The Bare Facts

by L.A. Pomeroy

Reprinted with permission from Massachusetts Horse.
 

Nearly 2,000 years ago, a cruelly simple war device — the caltrop, or horse crippler — stopped drivers and riders in their tracks and forced them to address protecting one of their most critical assets: their horses’ hooves.

Caltrops, designed brutally similar to “jacks” of the children’s game, consist of three or four approximately four-inch tall spikes that, no matter how thrown, maintain one spike in a vertical position, ready to cripple a horse when stepped upon. Used as early as 4th-century-b.c. Rome, caltrops were mentioned by Vegetius in his De Re Militari: “The armed chariots used in war by Antiochus at first terrified the Romans, but they afterwards made a jest of them . . . Roman soldiers rendered them useless by covering the field of battle with caltrops, and the horses that drove the chariots, running full speed on them, were infallibly destroyed.” Ranked as one of the most effective weapons of all time, the Massachusetts colonists called them “crows feet” and, during the American Revolution, they were scattered by the British along the last mile into Boston when they evacuated the city in 1776.

These devices also prompted some of the earliest horseshoes because no matter how large the army, it was only as strong as its weakest link — the vulnerable underside of its horses’ hooves. The inspiration for the shoe sprang, in part, from a desire to protect horses from the crippling caltrop. Sixteen centuries later, owners are still concerned about hoof protection, and some are removing nailed-in shoes to go au naturel. More than just pulling shoes to go barefoot, the trend toward encouraging natural hoof shape and wear follows an outline dictated in part by wild horses and supported by anecdotal evidence from hoof care professionals who endorse a natural trim.

Whether you shoe or trim your horse, the goal is the same: to offer your beloved companion the most comfortable and beneficial care possible. In the interest of offering both sides of what has become a complicated issue, Horse Sense presents a two-part series on shod and unshod options, beginning where it all began, with a shoe-free hoof.

Barefoot or Natural
Shoe-free is a carefully chosen description because, our experts note, barefoot and natural are not synonymous. The term barefoot often implied neglect, says Yvonne Welz, founder of TheHorsesHoof.com. “Horses that went barefoot, such as youngsters, broodmares, and lame horses, were not used. A barefoot horse was not a performance horse, and little attention was paid to improving hoof form and function. Natural trim was a phrase developed to indicate a hoof trimmed to respect natural shape and function. Wild-horse studies helped develop an ideal for domesticated horses that re-creates the functionality of a wild hoof. Barefoot horses could now be performance horses.”

There are different trims. Natural trimmer Jennifer Rizzo, of Waltham, says, “Natural trim and barefoot are used interchangeably, but trims may follow different guidelines and vary significantly. My trim, which I refer to as a natural barefoot trim, accounts for physiological factors and terrain.”

One trim that has gained attention is the Strasser trim, which many refer to as a clinic trim, for pathologically lame horses. Named for its founder, the German veterinarian Dr. Hiltrud Strasser, the trim bears certain hallmarks: A horse is initially trimmed twice weekly; the hoof is kept short and flexible so that circulation is optimized; and there are specific instructions regarding daily hoof soaking, hand-walking on rubber flooring, alternative therapies, and bodywork. “It is a difficult, technical, and powerful trim,” says Yvonne. “In the right hands, it can completely transform a hoof.”

Betsy Merritt, of Barefoot Performance in Williamsburg, credits a Strasser trim with relieving her Welsh/Morgan mare, Morning Star, of chronic laminitis. “I have had great success using the method,” she says. “Even horses that have never worn shoes show improvement in hoof quality and growth, showing me that it is not enough to just take shoes off and follow natural hoof care principles without [also doing] proper, regular trimming.”

Good trims done badly have led to skepticism about this approach. “An incorrect trim is often why an owner has a negative impression of going barefoot,” says Jennifer. “An incorrect trim may involve removal of sole needed to protect inner structures, or failure to remove excess wall. It may utilize improper landmarks for determining balance, such as pastern or hairline angle, or a subjective ideal.”

For healthy, or “middle-ground” horses, there is a modified, or field trim, as developed by those who have further adjusted their technique after initially training under experts like Dr. Strasser. Betsy, who was Strasser-certified in 2002, modifies her approach to different terrain and situations to achieve a trim “specific to each horse’s needs,” she says.

“A field trim is a sophisticated version of a generic barefoot trim,” says Yvonne. “Some incorporate wild-horse trim aspects into their technique.” Why wild horses as the model? The average wild horse travels 20 miles a day over sandy and rocky terrain, and from birth develops a hoof that is short and wide, and has thick walls with rounded bottoms, low heels, and a callused sole and frog. In emulating the wild hoof, the natural trim seeks to keep the hoof short, maximize sole and frog contact with the ground, and encourage outdoor activity over varied footing to toughen soles. For those who remember going barefoot over summer vacation, the theory is similar: The soles of the horse, like the soles of our bare feet, toughen up in response to their terrain.

Baring All
“A barefoot horse with healthy hooves can feel the ground better, is more sure-footed, usually moves more freely, has better traction on most surfaces, and enjoys dramati-cally reduced concussion on hard ground,” notes natural hoof specialist and driving trainer Heike Bean, of Vermont. Indeed, a 1984 University of Zurich (Switzerland) dissertation by Luca Bein demonstrated that a hoof wearing a steel shoe lacked 60 to 80 percent of its natural shock absorption; it also showed that a shod hoof walking on asphalt received triple the impact force as an unshod hoof trotting on the same surface.

