Ride Barefoot for the Health of your Horse!

How I Got Started...

An Arab mare started me down the barefoot path more than twelve years ago.  She had a very slight club foot, not even very noticeable unless you knew what you were looking at.  At the time I was working in a national level barn that had a very talented farrier, and he kept my mare well-shod.  Then I left that job, and since he wouldn't come out for one horse, I had to find someone new.  There are some excellent farriers out there, and there are some who don't know jack,  and guess which ones I was finding?  My formerly sound horse was now lame and that club foot looked horrible!

My excellent former farrier had always said I should get into trimming- I was always peppering him with questions!  I read everything I can get my hands on, and had been reading Jamie Jackson's book at this time.  I decided what the heck, she's my horse and already lame, how can it get worse?  So I took a deep breath and told the latest farrier to pull the shoes, and started trimming her myself according to the guidelines that the barefoot trimmers were promoting.  I really just jumped in and made her a guinea pig.  Two months later she was back sound and I was riding her down the roads barefoot.  I'm not saying this will happen with every horse, but it sure got me hooked and wanting to learn more.

Tsham was amazing motivation to learn why and how we were able to do this;  I started picking the brains of every hoof care professional I could find, and looking for every resource available.  Nowadays if I'm not talking about horses and hooves I'm reading and studying about my favorite subject.

...And Currently

I trim for many wonderful horse owners in Virginia, and am trying to find time to get at least two of my own out competing on the trail this year.  They will be barefoot and booted, of course! 

How I Trim

Four years ago when I first moved to Virginia I was very lucky to locate Paige Poss not far from where I lived.  After reading her website I knew I could really elevate how functional my trim was, so I called her and asked if I could meet her and talk hoof.  That was the beginning of many brainstorming sessions that continue to this day. 

 http://www.ironfreehoof.com/ 

is Paige's website- the trim I do is already documented here, step by step.  Paige has spent many thousands of hours photographing, documenting, and formatting all this information into a great resource for trimmers and horseowners who want a better understanding of how and why barefoot works. The how of trimming is the easy part; the why something works for one horse and not another is what keeps us searching for answers to the questions.