Natural hoof care
To begin with, I would like to give my opinion on the hoof care, where I want to emphasize that I never liked terms such as “natural care of hoofs”, “barefoot trimming ” and similar.
The natural care of the hooves is provided by wild horses in nature with their own way of life, which is in my opinion also the only genuinely natural care of the hooves. Undercutting and care of the hooves of domestic horses, which imitate the shape and functionality of the hooves of wild horses, is always only a better or worse approximation to the naturally shaped hooves. The challenge is much more complex. The goal is not to have functional only hooves, since only horses that have all their basic needs met and balanced can have functional hooves. For this reason, the approach must be set holistically (holistically), and the goal is to achieve a fully usable and satisfied horse, regardless of its purpose.
It is crucial, therefore, understand the fact that they healthy and functional hooves with a well-functioning hoof mechanism are a result of an integral way of life and care of horses, and the hoof trimming method is only a piece in the mosaic on the way to achieve this goal.
For a functional horse with healthy and strong hooves it is therefore essential to meet its basic social and emotional needs with a life void of stress within the herd, to enable enough movement on a varied and hard enough surface and to provide adequate and balanced diet with emphasis on low-sugar fiber feed. Only when all of the above factors are met, does “natural” hoof care make sense .
In my 25-year history of horsemanship, I have learned mostly from my experience. For a long time I believed that my riding horse had to be shod, but growing up on an animal farm allowed me to become well acquainted with the natural behavior and needs of animals. Many years of observing hoof shoeing gave me the opportunity to see some of its more harmful consequences such as hoof anomalies, stumbling of the horses, loss of horseshoes, poor and erratic movement, etc.
The topic began to deeply interest me, so I read and learned a lot about barefoot horses, about the life of wild horses and their functional hooves, about the hoof mechanism, biomechanics, hoof structures and their role, and about the natural care of hooves. I watched more experienced trimmers at work and received my first lessons, since I wanted to try out everything I read and saw so far. At first and especially for my horses, it wasn’t easy, but I soon learned the most important rule of hoof trimming which is less is always more. It became clear to me that creating a well-functioning hoof is a time-consuming process and not a matter of one-time or occasional care.
This is how I started my journey of a horse hoof trimmer, on which I always strive for improvement, I like sharing my experience with other people and I am constantly learning from more experienced trimmers. I had the opportunity to observe the work of some great national and foreign hoof trimmers, and I combined all seen and learned with my own experience.
Today, in addition to my horses, I also trim the horses of my friends and customers, both locally and abroad. If you are interested in my hoof care services, I will be happy to answer all your inquiries.
