Scott has been competing in reining events for most of his life and had never before heard of Scoot Boots and the benefits they provide reiners.
]]>Scott has been competing in reining events for most of his life and had never before heard of Scoot Boots and the benefits they provide reiners.
Our Scoot Boots actually fit perfectly over sliders - a shoe that is wider and longer than traditional shoes used for the rear hooves.
In fact the opening design of Scoot Boots at the rear heel bulbs provides for the sliders to fit through, giving stability for the horse to exercise freely and with added security as the slider holds the Scoot in place.
Scoots boots are the only hoof boot on the market that will fit over a slider.
After fitting our Scoot Boots on Scott’s two performance horses, the Scoots gave excellent traction on slopes, dry grass and gravel.
They also provide excellent traction and protection for horses being transported to events.
With Scoots over sliders there is no slippage, falls or risk of injury, plus the horses can increase their exercise and overall fitness and wellbeing.
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
When hitting the trail on your horse or mule, you want to feel confident that your equine is comfortable, protected and has secure traction under his feet to suit any unexpected terrain the trail might throw at you. Even though healthy, well-conditioned barefoot hooves can do wonderfully on the trail as they are, most equine hooves require some kind of protection to be comfortable and secure on crushed, sharp rocks or on those slippery rocks lining the river passage.
Mules, the hybrid cross between a female horse and a male donkey, are notorious for their sure-footedness in difficult terrain and are ever-increasing in popularity as trail riding mounts. Of course, all mules have individual personalities, but generally mules are a mix of the best traits from both horses and donkeys - mules are as athletic and trainable as their horse mother, and as sturdy, resilient and intelligent as their donkey father.
Nonetheless, although mules have excellent, natural proprioception and sure-footedness, they still have sensitive hooves like horses and require protection to not damage their internal hoof structures or compromise their biomechanical health when working on harsh or sharp surfaces. However, the shape of most mules’ hooves is different to most horses’ and ponies’ hooves, which the average, protective hoof boots are made to fit.
In the following, we will explore which key features a high-performing hoof boot will need to have in order to fit the often high-heeled, upright hooves of a mule. At the same time, we will treat you with additional tips from the professional trail rider Robert Eversole, to make sure both you and your mule are well equipped and prepared for your next trail ride in the backcountry.
TrailMeister Robert Eversole out on adventures with the handsome Ruger, his main riding mule.
Robert Eversole, his wife Celeste and their family of horses and mules are located in the high desert in the state of Washington US. Robert may be better known as the TrailMeister, who has been sharing his extensive knowledge about horseback trail riding in the US and Canada on his website trailmeister.com for the past 15 years.
Robert travels the country holding clinics about trail riding and giving lectures in map reading and trail and camp skills that are essential for successful multi-day camping with your horse in the wilderness. He also spends a lot of time out on the trails himself exploring new routes and campsites. While doing so, he’s had his mules shod with metal shoes, because as he says; although his mules have hard, tough hooves, nothing is as hard as granite or the volcanic ground they often travel across.
“However, I would prefer not to nail steel shoes onto their hooves when they don’t need shoes for other health reasons. Also, horseshoes are slippery on slick rocks and don’t provide the traction we need on the trail. So, a few years ago I tried multiple different hoof boots - including the regular Scoot Boots that didn’t fit the mules, and other brands of hoof boots that were just too clunky and interfered too much with the gait and agility of the mules. So, I went back to traditional steel shoes,” said Robert.
Then earlier this year, Robert received a call from Scoot Boots telling him about the new Scoot Enduro hoof boot, that is particularly well suited for mules due to their narrow shape and adjustable heel strap to fit high heeled mules. Robert was keen to try them and one of Scoot Boots’ experienced stockists Karen Cox from Timberline Tack came out to do a fitting on Robert’s mules in cooperation with Robert’s trusted farrier Alex.
Robert is, however, as he should be, very particular with what he will let his mules wear on their precious hooves, and he will under no circumstances compromise on the comfort or safety of his ‘furry kids’, as he endearingly calls his mules. As such, Robert developed a kind of check list of conditions that had to be met before he would switch from steel shoes to hoof boots. The requirements were that the hoof boots should;
When Karen had fitted the Scoot Enduro hoof boots on Robert’s main riding mule Ruger, she went with them on a ride to a nearby trail. Initially Robert was rather skeptic about riding out in brand new boots that hadn’t been worn in:
“Before we even hit the actual trail, I stopped and asked Karen if we should check the boots. No, there’s no need to, she said, and we continued. Then a bit further up, I asked again. She said no. Then a little later, Karen looked at me and asked if I would like to check the boots. YES, I said, and jumped off to look for rub marks,” Robert laughed.
But there was no rubbing from the Enduro hoof boots and Robert felt safe to continue what turned into a 5-6 mile ride. Up to date Robert has now gone about 50 miles in the Enduros and he’s very optimistic about the future:
“So far, the Enduros have proven to meet all my requirements. I have yet to try them in water and on very big rides, but up till now I’m basically super excited to finally have a real alternative to steel shoes that actually fits and works for my dear critters [mules],” said Robert.
Practice makes perfect: Robert in the proud moment of getting an Enduro hoof boot put on in only 23 seconds - it took him 60 the first time.
