The Barefoot Horse Magazine

FOR BAREFOOT HORSE OWNERS ALL OVER THE WORLD!
The Barefoot Horse
Issue 5 2015
GOING
Magazine
BANANAS
With Equine Behaviourist
& Author Mark Hanson
GILBERT’S STORY
How Laminitis is NOT
the end for your horse!
PADDOCK
PARADISE
PART 3 OF SARAH PARROTT’S
PADDOCK PARADISE
THE ADVANTAGE
OF GOING BARE
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PLUS: NEWS, Q & A, TRIMMERS TIPS,
BLOG SPOT AND MUCH MORE!!!
SU
B
THE HISTORY
OF EQUINE
HOOF CARE
V
I
B
ors E
E
em
a
With Monty Roberts
Navicular
& lameness
Krista Jones had already lost one horse to the dreaded Navicular…. now she was facing losing
another. When her 6 year old horse Buddy was also diagnosed with the same problem, Krista
thought her world was caving in…. then she found out how going barefoot and changing the
diet can be a lifesaver for ‘Navicular’ horses.
L
et me introduce myself and my
wonderful horse, Buddy. My
name is Krista and I am a thirtysomething amateur rider from
Berkshire. I work full time in IT to
make sure Buddy (aka Le Donks,
Donkey or his posh name - Gandalf) is
kept in the manner he is accustomed.
He came into my life four years ago as
a really weedy, just backed four year
old and was purchased with eventing
in mind. He is by Handel II and so has
jumping blood running through his
veins but the best bit, for an amateur
rider like me, is that he just has the
sweetest personality and loves
nothing more than a bit of fuss. When
I bought him I wanted to do
everything right to make him last so I
took things really slowly and gave him
time to mature. We spent most of our
first year hacking with the odd
schooling and jump session thrown in.
At his first dressage competition he
came third and from then on we never
went home empty handed!
In the summer of 2012 we were
prepping for our first event, we had
upped our schooling and jumping so
that we were as ready as we could be
when my YO mentioned that she
didn’t think Buddy looked right. We’d
spoken about it before but put it down
to bridle lameness when he wasn’t
going forward but she was convinced
this was more than that so I hopped
off, put him on the lunge and sure
enough he wasn’t totally right on his
left fore. It was nothing horrendous but
his feet weren’t great and I’d been
unhappy with my farrier for a while so I
hoped that was all it was when I called
my vet Chris out. He came later that
Main pic left: XC at Crown
Farm; This pic: 2nd ODE at
Crown Farm after Buddy
had gone clear in the
show jumping in very
slippery conditions.
week and agreed that Buddy’s feet
were shocking but was confident that
some remedial farriery would be able
to solve the problem, so off we
trundled to visit a new farrier.
Buddy definitely moved better once
the shoes were on but once only one
week passed he wasn’t looking right
again, so I called Chris back. He
agreed that he was slightly improved
but not enough, so we decided that
the next step would be to get him into
the clinic for nerve blocks and x-rays.
As I’d had my last horse PTS due to
navicular and a tear in the DDFT I was
terrified that the same thing was
happening but Buddy was only 6 so
we hoped we had time on our side.
The diagnosis day soon arrived and I
took Buddy off to the clinic. He was a
pain to load (he had been getting
worse and worse) and I only just got
him on the lorry with enough time to
make it to the clinic. I was so stressed
when we arrived, Buddy was good as
gold though and was a saint during all
the tests. The nerve blocks quickly
made him sound which indicated a
foot issue pretty quickly but it was the
coffin joint that blocked sound so Chris
was hoping for more collateral
ligament damage than anything bony.
X-rays to confirm there were no
underlying issues and when Chris
asked for the navicular one to be redone I knew in my heart of hearts that
it was bad news. When Chris showed
me the films I couldn’t believe that my
barely lame 6 year old had such awful
feet inside. Devastated just didn’t even
cover it but I managed to hold it
together until I got back to the lorry
and called my husband – he could
barely understand me through the
sobs that racked my body.
