a rule is being broken. We will continue to fight and believe the Arapahoe Park officials have made the wrong decisions.

Do you believe the track industry could benefit from alternative hoof wear and more urethane shoe options? Do you have a horse that would be a candidate for the new Easyboot Race shoe? We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

Garrett Ford

President & CEO

I have been President and CEO of EasyCare since 1993. My first area of focus for the company is in product development, and my goal is to design the perfect hoof boot for the barefoot horse.

Cooley Ranch 2011

Saturday, August 6, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Christina Kramlich Bowie, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

The annual Cooley Ranch Ride was held the weekend of July 16-17 in Northern Sonoma County, California. As always, it was a gorgeous and fun filled weekend, with beautiful trails, perfect weather, great management, wonderful people, awesome prizes, and incredible food and wine! Who could ask for more? This is the kind of ride that reminds me of why I am so hooked on endurance.

The Cooley Ranch is a private property that has been in the same family since the 1800s. As ride managers Cynthia Ariosta and Forrest Tancer pointed out, as funds for our public parks dwindle in the state of California, it will increasingly be up to us endurance riders to cultivate relationships with private ranchers to hold rides on their lands. Crawford Cooley is extremely generous with the land and we are grateful he lets us use it. The ranch has very steep hills and is a real challenge for horse and rider. Usually the weather is hotter than it was during the weekend, but no one was complaining about that. Forrest and Cynthia did an amazing job organizing the meals: a casserole competition for Friday night with a wine tasting, a delicious paella dinner on Saturday, and a lovely dinner of roast pork loin on Sunday evening. No one wanted to leave.

As far as boots for the weekend, I decided to glue them on because of all the steep hills and water crossings, plus the fact that it’s a two day ride. I figured I had spare Gloves, but at least we’d start with Glue-Ons. I’ve been having good luck with the combination of Goober Glue on the frogs and on the walls, with Adhere in the quarters and along the top seam of the boot. We booted on a very hot day, and we did the first two boots quickly, which was great. Then I opened another tube of Adhere that was either too old or just too hot and it set up before I could get the boot on. Then that happened again with another tube. A few nasty words escaped my mouth, I admit - I hate wasting boots. Finally, the third tube was fine, and we booted a few more hooves and then ran out of time. Pascale and I popped the remaining two boots on in camp.

A few notes on using Adhere: 1. It has a shelf life of about a year, and it's possible that one or both of those tubes that went bad were too old, as someone had given them to me. 2. The ambient temperature is important to consider when applying boots using Adhere. On a very hot day, some find it works to keep the tube in the refrigerator before opening it so it doesn't set up too quickly. A cooler could also work, but just be sure that no moisture gets close to the glue. In the winter months, many find it works to wrap the tubes in a heating pad for a while before applying the glue to the boots.

But back to the ride: The first day I rode with Pascale who was on my young horse, Brigadoon, and we had a blast. We took it pretty easy, enjoyed the views, and had no booting problems – YAY! The next day my friend Bob Spoor, whose horse Logistic had BC’d the first day, dropped the gauntlet on me and urged me to ride with him. He rides a bit more aggressively than I do, and I made it clear that I might not stay with him, even though Czeale is a veteran and able to go plenty fast. It turned out Czeale and Logistic were great together! Their gaits are well matched (even though tiny-but-mighty Czeale is probably two hands smaller than Logistic!), they drink about the same, and they recovered about the same too.

Riding with Bob is intense. He’s very competitive. We started a few minutes late so the first loop there was some question about where we were in the group. We passed a bunch of horses right off the bat. It was a lollypop shaped loop with some doubling back, and of course I didn’t have time to look at my map at any point. After awhile I noticed that we were seeing some trail for the second time and wasn’t sure if we were on the return trail or if we had missed a turn. I started to remember a time at another ride when Bob went an extra 25 miles on a 50 and we all teased him for winning the 75….! He wasn’t thinking that was so funny right then. Then we passed someone we had already gone by, who was pretty darn sure he was on trail. Hm. Somewhere we had indeed missed a turn. Fortunately we saw the way back to the vetcheck and down we went. We had simply done the lollypop twice – an extra few miles. Oh yeah and somewhere in there Czeale lost a back boot, but I taped his hoof, popped on a spare Glove and off we went – my only loss for the whole weekend.

So we started loop 2 back a bit further back than we’d started, but no big deal. We just kept cruising and by the time we got to the next vet check we were back to #2 and 3. Both horses ate well, peed, and rested at the vetcheck, and we pulled out just a few minutes after the number one horse. The trail had a long stretch of flat and we cantered most of it. Along there we passed the number one horse walking back towards the vetcheck – he had lost a shoe and his boot had fallen off. I only had a 00.5 which wouldn’t work for his horse, so we kept moving. Then we went through a lovely long creek bed and sponged off the horses. There was a huge hill and we walked up it, and got off and walked down the other side. I walked slowly down that hill as my knee was really starting to ache – and I know it pained Bob to wait! Just as I got to him and got on, a few riders came tearing down the hill after us and passed us cantering through the rocks. We let them go for the moment. When we got to the wide open road again we started a nice easy canter and just kept going, passing both of them. There was another huge climb going into the finish, and we let the number one horse have that, as we didn’t think it was worth it to sprint up it. We finished a minute after him and both our horses recovered and showed for best condition. Bob’s horse got overall best condition for the weekend! What a fun day! What an incredible, exciting weekend! When can I go again?

What to Expect When You and Your Horse Go Barefoot

Tuesday, August 2, 2011 by Dawn Willoughby

Going barefoot with a natural trim and boots for riding, is not without its twists, turns and bumps in the road. I was a professional trimmer working in Delaware for six years. During that time, I specialized in teaching owners, mostly women, to trim their personal horse(s). I quickly learned that in addition to teaching them to trim, I had to prepare the owners for issues they might face, if transitioning to bare feet were to be successful.

Some Challenges to be Aware Of

Criticism
Soundness
Chipping of the hoof wall
Abscesses
Rehabbing cracks, holes and other deformities
Concerns post-rehab
Building a strong back-of-foot

1. Expect Criticism.

Brace yourself! Unless you own the farm, you should expect to get looks ranging from concern to downright disgust from your fellow equestrians and barn manager, trainers, vets and farriers. Many think you are torturing your horse. 'Look the poor horse can't walk on gravel' is one of the most common remarks. Most people, professional or not, do not understand the hoof. Neither veterinarian nor farrier books are entirely correct when it comes to the hoof and its mechanics, according to Dr. Robert Bowker, world renowned researcher. Farrier training focuses on shoeing not growing great barefeet
.

Big Band Show "Banjo", barefoot. Former steeplechaser.

Former steeplechaser, Big Band Show, "Banjo", was often described as a hot house flower. But after I pulled his shoes, the debilitating episodes of rain rot and hives and bug bites swelling to the size of my hand all vanished. He was my previous horse and the first I transitioned to bare feet. This proves even a newbie can make a huge difference!

No one can argue with success. Over time your horse's hooves will look fantastic. And most importantly, with correct blood flow, your horse will become healthier. There may be a time when most of the shod horses in your barn are covered with rain rot, but you, my friend, will be out on the trail. Commiserate with your friends who can't ride; then plant a seed for bare feet, boots and blood flow!

Until then, I encouraged my clients to educate themselves so they understood the advantages of having a barefoot horse. Personally, if I ever found a horse who could not be ridden barefoot in padded boots, I would recommend he be retired. It's not fair to ride a horse with that much damage.

Shoes, whether metal or plastic, nailed or glued, are a short term band aid not a fix.

From the very first trim, most horses walk off sound.

Soundness: I expect most horses to walk soundly after every trim. If there is any tenderness, I figure out what's going on. If I did something wrong, I apologize to horse and owner. Then don't repeat!

2. Soundness. After each trim, your horse should walk soundly.

When I first began trimming, I followed some excellent advice from Dr. Tomas Teskey. He recommended that after I pulled shoes, one nail at a time, I just round the edges of the hoof wall and even-up the heels. “Make no big changes on the first trim,” he suggested. “To the horse, it feels like you just pulled off half his hoof. Give him a month to adjust.” What great advice that was. The horses certainly appreciated it. I just had to alert the owners about the expected chipping of the walls (more on that below).

Most horses walk off from every trim, sound on grass. There are two major exceptions: First, 'navicular disease or syndrome'. Second, the overly trimmed horse.