Robert initially started his horseback riding adventures with horses, but it only took one ride on a mule for him to be completely converted. What it is about mules, that made Robert fall so deeply in love, is difficult for him to pinpoint but he does have an idea:
“It’s a feeling of knowing it’s just right, it’s hard to explain. But I just love those long, beautiful ears! And I think mules have a much more refined sense of self preservation than horses. They think about things. Like, you can make a horse do something it doesn’t feel safe doing, but you can’t with a mule. And in most cases, you are right to trust their judgment,” said Robert.
And being able to perform good judgment of a situation is perhaps the most important skill you can have according to Robert, if you’re looking to do multi-day trail riding and camping with your equine. Apart from Robert’s list of 10 essentials things to bring on every trail ride, it is just as important to know when and how to use the items you’ve brought, Robert emphasizes:
‘I’m more of a ‘use what you’ve got’ kind of person, rather than buying a lot of fancy gimmicks. But how much help is it really to bring a first aid kit, if you don’t know what’s in it and when and how to use it? Please take the time to practice and learn first aid! If not for yourself, then think of it as being able to help your beloved equine or your friend who went with you on the trail. If you’re out in the wilderness with poor access, it could take hours or even days before help arrives, so you need to be prepared for every scenario,” said Robert.
In 2021 at early springtime, Robert and his wife Celeste went to Montana to go on a camping trail ride and they were following a route they had been on before. Robert was in front riding Ruger and had his pack-string behind him made up of Ellie at the end, who’s Robert’s main pack mule, and little Cocoa in the middle, who’s a cross between an Icelandic horse and a donkey. Behind them followed Celeste.
“We had to cross a river that turned out to have much more water in it and a much stronger current than last time we were there. As we got into it, I realized that little Cocoa would have had to swim to make it across, so I decided to turn around. As I did, Ruger slipped and fell, and I ended up in the water and broke my ankle,” said Robert.
Luckily, Celeste, who was still safe on the riverbank, managed to get Robert and the rest of the pack-string back out of the roaring river and used her PLB (personal locator beacon) to call for assistance. Robert then got picked up by a helicopter and flown to hospital, whilst Celeste rode home by herself with the entire pack-string.
“You see, it’s not enough that one person in a group of trail riders knows how to operate a satellite device, how to determine your exact location and how to read a map and use a compass to make your way home on your own if you need to. Celeste was certainly the hero in this story if any,” Robert said.
You definitely don’t want slippery or clunky footwear on trails like these! Robert in front on Ruger followed by Cocoa and Ellie at the end.
At the moment the soaring summer temperatures in the Washington desert is limiting Robert’s time on the trails. He is, nonetheless, keen to get out and about in Ruger’s new Enduro hoof boots at every chance he gets, and he’s much looking forward to trying them in the snow when winter arrives.
You can follow Robert’s adventures day-to-day on his Facebook page and find more than 3000 verified horse-riding trails and campsites across the US and Canada on his website.
Don’t ever compromise on the comfort of your equine’s feet on the trail and make sure you’re prepared for every scenario when you’re venturing out into the wonderful wilderness. Stay safe, and happy trail Scooting!
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has three: An off-the-track Thoroughbred, a paint horse and a Shetland pony, who are all bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen - for Scoot Boot
Friday February 24, 2023, at the Gothenburg Horse Show in Sweden, the final results of the much-anticipated barefoot study "Unshod Sports Horses - for Durability and Performance" were finally presented by leading scientist Lars Roepstorff from the Swedish Agricultural University (SLU) and Peder Fredricson, one of the best showjumpers in the world.
Preliminary results from the study have already indicated a significant difference in the ability of the horses’ hooves to contract and expand if they are restricted by a horseshoe or not. The final results presented this Friday revealed that the difference in movement of the barefoot hoof and the shod hoof was as much as up to 50%, said Lars Roepstorff at the media presentation.
Furthermore, the study shows that the contraction of the barefoot hoof that happens just before the horse sets foot on the ground, is non-existent in the shod hoof. The contraction that happens in the roll-over phase of the barefoot hoof, is hardly even traceable in the shod hoof either.
Whereas the lead scientist professor Lars Roepstorff wants more analysis done to draw conclusions on the consequences of these findings, Olympic gold medallist in showjumping Peder Fredricson offered his thoughts on the findings:
“As I see it, it shows that the barefoot hoof is able to do what it’s been built to do, and that the horse’s shock absorption works better when the hoof can move as it should,” Peder said at the media presentation.
In the following, we will look at some of the other significant findings of this brand new pilot study, which are all largely related to a performance advantage of the barefoot horse as compared to when the same horse is shod with traditional iron horseshoes.
The study was initiated in 2021 based on extraordinary achievements from letting previously shod horses perform barefoot without horseshoes. Achievements that up till now have lacked scientific evidence but could have game changing potentials for reducing lameness and injuries in top sports horses as well as pleasure horses.
Swedish showjumping champion Peder Fredricson has experienced far less injuries in his horses since taking them barefoot and as he said during the media presentation, his vet bills have decreased dramatically. Peder has been a key part of the study not only as an initiator, but also by facilitating the practical ridden tests for the study.
These are the 5 key findings of the pilot study on barefoot hoof performance:
Now, let’s take a look at what some of these findings actually mean for your horse and his performance if you’re riding him barefoot or traditionally shod.
Olympic gold medallist in showjumping Peder Fredricson said his vet bills have decreased dramatically since taking his horses barefoot.
