The Natural Barefoot Horse Movement
posted by citizen.K on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 / 
Print & Hang in the Barn
Believe it or not, they are calling it a movement. Barefoot, natural trimming franchises are the new hot trend in horse care. It is a beautiful scam that has been developed specifically to target the inexperienced horseman or horsewoman. The fad has swept the horse world off its shoes and into new barefoot ground where lots and lots of horses are gimping around wishing the pain would stop.
How this movement came to be is a mystery, but Dr. Hiltrud Strasser, a German veterinarian, has been credited as the first to develop this new, radical, strong woman craze on “natural” holistic hoof care. Dr. Strasser has been described as “a rebel”. A woman who isn’t afraid to stand up to conformity. A woman who created a system, of hoof care conformity, to break conformity. A woman with a method, no, a state of mind, that asks all horse owners to think alike on the care about their horse’s feet.
Of course, those in the barefoot movement believe if you aren’t following this new, trendy, horse care method, you must be abusing your horse (for more on that concept, if you haven’t already, stop by the pro-clicker training comments). People who are completely brainwashed by a method or system see only black or white. Of course, if you aren’t clicker training, you MUST be training your horse by brutally beating them. Again, if you aren’t using natural barefoot trimming, you MUST be torturing your horse with horseshoes. Oh the humanity!
Farrier work should under no circumstances cause lameness, footsoreness, shortened stride, or any other displays of pain or discomfort.
As another genius horse person marketing scheme, the target audience, once again, is middle aged women who are hypersensitive to notions of bad things happening, anywhere. The Strasser barefoot method, the clicker training method, and the natural horsemanship method all exist, thrive on, and cultivate scare tactics to further their followings and resulting profits. That sound familiar to anyone?
Yet, do any of these people realize that fitting their horse into this Strasser method of trimming, or any other natural “balance” barefoot trimming method is like making every person wear the same size shoe? How is that correct, or natural? Or pain free?
The Barefoot movementers say trimming every horse foot exactly the same is the way “nature intended”, but yet, they call it abusive to nail a shoe on a horse’s foot, a shoe that fits that horse and enables comfort, traction and shock absorption?
Dr. Strasser has stated herself that her trim may cause death to a horse. What??? Oh, right, but it’s because the horse’s heart cannot heal from the abuse of shoes and a stall. What reasonable person reads that and thinks, “Yes, I need to free my horse from the abuse of a stall and shoes, so I will trim my horse with this method. If he dies, at least I freed him”?
That’s just nuts.
Don’t get me wrong. Dr. Strasser has some good points outside of actually touching a horse’s hoof. Yes, some horses, and almost all pleasure, pet and/or trail horses should live outside 24/7. But, a few of my own horses who lived their first 3 years outside 24/7 would not be happy being outside 24/7 now. No matter what, not every horse can be cared for the same.
Let’s say that again.
Not every horse can be cared for the same.
This is where the “nuts” part of the natural barefoot/Strasser trim comes into play. Each horse’s individual temperament, conformation, health, and job necessitate different care.
And long before Dr. Strasser hit the foot care scene, fore-thinking equestrians knew frequent trims (meaning, weekly, every other week, etc.) and low angles could be beneficial to keeping a horse’s foot balanced, most especially for corrective shodding or treating, for example, navicular and founder.
But, NOT EVERY HORSE’S FOOT IS THE SAME!!!! There is a lot more to equine hoof soundness and happiness than just cutting off so much hoof that the horse’s body has no choice but to increase bloodflow to the region.
Dr. Strasser no doubt has credentials to back up her hoof anatomy knowledge, but all in all she has zero practical, statistical data proving successes of her methods. As stated elsewhere, her insistence that horseshoe nails numb the equine’s foot is so off the wall unproven or tested that it doesn’t even rise to the level of hypothesis. The Strasser trim is also often marketed as a do-it-yourself system (just the right confidence builder insecure women need!), but hoof care is a science that can not be taught by reading one book or attending one clinic. Doing so, buying into a DIY “natural” barefoot trim attitude gives one just enough knowledge to do serious damage.