This poor shod guy (not my client) has had Back-of-Foot Pain for years. He points first one foot then the other to relieve the pain in the back of his foot. The traditional world calls it 'navicular syndrome or disease' but the navicular bone is just an innocent bystander. In fact the coffin bone suffers more damage when he lands toe first. Pull the shoes, therapeutically boot if necessary. Apply the natural trim and treat the frog. This will rehab the back of the foot. Rehab is straight forward. Dr. James Rooney, author of The Lame Horse, clarified the problem and treatment in 1975 and yet 36 years later horses are being put in bar shoes, being wedged every 6 weeks, having their nerves cut and eventually euthanized.

Many domestic horses, and especially ones who are shod, have a weak back-of-foot. You may see thrushy frogs and contracted heels which are protecting the back of his foot. When I pull shoes on a compromised horse like this, he may well be lame. He walks incorrectly, by landing toes first. This is an obvious compensation for a sore back-of-foot. The fix? Padded Rx boots of course. And time.

The conventional world calls this navicular syndrome or disease, which in my mind is a misnomer. Back-of-Foot-Pain doesn't exactly slide off the tongue but that's what it is. And it is fixable. According to Pete Ramey, his worst case of BFP, when rehabbed, was pasture-sound but needed boots for riding. Not too bad considering all the horses he works on.

At a rescue some years ago, I put one foot-sore boy in Epics with a half inch pad and off he went. First, he tested the walk, then trot, then extended trot, then all hell broke loose as he galloped off, kicking and bucking. This former racehorse hadn't broken out of a shuffle for five years!
There wasn't a dry eye at the gate.

Now I'd use the Rx Boot as there is more airflow and they are less expensive. I would however replace the quarter inch pad included with a half inch one. If there is no thrush, Equicasts are another option, particularly good for the owner who doesn't visit daily.

What if your horse walks off lame after a routine trim? Consider whether he was over-trimmed. Anyone can make a mistake but there are aggressive trimming styles that I don't recommend. You can not grow a good foot on a horse who is too sore to walk correctly. If a trimmer is repeatedly over-trimming, fire him.

One aspect of correct movement is a flat or heel-first landing at the walk and heel-first landing at other gaits. It's easy to spot a toe-first landing while walking your horse in sand. The toe kicks the sand up. I would be particularly concerned if I saw routine sole and frog trimming.

If one more person asks me when her horse can go on rocks, I am taking myself out to the back shed! If your horse lives on rocks, he will adapt. If not, BOOT. Horses adapt to what they live on.

Thin, shelly racehorse feet easily crack.

Chipping: Thin, shelly racehorse hoof wall with lots of laminitic rings easily cracks. You can grow a well connected hoof (wall to coffin bone) in one hoof growth. But it takes a few capsule growths to get a thick, healthy wall.

Another great Thoroughbred foot. Smooth walls devoid of lamintic rings. Mustang Roll on the ground has replaced the chipping. As for shape, it is definitely a more upright foot. Notice the more cone shaped hind feet. This is the foot the horse wants.

3. After the shoes come off, hoof walls chip.

If your horse is coming out of shoes, you should absolutely expect the hoof wall to chip. Chipping is a good thing. There is no way your horse can gallop on walls with holes in them. I promise you that the hoof will not fall off. Wall chipping is similar to growing out your own nails after wearing polish for a long time. Nails chip and flake until the unhealthy bit is grown out. Once you get past the nail holes, you should be in good shape.

Doc blew out the left, rear of his right hind sole.

Abscess: Here an OTTB, Doctor Clayton, has blown out the back of his sole next to the bar with an abscess. Once erupted, he felt great.

4. Some Horses Abscess.

During transition to a natural trim, I do not expect a horse to abscess but I let owners know that on occasion a horse can develop them. In some cases, the horse looks like he has broken a leg; we call that 'three legged lame'. Forewarned is forearmed. After all, I don't want the owner dashing back to shoes!

Abscessing can be frightening to an owner. Honestly, during my six year career, I have had only one horse abscess soon after a trim. One of his lateral cartilage looked so laid-over and mushy, that we actually had a vet out to look at him. It took a while but he got himself rearranged.

November. Peanut's abscess exploded through his laminae creating the black hole of Calcutta. He was never lame on this foot! The owner soaked him weekly in White Lightening to keep the area free of bacteria and fungus. Obviously it was full of dirt most of the time. Do try stuffing the area with cotton balls. This is not white line disease.

December. I left sole and wall in place to provide what little structure he had. The wall was well angled so that it pressed in, rather than away from the horse. Traditionalists would have trimmed wall and sole, even resectioning all disconnected wall. That may have made the area look more attractive but by reducing the structure, Peanut may have gone lame. There was no special bandaging. He never took a bad step and was ridden throughout.

Feel free to ask your trimmer what they experience during the rehab. If they expect abscesses as a natural part of the healing transition from shod or farrier trim to good barefeet, I would not use them. Over-trimming is a common cause of abscesses.

Just as healthy humans get colds; healthy horses get abscesses. It can be painful to watch, but as long as the horse is generally in good health, I am not disturbed. As any horse person will say, "It's far from the heart." Do call your vet if you are concerned.

Soaking the foot may encourage the abscess to blow.

Here's a pleasant way to soak! Doctor Clayton, "Doc", former racehorse, is a premier trail horse, as you can see. He is in padded Epics on front. Owner Bette is on board.

Abscesses often release in soft areas like the coronary band, the laminae (aka white line), and around the frog and heel bulbs. One day the horse can't move and the next he is fine. The abscess either reabsorbed or erupted. If the latter, you can usually find the drainage spot. Some horses don't even go lame. If the abscess breaks out the coronary band, you will notice a horizontal line growing down the hoof in six weeks. When it reaches the ground, expect the hoof to chip.

As I walked into Garwin's barn, I thought, "The excised soles are the least of your problems." Holy Mackeral! Check the flare.

Excised sole after months of growth still looks painful.

After months of bandaging and stalling, Garwin's sole slowly repairs itself. We put padded Epics on Garwin and he happily trotted in his pasture. He even trotted down hill on the driveway. Sub solar abscesses will drain and as the underlying "baby" sole develops, the top sole will slough off. No need for surgery.

Typically abscesses resolve in a week or two, but I have seen them last for a couple months. On rare occasions, the horse may experience swelling of the entire leg. Garwin, had sub solar abscesses in both front hooves. The cause of the problem, pathologically shaped hooves, was never addressed. In frustration, the owner learned to trim and has fully rehabilitated him. Garwin is now competing, booted in Gloves, all around.

Lyndsay and Garwin having the time of their lives!

Owner Lyndsay rehabbed Garwin and here they are in 2011 having the ride of their lives!

As for treatment of abscesses, I am not sure anything really helps. I put Ichthammol, that disgusting black stuff, around the coronary band, frog and heels bulbs to keep the areas soft, encourage eruption. Soaking would have the same result. I used to wrap the foot in a baby diaper with moistened Epsom salts but honestly I don't think the abscesses resolved any faster. Every one seems to have a different recipe.

Cracks: Wakefield His five year old crack is due to the huge flare and misshapen foot.

Wakefield has almost grown out his crack.

I taught his owner to trim and out it grew! He was such a handful to trim: a very large, moving target. In hindsight, I should have taken some time to clicker train him. He never took a bad step throughout the rehab!

5. The Natural Trim facilitates the repair of wall cracks, holes and other deformities.

When I met Wakefield, above, his very impressive crack was five years old. His farrier was preparing to shoe him and add a metal bridge to pull the crack together. I hope you can tell from the photo that the cause of the crack is the flared wall. With each 'pasture trim', where the bottom is trimmed flat, the toe was getting longer and the flare more severe. The trim maintained the crack, as would shoes. (Please see Learning to Evaluate Your Horse's Feet for more details.)

I taught the owner to trim Wakie and within seven months the crack was gone. When there are many cracks or wide ones, I recommend soaking weekly in dilute apple cider vinegar 50%, dilute bleach 10%, or my favorite, White Lightening. Assume long standing cracks have bacteria or fungus in them. Soaking creates a healthy environment enabling the horse to repair the walls and grow out the cracks. It is a straight forward rehabilitation.

This is a foundation broodmare, former racehorse, with 1" of good connection of hoof wall to coffin bone at the top, then a long flared capsule with deep cracks. Of course the soles are flat because the coffin bone is not fully connected to the wall.

A small abount of White Lightening plus Vinegar in an enclosed baggie allows the deep penetration of gases.

I soaked with White Lightening/Vinegar as directed. The deeply penetrating gases eliminate bacteria and fungus that would thwart our progress. The foot must be bagged to trap the gases, then put in a Soaker, so the baggie won't rip.

