Anyone naturally trim their horse(s)?

Question

I just transitioned by barrel horse last October from being shod for 8 years to the natural trim. There has definitely been some "ouchy" transition periods which my boa boots have helped to aleviate. However, he had either a rock or something create an abscess two months ago. I dug it out and doctored it morning and night for a month. It went away, but now there is still a hole that appears to have traveled up the side of his hoof wall and is creating a horizontal crack on the outside of the hoof wall about 1 cm below the coronet band. Do you think whatever caused the abscess is coming out through the side wall or that the fever from the abscess created some damage there? Has anyone had this happen before? Thanks for any input!

Answer 1

I'm a firm believe in what they call the natural foot or the "Mustang" foot. In fact ALL of my horses are barefoot and they range from lessons horses, to pasture ornaments, to high level performers. As someone stated above however not every horse in every enviorment can got this way and it will take MONTHS upon MONTHS to get their foot right from the years of being shod.

Two summers ago a TB I had pulled off the track blew the worst abscess I had ever seen in my entire life. The shell of his foot completely gave way and he could almost step out of his hoof. It took 9 months of recovery and another 6 for his foot to grow down enough for the bad wall to go away. I did several different things, one is take any old diaper rash creme and put it in the crack of his abscess you can also mix it with an antibiotic if you vet as proscribed one that is appropriate. And the second  is...I life him alone, you have to allow them that time of healing. I tended to his foot everyday by spraying a diluted mixture (1/4 I to 1/3 Water) of Iodine (keep it off the coronary band) and water directly in to the crack, packed it with the above described, and keep is feet trim probably. Rolling the edges down is a new technique they are uses to reinforce the side walls of the hoof, speak to an educated and experience specialist in bare foot trimming.

Answer 2

ohh...my horses go barefoot, but my one guy, his hooves aren't handling the rocky soil where I live so I am going to get him shoed next time...my other guy hooves are great...horse feet are like people...some need the shoes, some don't...just like some people need orthopedic shoes and some don't...so going barefoot and wearing shoes are each beneficial in their own ways...it all depends on the individual horse.

Answer 3

yes

Answer 4

Natural trim isn't for every horse.  Not that its bad, but if the horse is prone to soreness, or prone to abcesses than it would be best to put shoes back on.  If this was just some random thing, as us horse owners know it can be, than I would either have a GREAT farrier out or a GREAT vet out to look.  Perhaps you didn't get it cleared away enough, and it was moving up the hoof to break out at the coronet line, or it re-developed higher up and is moving up to the coronet line.  Either way, I would have someone come and check, because as a horse owner we all know that cracked hooves take a long time to get over,and sometimes some horses don't.  If it was my horse I would have a vet out to take a look just to be one the safe side, cause as the saying goes "No hoof, no horse".

Answer 5

I'm slowly trying to transition over to barefoot trims with my show horses, and I can feel your pain!  It's hard to change, even when you see how its for the good.

It is very typical for an abscess to break through at the cornet band.  The infection picks the path of least resistence, which often seems to be high up in the hoof.  In many cases this will heal up fine once it has drained and the infection is gone.  But if a small pocket of pus or infection or bacteria remain you could be stuck with ongoing problems.

If my horse was totally sound now, and there was no worsening of symptoms, if there was no heat, pain, or pus then I might be tempted to give it some time and see what happens.  On the other hand, having it checked by a good vet probably wouldn't hurt.  Have you had your barefoot trimmer look at it?  What did he recommend?

I wish I had ESP and could tell you the cause of the problem, and then what the solution is.  But without further tests and a good examine by an equine vet its hard to say what the best thing to do is.

Answer 6

THIS is what happens when you do NOT let a farrier trim / shoe your horse. First, at what point do you think rocks defy gravity and travel "up" a horse's hoof? Is there a little pocket of space there that allows the rock to travel up? I advise you to take a video and show me, because as far as I can tell, if you drop a rock next to a horse's hoof, it goes down.. Yes, it's an abscess. What it is doing, is looking for a place to release. It can't go through the hoof wall, or any of the sensitive structures inside the hoof. So it has to find either a weak-spot in the hoof wall to get out of, or it will travel up to the coronary band and release there. Honestly? I'd call a farrier or vet out to take a look. There is probably damage to all of the sensitive structures - even if it's minor enough to not produce lameness.

No doubt, the abscess cut off circulation, which could increase a horse's chance of foundering.. Get a certified AFA farrier out there with a vet and help your horse!

Also, if your riding on rocky ground, why isn't your horse shod? You probably ride 3-4 times plus a week. That means that your wear-and-tear on the hoof is more than it can grow in a month. Geeze.. I hate it when people speak like they know everything about horse's feet when they don't know even the basics.

And yes, I'm expecting a lot of thumbs-down for this ;)