After a couple of days feeling sorry
for myself and wondering why life is so
unfair, Chris and I had an action plan –
he would come and medicate the
coffin joint and see if it made a
difference. I was jetting off on holiday
so the weeks rest was perfectly Ë
The Barefoot Horse Magazine
11
Trimmers TIPS
RASPING around the edges
of your horses hooves in
between trims is a great
way of keeping little chips
and scuffs under control.
The mustang roll - the
bevelled edge of the horses hooves are a natural wear
pattern but in
between trims they
can sometimes
become a little tatty!
A great way of
keeping the roll fresh
is to use some rough
grit sandpaper, an ordinary rasp on the
smoother side or by using a Radius
Rasp. The Radius Rasp is a very
handy piece of kit and many of
our clients own one. They come
in two types, a smoother one and
a rougher one. They're light and
handy and fit nicely in the palm of your
hand and in just a couple of strokes
around the edge of
the hoof you're done!
Keeping on top of your horses hooves
like this will make your trim cycles last
longer, which equals good economy in
the long run - but remember take
advice from your barefoot trimmer first
before you get too keen, just to make
sure you don't take off too much! Also
check out the Hoofing Marvellous
natural trim workshops which will
give you professional advice on how
to maintain your horses hooves in
between trims - check out their website
www.hoofingmarvellous.net or email
them on [email protected]
Here's to great looking bare hooves!
eating ad-lib hay 24/7,
reducing the sugars in their
diet by not overfeeding
bagged feeds and allowing
little to no grass and giving
plenty of movement, we find horses
rarely suffer from this condition. One
thing is paramount though, try not to
bring your horse in and wash down his
legs as this just adds to the irritation.
Scrape off the mud and let the rest
flake away rather than constant
washing and cleaning, especially with
astringent chemicals. A great
preventative is 'pig oil' (often with
sulphur) which should be used right at
the beginning of the winter before the
mud gets a grip liberally pasting it onto
your horses pasterns... it's also great
for preventing rain scald by rubbing it
down your horses back too!
'Pig oil' isn't made from pigs!
It's a mineral based oil not
dissimilar to baby oil and is
gentle to the horses legs but
does stop the majority of the
mud irritating. It's great too
for those really feathery horses
who suffer from mites and
clogged up feathers. The best
preventative of all though, is reduce
the sugars, feed lots of meadow hay
and keep your horses moving as
much as possible.... and of course be
barefoot which equals great circulation!
1
At this time of year mud is a
real issue for most of us
who keep horses and one
of the most common
complaints from owners is
their horse suffering from
MUD-FEVER. Mud- fever is an
inflammatory condition of the skin and
legs (and sometimes belly of the horse)
which is due to the irritation of the mud
drying and wetting the skin. Similar
issues are greasy heel, scratches and
pastern dermatitis. However, when we
keep horses as natural as possible,
2
A
&
Q
Find Barefoot organistation Hoofing Marvellous on Facebook and get your questions answered.
Q
Can meadow hay have rye in it? I've
sourced meadow hay but seems to
be more like straw by appearance.
Lots of different looking grasses but
have come across rye in it.
A
Yes meadow hay can have rye in it. If
it's only the odd piece then it will be
ok but if it's heavily based on rye it
won't be good.
Rye grass in Europe is a real problem for
horses - it's sugar content is far higher
than all other meadow grasses.
Q
A
36
can feed your laminitic. But... my
question would be, why are you feeding
anything other than mixed meadow
hay? Hay is more important than
anything else. Rotation (actually hoof
capsule distortion) has all been down to
over doing the wrong food & too much
sugar eg grass. If you cannot track
because it's too muddy then are you
turning out on grass? If yes then it's far
worse to be on grass than in mud Are
you able to source wood chippings?
These are a low cost alternative & many
clients use them to make big pens to
turn their horses out in.
Don't overdo the grass - too much sugar
in the diet causes chronic long term
symptoms of laminitis.