This foundation, thoroughbred broodmare was severely flared. It was of special interest to me that she had been barren for a few years. I wondered if rehabbing her feet, providing ideal blood flow, might correct the situation.

By relieving the mechanical stress of the flared wall and eliminating bacteria and fungus with a soak, the hooves began to repair, immediately. I soaked every foot in White Lightening during the trim.

In the Reader's Digest version of natural hoof repair, Dr. Robert Bowker says there are grocery bags of keratin traveling along the laminae attached to the coffin bone. The keratin creates and repairs hoof wall. 50% or so of the wall is created from within, while 50% grows from the coronary band. Her smaller cracks closed with the first mustang roll which relieved some mechanical stress on the wall.

I wish I had a graduation photo of this lovely girl but she developed colic and was put down several months after I started working with her.

Cracks etc. on Good Feet, the Good Foot Continuum: Good hooves aren't static. Some days they are perfect, and another there's a crack or thrush, especially in wet climates! Much of this toe crack has healed before reaching the ground. The mechanics were off and the wall cracks to accomodate. That's its job.

More on The Good Hoof Continuum. See the hint of a quarter crack. This is where the hoof has challenges. Over time, as the hoof improves, many horse develop a 'scoop' or arch at ground level, at their quarters, an area of expansion when the horse is moving. I don't trim (force) a scoop but prefer to wait until the horse creates it. They know how much structure versus flexibility they need.

6. Wall Cracks and Flare on Good Feet.
From time to time, quarter cracks on the side of the hoof and toe cracks in the front will develop on good feet. I have seen this most often on Thoroughbreds whose walls seem to max out at 1/4” thick. If the foot mechanics are a bit off, cracks may appear. Don't apply any goop! Horses like hard hooves.

This is yet another reason to learn to trim your own horse. With a weekly tune up, you keep the hooves just as nature intended on the best feral feet, perfectly balanced.

Even with great hooves, horses aren't impervious to lamintis due to spring grass and the wall flare that is ensues. Certainly a good trim helps but the key is diet. When I experience flare, I trim a steeper mustang roll and grow it out. See The Challenges of Spring Grass: Preventing Laminitis and Founder.

Back-Of-Foot: From the The Glass Horse. The front half of the foot is coffin bone and the back half is lateral cartilage. This is correct for a feral horse. In our domestic horses, you would be happy with a cartilage half that length and much thinner. The creators forgot the digital cushion located in back between the cartilages. (Reminder that none of the texts are entirely correct when it comes to the hoof. Here's your proof.)

7. Building a Strong Back of Foot: Frog, Digital Cushion, Lateral Cartilages and Heels.

Your horse must land solidly on the back of his foot, innumerable times, to create a callused frog, above it, internally, a robust digital cushion and to either side, strong lateral cartilages. The internal structures respond to pressure-release. That's why we trimmers hate stalling so much. Find ways of keeping your horse moving, like Paddock Paradise. That's what the equine is designed for.

If shod in metal or plastic, your horse's frog, digital cushion and lateral cartilages are all taken out of the equation. The internal structures stop developing. Proprioceptor nerves that tell your horse where his feet are in space atrophy. The number of specialized blood vessels in all the structures diminish significantly. In other words, your aged horse could be walking around on the digital cushion of a 2 year old, if that is when he was first shod!

The central sulcus of the frog above is filling in, inside to outside. It sort of blossoms into a sulcas. Don't trim it.

This frog is a bit behind the one above but still on the path to health. Notice how close the heels are. The back half of the foot looks sqeezed in. As it all rehabs, the heels will open up, but slowly. The owner's responsiblity is to keep the frog healthy and encourage as much sound movement as possible.

In a barefoot horse, a healthy, callused frog is not routinely trimmed. Just keep the flaps and tags trimmed to avoid thrush. Kitchen scissors work just fine. The pressure-release in all gaits rebuilds the digital cushion, located above the frog. With a strong frog and digital cushion, the heels will usually decontract and begin work properly.

Contracted heels and lateral cartilage is shoved up leg.

The frog is thin and unhealthy; can you see the butt crack running up the back? Heels are contracted. I have marked the cartilages in the hair above the hoof to show how shoved up (bad) the leg they are. Granit, shod most of her life and here in her 20's, transitioned out of shoes easily and was ridden in boots. Her heels opened up a lot but not completely.

When contracted, the heels essentially form protection for the back of the foot, most commonly an unhealthy frog. Every time the horse lands, the heels go in, rather than out. Even rehabbed horses can develop contracted heels when their frogs are unhealthy for an extended period of time. My recommendation is to continue treatment until the frog looks and feels healthy. Please don't stop just because your the horse isn't flinching from pain. The central sulcas should look like a thumb print. In the meantime, I let the heels grow a tiny bit to protect the sore frog. (Please see Resources below for more information in a special series in The Horse's Hoof.)

On either side of the back of the coffin bone, the lateral cartilages also develop from pressure-release when the horse moves from the right and left side of his foot, 'yaw'. Pressure-release is the only way lateral cartilages develop size, firmness and regrow specialized blood vessels.

The mass of specialized blood vessel provides energy dissipation in both lateral cartilages and the digital cushion. Nike could not do better!

In Conclusion

The natural trim, combined with lots of movement heals. Rehabilitation takes a while. Generally we bipeds are an impatient species. I encourage you to ride your horse in padded boots if he is ouchy and avoid walking on harsh surfaces when he is bare. Get as much right about natural horse care as you can. Then enjoy watching your horse blossom.

Sunny with me on board, trotting down the Brandywine. Padded Epics on the front. As I write this we ride out in the Glove on front. He no longer needs padding but can't handle the rocky trails because he lives in a grassy pasture.

Resources:

The Whole Horse Symposium: Mind Body Spirit. October 15 and 16. The Nat'l Equestrian Center in Lake St. Louis, Missouri. Great discounts for 3 or more and early birds. Fantastic lineup. Priceless conference.
2011 NO Laminitis Conference. The first annual with Dr. Robert Bowker, Dr. Eleanor Kellon and other major players. August 5, 6, 7. Syracuse, NY. Only $175!
Under the Horse, 10 DVD series with Pete Ramey. $250 and worth every cent.
Equine Sciences Academy to learn about all aspects of natural horse care. Audit available
The Horse's Hoof. Article series on the frog is archived.
My site, 4 Sweet Feet, for many articles on trimming and natural horse care all geared to the owner. Free trimming videos focused on the rehab trim for the owner are posted.
The Swedish Hoof School has some very interesting You Tube videos on hoof mechanism.

I hope you will share my posts far and wide. My goal is education for the horse owner. If you can't find a trimmer in your area, I will help online. I am available for affordable clinics for owners who want to learn to trim their horse. For other resources, kindly check my site. Thanks for spreading the word about care for the natural horse!

Dealer of the Month: Chad Montee

Tuesday, August 2, 2011 by Dealer of the Month

Chad Montee grew up on a ranch in Montana and has always felt a connection with horses. After high school, he left Montana to join the Army and become a Ranger. After the Army he began working as a chef in Scottsdale Arizona in the winter and Jackson Hole Wyoming in the summer.

He then moved to Salt Lake City to go to college. He studied at the University of Utah and Westminster College to become a social worker and went on to work with gang youth, homeless youth and youth with mental disorders. He also worked as the volunteer coordinator for the American Red Cross. Then one day he was trying to blend his past with his present and came across Equine Assisted Psychotherapy.

Chad started a program called Trails to Success and began individual, family and group sessions. “It was the perfect balance between my horse background and wanting to be a social worker.”

It was during this time that he learned about Pete Ramey from a Clinton Anderson training clinic. He began to work toward transitioning his horse and the horses he used for the equine therapy to barefoot. He had no idea how much I would have to learn. “It took me a couple of years studying, trimming and trying to learn everything I could from local trimmer, Tamera Arnold, before I felt comfortable enough to work on client horses.”

Now based in the Salt Lake City area, Chad is known to be a hoof care practitioner who takes the time to look at the whole horse, especially when he is working with a horse that is having hoof problems.

The biggest change Chad has noticed in the hoof boot industry in the last five years is the push towards better quality boots that are easier to put on and work well for the horse.

Of the two mules and two horses Chad owns, he has one horse who needs boots when riding out in the mountain trails. “I ride in the mountains a lot and I’ve really tested the limits of the different boots styles.”

