The Wild Horse, A Model for Trimming?

by Yvonne Welz of The Horse's Hoof

The wild horse model is often considered synonymous with natural hoof care and barefoot trimming—but is this always the case? We explore some comments and various points of view from some of the leaders in barefoot trimming today.

AANHCP founder and American’s natural hoof care leader Jaime Jackson set the original standard of the wild horse model. Jackson writes, “At first thought, there is a tendency among many horse enthusiasts and professionals to reject the wild horse hoof as a model worthy of emulation. This is understandable. What business does a ‘wild’ hoof have being on a ‘domestic’ horse? More often I hear, ‘What applies to wild horses doesn’t apply to domestic horses, because domestic horses aren’t wild and they don’t live naturally...

“This type of logic, on closer inspection, is fraught with misunderstandings. First, there is no physiological or genetic difference between wild horse hooves and domestic horse hooves. That’s because there’s no physiological difference between wild and domestic horses...The difference then between wild and domestic horses is not in the species, but in the wilderness and domestic experiences.” (Horse Owner’s Guide to Natural Hoof Care, 2002, page 43-44)

Jackson describes the key point being the adaptation of the wild horse hoof to its environment. Every wild horse in each diverse environment has developed its own unique adaptations, in order to survive. The mustang hooves of the Great Basin area represent one type of unique adaptation—but with superior strength and form compared to wild horses in other areas, and so these hooves became Jackson’s model for trimming. Trimming and lifestyle are simply a way of stimulating the horse’s natural adaptative mechanisms.

Equine Podiatrist K.C. La Pierre has taken the approach that the wild horse hoof is only a starting point. He writes about the numerous wild horse studies, “The question was how did this relate to our domestic horse’s hoof and what of the foot within? Were these commonalities going to be beneficial to the domestic horse if somehow promoted? These researchers, undoubtedly the foremost experts on the natural hoof, believe the hoof of the feral horse to be the best model to use in developing foot balance, and inevitably soundness in the domestic horse. I did not look exclusively to the feral horse for the answer as to how the foot functioned. I believe that the domestic horse’s ‘foot’ functions in the same manner as that of the feral horse.” (The Chosen Road, Achieving High Performance through Applied Equine Podiatry, 2004, page 13)

Natural Hoof Care Practitioner Pete Ramey believes we have only just begun to discover the true potential of the wild horse model. He describes his first-hand wild horse experiences:

“The country was solid rock; mostly baseballsized porous, volcanic rock that you could literally use as a rasp to work a hoof if you wanted to. Every foot or so, a basketball sized rock was thrown in for good measure. Horse tracks were fairly rare, because there was so little dirt between these rocks. There were a few muddy areas from the recent snow melt, but they were littered with rocks as well. The horses made no attempt to find these softer spots to walk on. They had been walking mostly on snow all winter, so if ever the hooves are soft, tender and poorly shaped, it would be this time of year. I think it was the most critical time to see the horses.

“Ivy and I observed, videoed, and photographed at least sixty horses. All of them, from the foals to the aged horses moved effortlessly and efficiently across this unbelievably harsh terrain. They were doing collected, extended trots across this obstacle course that would shame the best show ring work of any dressage horse, with their tails high in the air and their heads cocked over their shoulders looking at us!!! I have never known a horse I would attempt to ride in this terrain. We had to literally watch every step. On the third day we got a half inch of snow (as if we weren’t having a difficult time already). We could barely walk at all. It was exactly like trying to walk in a slimy, rocky stream bed. The movement of the horses was not effected by the slippery dusting of snow on the rocks. In fact, they got around much better than the mule deer and the pronghorns. The only animal I saw that rivaled the pristine fluidity of their movement was a lone coyote. The entire time we were there, we did not see a limp, or even a “give” to any rock, or a single lame horse and not one chip or split in any of their hooves. It was an unbelievable sight...

“...The world has been shocked and amazed by our ability to forge rock crushing bare hooves, boost equine performance and treat “incurable” hoof disease. I don’t want to diminish these facts, but I now I realize we have still set our standards and goals much too low. We haven’t even scratched the tip of the iceberg. We can offer our horses much, much more, and will be rewarded by “super-horses” capable of performance, endurance and longevity beyond our wildest expectations. As for competitive performance, ‘The first players in each area of competition to figure this out will be at an unfair advantage. After that, when everyone else follows suit, all of the advantages will be for the horse!!!’”

(Excerpted from Pete’s article available at: http://www.hoofrehab.com/wild_horses.htm )

Equine Veterinarian Dr. Tom Teskey considers that self-trimming domestic horses might be an even better trimming model than wild horses. Here is an excerpt form a recent interview with EasyCare:

Natural hoof care references the wild horse hoof as the standard to emulate, but is the wild hoof always the ‘healthiest’ example?

“Of great interest to me in the past five years is how much MORE capable my horses’ hooves and bodies are compared to feral horses’. I demand more of my horses than is required of feral mustangs, thus their bodies become more highly conditioned, callused and capable. Granted, my horses have the ideal environment of hundreds of acres to subsist upon, but the point is that our domestics can, and DO, become more athletic than their feral cousins. Another striking example is the impressive mileages covered by Arabian horses during competitive endurance rides in the American West (over the same terrain where the mustangs live). Covering 100 miles in sixteen hours, barefoot, is commonplace, with hooves looking like they could use a trim and horses looking like they’re ready for another 100 miles afterwards. One begins to appreciate the athlete the horse is when witnessing such “unbelievable” achievements.

“The healthiest examples of hooves in the world can be found WHEREVER you live. Seek out and study the horses in your area that are ‘self-trimming’ and successful in their sport. They are out there if you look for them. These are the horses you want to emulate. Take note of their body condition, hoof characteristics, nutritional program and housing, and seek to impart this to your animals’ lives. This is precisely why dictating specific characteristics, measurements, diets and general lifestyles for ‘The Horse’ is unproductive and unrewarding. Horses can and do live successfully on every continent—seek out the healthy examples in your neighborhood, and note well.” Excerpted from the EasyCare article available at http://www.easycareinc.com/education/articles/teskey_interview.aspx

In 2000, Equine Veterinary Researcher Dr. Robert Bowker spent time studying the hooves of mustangs living in southern Nevada. The herd that he studied is managed by the National Mustang Association, and their gathering for regular vaccinations, deworming and castration provided a unique opportunity to view and x-ray these hooves. Here is one of the x-rays:

Bowker points out that there is no one model of a wild horse foot—for example, the feral horses in the Wyoming have differences in their hoof form compared to feral horses in Nevada. Bowker writes, “The feral horse foot is sculpted by an environment, whether the horse runs on sand, grass or hard, mountainous rocks. As these surfaces are very different in their texture and abrasive qualities, their influences on the wear and tear of the foot will obviously be different, with the hard and more abrasive rock environment wearing down the sole and hoof wall at a much faster rate than that of a moist and grassy surface. The greater distance that a horse has to move in search of food will obviously be a major factor in the extent of the wear of the foot.

“This idea, while not new, is often forgotten as many, if not most, people believe that there is only a single “mold” for the feral horse foot. The feet of the feral horses adapt to their surroundings in an attempt to dissipate energy and support the weight of the horse.”

You can read Dr. Bowker’s full article, Understanding the Feral Horse Foot, in issue 1 of The Horse’s Hoof. We will continue to present more comments and viewpoints about wild horse hooves, and their relevance to our trimming, in upcoming issues. We believe no one will disagree that the study of wild hooves should continue to be a priority!