I have never liked having shoes on my horses - to me, they are annoying (morning of a horse show, someone is ALWAYS missing a shoe!!!) and cause more harm than good. I never had shoes on Sam, and I always received rave reviews from farriers about how great his feet were and how good his hoof wall is. When I first got Lex, he didn't have shoes either, and I tried to keep him that way. Unfortunately, he continually bruises his coffin bone without them, which led to a recommendation of shoes with rim pads (which quickly turned into full pads when I still couldn't keep him sound). As long as he has his shoes and pads on, he's pain free and a beautiful mover. Without shoes, he's pretty painful. When Comet came into the picture, he didn't have shoes, but his feet were in really bad shape. Within about a year or so, his hooves finally resembled a 'normal' shape and I was determined not to have to put shoes on him.
I've been hearing more and more about the debate between barefoot and shod horses, and I've done my own research regarding the pro's and con's of each. I've been particularly interested in the Easy Care line of products, as I like how the shoes are flexible and move with the horse's hoof. I'm not completely sold on hoof boots yet, because they just seem like a lot of extra maintenance, but I do understand the benefits of the boots (for a transitional period while the horse is becoming accustomed to life without shoes on or riding over rough terrain).
As I was recently doing more research on the Easy Care website, I came across a list of farriers in my area that either work with Easy Care products or do barefoot trimming. I decided to contact Steve Hebrock of Enlightened Equine. He works out of the Akron, Ohio area and will only do a barefoot trim on horses; under no circumstances will he put a shoe of any type on a horse. I decided to give Steve a call and we talked about the issues that I face with my horses (mainly, Lex. He is the one I'm most nervous about). Steve seemed perplexed that Lex's coffin bone was getting bruised without shoes on and agreed to come out for a consultation.
I am nervous about removing Lex's shoes and trying something new that may affect his soundness right before show season, so I'll definitely have to give this some more thought. I need to contact the clubs I plan on showing in this year to see if showing in hoof boots is an option or not. If I am able to show in hoof boots, I may decide to pull the shoes now and give it a try. It all depends on how competitive I want to be with Lex this summer.
An example of underslung or long heels. With barefoot trimming, I would hope to see an improvement similar to this for both Lex & Comet.
On Thursday afternoon, I met Steve at the barn for our consultation. We looked at Lex's feet first, as he would be the one that would be most tricky to figure out. Lex has shoes and full pads on his front hooves still and his back hooves are bare. It was hard to determine with his pads on, but Steve noticed a few things that I have been overlooking. Lex's heel bulbs are squished together, with hardly any space in between them. This is not natural, and it is definitely not part of a healthy hoof. We also noticed that his heels were very long and uneven. I am still undecided if I'm going to have Lex's shoes pulled and try to go barefoot, but it's definitely something I'll be thinking about for the next few weeks.
Here is a very good example of what Lex's front hooves look like with shoes on - his heels are very contracted (picture on the left). His back hooves look more like the picture on the right, which is healthier for the hoof.
We looked at Comet next. His heels were also very long, and his hooves were not trimmed evenly. We also noticed that his hoof walls were wavy - a result of his hoof not being trimmed evenly. His hooves almost look a little splayed due to this abnormal growth pattern, but it's nothing that can't be easily corrected through trimming. When we got to Sam, Steve said that he had the best hooves of the bunch. His heels weren't abnormally long and the trimming was even. Sam has always had good, strong hooves, so I wasn't surprised by the good report!
This is a good example of what Comet's hooves look like now (left) and what I'm hoping they look like later on if we decide to try barefoot trimming.
I still have to decide if I want to go with Steve or not, as I do believe he knows what he's doing, but his prices are double what I'm currently paying. I think it would be worth it, but it's a big change that I have to be confident in. I would love to read about any experiences or input my readers have - it would be greatly appreciated!
No comments:
Post a Comment