Chad credits his success as a hoof care practitioner to the time he takes to review the horse’s diet, where they live and how they are being used. Then he makes a plan with the owner to grow the best possible hooves for each horse. He also keeps his truck fully stocked with boots, pads, casts, epoxies, mineral supplements and slow feeder nets. “I trim about 200 horses per month and some horses really need help. Having the skills and equipment to get a horse comfortable and moving again is my best advertising.” Chad says word of mouth seems to take care of the rest.

Chad keeps a stock of Easyboot Gloves, Easyboot Bares and Easyboot Trails. The Gloves are his best seller. Chad pauses when asked to name his favorite boot. He like the ease of the Trails, but prefers the durability of the Gloves. “Right now I use gloves on my horse’s front feet and Bares on his back feet.”

When asked to describe his most rewarding experience, he goes back to his participation at Extreme Mustang Makeover. “50 of us were given a wild mustang for 90 days to break and train and then compete against each other in an extreme mountain trail course.” He originally joined the competition to learn more about the mustang’s feet, but ended up learning a lot more about the spirit of the horse. “I don’t claim to be a great horse trainer, however getting a wild horse, breaking it and riding it in front of a thousand people or so was really exciting.”

As for his most memorable hoof boot success, Chad describes an old horse whose coffin bone had penetrated his sole. “When I first saw the horse, I didn’t know if I could do anything for him. His coat and eyes looked dull and he seemed to be in a lot of pain.”

After soaking his feet to clear up the infections he had in both feet, Chad put him in Easyboot Glue-Ons with medicated impression material for about three months. “I took the boots off every month to let his feet dry out and check his progress. It has been a year now and the last time I trimmed him I didn’t recognize him. Instead of this old horse standing next to the gate, I saw a healthy looking horse running and bucking while the owner tried to catch him. When I last trimmed him I couldn’t remember which foot was bad because they all look really good right now.”

See more about Chad at his website: http://naturalhoofcare.info.

How To Grow Some Foot

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 by Amanda Washington

Just in case you were hoping for your horse to grow some foot at an incredibly alarming rate, I have determined the guaranteed formula.

1) Trim horse with your normal barefoot trim, taking care to balance the foot well and back up the toe as much as necessary.

2) Apply Easyboot Glue-On shells, using extra Goober Glue in the sole of the boot to create a soft, flexible and supportive pad.

3) Wait one day, and then trailer several hunderd miles into neighboring state (this may or may not be necessary).

4) Wait one more day, and ride said horse 100 miles.

5) Repeat step 4, only trailering several hundred miles back to your state.

6) Pretend that you weren't trying to catch said horse, anyway, when she sneaks off up the hill everytime she sees you pull up for the next week and a half.

7) Two weeks later, finally coax horse down from the hill with a bucket of goodies, and pop the boots off to find the feet have grown at a rate roughly equal to the rate at which bamboo grows in the perfect environment.

Five days after gluing, and boots are still on tight.

It's true. I left Replika's boots on for a full two weeks this month and was shocked to find what I found when I pulled them off ten days after the 100 at Bandit Springs. Not only had they grown (and grew a lot!) but all that hard false sole that normally won't come out easily was conveniently shedding and ready to pop out with a little pressure from my hoof pick. I was able to take advantage of the moist foot and got in a good trim, the first since her feet were so wet this spring. I was able to take care of some laid-over bar, trim her down closer to live sole than I usually get because the false sole was begging to exfoiliate and was able to easily rasp the heels to an appropriate height.

I was glad that I pulled the boots at that time, because I feel like the heels and toe were starting to disort the foot. As I stared in awe at the hooves that didn't look like my girl's, and realized just how BAD they were look at eight weeks in shoes. How did I DO that?

Rep's "long" foot getting loooooonger.. Thank goodness for the rasp!

What little things do you notice now, that you didn't while your horse was shod? The list goes on and on for me, but for one, I am thankful to be able to correct abnormalities that could become problems after eight weeks in steel shoes.

Thank you, Easyboot!!
~ Amanda Washington
SW Idaho

Easyboot Rx FAQ

Tuesday, July 12, 2011 by EasyCare Customer Service Team

Q What is the Easyboot Rx used for?

A Treating laminitis, navicular, heel pain (horse hoof problems). This protective horse boot can be used for recovery after surgery and to aid in the comfort of the barefoot horse in various circumstances.

Q Padding: Does the boot come with a hoof pad?

A Yes, it comes with a 6 mm medium density hoof pad.

Q Are other pads available?

A Yes. Please click here for the list of available pads. We recommend that you work with your hoof care practitioner when deciding what pad may work best for your horse

Q Sizing: Do I need to size up when using a thicker pad?

A If you are planning to use a thicker pad, or are bandaging, you will need to go up a size.

Q Duration: How long can I leave the protective horse boots on?

A The boot can be left on during the entire treatment period, provided they are checked regularly.

Q Turrnout: Can my horse be turned out in them?

A Yes. However, we always recommend that the boots be checked a minimum of once per day to make sure no rubbing has occurred and that the horse is still comfortable.

Q Cleaning: How do I clean them?

A Clean your boots with mild soap and water and let them dry completely before putting them back on the horse. The hook and loop straps can be cleaned with a wire brush. We recommend trying to keep the hook and loop material as clean as possible to ensure the fastening system works properly.

Chris Freeman

Accounts Manager

I am responsible for the accounting at EasyCare. My responsibilities require me to manage accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing, receipt of inventory and international order processing.

Rx Hoof Boots Aid in Asymmetry Rehabilitation

Monday, July 11, 2011 by Debbie Schwiebert

Here at EasyCare, we have some top notch individuals working along side us as dealers. The following article was written by Jason McClure out of Hutchinson, Kansas. For eight years, Jason shod horses for just about every discipline imaginable. These days however, Jason focuses primarily on barefoot trimming and this EasyCare dealer couldn't be happier with his career decision. Jason's passion for the barefoot horse is contagious. He admits he has received quite a bit of razzing over this change in direction but Jason is not to be swayed. Jason says he has been amazed at what he has been able to accomplish without shoes and how now he is able to help horses like the one in this article and so many others like never before.

Article by Jason McClure:

In November 2009, I gave a presentation for the Purina Equine Health Awareness Clinic. After my presentation, I was approached by a lady named Dianne who informed me that she had a horse with asymmetry issues. I was very excited to work on her horse because I had just returned from a trip to California where I had been working with my business partner, Steve Karshner. While I was there, the main focus was rehabilitating horses suffering from the effects of asymmetry.

I learned a lot of new information and was positive I could help her horse. She commented that they had diagnosed him with navicular and had been working with her veterinarian and farrier for years with no significant success. Dianne was ready to give up on this horse until she heard me talk about asymmetry at the clinic. I really liked Dianne from the start; she sincerely cares about her horses, and she was eager to do whatever was prescribed to reverse this unusual and misunderstood condition.

All hoof care professionals know we can’t fix every lameness issue on our own; it has to be a team effort among the horse owner, trimmer and veterinarian. When I saw Chex for the first time it was without a doubt the worst asymmetry case I had ever seen. He walked out of the barn head-bobbing lame, his left front foot was almost straight up and down and the right front foot was horribly underslung.

Chex’s shoulders were extremely uneven, and his left knee was an inch and a half higher than his right knee. Imagine having one leg longer than the other; you would most likely have pain all the way up through your neck and every muscle and joint in your body would hurt.
It’s extremely important for the horse’s body to be aligned. We have to get the horse’s body adjusted first before its feet start to come into balance. You must level and balance the knees, and the shoulders, so the horse is baring weight evenly on both front feet. They have to move correctly with a heel first landing in order to build heel on its low leg, as well as to keep the high heel down and de-contracting. Dianne mentioned that she rode with one stirrup longer than the other. This is typical of the condition.

Chex’s frame was uneven; his shoulders were out of alignment and over-muscled on one side. As a result, the saddle would never fit him properly. His former farrier had shod him in a 2 degree wedge shoe with a pad on the right front and a keg shoe on the left.

His instincts were correct as he was trying to level the knees. But in order to bring this horse into balance you must build heel on the low underslung foot, and that can never be done with a shoe, believe me I tried for years.

I launched Chex’s rehab by pulling off all the shoes and doing my trim. Because I planned on putting Chex straight into a pair of Easyboot RXs, I was able to be aggressive on the first trim and bring his knees nearly level. Next, I fitted Chex in a pair of RXs with dome pads, and when Dianne lead him away from me he took two head-bobbing steps then trotted off like nothing had ever been wrong.

