Barefoot Trimming

Going Barefoot – Advice, Help and Resources

Barefoot trimming is the term used to describe trimming horses hooves so they can be ridden without the use of metal shoes.
Keeping a horse barefoot is a true joy and well worth studying and accomplishing.

Contents

The Removal of Shoes

If your horse is shod, the first thing that needs to be done, is to remove his shoes.

You may know how to do this. If not and you wish to learn how to do it yourself, buy Jaime Jackson’s DVD – Learn to do a Natural Trim With Jamie Jackson. This explains exactly how to remove the shoes as well as how to trim the hooves.

Or ask your farrier or contact a barefoot trimmer to remove the shoes.

Shoes Removed One Month Ago
In the above picture you can just see the remaining nail holes from shoes which were removed from these hooves 4 weeks ago.

How To Barefoot Trim Your Horses Hooves

Once the shoes have been removed the hooves need to have a barefoot trim. Barefoot trimming is not a standard pasture trim done by a farrier. It is a specialized trim. Care needs to be taken to make sure that it is done correctly.

I have decided that the best way to keep you updated as to ‘how to trim’ is to write individual pages on the different aspects of the hoof, and showing you how I trim. Whether you wish to learn to trim or just understand what you barefoot trimmer is doing, either way these pages should help you immensely.
The pages are easy to understand and will get you well on the to learning how to trim.

The first page to read is;-
How to Trim the Hoof Wall

Then at the bottom of this page you will be directed to pages outlining how to trim the bars, the sole etc.

Finding a Qualified Trimmer

To find a qualified barefoot hoof trimmer you can either contact the AANHCP. They have a list of qualified trimmers worldwide, or, if they have no trimmer in your area, you may have to search the internet or Contact Us as we may well be able to find a trimmer for you.

How Often Should You Trim?

The hooves will need to trimmed and kept in shape regularly. Depending on the amount of work the horse is in, will depend how much maintenance trimming will be required.

I have found that the best way to maintain the hooves is to trim them very frequently.

If they are doing a lot of mileage the trimming required will be significantly less. If they are doing little mileage they will need to be trimmed every 2 weeks.

Once I started trimming them every 2 weeks, the hooves then really improved,they became tougher and stronger and we got a much better wall connection.

I cannot emphasis enough the importance of frequent trimming. If you try and trim them, or have them trimmed every 6-7 weeks, you will in my opinion, never really manage to have healthy hooves.

The list below is a brief list of the areas that you will need to look at, assess and trim.
Each area is important. How to trim each area is covered on our blog pages. Here is the link:- How to Trim the Hoof Wall

1. Looking at the hoof first to assess balance and toe length and flaring. Ie looking and assessing first while the horse is standing.
2. Checking heel height from underneath and trimming when necessary
3. Backing/shortening the toe from underneath
4. Removing any excess flare from underneath
5. Defining and trimming the bars,
6. Checking frogs, trimming if necessary,
7. Keeping clear the collateral grooves, the central sulcus and the frog sole junction,
8. Scooping the quarters,
9. Checking and balancing the hoof
10. Creating a mustang roll from on top, I do this using a hoof stand.

This can, once you know how, easily be kept up by you, or your trimmer, if you prefer, or a combination of both.

So for example you trim/tidy up the hooves and every 2 weeks. Then have them checked every month or every 2 months by your barefoot trimmer.

With our barefoot trimming we trim and check the hooves every 2 weeks.

How Do You Recognize a Good Trim?

This is something when I started trimming that I struggled with and often wondered about.
So without having a trimmer come and inspect your trimming how do you really know?
Well the answer is:-

“You should see an improvement in hoof form over time.
This includes structural integrity. So the walls should get thicker, the heels should get wider, the outer walls should be smooth and flat, without slippering or ripples/ridges.”

In Addition I would also Add….

That the white line should tighten, the sole should deepen creating hoof concavity and the frog widen and become calloused. The hoof should begin to look more like a wild horses hoof. The horse should become sound and be able to cross different terrains if he is exercised over different surfaces.

