"...in the back of my mind was always the question, what do these horses do in the wild? I remember that from back in my earliest days, because that's how I learned from these horses that we rode hard barefooted. And they all seemed to be perfect; we never had any trouble. Now we had new horse barns, and we had to shoe horses year 'round. Boy, did we ever begin to have problems!" - Gene Ovnicek*

Despite the many millions of years that horses have lived without shoes and the thousands of years that people have been riding domesticated horses barefoot, the concept of natural hoof care and keeping horses barefoot is perceived by many as a new, even revolutionary, or at least controversial practice. More and more people, however, are beginning to see great improvements in their horses' health and soundness through natural hoof care and better horsekeeping practices. For a few notable examples, such as the Houston Mounted Police, see my links section.

Among the few pioneers of the field, Jamie Jackson stands out as its main progenitor. After working as a farrier for many years, Jaime began to study wild Mustangs and their hooves. To his surprise, he discovered that their feet were far superior and had some very striking differences in comparison to the domestic hooves he was accustomed to seeing. Over the following years, his continuing research led to the development of a strong foundation of knowledge and theories for new standards of care for domestic horses and their hooves. His work and advocacy has inspired a great deal of ongoing experimentation and research by a number of people, notably Pete Ramey, Cindy Sullivan, Gene Ovnicek, and others, to establish standards by which we can provide the best care for our horses.

In my own studies and practice, I have attempted to and continue to learn and compare the differing philosophies and methods of a variety of experienced trimmers, farriers, and horse people, but ultimately it is the horse we all must learn from. Please see http://www.thehorseshoof.com/helpmethod.html for a list and comparison of some of the major advocates of natural hoof care.

Natural hoof care may be better defined as an aspect of holistic horse care. The hoof does not exist independently of the horse. It is not, like a shoe, an inanimate commodity fastened to the end of a horse's leg. The health of the hoof and the soundness of the horse are linked directly to the health and well-being of the whole animal and the environment within which it lives. I consider my primary role as a natural hoof care practitioner to first and foremost be an advocate and advisor for creating situations which help the horse attain a state of health as a basis for growing healthy hooves. The most skilled and experienced farrier or natural trimmer cannot create a healthy hoof through trimming or shoeing alone. Almost all hoof problems are a direct result of poor horse keeping practices, improper hoof care, or shoeing. Without sufficient commitment to care for the whole horse, problems will often continue to manifest in the hooves.

My secondary role as a natural hoof care practitioner is to manually remove excessive or overgrown hoof material that otherwise would have been worn away by natural movement over natural terrain, and more importantly, to not remove material from the hoof which is necessary for the strength, resilience, and healthy form that will allow the horse to move in a biomechanically correct and pain-free way. In accordance with Jackson's research, we use the hoof of the wild Mustang as a model for what we can hope to achieve through better horse keeping practices and proper trimming.

In considering the circumstances which have resulted in the shoeing of horses, many horse owners will realize that they have the capacity to alter or improve those conditions. For some people, the changes and commitment required to keep a horse barefoot may not be acceptable in their horsekeeping paradigm, but it is not the horse who is incapable of making the change. Keeping your horse barefoot may seem like a challenge at first, and depending on the condition of your horse and its feet, the transition to barefoot may require a few temporary precautions, but with proper care and nutrition, I believe all horses are better off without shoes.

Natural Horse Keeping

healthy diet
healthy boarding conditions
plenty of exercise and movement
careful and minimal use of drugs and other chemicals
minimize stress and pain through good horsemanship and proper tack
use of hoof boots when necessary
proper trimming

BLM Kiger Mustang

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