Hi ya, I am looking for a feed,
preferably chaff based. Which is
mollasses and alfalfa free for pony
with possible ems and on going
laminitis. Also she has some
degree of rotation in all four feet,
should I be exercising her or not? I
can not do a track system as the
field I rent is very boggy and it
wouldnt be fair on her to turn her
out in a mud patch. Many thanks.
I have a new horse and it
turns out he has locking
stifles. He was kept in a stall
with limited turn out, so now he is
out in a big 90 acres, hills, herd
and is moving a lot more. Anything
hoof wise that we should look for?
He has never had shoes on his
backs and they look pretty good,
he is a 3.5 year old Andalusian.
Contact Thunderbrook Equestrian
they have a good chaff & base mix you
A
The Barefoot Horse Magazine
about as I'm sure you've already found
out. Exercise is key, no confinement at
all and lots of hill work which is good for
building leg muscles. Feet should be
just fine with no particular issues to look
out for except when trimming balance
the horse carefully as locking stifle
horses can get very anxious when they
have to pick up their hind feet for
trimming. They're fine doing it for
themselves but when humans ask for
their feet they can get anxious. Stay nice
& relaxed & give them time & if they
need to put their foot down regularly
then let them they aren't normally in
any pain whatsoever just a mechanical
disadvantage. Hope this helps.
Q
Locking stifles are common &
normally really nothing to worry
Locking stifles are quite common, lots of
exercise to strengthen muscles is key.
I need some advice. I have 3
horses, I rescued one who is
17 and has suffered from
chronic laminitis. I got her two
years ago and have been making
changes to help her. I live in a area
where we have lush green grass. I
put them all on a track this
summer. She has been lame off
and on still. The new growth seems
to be growing down like it should.
Q
But her hooves are still bad. I use a
trimmer trained through the
AANCHP, I wonder if there is
anything else we can do to help
her. I feed loose minerals, a small
amount of oats with Boss, ground
flax. I am careful with dewormers
and vaccinations.
Recovery from chronic laminitis
can take a long time so don't be
disheartened. Keep her off the
grass completely & feed constant
adlib mixed species hay all year...don't
let it run out, keep her moving as
much as possible. You may have to go
through 2 or 3 complete hoof cycles
before her hooves really shape up.
A
I have had lots of different
opinions, some say abscesses are
purely and only a result of stone
bruising another person has
advised abscesses can be a sign of
inflammation in the horses body.
What are your thoughts on this,
they are only an issue when the
grass is growing lush and fast?
Never a problem in winter.
We would agree with the
assessment that your horse's
recurrent abcessing is down to
inflammation caused by dietary distress
- in this case our educated guess would
be that the grass is mostly to blame.
Think about tracking in the spring and
summer (all year round if you can) and
then his feet will gradually start to
improve but it may take a few hoof
cycles before he is abscess free.
A
Recovery from chronic laminitis takes time!
Q. Hi I am after some advice. I
have a 13 y old Anglo Arab,
he is barefoot and has been
for 4 years. He is barefoot trimmed
monthly, grazes in dry soft pasture
and is ridden once every couple of
weeks. He is not soft on the stones
and his trimmer reports he has
good hard hoof. My problem is
every spring/summer he develops
nasty abscesses, one after another,
sometimes up to 4 a season. They
make him severely lame until they
burst out some where, he's had
them burst out toe, heel, bars,
coronet band etc.
Q
Recurrent abscesses are a sign of dietary
distress in the foot - you have to interrupt
the cycle by changing to a natural diet.
Shoe extensions don't work... you have to
let the horse shape it's own natural foot.
Couple of things here... she
might not be a straight mover,
and that may be just the way she
is. It is not always a problem. We work
with several horses who have been
shod using extensions etc for many
years. Usually after shoe removal the
hoof (if needed) produces supportive
flare. One of the most interesting ones
we worked with recently was a
dressage horse who had been shod
with lateral extensions for 9 years to try
and force her straight and to resolve
the twist action on her hind legs on
every footfall. It never worked. As soon
as we removed shoes she produced a
massive medial flare on both hinds and the twisting stopped. What we are
saying is that unless you remove the
shoes and work with a natural hoof
care professional you might not ever
know what her true action is.
