TIPS FOR TRIMMING YOUR BAREFOOT HORSE
Howdy Friends! Trimming your own barefoot horse is easy to do, and I encourage folks to learn how. One key piece of advice I like to give is, keep it simple. There seems to be a lot of conversation out there making a simple thing complicated. Pete Ramey says it all, “Take care of the toes and the heels take care of themselves.”
How do we know how long the toe should be?
A horse should be standing up on her foot, not angled back off it, no matter how slight. Sighting down from the hairline will point out any dish forming in the wall, no matter how slight. We want a straight line down to the bottom of the foot. And your horse will most often give you a “wear” spot on the tip of her toe, even on a 3 week schedule, which is what I recommend for a trimming schedule. No more than 1/3 of the foot should be ahead of the apex of the frog.
Do all your work with a rasp, from the top down.
Never rasp the outer hoof more than the bottom edge you are working on for the trim and bevel, it removes live tissue on the wall needed for hoof health. Do not trim the frog or pare the sole (my gosh why do people do that?!) That also removes live tissue needed for hoof health. Simply rasp around the outer edge from the top down (the only way you can preserve the natural arch in the hoof). If done correctly you will never again see anything but a beautiful sole extending all the way to the hoof wall with no black line of separation, ever. Like Kessy’s here. If you see a black line, your toes are too long causing unhealthy flexing and stretching of the lamina.
That’s it. Simple, fun and healthy. ~ Gitty Up, Dutch.
You can find more barefoot advice on barefoot care in my book IT’S FOR THE HORSES.
Hi Dutch. Does your book have pics to show this info? I learn more visual. Love this info!
Lynn, There are some pictures in the book but they are not step by step pictures.