Keeping a horse barefoot is in no way simple because it involves keeping the hoof conditioned for the work the horse is required to do, which often involves way more effort than nailing shoes on.
Boots make it easier, but may not be the best idea either, because the rest of the body very well may condition at the same rate as the hooves, which means that shoeing or booting just makes it possible to overwork the inadequately conditioned body.
Huh? I have no idea what that is supposed to mean…other than to say that shoes aren’t going to fix your whole horse and training problems, and I agree.
I think the notion that you can “condition the hoof” is flawed. There is only so much you can change with regard to hoof quality, hardness, wall thickness, sole depth, etc. You will never make a TB hoof work like a Percheron’s, no matter what you do or feed. There is no getting around the fact that some horses, and some breeds, have better feet than others.
The question isn’t whether they already have an adequately developed hoof, but whether they can develop it?
I think the majority (maybe all) can, but just not always fast enough to suit the humans?
What I think actually happens when a horse goes from shod to bare is that the hoof reshapes more than it hardens. The frog and digital cushion widen and thicken and that contributes to lifting the bony column so that the sole cups more. As the sole cups more it “pulls” the toe back, the heel area widens, and with use the entire hoof gets denser/thicker.
The opposite happens when the bare hoof is shod. I see it every winter when I put winter shoes on. At first the shod hoof looks great, but then the toe starts to run out and the cup in the sole starts to flatten. By the time the shoes are on for 6 weeks it’s time for a reset, and then the next cycle the toes run out even faster. The longer the shoes stay on the weaker the hoof gets (because it doesn’t need to maintain denser, thicker hoof with the shoes on) and the faster it runs out.
I think you may be the only one that actually thinks this.
Consider that every horse is different and that not even in the same horse every hoof is like the other three.
If shod right, a horse should keep growing it’s hooves right.
In fact, the ideas of shoes is to protect that hoof so it may do just that.
Of course improper shoeing will not let the hoof function or grow properly, no different that improper trimming, that will do the same.
If someone has horses with feet that are not growing right, first place to look is the farrier care, if barefoot or shod.
That bolded would make a good signature.
That should give pause and help think about ALL hoof care.
Past today’s tunnel vision by some that only one kind, their kind, is “the right kind”.
You have a lot of misconceptions here, along with your other comment about hardening bare hooves to keep them conditioned!!
If your equines are changing hoof shape as radically as you describe between shod and bare, they are not being shod correctly. The bare hoof does NOT suck up into the concave or cupped shape!! Those long shod toes are getting worn off when bare, making hoof appear wider. There is no “lifting of the bony column” that happens! Constantly wet feet ARE softer, hold water in the sole and hoof wall tissues, especially if hooves don’t get the chance to dry out on a daily basis.
Again the hoof does NOT get weaker or change its shape because it is shod, there are other factors contributing to any weakness like being wet constantly or toes running forward which is a Farrier issue. Wall thickness will depend on what horse got genetically, not changed by shoeing done correctly. Shoeing maintains the trim, so trim remains the same under the shoe instead of wearing off like on a barefoot horse. If horse starts out with nice feet when you first put on shoes, then develops issues/problems by the end of six weeks when shoes get replaced, it means horse DOES NOT like the trim under his shoes!! Barefoot, horse changed his trim to be “happy-footed” by the time he needed hoof trimming again.
Shoeing is for hoof protection, prevents wearing hoof off down to the soft tissues. You are not able to “condition it” to be harder on a fit horse. Hoof may get DRIER riding the roads, arena with dry footing, as horse gets slowly conditioned bodywise, but that is what changes the hoof, not the conditioning program.
No, all horses can’t have an adequately developed hoof, to go bare if they lived to be 30yrs old. If they have bad genetics, waiting is not going to change how their hoof is built. Trimming by some “Name brand method” is not going to change how his hoof is made. He may have thin soles, needs shoes to cushion the inside of his hoof. His feet may be too small for his body, they only grow to a certain size. He still is lame barefoot, so he needs help from a good Farrier to be comfortable, possibly usable.
You need to read some good Farrier books, not go by your observations as factual. They are not factual in how hooves work, react to outside influences like wet ground, being bare or shod.
If YOU think your horses hooves look bad after ONE cycle of your shoeing, you may want to try having your horse properly shod with shoes that fit by a qualified Farrier and see what happens then.
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