Trimming a hoof should never, ever leave a horse footsore.
Many horses have been euthanized after a Strasser trim, and horse owners and natural barefoot “farriers” alike have been charged in animal cruelty cases for using the Strasser trim and causing pain and suffering to horses. Horses dying and owners being charge for cruelty themselves should be enough of a red flag for everyone to stay away from Strasser’s naturally balanced, hoof care trimming method. Yet, there are still many advocates for Strasser’s scheme, and even more Strasser franchises going up around the world.
Some barefoot, natural horse care fanatics do actually see the Strasser trim as not only too radical, but also risky for their horses’ health. But, even these natural barefoot fanatics still don’t see any other option besides “natural” balanced, barefoot horse trims. Now available WITH shoes! Adding shoes to a naturally balanced, barefoot horse trims is like adding a McDonalds meal to your vegan, organic diet!
Now, the other methods of “natural” hoof and whole horse care have involved many different “developers”, thus creating different factions of followers. The common thread with each, “unique”, best-ever-everything-else-is-murderous-system is that they are all following the word natural. If barefoot trimmers are following “natural”, wild horse practices, why are they trimming their feet at all? Are there wild farriers that live out in the plains where the wild horses stop every once in a while to get their feet trimmed (and what’s natural about a horse sitting, or playing with a rubber ball?)
Moreover, susceptible people often forget that horses are no longer wild. You cannot put the genie back in the bottle. Just willing your horse’s foot, with a knife, to take the shape of a mythical, perfect, naturally existing horse hoof of yesteryear will not make it so. Taking a horse with horrible feet and cutting them with a stencil does not make them perfect, great, or natural, no matter how long you try.
So many inexperienced backyard breeders have produced so many terribly conformed horses; a special barefoot hoof trim will not conquer their genetics. In many cases, it may be your responsibility to put shoes on a horse with foot problems instead of mandating the horse conform to your needs as a system follower.
“I don’t see any lameness, he just doesn’t like to walk on rocks.”
The fad within this barefoot market is so strange to me. In so many ways, why not just find a great farrier? A great farrier is going to leave a horse barefoot if that is what is best for the horse. I have had many barefoot horses, some of which competed through 4′ jumpers barefoot even, only to get shoes on for bigger fences, for better traction, or for shock absorption. Since all of these horses that were able to live and compete barefoot also had awesome feet, my farriers would leave them without shoes until needed.
The most memorable experiences I’ve had with natural barefoot trimming, or natural balanced trims, were witnessing the soreness the horses experience after a trim, even after receiving these trims for over a year. These horses would be footsore for over a week AFTER a barefoot trim. The horses were in agony when walking through rocks, or walking on concrete.
Are there no hard surfaces in the wild?
I would be told, “Oh, that’s normal”, or in some cases, “I don’t see any lameness, he just doesn’t like to walk on rocks.” No horse my farrier has ever left barefoot has ever, ever been footsore. Not on rocks, not walking to and from pastures, not on any surface at any point.
Having a farrier work on your horse, whether you put shoes on or not, should under no circumstances cause lameness, footsoreness, shortened stride, or any other displays of pain and/or discomfort. You should be able to get on and ride your horse with no problems immediately after your farrier works on him. If you can’t, have a lengthy conversation with your farrier. If it happens a second time, find a new farrier. If that farrier is you, please stop playing farrier.
The number one most important element in horse care, and horse training, is uniqueness. Every horse is unique and must be treated and cared for as an individual. Following methods, fads, or systems limits the ability to tailor for your horse’s conformation, temperament, personality, and health. Why do all these radical people think that every horse should fit into a mold? What is even more interesting is that these are the people who claim other horse people are just scared of change or something new. When it comes to “natural” horse practice dissident, fear of the new is not an issue. Most good horse people take knowledge from every reputable source, method, and system, pull out what might be useful, and apply it when it is applicable. But above all, responsible horse people know THERE IS NO MOLD.
There is no magic button, no magic book, no magic savior, or no magic set of beliefs that will cause a horse to bond with you. Your program of beliefs are not special, and you are not suddenly rising to the top of all whom ever cared for horses, simply because your system title includes a derivative of the word “nature”.