The goal of the study was to scientifically measure and explain the differences Peder clearly feels is happening in his horses when training and competing barefoot. As such, the study was carefully designed to use quantitative methods to investigate how movement patterns can change when a horse moves with or without shoes, with particular focus on the lower part of the limb and hoof.
One discovery from the study, which came to much surprise of the researchers and Peder, was the fact that the unshod hoof was found to contract its quarters in the moment just before landing. This is a finding that has never been described in literature before and Professor Lars Roepstorff discusses its possible implications in the research report:
“One can speculate whether it is due to the horse preparing the hoof for landing and weight bearing by starting to tense the deep flexor tendon at the same time as the hoof is slowed up in both rotation and position, and thus creates inertial forces, which mean that the tension in the deep tendon, so to speak, receives a counterweight similar to what you see during rollover.”
This contraction was only found when the horses were barefoot and non-existent when they were shod. It is yet to be investigated what it means for the shod horse and in particular his deep flexor tendons, that this presumed preparation for impact throughout the lower limb could be restrained by the nailed-on horseshoe.
Lars Roepstorff and Peder Fredricson in front of a chart displaying a 50% greater movement in the unshod hoof and the contraction before impact, that only happens in the barefoot hoof.
It has been known for decades that adding weight and height under the horse’s feet will force them to lift their legs higher, which in turn has been used to exaggerate the leg lift in some gaited horse breeds. However, this Swedish study has now been able to measure in great detail just how much only a traditional 8mm horseshoe can change the movement and speed in a horse.
Key finding number 2 of the new study is that the unshod horses rotate their hooves less than the shod horses and the rotation of the hooves happens quicker. With less weight on the hoof, the horse does not have to lift the leg as high during the hovering phase and the faster accelerations allow the horse to switch more quickly between support phase and swing phase.
Figuratively speaking, according to the report discussion, we can say that the horse becomes more light-footed, which in turn could be an explanation for the fact that the horses could be faster both over and between obstacles. When Peder Fredricson was asked at the media presentation if he felt his barefoot horses were quicker over the jump, he said:
“Not so much in that particular phase, it’s more like driving a car with power steering – all goes a little easier and smoother. (…) You get the feeling that the horse has better control over his body and his feet, because he can feel the surface and there’s no extra weight.”
The high speed cameras used in the study are the same type of camera that are used for motion capture when creating film animations. The markers resemble little balls and it takes many of these to create an accurate 3D reconstruction.
The 3rd key finding of the study builds on from the 2nd key finding and relates to the difference in how long the shod and the unshod horse has its hooves on the ground in between strides. The Swedish researchers found that with less high leg lift and a faster change between support and hover phase, the barefoot horse can keep the hoof on the ground relatively longer than the shod horse during each stride cycle.
What does this mean in real life? To answer this at the media presentation, Lars Roepsorff forwarded the question to the audience and asked; Well, who wins the second round against time in showjumping? The horse who can take more steps per second!
As explained in the research report, all the work of movement whether it is straight forward movement, acceleration or deceleration, quick turns or jumps, is done during the time that the hoof is in contact with the ground.
The more time, relatively speaking, during each stride, muscles get to work, the more efficiently the work can be done. Increased step frequency simply means taking more steps per second. The effect of this is that for a given distance between two fences, let's say 4 canter strides (approx. 17.5-18m), you can ride faster.
The graphs illustrate the difference in how long the barefoot horse has his feet on the ground in between strides as compared to the shod horse.
The in-depth interview part of the study concluded that all participants emphasized the health benefits they had experienced with their horses since transitioning them out of horseshoes. However, the pilot study didn’t include the epidemiological and orthopedic health analysis it would require to scientifically prove the connection between barefoot horses and the less injuries and better health that the interviewees are experiencing.
Nonetheless, Professor Lars Roepstorff and Peder Fredricson are hopeful the research will be continued. As the research report suggests, there is potential to find a connection between the increased internal mobility in the barefoot hoof and an increased blood circulation, which is important for supplying nutrients and oxygen to tissues and removing waste products.
“The other potentially important effect of increased mobility could be that you get a better shock absorbing mechanism in the lower part of the limb which could reduce maximum loads in joints, tendons and ligaments. The latter we have so far not been able to quantify in this trial, but there are still some analyzes that can be done,” the Professor writes in the research report.
The media presentation of the final results of the barefoot study at the Gothenburg Horse Show in Sweden.
Read more about How to Transition your Horse from Iron Shoes to Barefoot
Read more about Using Hoof Boots as an Alternative to Horseshoes
Read more about Hoof Boots for Competitive Performance Riding
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has three: An off-the-track Thoroughbred, a paint horse and a Shetland pony, who are all bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. Helle for Scoot Boot. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
You should never let your horse become foot-sore, says Equine Sports Massage Therapist Lauren Hazelwood, because your horse will change his posture and movements to avoid putting weight on the sore part of his feet, and this will create problems up through his body.
“I’d say in at least 70 percent of the horses I treat, who have developed poor posture or muscular imbalances, it is directly related to hoof issues,” Lauren said, who has been practising equine therapy professionally since 2015.
As such, whenever Lauren sees a client, whether it’s a regular client or a new horse, she wants to see the horse move before addressing possible problems and from looking at the condition of the horse’s hooves, it is likely where she will find the cause of most issues in the horse’s movement. Foot soreness in a horse is often a result of unbalanced and poor hoof trimming such as:
In the following, we will look closer at a few of the most common causes of foot soreness in horses that impact other parts of the horse’s body, and learn how you as a horse owner can help prevent hoof soreness and avoid other subsequent bodily issues caused by compensatory patterns.
