Why you should do it yourself
Doing your own trimming as many advantages. Because you don’t rely on the help of a professional, who may not be available exactly when you need them, you will be able to keep your horses on a regular trimming schedule, and therefore, in perfect health.
Your horses are likely to be far more relaxed with you than with a complete stranger, making the trimming process easier and less stressful for them.
And of course, it’s much cheaper if you do it yourself!
What is Natural hoof care?
Natural hoof care, also known as barefoot trimming, is keeping and working horses without shoes. It is not merely taking the shoes off, it is returning the hooves to the natural state of health that enables wild horses to travel 15 miles per day on rough terrain without shoes.
Keeping horses barefoot has many advantages: it is cheaper than shoeing, you will never again miss a ride because of a lost shoe and because you can do it yourself, it is easy to keep your horses in top shape. But the main reason is that barefoot horses are healthier and happier. Some are now winning World class competitions in show jumping and endurance riding, and many horses are worked barefoot throughout the world without any issue.
However, without regular trimming most domestic horses’ hooves would grow too long and distorted, and the horn would not grow strong enough for the horse to be working comfortably on hard ground. Regular trimming is therefore necessary. It is best if it is done by the horse owner, as it is much easier to keep the horse on a regular trimming schedule if the owner does it themselves. Doing a maintenance trim on a barefoot horse is easy, and can be learnt in a few hours.
Regular trimming is essential for healthy hooves. Ideally, a barefoot horse should be trimmed every two to four weeks, depending on the amount of work they are doing.
Workshops
In addition to trimming Macalla farm’s horses hooves, Chhistophe has been teaching Natural hoof care or many years. While we don’t run these workshops at the farm, he occasionally teaches in various places around Ireland.
His next workshop is scheduled for May 2025 at Slieve Aughty, Kylebrack, Loughrea, Co. Galway. Contact them directly for details and to book a place.
Recommended reading
- Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You by P. Ramey.
A must-read for would be barefoot trimmers, with lots of photos and plenty of sound practical advice. - Feet First: Barefoot Performance and Hoof Rehabilitation by Nic Barker and Sarah Braithwaite.
Not a trimming manual, but plenty of very useful background information, particularly about nutrition.
Other ressources:
- Barefoot for soundness, barefoothorse.com, Excellent site, with lots of practical information
- Pete Ramey’s site, hoofrehab.com An ex-farrier, and one of the world’s most experienced trimmer, his site offers plenty of practical advice on trimming, boots, etc.
- Hoof Geek, hoofgeek.com useful blog and online courses
- Hoof boots Ireland, hoofboots.ie Online shop for hoof boots, based in Kerry. Will help with sizing.
- Farrier supplies in Ireland, (045) 520 040 / 087 810 4718 / http://farrier-supplies.ie
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