And in this world, there are a lot of conventional farriers that shoe horses who don’t necessarily need it. It is also very true that a horse that has worn shoes for a long time will need time to adjust to being barefoot. Without the accustomed support of a shoe, hoof walls may chip and crack for a few trims until the nail holes grow out and the hoof becomes stronger, but never should this adjustment period include footsoreness.
And though it’s obvious the closed minded nature of anyone buying into these “natural” themed horse care/training, marketing schemes bothers me, the natural barefoot trimmers actually make me angry. Natural trims cause pain and suffering for far too many horses.
One thing is for sure, I’ll never give up horseshoes. I absolutely love torturing my horses by mounting, cold, cruel metal to their feet. The classically trained, traditional farrier and I have such a laugh at all the discomfort the horses experience while being shod! Oh, and the hot shoeing!
The courtesy and manners my horses show the farrier are surely just done out of fear; their blackened hearts singed from years of unnatural hoof trims, metal tearing their mouth apart, and all the abuse from spurs, whips, and nosechains. In fact, one of my horses is so dull and hates the farrier and the evil shoes he tacks on so much, that he stands perfectly still and tries to play with the handkerchief in the farrier’s back pocket!
Silly, tortured horse!
Shoes or no shoes, lets work away from the marketing schemes. Horse people are already crazy enough without all this bad propaganda.
June 25th, 2008 at 12:17 am
I came across a Strasser-method farrier when I was searching for someone to trim my three-turning-four AQHA. I was a bit far-flung and I was having trouble getting “regular” farriers to drive all that way for “just a trim.” So I looked out of the box. Some of the things she said made a lot of sense, and I was of the school that holding off on shoeing and growing horse gives them a chance to grow thier hooves to fit thier increasing mass, and, as he wasn’t in heavy work, it was cheaper.
I was one of the lucky ones. People started warning me about this woman, and my horse didn’t produce lameness when trimmed by her, but he did become vicious about picking up his feet. This was a carefully-trained, home bred horse who knew his left from right, and he really wasn’t interested in having his hooves handled. She actually asked ME if she could stop trimming him because she was afraid of getting kicked.
This, obviously, distressed me at the time, thinking that I had erred in my training of this typically well-mannered horse. Only after reading this article did I connect the dots that he was saying “I don’t THINK so” to having his hooves messed with.
I’ve moved him, he’s had shoes put on (which he LOVES. He also moves more confidently in the winter with borium… I’m sure that will spark vitriolic counter-posts, but I personally would rather have a bowed tendon than a broken leg from a fall, sorry) and all his picking-up-foot problems virtually disappeared.
The one good thing I learned was about the product Hawthorne Sole-Pack, which is available widely in a gummy, tarry hoof packing and less widely as a thinner hoof dressing with a brush applicator. It seems to have antibiotic properties while preserving the pliancy of the hoof. Stinks to high heaven, but that keeps the flies away!
June 25th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I have to come clean, I am one who routinley abuses my horses, I horrifically have shoes put on them every 4-8 weeks. I do this only to cause severe pain and suffereing! LOL!!
Actually, I would love to have all barefoot horses. It would be incredibly cheap. Its just too bad that there soundness, comfort, traction, and in some cases, poor hoof quality make shoes a necessity. Two are barefoot behind and always have been.
I did have some overwhelming interest in this “movement” about a year ago. My old retired guy has some arthritis and a billion other problems (he’s old) and a woman at my barn said she started using a natural farrier for her old mare at home and she was doing so much better after having shoes removed.
Then I went out and saw the mare. She was probably “happier” because she wasn’t in a stall 18 hours a day, so I will say that part of the natural hoofcare was beneficial for her. The mare was very tender footed and was only comfortable walking on grass. I asked her about that and she said that sometimes it takes a while before they get accustomed to going barefoot. She had been barefoot for 6 months! I could see the first few weeks after having the shoes removed having some tenderness, but for 6 months! I would never do that to my horse.