Lauren at work helping 8yo Jack release tension in his shoulder. Many hoof issues that have impacted the horse further up his body require cooperation between a hoof care professional and the horse’s bodyworker to be helped most effectively.
Imagine you’ve got a blister on your one heel. This will inevitably make you try to avoid pressing your heel down and rub the blister further. Then you compensate by stiffening your ankle and landing on your forefoot, which will put pressure on your knee, put your hips out of balance, make you pull your shoulders up and result in a bad posture.
In most cases people don’t mind limping around and show they are in pain till they get to take their shoes off and put a band-aid on the blister. Horses, on the other hand, being a prey animal, survive on not displaying any signs of weakness and will do anything to disguise the pain till it’s so severe they can’t avoid showing it.
By the time a horse’s pain becomes obvious, chances are that the stress on the compensatory body parts have become an issue as well as what was causing the pain initially. And often the horse becomes so good at compensating, that the aftermath is what’s noticed first:
“Generally, if you notice a muscle bulge somewhere on the horse, it is likely to be caused by compensating for something else. For instance, some horses will develop these massive bulging hamstrings as a result of sore front feet, when the horse comes into the habit of leaning back to take the weight off his front,” Lauren explained.
Lauren Hazelwood is located in Tasmania, Australia, where she runs her own small business Lauren’s Equine. Apart from being an ETAA certified sports massage therapist, she’s also an equine tissue mobilisation specialist and produces her own horse immune defence booster-supplement and is a stockist of hoof boots from Scoot Boots.
One of the most common hoof related issues Lauren comes across in her work is something so well-known and yet so often overlooked: Thrush. Thrush infected hooves become very sore and will make the horse sink backwards onto his bulbs to avoid loading weight on his frogs. This leads to overextension of the horse’s knees and puts pressure on the ligaments along the backside of the leg.
As such, thrush in the horse’s hooves should never be ignored and needs to be treated daily for as long as it takes to clear up. Using hoof boots during recovery from thrush can help make the horse more comfortable and lessen the horse’s urge to avoid loading weight on his frogs. Loading of the frog stimulates the tissue and encourages new growth, which is just as important as helping your horse get rid of the infection itself.
“It is really important to keep your horse comfortable and moving while he recovers from thrush. I would absolutely recommend using Scoot Boots to protect his feet and add extra pads inside the boots if needed,” Lauren said.
Lauren and her beloved OTT thoroughbred Thunder. She uses Scoot Boots both for riding and rehabilitation and has found Scoot Boots to be the perfect aid allowing all her horses to be barefoot.
Imbalanced hoof trimming is another issue that will make your horse adjust his body and movements to compensate for the imbalance in his feet. Hooves that are trimmed to a flat plain such as in a classic pasture trim, are most often left with the toes too long. Long toes on a horse will delay the hooves’ natural breakover and make the horse land on his toes, which over time creates a multitude of problems:
“Apart from the damage toe-first landings can do to the horse’s feet internally, it puts a lot of stress on the flexor tendons, his knees and his shoulders. A horse that lands with his toes first can’t collect from the rear and you’ll often find that your horse will end up falling in on one side to let his stronger side carry most of the pressure,” Lauren explained.
Toe-first landings in horses can also be caused by different types of caudal heel pain and needless to say; horse owners should investigate the cause and initiate treatment immediately to avoid lasting damage. Depending on the cause of the horse’s heel pain, the horse will eventually need to rehabilitate his caudal heel strength and that will require stimulation of the frog as well as in the case with thrush.
Hoof boots from Scoot Boots are an excellent aid to help the horse be comfortable enough to land on his heels again and relieve the stress from his flexor tendons. However, do keep in mind that in order for any hoof boot to work as an aid in rehabilitation, the underlying cause of the horse’s discomfort must be treated and if caused by unbalanced trimming, this must be gradually corrected by a qualified hoof care professional.
Toe-first landings can be the result of many different types of heel pain in the horse such as navicular, contracted or underrun heels and delayed breakover due to poor hoof trimming that leaves the horse’s toes too long.
According to a scientific evaluation of the Benefits of Equine Massage Therapy, a good equine massage includes a focus on equine anatomy and physiology, pathology, and the impacts of movement and exercise on these systems. A competent therapist should be able to understand the horse’s behaviour and normal and abnormal responses to pain.
“The end goal of a massage, no matter if it’s an elite performance horse, a retiree or a rehabilitation case, is relaxation. You work to identify and release any blockages and tension in order to improve muscle health and motion, and this can only be achieved when the horse is relaxed,” Lauren said.
A good place to start practising being able to see if your horse is in pain, is by watching him rest. You want to see a nice, drooping underlip, lowered neck, ears drooping to each side and the resting of one hind leg.
“If a horse isn’t able to rest comfortably, you know something is troubling him. If his tummy is tugged up, his lower back and hind end is tugged in, he’s shifting his weight between his legs, or his neck is tight. So be mindful, learn what your horse looks like when he’s relaxed and comfortable and pay attention to the small signs of discomfort,” Lauren recommended.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has three: An off-the-track Thoroughbred, a paint horse and a Shetland pony, who are all bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Have you been struggling to find hoof boots to fit your horse or mule due to their heels being too high or perhaps because your horse has a high heel on one foot and the other foot is low or normal height? This is exactly what the new Enduro hoof boot from Scoot Boots can accommodate for with their multiple adjustment options including an extension accessory for the bulb strap to suit even the most upright and high heeled horse or mule.
