| Barefoot Horses
Our preference is for our horses to be barefoot as much as possible! Here are some Before/After examples of barefoot horses we work on and keep sound in their jobs:
| |
| Lachlan is an approx. 11 year old Irish Sport Horse gelding. He was in shoes most of his life. His owner was always told he was not a good barefoot candidate. When we first saw him, he had shoes on all 4 feet with clips. Lachlan also had several back and neck problems. We evaluated Lachlan's feet physically and radiographically. He had under-run, contracted heels, with corns under the branches of the shoes. His hoof wall was separated and diseased from the clips and nails in the shoes. Lachlan's toes were very long, and dishing.
Through corrective trimming, Clean Trax, a dry lot with abrasive material, and Old Mac hoof boots, Lachlan's feet are now much healthier. His hoof wall is well attached, the heels are back in the correct place at the widest part of his frog, his frogs themselves are much wider, more bulbous and free from thrush. Lachlan also has a well developed toe callus.
Lachlan also had his teeth addressed by Lee Follett, and Postural Rehabilitation work done by Dr Judith Shoemaker.
By incorporating the whole horse into Lachlan's foot rehabilitation, he is sound barefoot in his daily activities, trail rides and play days!
|
Kodah is an approx. 18 year old Thoroughbred gelding who Evented most of his life. He has been teaching young riders to W/T/C and jump recently. When we first met Kodah his owner was concerned because his feet were showing some significant changes...dishing, hoof rings, white line disease, etc. We adjusted his trim and Kodah has done quite well in his home environment barefoot. The following pictures are of Kodah's feet over a 3.5 month time period.
|
|