Then I met the natural farrier. Wow! Very forcefull and almost demeaning. He actually told me that I was ignorant! I laughed. He was very nice until I started questioning his methods and results. Then he turned into a militant hoof nazi! I guess when you don’t have good answers getting defensive and mean is the best resolution for some people!
I have read a little about the process and it seems like they have some good ideas, but the implimentation is lacking and the fact that not every horse has a good foot is very hard for them to grasp.
I can see the draw, to an extent, and would probably consult someone if my regular farrier was at a loss on getting a horse comfortable; my farrier puts shoes on and also knows about the natural balance trims. He is well rounded and always does whats best for the horse. His motto “My client is the horse”.
Elana-I’ve never used the Hawthorne Sole-Pack. But use a sole pack religiously on one of my horses that gets very dry and sometimes brittle soles. My farrier sells it I can’t remember what it’s called but it’s in a black tub. I will look the Hawthorne stuff up. Thanks for the tip!!
June 26th, 2008 at 12:12 am
The hoof pack is awesome–I agree. There’s a woman at my current barn who uses natural hoof trimming on her TB and the horse moves fine but his feet are definitely really spread out and it looks like his soles are hitting the ground. She plans on trail riding him a lot this summer and I can only imagine the pain he’s going to be in. My horse is also a TB and I tried letting him go barefoot when I first got him but he chipped away his hoof wall running around in the indoor arena so the shoes went back on. I might try again once the biotin kicks in. I’m going to be moving to a barn where the trainer’s husband is a farrier and is there every day so he would be able to tack the shoes back on if his feet crack up.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I cracked up when I read this article. I’ve been to this website a few times and love the tone. I just had to comment on this one!
I am a hunter/jumper rider who has dabbled in dressage and eventing. I have two boarded horses, one who wears shoes on all 4 and the other wears shoes on the front and three horses at home - barefoot. My three horses at home are BLM Mustangs. My husband and I adopted them 6 years ago. They are really just pets, but two of them were started under saddle. One was a weanling, one was a yearling and the other was 6 years old when we adopted them. The two younger ones are the ones broke to ride and are pretty good trail horses for only getting ridden 4 times a year (LOL).
My husband and I started the two under saddle ourselves. No problems all three have been a dream to deal with. We did attend a few clinics, natural horsemanship type stuff. We thought it was pretty hoaky so we just winged it ourselves. I have a lot of experience with young horses and my husband was very excited to be involved.
We were having trouble getting a farrier to come to our house to trim them. The older one took a while to be good about picking his feet up, but the younger ones were very quick learners. Their feet were great, big feet, some chips, but strong hoof walls, good tough soles, healthy frogs. The farrier that we had coming to do them was charging us an arm and leg because we were so out of the way. We didn’t mind it, but thought if we could find someone in our area that would be better.
My husband found a flyer at the feed store for a natural barefoot farrier. He called them and the guy was very excited to work on Mustangs, claiming the natural barefoot “method” was based on how horses naturally wear there feet so his “trim” would be perfect for them.
When the farrier came out he said we had really damaged their natural hooves by having conventional farrier trim their feet. This made me a little apprehensive because their feet looked exactly the same as when we first got them and had only been slightly trimmed three times. But, he had all these natural credentials and spoke highly of the Mustang and their feet, so I figured who cares, they are just barefoot, it’s just a trim.
Well, the first trim, they were foot sore but only on the rocks and pavement. There feet looked different, long toes and barely any hoofwall left. The second trim left them lame. I mean they didn’t want to walk. Their hooves were totally different looking they had no hoof wall and were walking on the soles of their feet. I called the previous “conventional” farrier that I used and he said he would be out the next day to take a look.
I was worried that the horses were going to founder. We gave them banamine and left them inside. The farrier came out and felt bad for the horses. He said just to let them grow out for a few weeks, keep them on soft ground, and get boots for them if they are continually sore. He said he could put shoes on for more comfort, but didn’t really want to do that.
So, after 10 weeks, they were still kind of foot sore. My old farrier came out, barely trimmed them (just worked on the angles a little) and after 6 months their feet were almost back to MUSTANG NORMAL = NATURAL.