Betsy’s Arabian gelding Shadow is still going strong at age 26. Before retiring from competitive trail ten years ago, his brittle, soft hooves were always shod, he required splint and bell boots, and Betsy regularly lost points for interference marks or for his being “off” behind. “Since going barefoot, he comes through pleasure rides one hundred percent sound, his hooves are healthy and strong, and he does not interfere.”

Heike advises, “When balancing a hoof, it is of utmost importance to ensure that it lands heel first. Heel-first landing is necessary for ideal joint loading and shock absorption. Toe-first landing stresses ligaments within the hoof capsule and places concussion on structures not suited for this purpose. Driving horses land toe-first going uphill and heel-first going down. This is caused by a locking mechanism in the knee and cannot be altered, but it can be worsened by poor trimming; since driving horses have increased stress on their hooves when pulling a vehicle uphill, timely break over of all four hooves is essential to minimize stress. This factor is often overlooked when shoeing, trimming, or booting a horse.”

Where riding barefoot has elicited better performance in many cases, driving barefoot has faced more limitation. “It is one of the reasons why I stopped competing,” says Heike. “There were no good boots on the market at the time and, as I could see what shoes were doing to my horses, I could not in good conscience continue. With today’s boot [styles], driving can be done barefoot.”

Giving the Boot
A wrapped hoof bore at least some protection from the caltrop’s fierce spikes, and so the earliest horse boot — a patch of hide that could be tied around the pastern — can credit its invention to the caltrop. In its modern role among barefoot and natural-trim enthusiasts, the boot continues to play a protective role, as well as offering more options in design, affixture, and tread.

Tomas G. Teskey, D.V.M., author of The Unfettered Foot: A Paradigm Change for Equine Podiatry, notes that the onset of many lameness problems coincides with horses reaching maturity and being shod. “Instead of needing shoes, horses are best served with form-fitting boots that protect hooves from excessive wear, concussion, and bruising. They allow a horse to heal more quickly and completely from hoof diseases such as laminitis and founder, navicular disease, quarter cracks, and contracted heels,” he says.

A hoof, comfortably nestled within a boot designed of tough yet elastic materials, is also free to expand and contract, pump blood normally, and torque side to side with each step. Dr. Teskey, a practicing veterinarian in Arizona since 1995, contends that a shod hoof is not allowed normal mechanical movements (hufmechanismus, per Dr. Strasser) and transfers those forces of concussion and torque into joints and limbs, shrinking hooves and exacting a toll on overall health.

At Slypner Gear of New Hampshire, which designs an athletic horse shoe, Mary Watkins says, “We realize our shoe is not appropriate for all horses, so we also carry boots. Boots are primarily chosen for hoof protection. Soles and hoof walls are protected with all styles; many offer additional protection to the heel bulb, coronary band, and pastern.” Boot choice should consider traction and concussion reduction, and different brands offer different treads. “All boots provide better traction on pavement and smooth rock compared to steel shoes,” Mary says. “Larger treads give an advantage on surfaces such as wet grass and mud.” Depending on the boot style and brand, fastening it to the hoof might employ a bale-type lever and metal cable, an adjustable bungee dial system (similar to ski boots), or Velcro and buckles. Most can be modified with wraps or gaiters (neoprene socks) to improve fit; some models feature drainage holes in the sole, or in icy conditions can be fitted with studs.

“At the Grand Canyon XP Ride [250 miles in five days], it snowed heavily one day, and the horse that won wore boots and the snow did not ball up, [whereas] riders of shod horses had problems. Boots are like having snow tires,” says Karen Chaton, of EasyCare in Nevada, whose Arabian, Granite Chief, in 2005 became the first barefoot horse in American Endurance Riding Conference history to earn the National Mileage Championship, the same year he won the American Horse Association Distance Horse of the Year award.

Whether to protect a bare hoof in a competitive situation or to transition a formerly shod hoof into a more natural, unshod state, Karen says, “Boots are an excellent way to help horses that need protection or during a transition period.”

Finding Common Ground
Since 2004, at Wakewood Farm in New Hampshire, Susan Wood has used barefoot methods to rehabilitate horses considered incurably lame, working under the auspices of BOGHS, a California-based nonprofit lameness research foundation established in 2004 by Robert M. Bowker, V.M.D., Ph.D., and equine industrial entrepreneur Tommy Lee Osha. (BOGHS is an acronym for the names of its founders and collaborators.)

“The environment our horses are asked to live in dictates how their hooves will be,” Susan says. “If a person does endurance, or aggressive trail riding, they may need a shoe, or use a well-fitted boot for a barefoot horse. If shoes are worn for this purpose, the hooves should be given a break from shoes. We like eight weeks on, four weeks off.”

Voicing a middle ground, she adds, “Shoes belong on healthy hooves. One way to attain a healthy hoof is to bring it back to its natural state, provide the tools for it to heal, then re-introduce the previously intolerable environment and allow it to adapt.”

“Everything we do to, and with, our horses is a compromise to their natural lifestyle,” notes Sue Mellen, of the Engaged Frog in Vermont. A founding member of the American Hoof Association (AHA), she sees natural trimmers and traditional horse shoers as capable of finding common ground. “We all trim hooves. Some of us shoe and some of us boot, but we are all trying our best to help the horse.”

Pete Ramey, author of Making Natural Hoof Care Work, and a former farrier, says of the divide between barefoot and horseshoe proponents: “We just want what we have seen is best for the horse. Nature has put an incredibly solid hoof on our horses that performs admirably and dissipates/absorbs impact energy.”