Barefoot Voice

Comments and insights with our HHP’s will appear here. Tune in for some personal interviews.

Hello fellow barefooters! It’s so interesting (and refreshing) that we are FINALLY starting to hear some of our own words reflected back to us from our friends and allies in veterinary care though the battle is not close to being won!

But more and more I’m hearing vets recommend a barefoot as a solution to common horse and hoofcare issues. Like recommending more frequent trim schedules – regardless of shod or unshod. Recommending movement vs. stall keeping for lameness issues and even recognizing some of the functionality of the hoof, like blood-flow, traction, and shock absorption. Though it still pains all practitioners when they persist in calling “corrective shoeing” as a solution to lameness issues. Sigh!

But it is good that slowly, slowly, some of the concepts are creeping in to everyday horse vernacular! I’ve hear that it takes 20 YEARS! for a shift in medical recommendations. For instance – arthritis and healing post injury or surgery in humans. All the medical doctors have been recommending a move it or lose it approach and the sooner the better. while the veterinary community still persists in recommending stall rest for nearly all of the above issues. Well, as they say it takes time.

Anyway, the bottom line is pull those shoes, and get your horses out 24/7. That will help many of our horses right off the bat. Next – find a good hoofcare practitioner. And no, a farrier trim is NOT the same. Farriers learn to trim to keep shoes on, not for ultimate hoof performance.