It’s important to get a horse moving properly with little or no pain in order for feet to restructure themselves, and I don’t believe I could make those kind of changes without using the boots as part of the therapy. We made big gains on that first trim, so I set Dianne up on a four week schedule and we stuck to it. I showed Dianne how to stretch him and explained to her how to exercise him daily in the round pen. Dianne was faithful with her responsibilities, and we had her riding Chex in four weeks. She called me about six months into the rehab and told me that Chex was presenting lameness again. At that point, I knew we were on the right track. I know that sounds funny, but I explained to her that when a horse or even a person is lame for a long period of time the muscles must acclimate to moving correctly again.

At this point we had all the pain out of his feet and he was moving the way he should. However his shoulder muscles were sore and not accustomed to a full range of motion. I told her to keep stretching his legs and shoulders before she rode him. Also, Dianne was to keep him trotting in straight lines to re-muscle his shoulders evenly. She stayed faithful to the rehab and did everything I advised her to do. It’s been ten months and Chex is doing great. In September, Dianne entered Chex in a western pleasure class for the first time in years. They won third place and he showed no sign of lameness. Dianne was so excited that I was the first person she called to tell about her success. One thing I can say for sure is that with proper hoof care and with a client who is willing to do his or her part of the rehab, an asymmetrical horse can be brought back to perform at the top of their game.

There is no better feeling than restoring a horse to soundness that everyone said was “done” and to hear the owner say, “You gave me my horse back,” and to see the horse and owner back working as a team, performing sound and pain free.

Jason McClure resides in Hutchinson, Kansas and specializes in trimming and shoeing and the competitive reining horse and the rehabbing of navicular and foundered horses. Check out Jason’s website www.jasonmcclure.net for more info on the Asymmetric horse and for future clinic dates close to you.

Jason relied on the comfort provided by the Easyboot Rx therapy hoof boot to keep this horse moving and moving correctly. Utilizing the Rx was a key element for this horse's journey back to soundness. If you use the Rx in your practice tell us your story and help encourage others who may be going through a similar rehab situation. Your story could make all the difference in a horses life.

Debbie Schwiebert

easycare-vet-hcp-deaaler-accounts-manager-debbie-schwiebert

Vet Dealer & Hoof Care Practitioner Accounts

I manage the hoof care practitioner and veterinarian dealer accounts at EasyCare. An integral part of my job is to stay current in all areas of barefoot hoof care, which enables me to serve this vital group of EasyCare dealers at the next level.

A Quick And Easy Pad for Easyboot Gloves

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 by Garrett Ford

EasyCare continues to get requests for a padding system that can be incorporated into the Easyboot Glove. As of now we don't make a pad system that we recommend to be used in the Easyboot Glove.

Injecting Equi-Pak Soft into an Easyboot Glove after fitting the boot to the hoof. The Equi-Pak in injected through two pre-drilled holes.

I continue to stand by my guns and not recommend the EasyCare Comfort Pad System for Easyboot Gloves. Gloves were designed to have a low profile and only have a wall height of 35mm in the area of the quarters. This 35mm is the only wall contact with the hoof and is needed to keep the boot in place. Adding a 12mm or 6mm comfort pad inside a Glove elevates the hoof inside the boot and lessens the amount of contact the boot shell has with the hoof. The Easyboot Glove does not stay on the hoof as well when a comfort pad is used.

What to do, what to do? What is the solution for people who would like give their horse extra cushioning and still use the Easyboot Glove?

After trying many pad solutions, Equi-Pak Soft may just be the answer. I've been using Vettec Equi-Pak Soft inside the Gloves very successfully for tough mountain riding and rides where I know I will spend several miles on hard packed roads. Equi-Pak Soft provides a quick and soft pour-in pad which sets up in roughly 45 seconds. The perfect cushioning characteristics of the Equi-Pak Soft are injected into the sole of the Glove after the Glove is installed on the hoof. The holes in the boot sole are sealed by the material.

The red arrows point to the holes I drilled into the Glove shell. These holes allow the Equi-Pak Soft to be injected into the boot after it is placed on the hoof.

The material easily peels free from the boot and hoof.

The system has been working very well but does have a couple of down sides. It's a single use application (one ride) and as a result can be expensive. But in the end it's only the hoof and joint health of your horse you are trying to preserve. I personally would rather spend some money on a sound and healthy horse rather than look at a pasture ornament and wish I did!

Garrett Ford

President & CEO

I have been President and CEO of EasyCare since 1993. My first area of focus for the company is in product development, and my goal is to design the perfect hoof boot for the barefoot horse.

So How Do My Horse's Feet Look? Learning to Evaluate Your Horse's Hooves

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 by Dawn Willoughby

It seemed like every day I trimmed horses, I was asked the same question, over and over again: “So, how do my horse's feet look?"

It wasn't long before I had an epiphany: Why not teach the owner to evaluate and trim her own horse? If I could do it, why not other owners?

Before long it was me asking, “So how do your horse's feet look this month?” And the owners couldn't wait to answer. Because every month, the feet looked better and better. After 7 months, they usually looked exceptional and I was off the case and on to new students. Vets and farriers alike were asking the proud owner-trimmer, “So who does your horse's fantastic feet?” Oh that was music to my ears! For the vast majority of horses, this is not rocket science. If you want to understand 'all things hoof' at the molecular level, you sure can be. But if on the other hand, you want to put a nice foot on your horse and then hit the trails, by jove I say let's keep it simple!

The coffin bone is sitting in the capsule. You can see the laminae inside the wall and also where the bars would be in the back of the foot.

In a sound horse the coffin bone sits 4 to 11 degrees off the ground and draws flat at a gallop. Notice the unfortunate 'moth-eatien' perimeter common among our domestic horses. The coffin bone suffered too much concussion.

In the first photo you see a hoof capsule that I cooked down on my outside grill. The primary goal of trimming is to encourage the hoof capsule to grow a strong, protective enclosure for the coffin bone and soft tissue structures(cooked off) which are located in the back of the foot.

Inside the capsule you can still see remnants of the laminae. The coffin bone also had laminae on the surface and the two lamina were connected. See how the coffin bone sits in the capsule. The lateral cartilages are soft tissue structures on either side of the back of the coffin bone; they cooked off. The digital cushion, also gone, was located in the back center of the foot, over the frog. Dr. Robert Bowker has likened soft tissue structures of the hoof to the excellent, gel padding found in running shoes. One of the jobs of the soft tissue structures is to absorb shock.

Run your fingers from the hairline down, and note with a marker or chalk, where the healing angle stops. That's how much good wall to coffin bone connection you have. Ideally it runs to the ground. Some horses do flare right from the hairline.

In step one of a foot assessment, I run my fingers down the hoof wall, feeling the angle of growth as seen in this photo with my first model from Allie Hayes, of Horse Science. I call her 'Honey Bunny', a wonderful horse who gave her life to educate us bipeds. In most traditionally cared for horses, the first inch or so of wall growth is the angle the horse would like; the rest of the foot is what he is stuck with. If shod, plastic shoes included, the poor horse is cast with no hope of growing a good foot. Jaime Jackson calls this good, top connection, the healing angle. With the correct trim and diet, the healing angle grows to the ground within 7-12 months. Let's take a look at the hooves of three horses:

Sunny, Off the Track Thoroughbred
Eddie, Quarter Horse Cross
Daniel, Percheron

Love "Sunny" Days, Off the Track Racehorse

Sunny (a clicker trained horse), now 12, is my Off The Track Thoroughbred; I rescued him as a rising 6 year old. I gave him a year off to be a horse on full turnout with a small herd in Unionville, Pa. and revisited his ground training. Rebacked as a 6 year old, he immediately came up lame in a sand ring. What a surprise that was. It took another year to rehabilitate his partially torn, high suspensory.

Front view of right front hoof in June. This is the tail end of our spring grass season.

The side or lateral view shows a slight flare (bad), short toe and low heel (both good). Note correct hairline angle down to the ground.

Above, here we are in June, 2011, at the tail-end of our spring, high-sugar grass season. On the front view, from the hairline to the black, horizontal marker line is the healing angle, the hoof Sunny wants. Below the black line is flared hoof wall where the lamellar connection between hoof wall and coffin bone broke, a sign of laminitis due to spring grass. Spring shots may have also played a part.

It is my habit to sharply (60 degrees or so) bevel or angle the outer (dark) and inner wall (bright white) from April 1st to July 1st in an effort to avoid flare. This is called the rehabilitation trim. Although he became gimpy on the gravel driveway this spring, he was rock solid sound when trotting down hills, mounted or unmounted. If he is happy to slam his 1,000 lbs on the back of his feet, on a grassy down hill, I am happy too.

