We Cater to the Sole of Your Horse
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We Cater to the Sole of Your Horse
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What is "Hoofmanship" - The application of the skills and knowledge to care for the equine hoof in a way that results in optimal form and function. This knowledge is based on the physiology, locomotion, and other factors that impact hoof quality, including lifestyle, diet, and use of the animal. What is "Natural Hoofmanship" - The application of natural horse care theories to the basic knowledge and skills of Hoofmanship. What is "Genuine Texas Hoofmanship" - A style of natural hoofmanship developed in Texas by Gates Billette and Susanne Elmer.
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Allopathy - The treatment of disease by conventional means (i.e. drugs having the opposite effects of the symptoms. The goal of natural hoof care is to heal the underlying cause of the "dis-ease" and thereby stay healed. Rehabilitation is possible in most cases - true healing, and not a band aide approach or drugs. My goal in teaching natural hoof care to horse owners is to help in recognizing, and hopefully preventing, many of the issues facing our domestic horses today. We can ultimately increase our odds greatly against laminitis and navicular. But in order to do this we must understand the nature of our horses.
The road to natural has been a journey in learning that is far from over for me. There has been much research presented recently for the case of the barefoot movement by people like Dr. Bowker from Michigan State University and Dr. Pollit from Queensland University of Australia, just to name a few. Studies and observations of feral horses show that, even though there is the occasional hoof issue in the wild, it is minimal, and horses are hardy, healthy and sound. I was asked recently by a farrier why I had made the transition from shoeing to natural horse and hoof care, and my response was for health, soundness and longevity. The quality of life for our domestic equines has been severely compromised, and they are simply not living as long as their wild counterparts. Many horse owners are just not aware of, or unable to detect, the more subtle signs of impending health problems, many of which appear first in the hoof. Below you will find some very interesting video clips. The first video depicts a shod horse hoof impact on the ground. Note the concussion vibration visible in the foot just at the moment of impact. The second video is of an unshod hoof impact on the ground. Note the difference in impact distribution of energy. The entire leg seems to absorb the impact rather than just the foot. Short video clip of shod horse hoof impacting the ground Short video clip of unshod horse hoof impacting the ground Like any animal, including humans, health depends on challenging the body through exposure to the elements (i.e. heat, cold, wet, dry, wind). The need for a trim is to prevent the hoof wall from being the major weight bearing component of the hoof. We refer to this as peripheral loading. In nature trimming is constant, never any length of hoof wall passing the level of the sole and never getting to short. All the parts are in perpetual production and are hardy, tough, and healthy while at the same time being worn to a perfect form to best serve the horse as it was designed by nature. We, as responsible horse owners, need to understand what is being done to interfere with this balance.
The hoof is a living organ that, like all other organs, needs freedom of movement and any restrictions on it have unhealthy consequences. We have all heard about a heart having too much fluid around it, keeping the heart from functioning properly. It is only a matter of time before things go terribly wrong. The sole, the frog, and the hoof wall all have equal duty in the weight bearing of the horse. This shared structural functioning is necessary for the horse to have optimal function and health. The hoof uses all of its parts to perform as an auxiliary pumping aid to the heart. When standing still the vessels in the horse's hoof assist the heart through both arterial and vein muscle wall contractions. When in motion the hoof has the additional assistance of a mechanical pumping feature. This mechanical pumping activity comes from the action of the whole hoof. Upon weight bearing, the hoof expands and, at the same time, the sole draws flatter. This process creates vacuum pressure inside the hoof capsule and helps move blood through the limb. When this process is not allowed to happen properly for any reason, it will cause a deterioration of the structure and function of the hoof; as well as potentially causing problems with the whole organism through reduced circulation and heart stress. Weighting the hoof wall only through a combination of the trimming, shoeing, and walking surface causes a reduction in function (reference Dr. Bowker's study). The long term effects of reduced circulation affect the hoof growth and the health of the entire animal. When hoof pain or discomfort is present, the animal will be in a compensatory mode. Most of us have experienced this in some form ourselves, as when a splinter is lodged deeply in a foot and cannot be removed until it festers. In order to avoid the pain of the splinter, we would compensate by changing the way we walk to avoid putting weight on the affected foot. Eventually, we would find ourselves hurting in other parts of the body in response to the compensation. As humans, we can verbally communicate and tell someone that we are in pain and where the pain is. Horses on the other hand cannot do this and we often do not notice the problem until the pain becomes more intense and the horse become visibly lame. Subtle signs of impending problems are stumbling, toe landing, contraction, reading the white line, and stretched laminae. A normal while line is off white and approximately 1/8 inch wide. In laminitis, an early laminitis, the white line is wider, which indicates inflammation and has colors of red, pink or lavender. Ground Parallel Position - or not?
A parallel position of the coffin bone, in a weight-bearing state, is paramount to the distribution of the horse's weight on the sole, as well as a number of other reasons, one of which is not wanting to crush the circumflex artery. If the coffin bone is not parallel to the ground, more weight is put to the toe and, over time, will crush the circumflex artery. The higher the heel, the sooner the damage will occur.
The navicular bone, which sits just below and behind the coffin bone (pictured at right), functions like a valve. It can only operate effectively with the coffin bone in the ground parallel position in a weight-bearing state. There is a natural disruption of blood flow within the hoof. This, as explained by Dr. Bowker of MSU, is like the fluid or air (in the case of the hoof the medium is blood) trapped in a running shoe and provides cushioning. Improper mechanics shifts the blood flow, altering the cushioning effect provided by the blood and ultimately leads to damage of the surrounding soft tissue and even bone.
This thermographic image shows the marked reduction in bloodflow between a shod foot (right front) and unshod foot.
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For more information on Natural Hoofmanship and Gates Billette, call 940-867-5208 or e-mail gatesbillette@hotmail.com This website designed and maintained by Carter Equine Productions. For technical assistance regarding this website, please contact my Webmaster, Lisa Carter at lisacarter@hughes.net |
As
depicted in the drawing at right, the corium inevitably has to change it's shape
to accommodate the different position of the coffin bone. 