I would never trust one of those people. Maybe I just had a bad experience, but the natural farrier was a quack and when we called him out on it, he claimed WE didn’t know what WE were talking about.
YIKES! Thanks for the great info. Sorry this was so long, but it’s important to understand that natural trims are not as seen in wild mustangs!
June 26th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Thanks for stepping out of “lurker” mode and throwing down a comment, Mary. You’ve related a great first hand account of terrible pain inflicted by this ridiculous “movement.”
And Bonnie, you make a really good point that many, many equestrians would love to keep their horses barefoot - strictly because it’s so much cheaper. But alas, the shoes stay on because they are needed.
Duh.
June 26th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
Now, dang it, citizen.K, I was all set to give another unmitigated HOORAY for this article, and you had to ruin it by unfairly ripping - again - those of us who incorporate Clicker Training in our training toolbox. Not all Clicker Trainers - or any other trainers for that matter - are alike, just as not all horses are alike. I KNOW you agree with that. ;o)
Anyway… my two horses, 17 and 10, have never worn shoes. However, if they ever needed them, they would be on there in an Indiana Minute. When I lived in Dallas, my horses wore shoes because the ground there gets harder than cement in the summer.
My farrier does not give them a “barefoot trim” - whatever the heck that is - and I have NO plans to trim them myself.
I asked my farrier once about the “Strasser Method.” His opinion pretty much paralleled yours. She has some valid points, but a lot of the stuff she claims is just plain nuts.
June 27th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Thanks for this post, and thanks for such a great blog!
I find myself walking a tightrope between the “natural” and “traditional” worlds, so this post really hit home. I have seen a lot of horses helped with natural hoofcare…but I have seen far too many horses gimping around painfully so the owner could feel morally superior.
I often ask, “What’s natural about a sore horse?” and “Why gloat about your horse’s natural feet if you still have to put on hoof boots to ride?”
Up until the natural hoof movement came along, farriers were making progress in educating owners, but many confused promoting their ironwork skills with promoting their hoof-related skills. And lots of horse owners felt that their farriers loved their anvils, big trucks, and grinders more than the horses they shod.
Then the natural hoof craze appeared and both farriers and vets have been smeared with the cruelty brush. Shouting matches with barefoot nazis rarely accomplish much of anything since the new saviors of the hoof have all the answers. It seems to be part of the training, even if their training included twisted science and creative anatomy.
The problem is, I think they are often right about many things, and often much better at owner communication than farriers and many can point to successful cases. They convert owners who just cannot look in the mirror and say, “I didn’t take good care of my horse”; instead, they praise the removal of the shoes as the cure for what their neglect actually did to the horse. But now they’ve now seen the light.
Horse owners will never get the best care for their horses until farriers will step over the gotta-love-steel line and until natural trimmers swallow their dogma.
Horseowners who buy into the “lame but proud” crowd pay a stiff price for their moral superiority around the barn: they pay with their horses’ pain and discomfort.
Shouldn’t a barefoot trimmer leave a horse naturally sound and rideable? When that happens, it’s a wonderful thing.
June 28th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Don’t worry Suzanne, if you’re a clicker trainer, you’re on the fringe, and we here at Citizen Horse have no problem with the fringe. Piecemeal horse training is fine by us.
It’s the hard-core, holier than thou, natural-nazis that really give us the rub.
June 28th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I’ve studied natural trims for almost 10 years and have come to think that the Strasser trim is a very extreme trim and should only be used in a clinical environment, for some reason it seems to draw in the extreme self-righteous type of person wanting to learn to trim. I must say I thought your article had a little of that same righteous attitude also, just from a different point of view. You might want to check Pete Ramey and his views out. He follows the natural shape and contours of the hoof and does as little as possible to change/correct that. Each foot is deserving of an individualized trim. Perhaps we barefooters won’t seem so much like the wild eyed crazies you seem to think we are. I prefer my horses to be barefoot because they can feel what is under their feet differently than with shoes. I find them to be a more comfortable ride and much more sure-footed. My horses are not in pain. I took the time to learn what works and what doesn’t in the barefoot world. If I felt that my horses needed shoes to be comfortable, then they would have them. For my horses though, shoes are no longer necessary, they have developed stronger, thicker hoof walls and a natural concavity from the hoof capsule forming a tighter connection from having a hoof wall that was kept from flaring as it grows. I put away my hoof knives that the Strasser crowd so loves, years ago.
