The Healthy Hoof - Case Studies

Digger's Story!

October 24, 2008 - Digger is a 7 year old Quarter Horse from Calabash, NC. Digger was headed for surgery when I asked the barn manager if she would mind if I tried to work with him over a few months to see if he could be helped without going through surgery. I am thankful she said sure, as I really do want to give Digger a chance to have healthier hooves. As you can see in the picture below, Digger has issues in the front and back. His left front is snapping over due to excessive straightening of the pastern. His left rear suffers from a severe crack from his coronary band downward, and an old abscess within that crack that never closed completely. He is also tender on his right rear for reasons we have not determined yet.

Digger was used as a lesson horse. His stride was a bit short. The veterinarian recommended trying to treat Diggers left front by cutting his check ligament to correct the buckling at his pastern. His heel were long on all of his hooves and his left front pastern was so straight it buckled forward when he walked.

I started Digger off with a light trim and daily Lysol soaks for all 4 hooves. He will be trimmed once a week and soaked daily until the bacteria in his hooves is under control.

The approach that I feel Digger needs is one of a slow change until the tendons in the leg can adjust. I want to stress that we are transitioning digger slowly. The horses ability to adapt to the barefoot trim is amazing.  If there are physical problems, along with conformation, the healing process can be lengthy...BUT...the rewards are great.  The hoof is an amazing piece of the horse's body, and the horse's well-being, and sometimes his life, depends on that hoof being healthy and sound.  The barefoot approach takes into consideration the whole horse, the mechanics of the foot, and how to trim that foot to function properly.  When this is done right, the whole horse will benefit from this process.  If anyone is struggling with soundness issues, please pursue this barefoot approach, and be amazed at the improvement to your horse's performance and behavior, even if your horse is already sound. 

This is not a passing fad, this is the future, and there are a lot of horses that are going to be happy and sound because of it.  The advancement of hoof boots like epic easyboots that are the 21st century shoes, the horse owner has the options to go to rocky trails and still keep their horses barefoot.  I have people tell that there horse can't go barefoot. I can tell you that your horse can go barefoot.  It is easy for the horse, and hard for the owner.  The police department in Houston, Texas, have 36 horses that are barefoot on city streets and parks. They have been amazed at the benefits to their horses' performance.  In every discipline of the horse world, they are finding that their horses do better barefoot. God made a perfect animal for us humans to love and enjoy, let's do our best to give them healthy hooves.

I have included pictures of Digger's hooves below.
Check back often as I will have monthly updates on Digger's progress.

Digger's Hooves - October 24, 2008	Digger's Hooves - December 5, 2008
Front - Oct.	Front - Dec.
Left Front - Oct.	Left Front - Dec.
Right Front - Oct.	Right Front - Dec.
Rear - Oct.	Rear - Dec.
Left Rear - Oct.	Left Rear - Dec.
Right Rear - Oct.	Right Rear - Dec.

Digger - December 5, 2008