Additionally, the Enduro hoof boots are made with a wide, soft and flexible heel bulb strap, which will eliminate the risk of rubbing sensitive heels even further. The Enduros come with mud straps instead of the regular pastern straps, which make the Enduro hoof boots stay on securely even during rides through the toughest mountain terrain.
Karen Cox has been fitting and stocking Scoot Boots through her company Timberline Tack for the past five years and she has been trialing the new Enduro hoof boots prior to their release. She lives in Bozeman close to the Rocky Mountains in Montana US and has done about 300 miles in the Enduros so far.
“I am stoked about the new Enduros and their adjustability – they are a complete game changer for horses that don’t fit into the regular Scoot Boots and particularly horses with high heels,” Karen said.
Karen Cox with friends all in Enduro hoof boots on a 10-mile trail ride at the beautiful MT Pony US.
Although regular Scoot Boots can be stretched and adjusted to fit multiple heel shapes, many horse owners and mule owners have been struggling to fit hoof boots on their horses with upright and high heels. One of these horses is 31-year-old Phantom, a Paso Fino owned by Megan Rego. She found help through Scoot Boots stockist Karen Cox:
“I’ve always wanted Phantom to be barefoot but his front hooves couldn’t ever handle it. With Karen’s sizing and fitting help, I was able to have his front shoes pulled and get the Enduros for his TINY but tall heeled front hooves. I am VERY impressed with this design and Phantom is loving them,” Megan said in her feedback to Karen.
The new completely open heel design of the Scoot Boot Enduros makes them suitable for all horse heel heights and shapes, and they come with an extra extender to apply to the heel part to lift the fitting up as high as needed for the most upright and high heeled horses.
“We added the EVA foam tape and duct tape for gaiters since he’s wearing them for eight hours a day in turnout - I’d like to note that half our turnout paddock is currently 6-8 inches of deep mud! The Enduros were still perfectly positioned when I came out at the end of the day. He had no rubbing, no irritated spots, just a happy horse who didn’t want me to take his comfy boots off. Thank you, Karen!” Megan said.
At last the high heeled Paso Fino found comfort when he got into the Enduro hoof boots. Can you believe this handsome man is 31 years old!
Another Scoot Boot stockist, Stacy Pratt with Heartland Scoot Boots, agrees that the wider and fully adjustable bulb strap on the new Enduros is much more comfortable for the horse and makes it possible to fit a whole new range of horses comfortably into Scoot Boots.
“I have to tell you; I could not believe how great these new Enduros are. The wider bulb strap is fantastic, I have not had any rubbing on any of my horses from this strap and believe it or not; once they are fitted and set up, the Enduros are even easier to put on and off than the regular Scoot Boots”, Stacy said.
Stacy Pratt has been a stockist for Scoot Boots for about five years and is thrilled to now be able to offer the Enduros to those of her clients, who’s horses haven’t been able to fit into the regular Scoot Boots. She is located in south central Missouri US in the area called the Ozarks that is known for its extensive rivers, forests and mountains, in which she has been trialing the Enduros to make sure they perform perfectly in the toughest terrains.
Watch Stacy’s video below showing the Enduros perform on steep, rocky ground, and notice how confidently and comfortably the horse lands correctly with his heels first:
Karen Cox is also impressed with the performance and design of the new Enduros. The snug, narrow fit of the Enduro hoof boots makes them stay securely on the hoof without having to rely on a tight heel strap that could cause rubbing. The primary function of the bulb strap on the Enduros is to stop the hoof from sliding out of the boot when traveling on steep terrain, and the pastern mud straps will prevent the boot from twisting.
“Just recently I went on what I thought would be an easy 10 mile round, but we hadn’t previously been on that trail, and it turned out to be the hardest 10-mile ride I’ve ever done. One section was an incredibly steep climb on loose dirt. Lots of sections where we were walking on boulder fields. Also walking on slick rock where my friend's shod horse slipped, and they both fell. We had zero problems in the Enduros!” Karen said.
The Enduro Hoof Boots are made from the same lightweight, flexible material as the regular Scoot Boots and have the same secure tread pattern underneath, which gives superior traction for your horse to safely move across the most challenging surfaces.
The Enduros do take some effort to get set up for your horse due to their high adjustability. In return, however, you’ll get a hoof boot that is custom fitted for your particular horse and super easy to slip on and off. As always, you are most welcome to reach out to our knowledgeable Scoot Boot sizing team for advice on fit and sizing.
In her Facebook group Heartland Scoot Boots, Stacy Pratt provides helpful videos on the new Enduros, how to fit them and other great advice about using hoof boots for your horse.
About the author
Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has three: Pannigan - an off-the-track Thoroughbred, Luka - a Paint Quarter Horse/Arab and little Audrey - a Shetland pony, who are all bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
The interest in going barefoot is exploding worldwide and has sparked a new comprehensive research project to scientifically explain why elite riders such as Olympic Gold medalist Peder Fredricson is experiencing far less injuries and lameness in his horses after taking their horseshoes off.
However, Peder Fredricson and the two main figures behind the new study, veterinarian Staffan Lidbeck and Professor Lars Roepstorff, said that horse owners should seek competent assistance before pulling the shoes off their horses, as the horse needs correct barefoot trimming and help to adjust to the sensation of touching the ground directly.
