Dispelling the Myths about Barefoot Horses

A little perspective is sometimes needed to combat the farriers vs. barefoot trimmers rumor mill. We find ourselves in a bit of a disadvantaged position, simply because the barefoot movement had some serious growing pains along the way. How couldn't it? No one had done the research. We were feeling our way along with little more than guesses and experimentation...some educated, some not so educated. By far the biggest transgression of the barefoot revolution to date, in my opinion, has been invading the sole. But the Strasser trimmers are still at it. Even a lot of the folks claiming to do a "wild horse trim" still do it: the "ground parallel coffin bone" idea had a lot of folks trimming heels well past an optimal collateral groove depth; a lot of trimmers still advocate rasping from the bottom until you reach "tight" white line; and the "toe rocker" idea persists as well, with trimmers invading the sole at the front of the foot.

With some of the fantastic research that has become available, we now know better. The collateral grooves were there all along, and somebody (thank you, Pete Ramey!!!) finally figured out what a fabulous gauge they are to calculating sole depth at both the toe AND the heel. If only that better information was more readily available; the truth is that it takes a fairly intrepid internet geek to rustle up the good stuff. (You certainly won't find any books on the subject at your local tack shop or Barnes & Noble. I'm personally chomping at the bit for Dr. Robert Bowker's promised book.) A Google search on "barefoot horses" or "barefoot trimming" yields so much outdated information that surely new barefoot converts are still learning the wrong way. Some of the sites that were my bibles when I first decided to go barefoot, sites that were cutting edge at the time, still teach the ground parallel P3 notion, "rasp to the tight/healthy white line" and toe rocker ideas.*

All of which leaves the lot of us frequently defending the barefoot idea in general, and often answering very specific allegations. Of the more serious charges I've fielded are that barefoot horses are prone to coffin bone fractures and pedal osteitis (thinning/degradation of the coffin bone). I have found NO research on coffin bone fractures OR pedal osteitis that indicate "barefoot" is suspected to be a cause. I strongly suspect this (susceptibility to distal phalanx fracture) is something that holds true with trimming that pares away sole, or with horses being transitioned from shoes that have thin/flat soles (boots and pads!! we love boots and pads!!). I have no trouble believing horses trimmed a la Strasser, or like I see many farriers trimming, with aggressive carving of the sole, would be at greater risk.

Simple logic quickly discounts the idea that nailing a shoe to the wall somehow protects the coffin bone. Fractures of the distal phalanx are not all that uncommon, in general. They are generally caused by trauma -- kicking a wall, stepping down hard on a rock on hard ground, etc., although racehorses (who are rarely barefoot) and horses frequently worked at speed over hard ground are seen with stress-type fractures. Until relevant research becomes available, I'll stick with building 3/4" to and inch of healthy, calloused sole, and protecting hooves that haven't developed that yet with boots and pads. The only time a shoe protects the foot from a rock is when the shoe itself is the part that steps on it!


* Don't misunderstand me here, there are instances when a toe rocker is indicated, but not for every horse!