Self Trimming

Ideally with barefoot trimming you want the horses to be ’self trimming’ their own hooves. This is the “lazy” model to be working towards.
Even though we exercise our horses regularly and also hunt them, we still find that we need to trim their hooves. It will depend how much riding you do, the terrain you ride on and their living terrain as to how much they need trimming.
There are additional ideas on the Grazing and Paddocks page which may help you achieve this.

Books

Introduction on Barefoot Trimming Books etc

I have looked, read and studied a great deal of material on how to trim horses hooves. However, I have kept the recommended material here quite simple and only included items that I think are worth buying.

Horse Owners Guide to Natural Hoof Care by Jaime Jackson.

This is an excellent book. It has a great deal of detail and goes through everything that you will need to know.

Think of it as a reference book, it is not something that you can read in a couple of evenings, but rather a book that you will go back to time and time again. Some of the black and white pictures are sometimes tricky to really see in detail what Jaime is trying to illustrate with the hooves, which is a pity, but that aside, think of it as a foundation book to everything you might need to know on hoof care.

DVD’S

Learn to do a Natural Trim With Jamie Jackson

This is a basic over view and covers all aspects of trimming right down to what you wear and how to remove their shoes. It’s quite long but it’s all here for you.

The Natural Trim – Eliminating Flare, Splits and Run Under Heels with Jaime Jackson

You need to have watched the first DVD before this one. This DVD covers more detailed trimming techniques. Both are worth buying. If you are learning by yourself you will no doubt be playing these backwards and forwards a few times to really grasp all that he is saying.

Under the Horse by Pete Ramey.

This is an excellent set of 10 DVD discs. There is a tremendous amount of material here and there is a lot to listen to and watch. You get a really good overview of Pete Ramey’s trimming and the photography and pictures are very clear.
Very simply it is excellent, a lot of work has gone into it making this. It may take you time to get through all the discs, but if you wish to study more about barefoot hooves this is definitely worth buying.
We aimed to watch one DVD every few days.

Working with A Qualified Trimmer

If you decide to get help – learn and watch alongside your trimmer. The more you understand the trim and your horses hooves and how they effect how your horse goes, the better it will be for you and him.

If you do not understand barefoot trimming and what your trimmer is doing, ask them and read the above recommended barefoot trimming material, until you are happy and confident with their work and how they are trimming.

The Different Opinions on Barefoot Trimming

There are differing opinions on how to do a barefoot trim. There are now a number of bodies and although they all advocate the riding and keeping of barefoot horses, they differ somewhat in their opinions on the correct trim and how to trim the hoof. When I first started researching natural hoof care I found it challenging enough trying to master, without the added confusion of the different bodies not agreeing with each others trim.
I stuck to the wild horse trim as recommended by Jaime Jackson, (AANHCP). Later on I went on and studied Hildrd Strasser’s work, (she has received bad press here in the UK). But if you look and read her books, her research and material is excellent. We contacted a Strasser trimmer in order to try and determine what all the fuss was about, however her trim, (she had trained with Hildred Strasser), was excellent and there was nothing that she recommended that caused me any concern. In fact I would go as far as to say she is the best trimmer I have ever come across.

What Not To Do

If you try and trim the hoof to get it to the wild horse shape before the internal structures are ready, you may well suffer consequences. The lesson here is, not, to over trim.

However here I would also contradict the above statement, because under trimming can also create it’s own problems. This is because if you have horn which should not be there this can create imbalance and inappropriate lever forces on the hoof capsule so creating internal damage, an easy example of this is if you leave the toes and walls too long you will create stretched white line.

Pete Ramey’s Trimming Goals

Pete Ramey explains very clearly that when he trims his two goals are :-

• To leave the horse feeling the same or better after a trim
• and for the horse hooves to improve in the following weeks and grow a better well connected hoof wall

He goes on to say that, most people try and trim to much, too quickly and try and erase “10 years of
pathology”" in one trim and by doing so violate rule number one.
He says he does not always achieve these goals and will make mistakes, but these are the
goals he works towards, which are simple but very powerful.

Finally

When you know how to trim your horses according to the barefoot model it becomes a joy. All the worry goes………

Need Some Help?

Struggling and don’t now what to do? Contact Us and we will help you.