“It is important that anyone who wants their horse to walk without shoes gets competent help. In the beginning, the hooves may need to be trimmed every two weeks, and eventually the owner will find his routines so that the farrier can come less often,” Peder Fredricson said to Agria Djurförsäkring, which is the animal insurance company who’s funding the new research.
We at Scoot Boots completely agree that horse owners need expert advice and support to successfully transition their horse from shod to barefoot. In the following, we will look at why it is so important to ally yourself with a qualified barefoot trimmer or barefoot farrier with specific experience in barefoot transitioning, and explore the three keys to a successful transition from shod to barefoot:
If you are considering taking your shod horse barefoot, it is important to start by looking at your feeding routine to make sure your horse has got the best foundation to build strong, healthy barefoot hooves. Horses’ hooves are designed to constantly replace worn away tissue, so the horse needs a constant flow of nutrients to build these new layers of hoof and the quality of the new growth depends on the quality of the nutrients.
While good quality hay and fresh grass contain all of the vitamins a horse needs, it generally doesn’t provide optimal levels of minerals. Zinc and copper deficiencies are particularly common in horses. Zinc and copper are not only vital for your horse’s immune system, but also for the health of his hooves. Zinc deficiencies are associated with slow hoof growth, thin hoof walls and weak hoof horn. Low copper levels have been linked to cracked hooves, leading to issues such as thrush and hoof abscesses.
Although some nutrients are more important for hoof health than others, they all work together. As such, you should be careful about adding extra targeted hoof supplements to your horse’s diet, as this could change the balance of the total intake of nutrients. Instead, it is much more effective to get his entire diet right, which will then be feeding his hooves as well as the rest of his body optimally.
The rule of thumb is to focus your horse feed on forage and fibre and avoid sugar and starch from cereal grains. You can base your horse’s diet on these four, simplified steps:
Fuel your horse with fibre and forage instead of grains and sugar if you want to help your horse grow healthy, barefoot hooves.
Professional barefoot trimming techniques are based on imitating wild horse’s feet, who - as we know - are neither shod or trimmed but still their hooves remain naturally hard and strong. As such, the science behind barefoot trimming has to embrace the horse as a whole and incorporate effective exercise/conditioning of the hooves as well as supportive nutrition.
When you call a traditional shoeing farrier without specific barefoot expertise, he will commonly perform a so-called pasture trim. The technique of a pasture trim is practically no different to the trim the farrier would do before applying a new shoe: Cut or rasp the entire hoof back to a flat plain appropriate to suit the shape of a shoe. This means that all parts, heel, bars, hoof wall, sole and frog will be taken back to a specified height and levelled out.
Quite differently to a pasture trim, a barefoot trim seeks to take as little off the hoof as possible. In principle, a barefoot trimmer will only take away the excessive growth of the toes that the horse’s environment hasn’t been able to help him wear off naturally. Rasping away the toe callous can make the horse instantly sore and sensitive. As the frog and sole will shed themselves, these parts are usually left untouched.
Another typical difference between a barefoot trim and a pasture trim is the length of the toe and breakover. Since a pasture trim commonly will shorten the entire hoof, the toe is often left longer than after a barefoot trim, and this longer, straight toe is likely to delay the breakover of the foot. On the contrary, barefoot trimmers use a so-called brumby roll technique to round the toe at the hoof's natural breakover point, to imitate what would have occurred naturally if the horse had worn his hooves as wild horses do.
Read more on the subject in our article: Best choice of Hoof Care: Barefoot Trim or Pasture Trim
You will need help from a hoof care professional who fully supports your decision to go barefoot and has the experience to make the transition from shod to barefoot successful.
It can take anything from a couple of weeks up to a year to transition your horse from shod to barefoot. It all depends on the condition of the hooves once the iron horseshoes have been removed and the reason your horse has been shod in the first place. If you have merely used horseshoes for extra protection, it might not take any longer than a couple of qualified barefoot trims and a set of hoof boots for your horse to be back in full action.
When a horse has barely ever touched the ground directly due to the application of horseshoes, you must expect some degree of foot soreness after removing the shoes. Sore feet could make your horse alter his gait and movements in an attempt to avoid the pain, which could result in a whole other range of problems. As such, you want to ease the transition. The best way of getting your horse used to touching the ground and rebuilding his hoof strength naturally, is by letting him wear some well fitting, shock absorbing hoof boots.
Most experienced barefoot trimmers provide the service of helping to fit suitable hoof boots on your horse and if not, try finding one in your area by using our Scoot Boots stockist list. This list might also be helpful to locate a qualified barefoot trimmer if you’ve been inspired to try a different approach to hoof care and a more appropriate trimming of your barefoot horse.
Once your horse’s feet have hardened up, you may not need to use hoof boots very often. You might only choose to use them occasionally to provide some extra protection for your horse’s feet when you’re riding on a rocky trail or rough gravel, like Peder Fredricson uses hoof boots for.
Using Scoot Boots is the most gentle and effective way to transition your horse from shod to barefoot.
When going barefoot with your horse it’s important to remember that his hooves will adapt to the environment he spends most of his time in. As such, it is to be expected that your horse could be somewhat footsore when out hacking on gravel or rocky trails, if he’s spending most of his time in a soft, sandy paddock or on thick grass and muddy soil.