A
Hi, I have a horse that has a
slight twisting at the stifle
when she walks, she has
trailers on to stop this. Is there any
bare foot way of helping this? I'm
putting her in foal and thus she
won't need her shoes for studs but
I'd like to keep something to help
with strengthening the straight way
of moving. She's a 17hh Holsteiner
not sure if there is anything out
there for her but worth a try thanks.
Q
Click here to join us on Facebook
www.facebook.com/hoofingmarvellous
The Barefoot Horse Magazine
37
Competition News
Endurance
HM-sponsored Endurance
pair Nicola Ravensford and
her 8 year old Spanish
Mustang Black Sand (Sandy),
update us on more of their
competition news.
W
ow what a year! Sandy
and I took on our first
year of Endurance with
no previous experience
of the sport and no knowledge of
how we would fare barefoot across
distance. We definitely both
represent the Novice category! We
started the season with a disaster at
The March Hares in our own
county of Gloucestershire. We only
completed 14km of the course
having got really lost
on the forest tracks!
Thankfully from then on
we clocked up lots of
successful completions.
Cirencester, Tresham
and Bluebell. Our Next
challenge, and with hind
site, a massive gamble,
was Man vs Horse. Sandy
managed to complete 40km of
Welsh mountain with the most varied
terrain i have ever seen. After a
short break we were back at
the EGB rides and rode at
Barbury Castle and
were part of the Offa's
Dyke inter regional
team where we helped
the group gain a 3rd
overall. The Clent
Hills was our final outing
for 2014 and was very
challenging for a barefoot horse.
Sandy took it all in her stride and
once again vetted sound and
attracted some impressed
comments that she had managed
it so well and given such a good
trot up. At the end of the season I
was awarded The
Pandora Trophy for
the best rider in their
first season from local
EGB group Offa's Dyke which was a
wonderful surprise and end to our
first season!. We cannot thank
Hoofing Marvellous enough for
not only providing some fabulous
hoof trims but also being on
hand to help with nutrition
and management guidance.
A pivotal moment was
attending a trim workshop
hosted by Lindsay and
Caroline where all the
theory behind natural
hoof care suddenly
made complete sense!
We have had an
absolute blast this
year and are
heading out to
ride some greater
distances in 2015.
The Barefoot Horse Magazine
47
The Ho-ofsted
Inspector
BY OWNER AND NATURAL HOOFCARE PRACTITIONER, KIM TAYLOR
When owner Kim Taylor met Lindsay Setchell from Hoofing Marvellous she had no idea
where her new barefoot journey would take her and her horses. A few years on, Kim
reflects on those first trimming visits and how she was keen to earn more than just a
'satisfactory' from her Ho-ofsted Inspector.
M
y Ho-ofsted Inspector was
Lindsay from Hoofing
Marvellous and I used to
just survive her trimming
visits – only just achieving a
“satisfactory”! Although Lindsay is
the nicest person in the world,
passionate and knowledgable about
her work and a brilliant friend, her
visits used to fill me with trepidation.
I had been a teacher for 20 years
and so I had experienced the
awfulness of a fair few OfSTED
inspections. I hate to say it, but, the
cold sweat, the dryness in the throat,
the slight tremble in the heart and
the nervous babble that comes out
when she arrived were all the same
signs of near panic that the sight of
an inspector, dressed in a suit and
clutching a clipboard, evoked.
As Lindsay always says “I have the
easiest job – just trimming away the
years of mismanagement. You have
the hardest job of doing the right
thing to keep your horses and their
feet healthy.”
Ouch - that hurt! I felt defensive,
50
The Barefoot Horse Magazine
From left to right: Snip, Kim & Shamrock
guilty, ashamed and uncaring all at
the same time, but had to take it on
the chin and admit that she was
probably right. Before the farrier
arrived all I had to stress about was
whether he would turn up, but, once
he had arrived all I had to do was
hold the horse, get cold drinks or tea,
pay him well and make sure that I
buttered him up so he would come
again next time! Then, duty done, I
would throw the horses out in the
field and get on with my life.
