A lot of people think that "proper care" has nothing to do with a horse's hoof health.
More specifically: turnout and diet.
These tend to be the people who feed their horse high-sugar, high-concentrate diets, keep their horses on grass, and utilize rotational turnout. They tend to think that this constitutes great care.
Truth is, they could not be more wrong in more ways than one.
The management of the horse (see: turnout and diet) has everything to do with barefoot success; I daresay it’s almost as important as the trim itself. A horse kept in a stall 18 hours a day and fed a diet high in sugars, and turned out on grass is not going to be set up for barefoot success. True, some horses can successfully be barefoot in this kind of a situation, but not all. The grass and high-sugar grains will cause inflammation through the laminae, and the amount of time spent standing in one spot in a stall, possibly with feet resting in urine and feces will reduce circulation to the hooves, not allow any callous to build up or stimulate the hoof capsule, and cause thrush and decay. A horse in this environment with less-than-perfect hooves to start with will not be set up very well for success, and add in a less-than-perfect trim and you’ve got an unsound horse. Nail on some shoes, and you’ve pointed your horse straight down a road “my horse can’t go barefoot.”
Now, what does constitute proper care?
To answer this question you have to look at the wild horse model; the model that the care of our domestic horses should be compared to at every opportunity, and that we should strive to come as close to as we can in the care of our horses. Our domestic horses are, for the most part, genetically identical to wild horses as far as the basic needs of the species go. The wild horse model is what we must strive for as horse owners if we want to have a horse that is sound of mind and body, and a horse that can successfully go barefoot.
Let’s start with movement (aka, turnout): Does a wild horse spend 18+ hours per day in a stall? Does a wild horse stand in one place for many hours per day? No. The wild horse travels over 20 miles per day on average over rocky, hard terrain that challenges the mind, body, and hoof. Now, obviously this is not possible with our horses, however we should strive to come as close to that type of a situation as we can. Paddock paradise systems, or track systems, have been designed to mimic the movement and terrain of wild horses as closely as possible, but once again, they are not achievable for most horse owners at the present time. The closest most horse owners can come, and the least they should settle for, is 12 or more hours of turnout on a dry lot with other horses. The less time in a stall the better, and the more time turnout out the better.
And now, diet: This is a big one for a lot of horse owners, and a very touchy subject. Horse owners do not want to hear that the “premium” grain they are feeding their horses is harming their feet. First, let’s take a look at the diet of wild horses: they graze all day on lush, green pastures, right? Wrong. Wild horses graze on sparse, dry scrub grasses, moving constantly. They spend 15 to 17 hours of every day eating so their guts are moving constantly. They don’t eat meals, and they don’t eat anything high in sugar.
Now, let’s take a look at what we feed our horses: from my experiences at boarding farms here in New Jersey, horses are fed two meals a day, generally consisting of 2-3 flakes of hay and several pounds of grain. Sometimes horses are turned out on dry lots where grass is sparse, and sometimes they’re turned out on lush, seeded, and fertilized cool-season grasses. Either way, this is nowhere close to the wild horse model. Horses as a species are not designed to digest sugars in the levels that we feed them; most commercial grains as well as lush, green grasses are very high in sugars and insoluble starches, and are fed in much higher amounts than they should be. This causes inflammation through the laminae and can cause sensitivity in the hoof, making the horse footsore.
So what IS proper care? What actually constitutes it? What is the ideal (but still easily attainable, which is why I’m not even mentioning paddock paradises in this post) situation for a domestic horse (and yes, even performance horses) to be living in?
Ideally, a domestic horse will be turned out with other horses 24/7, or as close to it as possible. The buddies will keep the horse mentally stimulated and allow him to engage in social behaviors, such as mutual grooming and participation in a herd-like hierarchy, and the turnout itself will help keep the horse moving and keep the hooves stimulated.
The diet will consist of mainly free-choice mixed grass hays, preferably spread around the paddock to encourage the horse to move as he would if he were a wild horse. Slow feeders or slow feed nets will also help stretch the hay consumption out. Grain should only be supplemented as needed and in as low of an amount of possible, and only grains low in sugar and insoluble starches should be given. This will keep inflammation in the foot to a minimum.
The last part is, of course, the trim. A proper trim by a certified natural hoof care provider, who is trained in wear pillars and the way the hoof mechanism is supposed to function, combined with proper care will have your horse on the fast track to barefoot success!
(credit for all photos goes to Nevada Wilds Photography)