Wild horses’ hooves adjust to the environment they move across and their hooves will grow according to how quickly the natural environment wears them down. That is why wild horses rarely suffer from the common hoof issues of domesticated horses and why wild horses don't need to be trimmed by a farrier. In recent years the concept of setting up a track system in the paddock with a variety of surfaces to condition the horse’s feet has become extremely popular.
However, as discussed above, it is not a good idea to go “cold turkey” on a horse who has just had his shoes removed and drop him on a gravel track to harden up his feet, as this will only make him sore. The advantage of using hoof boots in the process of conditioning your horse’s feet is that hoof boots such as Scoot Boots allow the hooves to function as they were naturally intended although they are still protected from bruising.
In Scoot Boots, the horse will learn to stimulate the foot’s natural shock absorber - the digital cushion - by being comfortable enough to land heel-first, which as a result will strengthen both the function of the lower limb as well as the hoof itself. Then as the hoof adjusts to being barefoot, you can gradually expose your horse to different surfaces without the protection of a hoof boot. The key is to expose your horse at his own pace - if he shows any signs of soreness, he might need to wear boots a little longer.
About the author
Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has three: Pannigan - an off-the-track Thoroughbred, Luka - a Paint Quarter Horse/Arab and little Audrey - a Shetland pony, who are all bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
A brand new Swedish barefoot study has revealed that traditional iron horseshoes inhibit vital functions of the hoof such as the hoof’s ability to contract and expand. These findings has led Professor Lars Roepstorff, the scientist in charge of the study, to call for alternative ways to protect horse hooves in the future.
“One would like to find alternatives to iron shoes that can handle the shoe's most important functions; wear protection, anti-slip protection and protection against point loads, but at the same time allow a normal function of the hoof. I think that is the future,” Lars Roepstorff said to Agria Djurförsäkring, who has partnered in the research project.
Traditionally, iron horseshoes have been used for protective purposes, but as the new barefoot study has shown, iron shoes also come with undesirable side effects, which is not only due to the rigid iron shoe itself but also from the fixing of it onto the hoof with nails.
For decades the interest in getting rid of the iron horseshoes and going barefoot instead has increased, and that without much scientific evidence to explain why the horses were performing so well without the traditional horseshoes. Lately, a growing number of elite riders are also successfully going barefoot, and that’s what’s sparked the new research project.
Professor Lars Roepstorff and his team conducting research with the help from Peder Fredricson, who is one of the many professional riders that uses hoof boots to protect their horse’s feet instead of horseshoes.
Swedish Equine veterinarian Staffan Lidbeck was intrigued by how his friend and Olympic Gold medalist Peder Fredricson was having such success and less injuries since he had taken his horses barefoot. He contacted Professor Lars Roepstorff to ask if he could scientifically explain the success, and it turned out that Peder had also contacted Roepstorff with the same query. With supporting funds from Agria Animal Insurance, who were also interested in ways to reduce lameness in horses, the project became a reality.
“For me it has been obvious to put shoes on the horses. I've probably had the prejudice that there is a certain category of riders who have their horses barefoot and that it doesn't work at top level. That the professionals would take off their horse’s shoes was somehow not on the map,” Staffan Lidbeck said to Agria Djurförsäkring.
“It was brave of Peder to take this step, also with his very best horses. He said something wise, that I have thought about a lot; That you often hear talk about which horses can go barefoot and that it is not for everyone. But Peder wants to turn it around and ask; Who can't be ridden without shoes? We are so enamored that iron shoes on horses are the norm. Instead, perhaps we should ask ourselves in which situations and for which activities horses need the shoes,” veterinarian Staffan Lidbeck said.
In the following, we will look into how you can protect your horse’s feet without the restrictions of nailed on iron shoes, and why hoof boots are the perfect alternative to the traditional iron horseshoe.
According to vet Staffan Lidbeck, top level riders are breaking down the prejudice that only a certain type of people have their horses barefoot. Pictured is South African Amelia Campbell-Horne jumping barefoot in Scoot Boots.
Despite the many advantages of taking your horse barefoot, there are still instances where your horse’s feet require extra protection. As Professor Lars Roepstorff points out, the main function of the traditional iron horseshoe is to prevent excessive wear of the hooves, to distribute the load over a larger surface in case of point pressure - for example if the horse steps on a stone - and to provide the horse with a better grip on slippery surfaces, which is achieved by adding studs under the shoes.
Hoof boots such as Scoot Boots, are lightweight, flexible, and very easy to put on the horse when needed. Scoot Boots improve the barefoot horse’s shock absorbing properties and have been found to encourage the desired heel first landings. They provide excellent wear protection of the horse’s hooves on all surfaces.
As opposed to iron horseshoes, which don't cover the sensitive sole of the hoof, Scoot Boots cover and protect the entire surface under the hoof, which as a result provide superior point pressure protection. As such, Scoot Boots protects against bruising and makes the horse move confidently across all types of terrain, whether that be gravel, hard asphalt or rocky trails.
Hoof boots from Scoot Boots have been made for performance and the tread itself provides extraordinary grip on slippery surfaces. When extra grip is needed, such as in icy weather conditions or when doing high speed showjumping or cross country on wet, muddy grass, studs can be applied directly under the hoof boot providing the same, enhanced grip as studded horseshoes.