Generally I enjoy your blogs and agree with them, but on this I really feel that you are lacking a rounded view of this movement.
June 29th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Interesting look from at Strasser from your eyes. OK, so when it comes to Dr. Strasser and her Strasser-ite trimmers, I must agree.
But painting ALL barefooters with the same brush would be like me painting all of you hunter jumper folks with the same brush as well.
Yep- you guessed it. I am a barefoot trimmer. Do I use the word “natural” in there at all? Nope. Do I use Strasser at all? Hell no. I do what needs to be done for the best of the horse.
Horses that we trim don’t walk away lame or sore. They can be and routinely are ridden directly after being trimmed. (The “we” in this equation is my partner and husband.) They do not go through a “natural process of abscessing to remove necrotic tissue.” They do not go through a lameness period.
When do we see lameness? When some half-assed, hammer happy, iron bending jagoff decides that he can put a shoe on when in fact it apprears that he did not know his left from his right. We see lameness in cases of laminitis (which we have treated with a high success rate, barefoot.) We see the rare abscess.
But do you know what we see and hear about the most? Freaking neurotic owners, calling us looking for a miracle cure, or an instant fix. Want instant? Go nuke your oatmeal. Instant and Horse do not mix.
What do we tell someone who has a horse the NEEDS shoes? “Here is the number of Mr XXX- call him and he can help you with shoes.”
I do not call my training (or re-training as the case most often is,) “Natural Horsemanship”. (I almost gave a rasp enema to the last guy who told me to go “…do your Parelli stuff..” …) I do not call my barefoot rehab work “natural”. I don’t even call it a miracle. I call it a job, and live by one simple rule:
Do.
No.
Harm.
Movement, by the way is better off being reserved for bowels, and what I think of every time someone blithley quips the “movement” phrase in my direction…..
Y’all think about it…
June 30th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Yeah, me too. ;o)
July 1st, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I totally agree with Mrs Mom. The original post has a certain attack dog quality to it. In every thing there is good and bad, and that goes for farriers and horse owners and vets and nutritionists, etc., etc.
I have owned horses for over 40 years. I currently own 2 barefoot Arabian geldings. I do not subscribe to the Strasser method in anyway, but I do pay a lot of attention to Pete Ramey and Jaime Jackson. I have also spent a lot of time educating myself on the anatomy of the hoof and how it is supposed to work. My horses are trimmed by a “barefoot” farrier every 4 weeks and I do a little filing and sanding on them every week to keep them in shape. My horses have perfect feet. I trail ride, and we ride hard…sometimes over 25 miles, on all different terrains.
My horses never place a foot wrong. My horses are never lame. If I know we are going to be riding on extremely rocky trails I put the EasyBoots on my older gelding but the younger one does not seem to ever need them (he has never had a shoe on in his life…the older one was shod when I bought him). I have been using the same pair of boots (fronts only) for almost 2 years now with the occasional part replaced and trust me…it is a hell of a lot cheaper than having shoes put on every few weeks!
I am not a Barefoot Nazi. Do what you wish with your horse. But don’t tell me mine need shoes either.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:11 pm
This was a very entertaining article!
Mrs. Mom and Diandra, I guess I didn’t get the same vibe that you did from this article. It didn’t seem like the author was saying barefoot was wrong or bad. It was saying that the natural barefoot movement was bad. Trimming every horse the same isn’t good and not every horse is going to be comfortable with the natural barefoot trim.
I have two horses. One is barefoot and the other wears front shoes. I too, would like both horses to be barefoot just because it would be cheaper! LOL. But, my appendix has horrible feet and terrible angles that just won’t hold up to a barefoot lifestyle. My other horse is a “mutt” who has outstanding feet. He is never sore on rocks or any surface. He is my trail/pleasure horse and he has never taken a off step. I don’t put boots on him or anything. I don’t use a natural barefoot farrier, I just use a regular farrier that trims his feet and does a darn good job!
