Rasping off nail clinches before pulling shoes...the first step to a
lifetime of soundness!!
About a thousand years ago, we began
nailing metal to horses' feet. It may have been an attempt to
protect them from the unnatural living conditions we were subjecting
them to; it may have been only a device to provide traction.
Either way, it was a medieval solution to whichever problem was
truly being addressed. To think that nailing metal shoes to
the remarkable foot of the horse is the best we can do to keep him
sound is truly disappointing.
After 55 million years of evolution,
the horse is one of the most tenacious species; clearly he has
evolved to function admirably in the conditions which formed him
from prehistory. Dr. Robert Bowker and pioneers like him are
finally looking to the horse in his most robust state, feral and
unfettered by man's interference, to unlock the mysteries of how
best to keep him healthy in domesticity.
Four years ago I began my journey
into the remarkable world of barefoot horses. My original curiosity
quickly became avid research. My great joy at turning my own herd
into magnificent examples of the barefoot trim turned trimming into
a passion. And the passion has become my mission.
My trimming is based upon the
physiological trim described by Dr. Bowker at the Equine Foot Lab at
Michigan State University, as taught by Pete Ramey and the American
Hoof Association.
Please contact me at 619-865-9614 or email
maria@thoughtfulhorseman.com to join the revolution and get your
horse added to my roster.
For more information on the
physiological barefoot trim, please visit my
LINKS page.
To protect the foot and provide support? That may very well NOT be
why horseshoeing began. According to Ivan G. Sparkes, there is
evidence that suggests shoes were invented to provide traction, and
not to protect the hoof, as we have come to believe.
Wrap your brain
around that idea...
Read more here:
Anouk:
Friesian Mare
Ara:
TB Mare
Baron: QH
Gelding
Bayou:
Andie/Mustang Gelding
Belle: QH Mare
Bob: QH
Gelding
Boxer:
Paint Gelding
Brandi:
Paint Mare
Cabos:
Arab Gelding Updated 09-19-08
Calypso:
Paint Gelding
CD:
Paint Gelding
Cowboy:
QH Gelding
Cowboy:
Paint Gelding
Dakota
Dan:
Appy Gelding
Dazzle:
Paint Mare
Felino:
Andalusian Gelding
Fiona:
Fjord Mare
Gina:
Westphalian Mare 
Gracie:
Dutch Mare Updated 10-03-08
Jewel:
Paint Mare
Lebrix:
Dutch Gelding
Levi:
QH Gelding
Lucy:
Quarter Pony Mare
Lucky:
QH Gelding
Mahdi:
Warmblood Gelding
Micaiah:
QH Filly
Money:
QH Mare
Moses:
Andalusian
Gelding
Nigi:
Paint Gelding
Oro:
BS Paint Gelding
Oscar:
Draft Gelding
Paris:
QH Mare
Pascoa:
Andalusian Gelding
Pee Wee:
QH Gelding
Penny:
TB/Saddlebred Mare
Pete: Andalusian Stallion
Pete: Arab Gelding
Pokey:
QH Gelding
Primo:
Paso Gelding
Riley:
QH Gelding
Rio:
Andalusian Gelding
Rocky:
TWH Gelding
Romanov:
Warmblood Gelding
Ruby:
Arab Mare
Satin: Quarab
Gelding
Sawyer:
QH Gelding Updated 08-19-08
Sport: APHA Gelding
Sugar:
QH Gelding
Sydney: Thoroughbred Gelding
Tica:
Andalusian Mare
Trevor:
Paint
Gelding
TSP Arab
Gelding
Wing
Kai: Thoroughbred Gelding
Zander:
SP Gelding
Yeller:
QH Gelding
Our Herd