Before evaluating Sunny's hoof, I would like to discuss some terms. In this solar view below, notice the perimeter of dark outer wall. On a white hoof the outer wall is an egg shell color. Inside his outer wall is the inner wall or water line. Most farriers don't talk about the inner wall. When I first started I confused it with the white line. The inner wall is always bright white, regardless of hoof color. Go in one more time and that is the laminae or white line; it's actually off white and often, if you look closely, you can see what looks like scales or leaflets. With a big flare the laminae often pulls apart at the ground level and you can really see the disconnection. A healthy laminae or white line is very thin and tight. Next of course is the sole, then the frog. A healthy foot has a concave sole. Another wall, the bars are on either side of the frog. They begin at the heel and slope gently to mid frog.

Sole view where I marked (A) the extent of his sole concavity and (B) the open angle of his heels, aka decontracted heels.

"So how do these feet look?"

In the first photos, the hoof has a nice cone shape. Good feet come in a variety of shapes, some cone and some more upright. The outer surface is smooth showing no laminitic rings. There are some superficial, vertical cracks along the bottom of the wall created by a response to changes in the environment: wet, dry, wet. In the (hopefully) dry months of July and August, the wall will look like smooth gray granite. Even healthy hooves are on a continuum if your weather and ground vary.
As noted, he has flare (disconnected laminae) in the lower portion of his foot. Because of this flare, I would expect some loss of concavity on the bottom, sole view. As an aside, when I am helping a horse grow his first well-connected wall, I have noticed that concavity of the sole will start to form when about 2/3's of the hoof wall has the correct, healing angle.
When viewed from the side, Sunny's hair line slopes down, telling me his coffin bone is well placed. The hairline angle may vary a bit depending on his hoof continuum. I do not force any particular angle. However, a horizontal hairline, which we will see in a moment on Eddie, tells me the horse is incorrectly walking on the front of his coffin bone. According to Pete Ramey's research, the coffin bone in an excellent hoof is within the range of 4 to 11 degrees off the ground in the back. (See the photo where I am holding the coffin bone off ground parallel above.) Ground parallel is not correct. You can only see these angles on radio graphs but I have found that if you just do the natural trim, your horse will find what is right for him. As for evaluation, just look for a downward sloping hairline on the side.
On the sole view, I have marked his uneven concavity which I expected. Whenever the laminae loses substantial connection: (A) the hoof capsule is too far up the leg and (B) the coffin bone, always under the horse, is too close to the ground. How all this occurs and what actually happens is a heated topic of debate that you can research elsewhere. Again, as I do the trim, the perfect connection will grow in and full concavity will appear. No worries.
I also marked, on the sole view, the open angle of his heels at the back of the foot. That is another sign of a good foot. The heels are decontracted. Contracted heels on the other hand, point towards the toe or even angle in; I have seen hooves where the heels actually touch! In effect the horse created the additional structure he needed, almost like a natural bar shoe, in order to protect his unhealthy frog and weak back-of-foot. (Remember our shock absorbers: two lateral cartilages and one digital cushion per foot.) As the frog and internal structures improve, most horses grow excellent, decontracted, short heels. Heels should not be forced apart with an 'opening cut' because the horse will then land on undeveloped or unhealthy structures. Ouch!
The frog's central sulcas, in the center back of his foot, is on the mend. I will treat it daily until it is a thumbprint. I treat until it looks healthy. Don't stop just when it stops hurting.

The Before Story: Thin, Shelly, Racehorse Feet are created by people and are not congenital.

Off the track racehorse has thin, shelly feet. Laminitic rings run the full hoof length. The thin wall chips easily.

Notice the perimeter of the hoof wall. As soon as it hits the ground, the paper thin wall chips. Compare this to Sunny's June feet. It does take several hoof capsule growths for a horse to develop correct wall and sole thickness. Lots of movement really helps.
Sorry I don't have a sole photo. They were flat and thin. The frogs were pencil-thin and unhealthy. When viewing the foot from the bottom, the outer (dark) wall and inner (bright white) wall were so thin that in areas, one or the other would disappear.
That white band you see coming out of the hairline is just the periople and is perfectly normal. When wet it often appears bright white. I have seen draft horses with the periople running half way down the wall.
When I first ran my fingers down his front walls, I noticed that they actually angled in, 'inside the vertical' and then flared out. My guess is that due to the suspensory tear behind the right knee, the farrier over-trimmed Sunny's hooves and put him in small shoes to relieve pressure when raced. Of course this was in lieu of rehabbing him. The shoeing job forced the foot to grow in an ice cream cone shape!
Below are 4 butt cracks signifying thrushy feet. If your horse's feet touch wet ground or manure, consider investigating and cleaning the foot daily. Treat unhealthy frogs. No frog, no foot. The Horse's Hoof has a great series on frogs. Thanks to that series, I am much better at frog care.

Four butt cracks means thrush. Horses can not move happily on infected frogs. Keep a watchful, daily eye on your frogs.

Eddie, Quarter Horse Cross

Eddie when his owner and I started working on his hooves.

Eddie is turned out for 18 hours a day and ridden every day in an arena or on trails. He is 17 and is trimmed by his owner who now trims professionally in my area. His diet is primarily forage. When his owner began the rehab process, she trailed out in padded Epic boots but now is using unpadded Gloves. He requires no protection when working on grass.

Eddie's rehabilitated hooves in June have a cone shape, granite-like horn color with horizontal front hairlines.

The side or lateral view shows a hoof under the horse, nice mustang roll and a correctly descending hairline.

"So how do these feet look?"

They all have a nice cone shape. His toes are short, just where he wants them. (Not based on a formula, in other words.) There is no noticeable flare. We are still in our spring grass season so it's not surprising to see a few laminitic rings.
From the side view you can really see the mustang roll that is critical to a good trim. If you trim the bottom flat, as in the 'pasture or farrier trim', you will never grow a well connected foot without flare. 'The Mustang Roll' is created by rasping the wall from the bottom at an angle; then trimming the wall from the top at an angle; finally by running your rasp around the edge, you round the entire perimeter, from heel to heel. It's amazing how this simple process relieves mechanical stress and allows the wall to grow out perfectly, well connected to the coffin bone.
The front side view appears a bit 'bull nose'; I would check the heel height and just make sure they aren't too low. (Range 1/16" - 1/2"over the exfoliated sole if the frogs are healthy. To find the exfoliated or 'live sole plane', just scrape your hoof pick on the sole. The old stuff will scratch off, in most cases.)
Notice from hairline to ground, Eddie's short heels, as viewed from the outside. If he were to move to the desert they might become even shorter, as would the toes. His soles might thicken in response to movement on hard, dry ground. His capsule might move down the leg a nick and on radio graph you would see the coffin bone sitting higher in the capsule, just as we see in the mustangs of the western U.S. I mention this because often we owners don't see hooves in climates dramatically different from our own. Again this is part of the healthy hoof continuum.

The side view of Eddie's hoof shows short heels, full concavity from the frog to the laminae aka white line, and a beveled or angles outer wall.

From the sole we again see that nice round shape with the angle of the heels pointed out, in decontraction. The sole has a shallow bowl shape. The frog is sturdy and healthy, devoid of fungus and bacteria.

3. In the side or lateral view of the sole, you might notice that in some parts, only the outer dark wall has a 45 degree angle or bevel on it. Because Eddie has no flare, his owner has applied a maintenance trim. She is allowing the inner, bright white wall to grow a nick over the sole. Typically Eddie wears down the inner wall at the toe. Giving the sole just that tiny bit more concavity which travels from the frog to the laminae and then up to the top of the inner wall can greatly improve barefoot performance according to Pete Ramey. It certainly is what we observe in the wild. Please see below, where there's a 'maintenance' self-trim on my hoof specimen from the desert in Australia.
4. In the second photo, I notice what a nice round shape Eddie's foot has. The cracks on the right side of the sole tell me that he plans to exfoliate it himself. No need to trim his sole; let him do it.
5, The lumpy line on the right perimeter of the hoof is actually laminae, 'extruded laminae'. The foot probably got wet at one point, then dried and a part of the laminae or white line was squished up. It is completely cosmetic and harmless. Let Eddie wear it off.
6. The central sulcas is located in the rear middle of the frog. It should like just like Eddie's, a thumb print. When cleaning the foot, daily if your horse lives in any moisture or manure, make sure that area is not sensitive to the hoof pick or any hand pressure. 900 lb Eddie can canter down hill on those babies. Healthy frogs are grown and except for nipping off a tag or perhaps a flap covering an indent that might become infected, I do not routinely trim them. They want to be callused. If sensitive, treat. Again check out The Horse's Hoof series.

