While many horses are still shod, there are a number of horse owners that would like to transition their horses from shoes to barefoot. Understanding the function of the healthy foot and the damage caused by shoes is critical to providing the time and effort it may take to transition the horse from a diseased state to health.
Unlike the leather, rubber and canvas shoes humans wear and can pull off at the end of the day, metal horse shoes stay nailed onto hooves for weeks to months at a time before being reset. Horses are kept shod, sometimes for the horse's entire life. The practice of shoeing is called a "necessary evil" due to the acknowledged fact that shoes do damage to horse's hooves.
In a quote from "Horseshoeing Theory and Hoof Care" by Dr. Leslie Emery. "Lack of understanding of the natural state and function of the hoof is the primary deficiency in the shoeing theory and practice, and in the treatment of lameness."
Results of Shoeing
If the coffin bone is tipped up due to excess heel and bar horn or wedge pads,
- it's angle against the connection of the laminar wall is getting shearing pressure, which creates micro tearing and stretching of the laminae.
- If this connection fails, edema enters the confined space between the hoof wall and coffin bone creating enormous pressure and pain.
- Most conventional veterinary approaches are concerned with alleviating pain. So a section is cut out of the dorsal wall allowing the abscess to drain. Although this provides immediate relief, the real cause of the problem has not been addressed.
The x-ray below clearly shows the cause of the problem: high bars and heels. The hoof of this 6 year old horse also had a high degree of contraction and joint adaptation.
Transitioning to Barefoot
When horses are transitioned to a balanced barefoot trim, blood enters this damaged laminar corium for the first time since before the horse was shod. The damaged laminar connection is weak and cannot hold on to the coffin bone, allowing it to descend lower into the hoof. Inflammation ensues to repair this damage and the laminar wall must be grown in from the coronet down in order to re-supend and connect the coffin bone. That is why switching from years of shoes to barefoot is often difficult and painful for the horse and confuses the owner because the owner believes the trim "caused the horse to founder". (See Laminitis In Barefoot Horses")
Requirements for transitioning from shoes:
- an educated owner
- a holistic hoofcare provider
- soaking boots
- smooth, level surfaces
- x-rays
- Old Mac G2 boots or other boots that do not inhibit proper hoof expansion
- supportive treatment like massage and chiropractic care
Understanding Existing Damage
An X-ray is the first step in assessing the damages. If the shoes have been on the horse from an early age, the coffin bone may be deformed. Since the coffin bone is not fully developed until the age of 5 years, the palmar processes, which are the last part of the coffin bone to develop, can become deformed as they grow inside an increasingly narrow space due to confinement by the shoes.
As you can see in the X-ray below, the coffin bone is unnaturally tipped forward by high heels and bars.
- This pinches the circulation to the dorsal laminar corium.
- All the arterioles inside the coffin bone are backed up with blood.
- This pressure dissolves the bone making it fragile.
- As a result, there is the loss of bone on the dorsal surface.
- The coffin bone slides down from the sheared laminar connection
- The front edge becomes sharp and may pierce the sole horn or develop a "ski tip" loosing its natural concavity.
- The bone cells die. This cannot be seen on x-ray because dead bone is just as opaque as live bone.
- In addition to bone loss from pressure, there are the unnatural tensions within the hoof that create excess bone (ossifications). This excess bone may take the form of sidebone, ringbone and navicular lumps and bumps.
Understanding existing damage within the hoof may influence the decision whether the horse can survive transition with enough structural integrity remaining in the foot to perform at the level needed. Unfortunately, many owners are unaware of the damage horse shoes cause and don't seek the holistic benefits of barefoot until it is too late.
Sandra Judy - An avid horse woman for all of her life, Sandra has providedholistic hoofcare education through clinics and her website. She began with ...