I don’t think this article said all barefoot trimmers are the same, it’s the “natural” barefoot trimmers.
My barn consists of all types of riders. Dressage, Hunter, Jumper, Eventers, Western (gaming and pleasure) and one thing that is interesting is that over the past 5 years that I have boarded there over half the barn has converted to “natural” horse stuff. This includes natural barefoot trimming. There has been turn-over so not everyone there has been there for 5 years, but the mix of riders has always been about the same.
Of the half of the barn that has natural barefoot hoofcare, about half of those horses are sore. One foundered shortly after a trim (2 days I think). I’m not sure what “method” was used as there are 3 different natural trimmers that come to the barn. But that horse had a mild founder episode a few years prior and the owner was just determined to have that horse natural and barefoot. He had worn eggbars since the first founder episode (lush grass) and he had been sound. She just wanted to be part of the “movement”. Sad for the horse.
But, not all the horses that are naturally trimmed are comfortable. Not even to say they need shoes. All of their feet look the same and not all these horses have the same conformation, bone or hoof.
It’s sad because the owners are just told to give it time and they will be sound, but a few have been this way for well over a year. Why do they do this? I have asked and the answer is always the same “barefoot is better”. Okay, fair enough. If you have a horse with a great hoof and that horse is trimmed, properly, for thier particluar hoof structure and conformation. If the hoof sucks (and many do), there conformtion doesn’t bode well to the angles that are forced onto their hoof by the natural barefoot trimmer, how is barefoot then better?
Of the other half of the natural barefoot trimmed horses, half of those never get ridden so I’m not sure how there comfort is. The rest are good, but many don’t do well on rocks at all. When I go on a trail ride with some of them, they have to stop and put boots on their horses when I’m riding my barefoot horse who has no pain or discomfort walking on the rocks. I guess I just don’t understand the benefit.
I don’t see this article as saying you have to put shoes on. I think it’s just saying, logically, don’t conform to a movement. Do what’s right for your horse. Barefoot might be right, but natural barefoot may not. I think that makes sense.
Just my 2 cents
July 7th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I am trying to do the barefoot thing - criticize away!!!
There are lots of photos of a transitioning TB here: barefootstory.blogspot.com
July 10th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Wow! This mirrors exactly the same arguement people have about man-made global warming. Somone says “X is Bad When Y Happens,” and someone jumps in and says, “X isn’t always bad!!” It’s like trying to argue with someone who calls you pro-pollution because you didn’t like Algore’s movie. Take a deep breath! And don’t argue with zealots, it just makes you look like a zealot too.
I WISH my horse could be barefoot. His dam is still perfectly sound barefoot, and our 21 year old TB (after a rough first year) finally has awesome bare feet. But my little guy LOVES having shoes on. He moves better and is more sure-footed and willing to go over terrain with them than without them. And you only find things like that out by trying it.
I tried the “natural trim” and it didn’t work for us. Clearly, there is a statistical probability that SOME horse SOMEWHERE did get a benefit from Dr. Strasser’s theories.
It also cracks me up when people with pure-bred Arabian horses compare them to other domestic horses. The old lines are so different from the hybrid warmbloods and American breeds (let’s face it, the AQHA didn’t start until the 1940’s. This is a new breed compared to most) Arab attributes are often the IDEAL of what a domestic horse should be in soundness and health, not the norm. Most of us aren’t blessed with those genes!!! (This is a compliment to Arabs, don’t jump on me.)
For those of us with less-than-ideal horses, we should try to leave our options open. Shoeing for the sake of paying the farrier on a horse who gets trail-ridden on grass and dirt once a week might be a situation where you could try going barefoot. Likewise, horses who are goosey over tough footing might appreciate shoes.
Just remember that pulling shoes off a horse who has had them for a long time leaves them without that extra protection for a long time. It was nearly a YEAR before our TB finally stopped chipping his hooves and ooching over rocky ground. (He was not being ridden, that’s why we pulled the shoes.)