Here's the hoof of a feral Brumby from Australia. Notice the "maintenance" trim, the beveling of just the outer wall.

Feral bromby hoof from Australia's hard desert.

Let's have a look at Eddie's before shots.

Eddie is standing on four beer cans. Long toes and long heels with laminitic rings.

A gelding in high heels is not a pretty site.

Once your eyes have seen a few rehabbed feet, you will immediately gasp at these long toes and may even faint when you see heels the long. Poor Eddie is walking on the front of his coffin bone.
See how horizontal the side hairline is? Ouch! The coffin bone within the capsule is standing on it's toe. Dr. Bowker has said that you will find remodeled (worn down) coffin bones in most domestic horses. Instead of a nice smooth edge, Eddie's coffin bone is most certainly 'moth eaten', just like the majority of our domestic horses. See the bumpy perimeter of my coffin bone in the beginning of this post.
On the side of Eddie's left front foot can you see the bulge above his hairline. It begins about one third back from the front, and continues to the back, over the heel bulbs. Internally that is the lateral cartilage that is being shoved up the leg by the incorrect structure of the foot.

And the view from the sole:

Side view of the sole reveals good concavity, a healthy frog, but too much wall. And lots of heel.

Eddie's trying very hard to shorten his toe from 12:00 to 2:00! Otherwise quite a nice shape with healthy frog, which is so critical to the successful rehab.

He appears to have full concavity which is great. I love the round shape that is often the sign of a horse who hasn't spent much time in shoes.
Eddie is trimming his own toe back to where he wants it. (Toe at 12:00 to 2:00) Some people will see that and immediately call for shoes thinking that he might wear down his whole foot! No, he is just attempting to self trim into something he can walk on.
Heels take some discussion.
- From the side view, when Eddie was standing, the heels were definitely long; the horitzontal hairline is a dead give-away. Looking at the heels from the sole view, they are also standing too far over the sole. 1/16" to 1/2" is the norm, if the frog is healthy.
- Also check out, from the sole view, the length of heel from hairline to the actual heel he stands on; it is also long. The good news is that he has a healthy frog so we can confidently rasp his heels down and back where they belong. I wouldn't lower them more than 1/2" on one visit.
- But what if his frogs were thrushy? I would leave enough heel to protect them then rigorously treat the frog. Forget about heel height; it will come along as frogs rehab.
- Make sure the horse can walk off sound. Never trim a horse lame. That's nuts in my view.
- Just as the coffin bone can be too close to the ground, so too the lateral cartilages and digital cushion, back-of-foot. When this happens, a lot of rehab has to happens as the heels grow towards what Eddie wants.
Take a minute to compare Eddie's before and after photos. During the transition, Eddie never took a bad step. As in all things related to Equus, the time it takes is the time it takes.
The bars are another hoof wall. They begin at the heels and slope down towards mid frog. If the bars stand over the outer wall, I trim to the correct height, a bit over sole. Please don't excavate into the sole. When bars become too long, they may dig into the ground or 'lay over'. According to Dr. Bowker, they do not 'impact' or press deeply up into the foot. His conclusions are based on thousands of dissections.
Eddie also has 'sole ridge' that is located next to the frog, on the sole. It begins where the bar ends, at mid frog and runs the length of his frog, on the right side. I scrapped the sole next to it so you could see the ridge more clearly. On some horses, it can run around the entire frog, on the sole, from the end of each bar. This hoof created more structure because it is needed. If the ridge is still there after 3 months, I may begin to trim it, however normally it exfoliates on its own. I have never seen sole ridge on a good foot. Pete Ramey used to trim the sole ridge in his book, Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You, but over time has stopped the practice because he made too many horses tender as noted in his book-update article, Making Natural Hoof Care Work.

And finally,

Daniel, Percheron

The amazing Daniel, beloved by all at Tory Hill.

Daniel started life with the Amish and for 8 years worked a farm in Lancaster, Pa. He remained a stallion, thus that glorious neck, before transitioning to a dressage gelding used for teaching. One of his students bought him and took over the care of his hugely flared feet, complete with a matching crack. Now he is part of a primarily OTTB herd (don't tell him he isn't a racehorse), on full turnout and ridden a few times a week, lightly. He is in his early 20's. He never wore boots.

Below, here is where we started. Somewhere along the line, Danny injured his coronary band. Then, unrelated to the injury, huge flare was allowed to developed. Finally the outer wall cracked in response to the mechanical stress of the flare and deformed wall. The crack had been with Daniel since his Amish days.

The outer wall accomodates the massive flare by cracking. Don't let this scare you. I took the flare way back. His owner maintained the mustang roll and the flare grew out, and along with it, the crack. Its worth soaking a long term crack to kill nasty inhabitants.

The damage is evident.

Another view of the damaged hoof wall emanating from the coronary band.

And below, Just beautiful! The damage to the coronary band, although still present, is less evident in the wall when the correct hoof capsule is grown. How long does it take? As long as it takes. Growing out cracks is straight forward. Shoes make cracks worse and do not 'hold the foot together' as I have been told countless times.

Grow out the flare and voila, a lovely draft foot trimmed by his owner every other week.

There is a widespread but incorrect belief that big horses need big, flared feet. When you look at severely flared draft hooves, from the sole view, they will look triangular with points at the toe and on either side. As always, with correct and patient natural trimming, the feet come around. They're still big feet! If you have a draft horse, you might be interested in Pete Ramey's latest That's My Horse: Drafts.

Below, look at the width of the back of the frog! Now that's a central sulcas shaped like a thumb print. Talk about decontracted, healthy heels. Danny's owner couldn't have done it without her Hoof Jack! Can you imagine holding this big guy's foot for a trim?

With the correct trim, Danny's feet remain substantial. Hats off to his owner.

In conclusion, rehabilitation of the equine foot occurs at each horse's pace and is heavily dependent on:

The diet,
The environment,
Movement and
The trim, in that order.

Please remember that even exceptional feet exist on a continuum.

On occasion your pony may get a laminitic ring or a quarter crack or a chip in the wall or an abscess. Be patient yet knowledgeable with her rehabilitation and always do the best you can. As long as your horse is sound, in good weight and has a shiny coat, life is good.

I hope I have given you some useful information to assist you in the evaluation of your own horse's hooves.

Next month I will post a pictorial discussion of many common 'oddities' you might see in barefeet that are: just out of shoes or poorly trimmed or good feet having a bad day.

Until then, see you on the trail!

Here are some resources that you might be interested in

For a more in depth understanding of the hoof and how it all works here is a small sample of resources:

The DVD set Under the Horse by Pete Ramey
Clinics with Dr. Robert Bowker
Courses with the Equine Science Academy
Whole Horse Symposium in Missouri on October 15-17 Dr. Bowker and Dr. Tomas Teskey among many others, will be presenting. This is a priceless opportunity to talk to the best and brightest.
I have free, basic trimming videos for applying the rehabilitation trim on my site at 4sweetfeet.com
The Horse's Hoof. Note that all trims are represented, not just the natural trim based on the wild horse model. Personally I don't agree with the more invasive trims. It's a nice resource though and worth reading with a critical eye.

Thunder's Hooves Revisited

Tuesday, July 5, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Karen Bumgarner, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

Recall if you will, the end of May, when Thunder was pulled on the 100 at Owyhee Fandango. It took some hard thinking but I figured out he was footsore and had thrush. Here is the link to the blog with all that info and previous pictures here.

Thunder's Gloves with the Dom Comfort Pads

While he was recovering I rode him in Gloves with the dome Comfort Pads inside. As you can see, the pads take on the shape of the horses frog and sole. With this combination in the rocks he was not the least bit footsore at all. In addition, I also picked his hooves several times a day trying to keep them clean and dry to help keep the bacteria out. I would trim a bit of frog away periodically and then use a tea tree oil formula for thrush and hoof health. I didn't want to just cut out a great deal of frog which would make him really sore but would probably kill the thrush faster. I wanted to take off layers even though it meant that the process might take a bit longer.

Now his hooves are growing all new healthy frog. I rode him tonight without boots and he was not footsore at all. His stride was normal and his tigger bounce was worse than springy! The old photos in the previous post showed thrushy black stinky spots. The new photo shows nice new healthy elastic frog.

The drier weather has been a huge help of course as moisture tends to allow the thrush bacteria to spread like wildfire. But just the task of trimming the yucky affected frog out and cleaning is truly the best medicine. And now the red beast is on the mend and back on the trail!

