Natural hoof care benefits entire horse, says hoof practitioner
ANGLEA WOOLETT, For The Prairie Star leads her report with:
STEVENSVILLE, Mont. – Modeled after the natural wear patterns of wild mustangs, natural hoof care is beneficial for the entire body of the horse.
Trained as a mechanical engineer, Jay DeHart of Stevensville, Mont., questioned the actual shoeing of the hoof of his horses. It just did not make sense. Shoeing froze the foot in one place and did not allow it to function.
Then, he read a book on natural hoof care written by Jamie Jackson. Jackson and Pete Ramey are the originators of natural hoof care.
In the 1980s, Jackson began studying the hoof of wild mustangs on Bureau of Land Management land. He then began copying that pattern on domesticated horses, developing what is now practiced as Natural Hoof Care.
Natural Hoof Care is trimming the horse’s feet to resemble the wear pattern of wild mustangs and to allow them to not have to be shod.
Unshod wild horses hooves wear themselves to a very rounded edge on the outside of the hoof called a Mustang Roll. Trimmers mimic this.
But, horses will eventually wear their hoof walls down level to the sole of their feet. If they are not kept trimmed, oftentimes that hoof wall will grow down like a shoe, eventually chipping and breaking off.
So, the animal’s feet must be trimmed every six weeks, explained DeHart.
Although trimming looks kind of primitive because the trimmer used great big clippers, DeHart said it is difficult to hurt the horse.
More information about DeHart’s clinic can be found at www.highperformancehooves.com.
To find a qualified natural hoof care practitioner near you, visit www.aha.com.
