Natural Hoof Care, Natural Horse Boarding Consultant,
Natural Horse Keeping
952-212-2268 (cel)
Located In Lompoc and Serving Central and Southern California.
Some basic facts about hooves:
1. With every step it takes, a horse's hoof is supposed to flex.
2. Hoof flexion provides shock absorption for the joints, tendons and ligaments, acts as a circulatory pump for hundreds of blood vessels in the hoof as well as pumping blood into the heart and helps the heart get the blood flowing back into the leg. But....
3. With an iron shoe nailed to a hoof, there can be no flexion and blood circulation is dramatically reduced.
4. Without flexion, the hoof simply cannot be healthy: the hoof mechanism is impeded and causes the heart to work harder, shock absorption is eliminated and there is reduced sensitivity or feel under its feet.
5. Horses can appear to feel better wearing shoes because when the blood circulation is cut off and there is no flexing, the nerve endings go to sleep. The reason many horses appear to be sensitive or 'ouchy' when the shoes are removed is simply that the hoof begins to experience sensation again when blood circulation is allowed. It is no different from having your foot go to sleep and tingle as it 'wakes up.'
6. Even Emil Carre, a two-term president of the American Farriers Association, said, "The horse's foot was designed to be unshod. Anything that you add to the foot, like a horseshoe that is nailed on, is going to interfere with the foot's natural process. Most horseshoes have six to eight nails, possibly three clips, all of which constrict the foot's ability to expand and contract. Add pads, packing and an number of alternatives to the shoe and you create a gait alteration. It all interferes with the natural process of mechanism."
7. Naturally trimmed bare hooves actually have better traction than shod hooves because they develop concavity and strength that will rival any shoe. A (traditional) flat pasture trim has little or no traction and tends to cause the hoof wall to split and chip.
8. Less than five percent of horses in the wild have any kind of lameness and only 10 percent of domestic horses in the world have no lameness.
9. Natural Hoof Care is just one part of Natural Horse Keeping. How you keep your horse, where you keep your horse, what you feed your horse, how you feed your horse, when you feed your horse and with whom you keep your horse are all important aspects of the horse's physical, emotional and mental health -- as is the type of barefoot trim. However, it's really quite simple! Check out www.paddockparadise.com for more information on Natural Horse Boarding.
"Nothing is more important than reconnecting with your Bliss. Nothing is as rich. Nothing is more real." Deepak Chopra
"Making the simple complicated is commonplace. But making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, is truly creative." Charles Mingus
(From the Horse Owner's Guide to Natural Hoof Care by Jaime Jackson)
Apollo running through a beautiful pasture or an unhealthy founder trap??
This page was last updated: July 17, 2011
A bit about me .... I chose the name 'Barefoot Bliss' because it represents a philosophical approach to caring for horses naturally -- free of shoes and in harmony with their species. In order to experience 'bliss,' horses need space to move -- to roam -- and other horses for herd dynamics -- to play with, to groom or be groomed, dominate or be dominated by. They cannot feel safe if they are confined to a stall.
My initial journey into the barefoot world began in late 2006 as a result of my 'baby,' Apollo (left) entering his 20th year. Although I had ceased housing my horses in stalls by that time, I was still under the spell of years of myths and false beliefs that included thinking of my equines as being similar creatures to my canine companions. And nothing is further from the truth.
When I first began researching various senior 'wellness' issues, I also wanted to
explore what I thought at the time might be a more 'comfortable' alternative to horseshoes. I had long been under the illusion that Apollo 'needed' to be shod since he always seemed 'ouchy' when his shoes were removed (see #5 at left). I had never really questioned many of the frequent practices I'd grown accustomed to seeing over the years at some of the priciest Arabian show barns across the country. I just assumed he 'needed' shoes in order to be more comfortable and that I was doing him a favor by keeping him shod.
Initially I thought about looking into rubber horseshoes. In very little time, that search led me to hoof boots -- which, up until then, I had thought of simply as something you carried as a 'spare' in the event your horse lost a shoe. Quickly, I came to discover that there were some strong advocates for 'barefoot' horses. But then, I soon realized that there was a lot more to being 'barefoot' than just being without shoes. There was a whole 'movement' where horses are conditioned to have strong bare hooves and, if necessary, will wear hoof boots on occasion -- such as in situations where they are being ridden on terrain much rougher than what they are accustomed or while transitioning from being shod to barefoot (or in competitions where they are required to wear something on their feet).