Like the farrier said: it’s not miracles, just progress.
July 18th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
“Horse people are already crazy enough without all this bad propaganda.”
Ahhahaha! So true.
July 28th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I was very entertained by this article as usual citizen!
Im a horrible owner I put 2 fron shoes on my geldings feet every 6-8 weeks! I wasnt aware that keeping my horse from getting STONE bruises was a criminal act!
I suppose there are some people and horses who can benefit from this ” movement” I however am not one of them! my horse needs shoes on his pitters so they dont break apart.I would love to see someone fix my horses pancake thoroughbred thin walled feet that is my soon to be eventer the “barefoot way” and keep him sound and un sore!
I dont agree with marketing this “movement” to everyone as if putting shoes on your horse is wrong in some way, i dont understand the logic in this! This method much like “clicker training” is not for EVERYONE. There are people in the world whom still like to do things the conventional way with their horse. Opposed to those who use inscents and sign language to communication more power to you!
This on had me rolling
September 29th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
I can see your point… to a point… I don’t know that I buy into this Strasser method entirely, but I think there is a lot of credence to the argument that shoes are often the root of the problem as are poor barefoot trims that force people into feeling like they are the only options. There are extremists in both cases. When I got my horse 10 years ago, the barn he was at INSISTED on shoes and pads for all horses, because they had rocky ground. I took one look at my horses feet, which were poorly trimmed on top of it… but I could see he had the potential for nice strong feet, and said “HELL no” rip those things off or we are moving… we moved and I ripped them off. He did fabulously for 9 years. Then we moved again, and got a farrier that just wasn’t cutting the grade… his feet were chipping up within 2 weeks of a trim. If I had just gotten this horse, I probably would have though “Damn, I really do need shoes on him, look at how badly he chips” I have since then learned from others that do their own trims, who showed me how to look at the angles, and correct problems that seem to be developing (long heels, flares, etc.) and how to visualize the shape of HIS hoof, and within about 2 trims, I noticed a huge difference. I could feel him actually lenghtening out his stride, landing properly, and no chips in 3 weeks so far…
Yes, there are extremes in both cases… those that will put shoes on a horse because horses must have shoes, and shoes will fix everything, blah blah, and the other extreme as well… crazies on both sides… I think your attack was a bit extreme, but I get it. and I have the same issue with trainers you have… but I get just as fired up at people who dismiss things just because they are called “natural” and accuse people of drinking the kool aide. To dismiss it so entirely is really just as bad as you claim the “other guy” to be.
November 14th, 2008 at 8:12 am
Common Sense. No two horses have the same conformation. The foot angle must correspond to the pastern angle, and must suit the horse’s conformation. Taking the horse back to a more natural condition sounds good but…..we changed that condition by domestication, breeding, and the types of work the horse performs. Many horses do not have a hoof structure that would sustain them in the wild.
November 17th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
sorry, i could not make it through your entire article, but i have to point out the huge disservice you are doing to horses by conflating the entire concept of “natural” equine care and barefoot trimming with strasser. i am a practicing trimmer and everyone i know within the educated and experienced barefoot community considers her a hack and a hoof butcher. everything you say about her and her methods are true, but it is entirely irresponsible on your part to imply that all barefoot trimmers are strasserites.
please take your own advice, educate yourself, and stop spreading bu*^$#!t propaganda. keeping horses barefoot is not a marketing scheme.
November 17th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
i have to point out the huge disservice you are doing to horses by conflating the entire concept of “natural” equine care and barefoot trimming with strasser. i am a practicing trimmer and everyone i know within the educated and experienced barefoot community considers her a hack and a hoof butcher. everything you say about her and her methods are true, but it is entirely irresponsible on your part to imply that all barefoot trimmers are strasserites.
please take your own advice, educate yourself, and stop spreading such volatile and ignorant propaganda. keeping horses barefoot is not a marketing scheme. are farriers just a bunch of people trying to make money selling iron?
horses lived barefoot for 60 million years, long before the advent of marketing.
January 31st, 2009 at 8:59 pm
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