Trimming Sole, Bars & Frog with the Hoofknife

QUESTION: 

I wonder if you could suggest a way for me to learn to trim sole, bars and frog with the knife. What I do at present is clip my horses's hoofs and rasp them to what I think is the right angles. I would love to learn to do this trimming so I can remove injured frog material and lower the bars and decontract the heels. None of my horses have any particular problem but the bars seem to grow too close and tight to the frog and I don't think my farrier lowers them enough.

Thanks

David M. Brown

DR. TOM'S ANSWER:

Hi David,

It does take some time getting used to the feel of the tools and how to manipulate them. As far as actual techniques and trimming styles, there are some books out there that describe how a natural trim is done, and you can also attend various workshops/clinics to learn to trim. One of my teachers is Martha Olivo, and you can see her website and schedule at www.unitedhorsemanship.org. There may be someone in your area that has all ready attended some workshops, and you can also use the website to find them.

Dr. Tom T.

NOTES FROM GWEN ON TRIMMING:

Hey David!  Dr. T said I could add my comments, too! *VBG*  So ... I have a few to make from the Hoofcare/Trimming viewpoint on use of the tools and when to use them. 

First of all I need to state that I don't trim the soles at all except to shave down a bump or lump that will cause pressure from being obtrusive on weightbearing. In other words, if the lump or bump would come into ground contact before the rest of the sole callous then it needs to be smoothed out otherwise it can cause points of discomfort to the horse - much as if you had a pebble in your shoe. It can be "ouchy" if not downright annoying! I will rasp a level and smooth area around the toe callous if I need to in order to level the weight-bearing plane of the hoof. But, if the hoof is in balanced and level then I may not touch the sole callous at all. It all depends. Now that's just as clear as mud for you, isn't it!?  *LOL* I feel strongly, though, that the horse needs full sole for protection for its P3 and to pare it down only can render soreness. A sore horse is not a happy horse. It's OK to get rid of the chaulky and flaky OLD sole -- that stuff the horse will wear away anyway on its own if moving about on solid ground. But that's all that I'll remove. 

As for the bars ... the bars are there for support. There are a couple of schools of thought on this. Strasser maintains that the bars will, if left at heel level, not be able to function properly i.e. mechanically allow expansion of the hoof, and therefore need to be trimmed a bit shorter than the heels. I generally rasp the bars with the heels and then, if needed, will gently slope with the knife from the heel and tapering down to about 1/2 way the length of the frog where the bar will blend into the sole smoothly. This allows for the support needed as well as the traction AND the bar can still function properly with expansion and contraction of the hoof during proper mechanism. If the bars are overgrown I will straighten them with my knife and taper them gently as I just described but will NOT 'scoop' down past the dirt line in the crevices of the frog. Nor will I take any material out that is really difficult to remove around the crevices even if it means leaving overlaid bar material til the next trim. If the material is pretty easily removable then I will "help" the restoration of hoof mechanism by removing the overlaid bar material. But I will not 'dig' to get it out and forcibly remove it. I've found that the horse will, on its own accord, work that dead bar stuff loose with movement and mechanism of the hoof. Next trim, a bit more will be easily taken off and so on. 

As for the frog, again, I RARELY remove frog material except in the anterior portion to reveal the "true" apex of the frog so I can find my breakover point. If the frog is really chewed up and flapping all over towards the posterior I will remove the flaps in order to keep from harboring fungus but that's it. Again, allowing the horse to restore its own with proper movement and mechanism of the hoof will work wonders and far better than we can artificially. 

I am along the lines of "less is more" when it comes to helping horse's hooves become restored to healthy, natural and strong state. If we give the horse the parameters to heal, nature does a wonderful job - far superior to our sculpting! 

Remember, though ... all of our trimming will be to almost no avail without MOVEMENT!  The horse HAS to keep moving to keep the circulation going throughout the hooves and lower limbs. 24/7 turnout on varied ground including hard, sandy, grassy, gravely etc. will work far better for restoring healthy hooves than forcing the horse to stand in a stall on mats for hours and hours and hours with drastic trims every so often. Get that horse moving! And, combined with movement and proper trimming is diet ... as natural as we can get for a domesticated horse living in a human world. 

I'm going to refer you to Marjorie Smith's website where she has some excellent photos on how to hold the knife, how to sharpen the knife and the actual trim motion of the knife. Her webpage is: http://www.barefoothorse.com and you'll find the information in  the "Trim" pages. 

Better than web photos is finding someone in your area who would be willing to mentor you. If you'd like to email to me privately at caballus@charter.net I'd be more than happy to help find someone if I can. 

Hope this little bit of info helps you in the meantime. 

:)  --Gwen