Healthy Hooves Natural Hoof Care
Wendy Parker
(503) 606-9883 ~ Home
(503) 871-6923 ~ Cell
wendy@healthy-hooves.net
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Frequently Asked Questions!
1) How can my horse go barefoot and still handle the tough gravel logging roads I ride on? The short and easy answer to that question is.... Hoof Boots!! In the last few years the hoof boot industry has taken off and is now providing a multitude of tested, effective and affordable boots that provide your horse with the protection he may need for his time out riding, while allowing him to be barefooted and natural for the rest of his time. Rest assured, whatever your discipline or need, we can find a hoof boot for you that fits the bill.
2) I have heard that barefoot horses must be trimmed as often as every 4 weeks, is that true? Well, ideally you want to have your horse's hooves trimmed BEFORE they look like they need a trim. In other words, before any damage is done. Many trimmers have found that a 4 week trimming schedule allows for the hooves to be maintained in such a manner. Now, with that said, I live in the real world that includes limited time and money to do all the things that need to be done. I have found that a 6 week schedule works pretty well for almost all horses and still gets the hooves tended to before they are damaged by overly long hoof walls. In some cases, especially during winter time, some horses can go 8 weeks between trims, though 6 weeks really is better. The difference between 6 weeks and 8 weeks amounts to 2 more trims per year which when measured against the improvement in your horse's hooves is a fair trade off, I think. If you have a horse with severe hoof pathology that needs correcting (severe cracks, founder rehabs, navicular rehabs, etc) I will recommend that your horse be trimmed more often (every 4 weeks) in order to best manage and improve those problems. Once your horse has healthier hooves, we can drop back to a less frequent (6 weeks) schedule. 3) I've heard that if I want my horse to be barefoot that he must live out in a big pasture 24/7 . What if I have my horse boarded at a stable or he only has limited access to turnout? Here again we are dealing with what is "ideal" and what is "reality". Ideally your horse would live outside 24/7 and have access to a good sized area for exercise. In nature a horse is never confined and travels many miles each day as he works to meet his daily needs for food and water. In our domestic horses' lifestyle, often times horses have restricted access to large areas for free movement. Sometimes people live in the city and thus board their horses at stables. While it isn't "ideal" in terms of mimicking natural horse care, it is what it is and that is ok. Every horse can and will benefit from going barefoot. Perhaps those horses that have less then ideal living circumstances stand to benefit the most from being left bare. Their circulation is increased and hoof health improves as a result. If you are fortunate enough to be able to provide your horse with a more natural lifestyle including pasture turn out, that is great, but don't deprive your horse of natural hooves just because he lives at a boarding stable. 4) How about diet? Do horses need a specialized diet to be barefoot? What your horse eats may indeed have a significant effect on the hooves that he grows. As with every other creature on the planet, what goes in (is eaten) has a direct effect on the health of the animal. I would say that on average, the barefoot horse doesn't need a special diet, in fact what he really needs is a non special "normal, natural" diet. Horses in the wild will never come across a 50 lb. bag of specially designed and prepared "horse feed" containing lots of sugars (molassas). They will never come across a field of irrigated, fertilized alfalfa or super sweet orchard grass. What they will eat is a large variety of unimproved forages. Some of those forages will be grasses, some of them might be grains (wild oats), some of them will be what we consider to be weeds, but are actually just another form of naturally found forages for a grazing animals. And they will eat minerals; sometimes in the form of dirt, sometimes in the form of crystalized minerals (they might even look like rocks). So.. What does this mean in terms of feeding a domestic horse? It means that the more unnatural stuff that you can remove from your horse's diet, the better your horse will be. Not just his hooves will benefit, but his whole body will. If you must feed a horse a grain ration, then you can and should chose one that is low in sugar (no molasses). Feed them plain oats, or plain, dry C.O.B. If you have control over what your horse gets for hay, opt for grass hay instead of alfalfa and if you have further control, you can find some varieties of grass hay that are better for horses then others. There is an incredible website that delves into the particulars of feeding a horse like a horse and I encourage you to take a look at it. What I am not suggesting is that you run out and find your horse the crummiest, yuckiest quality hay you can find for your horse (far from it, actually). While they don't need special diets, they do still need clean, nutritious hay or forage. And again, while there is certainly an ideal diet for horses that will optimize hoof quality and health, we can work together to make your particular feeding program work to the best extent that it can. There are no doubt a million more questions that you may have about going barefoot and natural hoof care and natural horse care. Please feel free to send me an email asking your questions. I will answer them to the best of my extent and post them to this page for others to benefit from as well. For now, let me leave you with the following thought. Every horse can benefit from going barefoot, regardless of living conditions, diet, exercise and any other variable. It simply a matter of reasonable expectations on the owner's part combined with maximizing the qualities of your particular horse keeping arrangements. Thanks for your time and your interest. I look forward to hearing from you.
Wendy
Parker
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FAQ's to come as time permits. |
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Healthy Hooves Natural Hoof Care |