Barefoot Performance

I just finished reading the book, Feet First: Barefoot Performance and Hoof Rehabilitation and I love it! It was chock full of information, examples of horses that were lame and transitioned into being sound barefoot horses, the proper diet for a horse, function of the hoof and more. It gives a ton of information about how the hoof works and why improper diet/conditioning/shoeing interferes with the hooves' natural mechanisms. And it's not a book that talks about how "terrible/evil" shoes are, but simply says that horses can be happily barefoot and in full work. I would recommend it whether or not you're interested in barefoot because it is so informative about the hoof in general.

Here's a couple interesting facts about hooves:

* Did you know that a horse with healthy bare feet can grow a new hoof capsule in 4 to 6 months? But that a shod horse will take 9 months to a year to grow a new hoof capsule?
* A healthy barefoot horse can easily do road work without worrying about wearing the hooves down too far - when you gradually increase roadwork, the hooves will respond by growing faster to replace wear.
* A barefoot horse doesn't usually slip more than a shod and studded horse. They often slip about the same or sometimes even less than a studded horse.
* Have you ever paid attention to the amount of magnesium in your horse's diet? Magnesium is an important component of their diet and contributes to overall health of the horse as well as hoof health.

And there is of course a ton more. I think I'll have to read this book once or twice more so that I can absorb all the information it has!

I also found this awesome article about Thrush and the frog which are super important to having a healthy hoof, shoes or no.

And if you want some more information about hoof structure and function, smazourek (click for all of the posts tagged 'hooves') did some great posts on her blog. Here's some of my favorites: here, here, here, here, and here. Whew. I think I got them all :)

I hope to post some pictures of Jetta's hooves soon. I rode her down the gravel driveway with absolutely no issues! There was no soreness, no stumbling and no unwillingness to walk on the gravel instead of the grass.This is a huge difference from when I first got her and she couldn't even comfortably get off the trailer and to the grass by walking across the gravel driveway. The new angle of her hoof has almost completely grown down, so I think when she gets trimmed this week her feet are going to look fab!



Not Jetta's hoof. But soon! There shall be pictures :)