Natural
Barefoot Rehabilitation |
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What exactly IS Barefoot
Rehabilitation? Well, let’s look at the definition, first, of
“rehabilitation”: Simply put, “re·ha·bil·i·tate tr.v. re·ha·bil·i·tat·ed, re·ha·bil·i·tat·ing, re·ha·bil·i·tates
-- The American Heritage®
Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Notice the keys words, “good” health, “useful” life, “operation” … they are not passive words. They are words that designate full use. So, “Barefoot Rehabilitation”, with regard to horses, can only be defined simply as restoring the horse to a useful life without the use of iron shoes. What is so bad about shoes, you ask? To briefly encapsulate, shoes restrict blood flow to the hooves; shoes restrict the natural expansion and contraction of the weight-bearing hoof necessary for optimal health, movement and gaits; shoes weaken hoof horn due to the nails that are driven into the hoof producing holes and weakened areas of the horn; shoes provide only a temporary, artificial band-aid fix to many hooves that are physiologically unsound thereby enabling the unsoundness to increase. Horseshoes also prevent the natural traction of the Equine hoof designed by nature, herself. Let’s take a quick look at the natural, healthy hoof:
Notice the distinct, cupped shape of the hoof with the short toe, short heels and full frog. The hoof is symmetrical all around. Can you go and pick up your own shoeless horse’s hooves and see this? If you can, wonderful! You have a horse that can only be in good health and optimal use! If not, if what you see is, instead, is flat sole, long toes, long heels, tiny frog and and asymmetrical shape, your horse has problems. Maybe not big problems right now but they WILL get a lot larger in the long run if the hooves are not tended. Compare the above photos with the photos below of shod hooves:
Hooves are shaped by nature to be concave; cup-shaped. With each step the horse bears down on the hoof and the hoof “gives” to the tremendous pressure and leverages by expanding. During this expansion, the frog is instantly put into work by coming into full contact with the ground. This action stops the blood flow back to the lower leg until the hoof is raised off the ground. Once the hoof is brought back off the ground the blood vessels are opened once again to allow adequate, healthy, oxygen-rich blood to circulate back into the lower limbs. The frog and the digital cushion is over 60% fluid. Fluid dissipates energy. Thus, not only is the frog part of the vital circulatory system it also is a major part of the shock absorbing system. A shod horse, walking on hard ground, sends over 800 hZ through the lower leg. Most likely, with shoes, the horse is landing toe-first which means that all this frequency is going straight up the front of the leg bone. This rate of frequency is fatal to healthy, live tissues. Living cells cannot survive in this great amount of frequency. A healthy, barefoot hoof that is in good form will absorb around 60 - 80 hZ of frequency, at the walk, right through the frog and digital cushion that are fluid filled to dissipate that energy. As a result, tissue is stimulated rather than shocked and killed. Now, use your imagination a bit. A horse that is jumped over a 2 ft. jump lands with 12,000 pounds of pressure! One can only imagine the kind of shock and frequencies that are jolted into the hooves and legs with each landing on iron shoes! Now, imagine the shod horse whose hooves are numb … why are they numb? Because the hooves are being restricted which, in turn restrict circulation, which, in turn damages nerves, which, in turn become numb. Just as if you were to sleep the wrong way on your arm, block the circulation and cause your hand to fall asleep – this can be compared to the numbing effects of nailing shoes onto hooves. If riders were given the option of riding a horse who is feeling just parts of their hooves vs. those riding a horse will full and active feeling in all parts of the hooves, which do you suppose the rider would choose? Which would YOU choose? Next let’s examine what the bars of the natural hooves do. They not only help to support the hoof, itself, but also act as traction and brakes for the horse. When bars are long and overgrown, the pressure from weight bearing causes the bar to jab into the inner hoof with each step. This is painful for the horse. When the bars are long enough to fold over from pressure, they are rendered pretty much useless, as their traction function is no longer in working order. So now one will have a horse with pain shooting through the hoof and working with less than efficient mechanism. Long heels anyone? If the heels are long enough to disallow the contact of the frog on the ground, the frog not only can NOT do its job as shock absorber and circulatory aid, it now atrophies from lack of stimulation and use. A withered up frog sets things up so the heels begin to contract and now a whole circle of negative effects is set in place: lack of circulation (loss of mechanism), lack of feeling in the hooves (restricted blood flow to the nerves); lack of traction and pain going through back of hooves (long bars); lack of shock absorption (atrophied frogs); life destroying frequencies going through bone (lack of frog and detrimental shock absorption by digital cushion); what else? Lack of proper mechanism of the hoof also is resultant in lack of traction of the hoof, itself. With expansion, the hoof creates a “suction effect” as it lifts back off the ground. The connection with the frog and sole callous (the rim of healthy, calloused sole around the outer rim of the under hoof), with the ground is sorely compromised with atrophied frog, metal shoe covering the natural sole callous area and the lack of expansion. It
all sounds remotely Now, let’s go back to Barefoot Rehabilitation. Let’s pull the shoes off the horse, administer a correct natural trim and see what kind of rehabilitation and restoration takes place: Remove shoes and nails = q Increased, optimal circulation resulting in health new horn production q Increased functional shock absorption q Increased functional traction q Increased adequate braking q No debilitating pain causing faulty gaits and performance q No resultant hoof syndromes due to pressures and asymmetries q Increased overall health of hooves and entire body. Most of all – a SOUND horse that is able to physically, mentally and emotionally give his heart out to the rider in performance with no major physical hindrances. How long does it take to rehabilitate hooves? With proper care, trimming and treatments a new hoof will grow from coronary down to the ground in 8 to 12 months time. Does this mean the horse is rendered use-less during this time? Absolutely not! MOVEMENT is the key to getting the circulatory processes in good working order. Riding with boots, allowing for 24/7 turnout so the horse can graze as designed and self-exercise, regular “walks” in hand on hard ground, all play a factor in recovery and rehabilitation time. Diagnosed syndromes and disease also play a huge factor in rehabilitation time and type of rehabilitation. Navicular, Laminitis, Founder, White Line Disease, Ringbone, Pedal Osteitis, Stress fractures, Thrush, Yeast – all of these dis-eases require specific rehabilitative procedures according the their severities. The overall health of the WHOLE horse plays a significant role in rehabilitation, also. Feed and nutrients, social life, environmental factors … remember, we’re not rehabilitating the hooves; we’re rehabilitating the horse. The first step is removing the shoes and allowing the hooves to regenerate new horn and capsule with correct, frequent trimming and care and increased movement. From there, its all uphill with health and performance. |
like
jumping around on a steel pogo-stick with no spring and rubber foot. Just
imagine your horse having to feel that with each step. Imagine the wear
and tear and degeneration of the shock of jumping on a metal stick with no
shocks for years and years on end. My teeth ache just from the thought of
it!