What About Trimming the Bars?
Very few hoof trimming issues are as controversial as trimming the bars. Opinions vary greatly, from not touching them at all to cutting them down all the way to the sole level or beyond...
A Barefoot Hoof Trimmer’s Guide to Tool Use
Now that you've selected your hoof knife, nippers and rasp, you're ready to actually use them. But for a lot of folks, the first trims feel really awkward, and the tools unwieldy. Natural hoof...
How to Check Hoof Balance
Would you like to impress your trimmer? A fun exercise to try at home is determining if your horse’s hoof is balanced. All you need is a ruler and a permanent marker.Hoof care professionals...
Bringing a Sole Back To New Life Through Shorter Trimming Cycles
The healing art of a smooth transition from a distorted pathological foot to a sustainable bare foot and then on to a well developed barefoot lies in the knowledge of proper form and recognizing...
The Mystery of the Collateral Grooves
Original article by Maria Siebrand of The Thoughtful Horseman.Measuring Uniform, Adequate Sole Depth Using the Collateral GroovesThe above image is from Marjorie Smith's barefoothorse.com (thank you, Marjorie!) but I've relabeled the image because...
Trimming the Toed-Out or Toed-In Foot
I wrote an article on how to maintain your horse's trim between your trimmer's visits for this week's On the Hoof entry. But I saw a horse yesterday that brought up an issue I...
Is Your Horse Really a Goat?
With all the different trim styles out there it can be difficult to make value decisions for your horse’s feet. Every horse is different, and depending on the environment, the horse’s job and where...
Cracking the Code on Hoof Cracks
What causes hoof cracks? There are many factors that contribute to the development of hoof cracks and understanding the cause is the key to developing a solution.Infrequent Trim Schedule
The first factor and the...
Rounding the Corner
Submitted by David Landreville of Landreville Hoof CareThere are a lot of trim methods out there teaching how to address heel height without mentioning heel shape. The shape of the heels are meant to...
Horse Hoof Trimming Using a Disc Grinder
Another Skeptic Converted to Barefoot Grinder Trimming by Carolyn DierksenThe story I would like to tell you here is about a new method of hoof care, introduced to me by Phil Morarre. I first...