I have two horses, Shamrock & Snip
my youngster. Snip had always had
pretty good feet before Lindsay took
them on, but Shamrock had been a
different story. She had been on and off
lame for some time with vets and
farriers trying different methods of
trimming and shoeing to help her but to
no avail. When I finally took the plunge
and took Shamrock barefoot, I realised
to my horror that she had been suffering
from laminitic bouts in her feet due to
the wrong kind of diet and the shoeing
had definitely not been helping. No
equine professionals had ever told me
this until I met my Ho-ofsted Inspector!
When Lindsay took my horses on,
apart from Sham transitioning out of
shoes, both her and Snip were doing
very well at first. They lived out 24/7
all through the winter in a 4 acre strip
of cornish moorland full of granite
boulders, hawthorn trees, gorse and
very little grass and this suited their feet
beautifully (a natural Paddock Paradise although my farming neighbours call it
the “Rocky Patch”). My youngster had
“perfect” feet according to Linds which
made me feel very smug!
As Spring wore on and no grass
appeared in my rocky patch Snip
began to eat bracken. In a panic I
moved both horses to our bottom
paddock which although it is unfertilised
and full of meadow grass, it is still quite
rich and sugary. I hastily made a tiny
strip for the horses and crossed my
fingers. Although I planned to make a
track, work and life intervened before
the next visit of the “Hoof Inspector”!
To my dismay Snip showed signs of
separation! An air of “unsatisfactory”
surrounded my feeble efforts at grass
control. Needless to say that
weekend I spent nearly a whole day
in the rain setting up my track. It was
not brilliant and very basic, but,
Top: Shamrock's hinds just after the shoes were removed and she was given her very first barefoot trim.
Notice the many horizontal rings on the hoof walls indicating continuous bouts of inflammation in her
hooves; Below left: Shamrock's front left just after shoe removal, showing contracted heels and white line
separation; Below right: Shamrock's front left just after shoe removal showing horizontal rings and wall
cracks at the toe.
seemed to be doing the job. I
continued to get a “satisfactory”
from the Hoof Inspector.
I must admit that this new 'natural'
phase in mine and my horses' life was
taking quite a bit of hard work and
dedication. Lindsay had only just
begun work on my horses – and me.
In 2012 I was lucky enough to spend a
month at the Parelli Ranch in
Colorado honing my natural
horsemanship skills. My horses were
left in the care of my husband, living
on a strip of grass which I instructed
him to increase a little every day.
Unfortunately it looked like there was
hardly any grass in the field and their
patch rapidly grew to cover the whole
Above: Shamrock's front feet with right fore still shod and left fore bare. Notice the horizontal rings, vertical
cracks down the front of the hooves and angle changes - all indicating inflammatory issues from within the foot.
field! When I arrived home in
September Shamrock could hardly
walk, crippled by abscesses in both
front hooves. Snip too was lame –
suffering from an abscess.
After weeks of soaking, stuffing big
holes with TCP soaked cotton wool in
the pouring rain and dark I vowed
that I would become a model
barefoot owner. Although my horses
now spend Winter enjoying the
freedom of their rocky paradise they
do spend the majority of their time
munching high fibre hay and in the
Summer they live on a track eating
the same high fibre hay. They are
healthy, happy and a joy to own.
Furthermore, I have been so
inspired and amazed by the concept
of natural horse care that I have given
up my old job (no more cold sweats in
OfSTED inspections) and trained to
become a Natural Hoofcare
Practitioner - yes I am another Hoofsted Inspector! I now cover the
North of Cornwall and Devon as part
of the Hoofing Marvellous Team.
I love my new life and feel privileged
to be helping horses and owners to be
as happy and natural as myself and my
little herd.
The Barefoot Horse Magazine
51
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