Although it was a bit daunting to wade through all the web sites, philosophies and overall plethora of material on the topic of 'barefoot horses,' I continued digging and reading. For a number of weeks, I knew I was 'on to something' but didn't know exactly where I was headed. I felt compelled to continue researching the many methods, practitioners, schools, programs and organizations. Initially, I just wanted to find a "credible" barefoot trimmer but the more I researched, the more trails I found to follow. Websites, books, DVDs, newsletters, pamphlets -- I just wasn't sure how to separate the posers from the pros. I remembered hearing that Clinton Anderson was an advocate of barefoot horses and so I took a look at his website to see if I could find something on the topic that might reference one of the many names I had come across. From there, I discovered barefoot practitioner, Pete Ramey, and his book, "Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You." I figured if Clinton Anderson was endorsing him, at least, he couldn't be a 'butcher.'
When I got Pete's book, his opening paragraph revealed how he had become a barefoot advocate as a result of reading Jaime Jackson's book, "The Horse Owner's Guide to Natural Hoof Care." He went on to write that reading [Jackson's] book "is a prerequisite to learning anything from this book." There were so many references to Jaime Jackson in the first two pages that it could only made sense to put the book down and get back on the internet and research Jamie Jackson. And -- at last -- all the pieces started falling into place.
I read about Jaime and the books he had written, and then went to the website for the non-profit organization he had started, the American Association of Natural Hoof Care Practitioners (AANHCP)*. I ordered a copy ot "The Horse Owner's Guide to Natural Hoof Care (affectionately referred to as "The Hog"), contacted an AANHCP practitioner in Minnesota and was confident I had found the safe, logical model I'd been looking for all along. After receiving and then reading "The H.O.G. to Natural Hoof Care," I had the same reaction to it that Pete Ramey had written: "This book made so much sense to me that I didn't have to take Jaime's word for even one sentence. Somehow I knew I was reading the truth."
And my entire horse care paradigm began to shift.
Fast forward several months ... I was incredibly fascinated by all that I was discovering and decided to explore learning how to do this type of trim myself. I had worked in the entertainment industry for nearly 20 years and had been growing increasingly restless to do something completely different. Some people acted as if I'd taken a blow to my head. In reality, I was just exhuberant to find so much logic, inspiration and commonsense in horse care practices that challenged all I thought I knew.
After completing the coursework, clinics and workshops as well as the first round of mentorships / apprenticeships in 2007, I was approved by the AANHCP Board to work on client horses as a part of its "Independent Study" step in the certification program. Almost immediately, I developed carpal tunnel issues in both wrists and dramatically decreased the number of horses I trimmed each month. However, I eventually healed and so I am trimming part-time so that I can help others can see the same results on their horses that so many of us have now seen.
The results of natural hoof care remind me of a quote by Charles Mingus: "Making the simple complicated is commonplace. But making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, is truly creative." The fourth dimensional changes that occur may be complex, but the results of this trim are truly simple. Unfortunately, the popularity of the concept has created a lot of 'instant trimmers' and I would caution anyone to be very thorough about checking references if choosing a "barefoot trimmer."
Of course, the natural trim method is just the beginning. If you read Jaime Jackson's book, "Paddock Paradise: A Guide to Natural Boarding," you'll see that it is quite simple and inexpensive to create a natural environment for the horse that stimulates natural instincts, lessens the adverse impact on the environment, encourages movement and ultimately creates a happier and healthier horse. Making a difference in the lives of horses is the path I continue to take and there is no turning back. I look forward to a day when horseshoes and other unhealthy horsekeeping practices are obsolete.
I would love to see the day when there is not a single horse kept alone. This is simply torture -- isolation and lock-up. Having been a 'horse owner' for a great part of my life, I am continually amazed to learn how ignorant so many of us have been when it comes to feeding and caring for our horses. No wonder so many people have horses with laminitis and other debilitating issues -- often a direct result of the stress we humans bring to their lives!
So at the same time I strive to 'read' all that the horse can tell us if we look for it, I am also researching the continually expanding topic of holistic horse care. The artistry of 'sculpting' the hoof is not so different from other forms of artful science in the natural world. The basic health of the wild hoof model as well as the ease, comfort, and balance it brings to each horse -- and its significant role in the natural healing process -- are all a part of what makes this method of trimming so special.
If you take the time to really understand the impact of horseshoes and their role in unnatural horsekeeping practices, you are unlikely to ever go down that road again. And soon you will want your horse to be treated like a horse -- in accordance with its DNA -- a social creature of prey who wants and needs to be with other horses and move without confinement. And you'll want to spread the word....
Jill
*The AANHCP has since changed its name to Association for the Advancement of Natural Horse Care Practices. Go to www.aanhcp.net for more information.
Please go to the following links for more information
or to www.JaimeJackson.com
and for additional information on NHC training, please go to the "NHC Training" page at www.ISNHCP.net
For books or tools, visit www.star-ridge.com, www.jaimejackson.com or www.amazon.com......