27 Hours in a Day Beats the Winter Blues

Thursday, June 30, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Susan Gill, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

It’s winter in Australia, and on the south-east coast it gets cold enough for us locals, although not usually below freezing except the occasional night. Most winters I moan about the lack of daylight and the lack of nice weather – yes I have got in the habit of being a fair-weather endurance rider lately. It was a few years ago when I first became aware of natural hoof care and started bare-booting with Easyboot Bares and Epics.

At the time I had a cruisy horse (read "lazy") that wore through his boots quickly and required socks or other inventive ways to prevent gaitor rubs. I lacked confidence applying the boots in the dark, and always seemed to take so long to put them on even in daylight, so in winter developed the very restricting habit of riding less because I didn’t have big time slots available to ride in. We overcame the booting issues with time and practice but my habit remained.

New easier boots like the Easyboot Glove have become available in the last two years but the habit remained… until this winter! The motivation of working towards a couple of riding goals has kicked in.

I’ve got past that mind-set of my original booting experiences and know its just as easy putting Gloves on Joby as it is to put Ariats on myself. Having a horse that enjoys going out, stays sensible and focused but forwards-moving without constant pushing is certainly worth getting out of a warm bed for.

Now a few days a week I get up at 4 am, however cold, wet, windy or combination weather it is, to go riding. Joby usually comes to me so she’s keen to go out too. Otherwise I have to scan the paddock in the darkness, hoping to pick up a pair of reflecting eyes with my headlamp. After catching her, I clean her feet out and whack on a pair of Gloves on her front feet, hinds are usually bare - too quick and easy! I saddle up while the Gloves are settling in to the final position, check and tighten the gaitors, and off we go.

Recently I’ve used them with dome hoof pads for some extra cushioning because of her soft frogs in our amazingly continuous wet weather we have been experiencing. And lately they’ve been on in the paddock as well, keeping her feet slightly drier and keeping a paste of 50/50 copper sulphate and vaseline on her frogs to try and beat the thrush that is creeping in – how versatile is that!

The standard rewards – a fitter horse, a warmer me (I freeze in winter and usually wear about 6 layers, but this year I have stayed at 3 layers max so far), a positive feeling that I am beating winter by ignoring it, physically making my day 3 hours longer than “normal” people, seeing nocturnal wildlife like wombats, wallabies and possums. The special rewards also include watching an eclipse of the moon on horseback, and wishing on a shooting star or two.

The 2 photos are of my mare Joby – the first one is at a beach we visited recently.

The second one is looking between Joby's ears up at the moon fully eclipsed at about 5am in the morning - if you squint you might see it.

Woodrow's Woes

Wednesday, June 29, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Sabrina Liska, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

Thanks to my Arizona Back Country Riders friend, Star, who let me share her story!

I purchased Woodrow when he was 8, he was in shoes then and I'm guessing he was always in shoes because he came from a roper. When Woodrow was 12 he started having problems with contracted heels, thrush and a slight amount of white line disease. He was under a vet's care who suggested I change farriers, which I did.

By this time he was starting to have periods of lameness where he couldn't be ridden. At 15, he was diagnosed with navicular, severely contracted heels, thrush and very severe white line. The white line was so bad, his hoof wall had been (approximately 50%) removed twice. Each time when it grew out, the white line would start all over. I spent hours taking care of Woodrow's feet by using White Lightning and Thrush Buster.

The vet had the farrier put him in wedge pads and egg bars (I could kick myself for letting them do this but didn't know any better). Woodrow kept going down hill and was no longer sound enough to be ridden. Finally, the vet suggested that Woodrow had come to the end and his options were limited, AKA euthanasia. This is when I went to one of Dr. Teskey's dissection clinics. The light bulb finally went on...duh. Woodrow and our other 7 horses went bare the next day.

Woodrow has been making steady improvements over the last 3 years and is now sound. I have to admit there were times when I thought he would never get better, he was so sore. He no longer exhibits navicular symptoms and the white line and thrush are gone. His contracted heel has spread approximately 100% wider than it was, but it still are contracted. Naturally credit goes to the best barefoot trimmer I know... Rusty Toth.

He has done such good things for all my horses, it's just amazing. I used to have shelves of hoof supplements, balms, salves, moisturizer, boots for soaking and meds. Now I have nothing but a hoof pick. I haven't seen the lameness vet in 3 years. I was brought up in the QH show atmosphere and worked for trainers and showed. For years I believed shoes were the only way to go and thought the barefoot people were just plain crazy. It's difficult to change 40 years of thinking but when the results are what they have been for Woodrow -- I'm a believer.

When Woodrow started feeling better he started kicking some fanny in the turnout. He had been boss horse then when he got sick he felt too bad to do much bossin'. Woodrow wears his Gloves proudly! His Gloves fit well, debris never gets in the boots and there is no hardware to break while riding!

Anyone else uplifted by this story?

Sabrina Liska

Booting Spirit

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Barb Fenwick, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

The reason I originally got into using boots was for my foundered horse Spirit. He is a TWH gelding and is 12 years old now and we discovered he had foundered when he was 7 years old. It has been a learning journey and part of that trip was to find a boot that I could use to make him more comfortable when he was having a laminatic attack or when he was "good to go" and I was riding him on trail.

That trail led me to Easyboots when I contacted The Horses Hoof and Yvonne Welz and she sold me my first pair of boots, which were Original Easyboots. I progressed to using Bares, then along came the fabulous Gloves. He has worn Gloves for the last 2 years and put a ton of miles on them. I have blown a couple gaiters but otherwise I can't wear them out. We have a large pond on our property that I take him into for swimming fun and also for rehab when he is sore to cool his legs and feet. I have never lost a Glove. One time it came off but the gaiter holds them onto the leg, which saves the boot from coming off.

In the above picture, Spirit shows one of his other jobs he has been able to continue with boots. He gives rides to a disabled rider, who had a serious horse accident a few years back and lost confidence in horses. Spirit is the only horse she will ride: he takes care of her and it gives her joy unimaginable to be able to ride again, safely. Without his boots, that really wouldn't be doable on a regular basis.

Just this spring I tried the Easyboot Rx boots on him, and they are his paddock boots of choice. I love them! They are so easy to slip on & off, are so comfortable & well padded, good grip and dry out quickly after getting wet and soggy.

For Spirit, it has allowed him to keep moving and enjoying the trails on rides with his buddies, which is so important for him physically and mentally. I can't even imagine a life without hoof boots for this horse, who is my equine soul mate. He does go barefoot as much as possible, but those boots are ever handy to help him be comfortable and get the needed exercise and really his sense of pride and purpose. He loves to show off and be the leader whether on trails, doing natural horsemanship ground play or just still having that leader position comfortably in his pasture.

Next I plan to try a pair of the Easyboot Trails. I think this will fill in the gap for those times when the Glove is not quite enough comfort for shorter outings.

Spirit has been my working partner as I taught PNH clinics on the Canadian Prairies. He is the reason I got into natural hoofcare and the reason I teach natural hoof health today. He has been so instrumental in helping not only spread the word about these things, but also that there is life after laminitis and Easyboots are a huge part of the recovery and treatment plan. It has made Spirit live easier and for all he does for me and so many others, he simply deserves the best boots. And he has them!

Barb & Spirit

Barefoot Trimming Clinic in North Queensland, Australia

Sunday, June 26, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Sue McCarthy, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

On Monday June 13, 2011 a barefoot trimming clinic was held in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia. The clinic was put on by Andrew Bowe from barehoofcare.com. Andrew travelled from Melbourne (3,120km) to do this clinic. We had 16 participants, which was a full house.

In the morning, Andrew taught us how the horse had evolved from into the animal it is today, how and why he believed horse shoes were introduced, how hoof care has changed, where we are at today with natural hoof Trimming and natural horse care.

We then learned about the function and dynamics of the hoof with the powerpoint presentation and Andrews talk being backed up with over a dozen freeze dried cadaver hooves to look at and study.

Andrew then gave us guidelines on how to perform a barefoot trim and were each given a cadaver to trim. Some found the cadaver confronting, others had trouble getting the leg into a position that they could trim it. Everyone found it very informative as Andrew checked everyone's work several times.

After lunch we were set free to put our new found skills to work on our own horses. Andrew continually supervised, gave advice, jumped in where required and at the end of the day we had a bunch of freshly trimmed horses and lots of people with big smiles.

To end the day, we all gathered around while Andrew talked about hoof boots, hoof pads etc. He had a good display of Easycare products. In fact, that was the only brand he had and was very supportive of the new Easyboot Trail for ease of use and user-friendliness.

It was great workshop and a fabulous way to introduce people to the world of barefooting and booting.

Hoof Pads