Scoot Boots allow the hoof to function completely normal with no disturbance to blood flow or hoof expansion and contraction, whilst providing superior hoof protection compared to horseshoes.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author
Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has three: Pannigan - an off-the-track Thoroughbred, Luka - a Paint Quarter Horse/Arab and little Audrey - a Shetland pony, who are all bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Since the Olympic Gold medallist and World number one in Showjumping Peder Fredricson pulled the shoes of his horses and went barefoot, he has had far fewer issues with lameness, far less injuries to the hooves and lower limbs and not a single hoof abscess. And perhaps needless to say, his horses keep bringing home the gold like never before.
But why is that? For decades hoof rehabilitators and horse owners have experienced extraordinary results with taking previously shod horses barefoot, but there has been very little research done to support these results scientifically.
So far, fragments of larger studies and smaller case studies have proved how iron shoes increase concussion when the horse lands, how iron shoes interrupt the blood supply to the hooves and inhibits the hooves’ ability to contract and expand. And the renowned podiatry researcher Dr. Robert Bowker VMD has even described how shoeing can be the direct cause of caudal heel pain, also referred to as navicular disease.
However, with next to no specific research comparing the performance of a barefoot hoof to a shod hoof, the debate between pro-shoe horse people and anti-shoe horse people have relied mostly on belief, tradition and personal experience. Now, a new comprehensive research project by The Swedish Agricultural University (SLU) and Agria Animal Insurance is well on the way to scientifically determine the difference between the barefoot hoof and the shod horse hoof.
SLU Professor Lars Roepstorff and his team conducting research for the new comprehensive barefoot study with Peder Fredricson performing an empirical riding test in the background.
The Swedish research project is led by Professor Lars Roepstorff, who has been collecting data from empirical riding tests and in-depth interviews throughout the past year. The preliminary results from the first phase of data analysis confirms what smaller studies previously have found: Traditional horseshoes do affect the function of the horse’s hooves.
“The iron shoe locks the so-called hoof mechanism especially when landing after obstacles. The shod hoof can’t expand or contract as much as the barefoot hoof because the shoe inhibits lateral movement. It could mean that the blood flow in the shod hooves is inhibited, and this blood flow is important for the hooves to be healthy,” Roepstorff explained to Agria Djurförsäkring.
In this first stage of the study, the researchers have been focussing on measuring the internal movements of the hoof with and without horseshoes. Professor Lars Roepstorff found it particularly interesting to be able to describe the difference in how much the hoof was allowed to contract during the rollover phase:
“When the mechanism of the hoof is described, it’s often said that the hoof expands when it lands on the ground, which is correct. But we also see that the hoof contracts during the rollover phase and that movement is inhibited by horseshoes. That has not been described very well in literature before now,” Lars Roepstorff said.
Further analysis is to be made to draw conclusions on the actual consequences of the hooves moving less with shoes, like how this affects blood circulation, load and shock absorption.
The new Swedish research has shown that it’s not only the rigid iron shoe itself that inhibits normal, healthy hoof function, but also the way it is fixed to the hoof with nails.
One of the advantages that Peder Fredricson has discovered since going barefoot with his top-level showjumping horses, is that the horses now can feel the ground much better and are far more careful with how and where they put their feet. He links this improved ground sensitivity, also known as proprioception, to the less injuries and lameness issues he has had in his horses since he took their shoes off.
“I think that adaptation to the ground conditions is part of keeping the horse’s hooves healthy and strong. Horses don’t see where they put their hooves, they only sense the ground conditions when they have put their hooves in the ground. With shoes, we remove the feeling from the hoof, so they can move unhindered regardless of the ground. Even in those situations where they really should have been a little cautious,” Peder said according to Agria Djurförsäkring.
Moreover, it is Peder’s experience that metal horseshoes can disguise an incipient injury, which makes it difficult to discover a problem before it turns into actual lameness. Differently, a barefoot horse will instantly display any discomfort:
“You can compare it to when we humans walk barefoot across a gravel field. It may look painful before the feet have hardened and adjusted, but when we get to the grass we can walk normally again. You need to learn and understand the difference between what temporary sensitivity is and what is an injury. Horses with shoes can go for a long time with an injury before it is noticed that it is lame,” Peder said.
Watch Peder Fredricson explain his role in the new research project and his experiences with going barefoot with his horses.
Next step in the Swedish study will be to analyze how the horses' movements are affected more generally with and without shoes - for example in terms of stride length, stride height and angles.
“We would also like to try to calculate if and how the forces in the horse's legs, which are needed to drive the movement, change with and without shoes. For example, is the load on the deep flexor tendon or on the crown joint affected by shoeing,” Roepstorff said to Agria Djurförsäkring.
At the time being, the research team is halfway through the in-depth interviews, which are conducted as a part of the study. These interviews show that there is a need for science based knowledge among horse professionals regarding details of hoof function itself and how it affects load conditions internally in the lower part of the leg.
We at Scoot Boots are much looking forward to following the Swedish research projects as it moves along, and stay tuned for when the final results are expected to be published around the end of year 2022.
Read more about how Barefoot Horse Hooves Can Move 50% More than Shod Hooves
Read more about How to Transition your Horse from Iron Shoes to Barefoot
Read more about Using Hoof Boots as an Alternative to Horseshoes
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here
About the author
Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has three: Pannigan - an off-the-track Thoroughbred, Luka - a Paint Quarter Horse/Arab and little Audrey - a Shetland pony, who are all bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
A whopping 160 kilometers in 24 hours across the volcanic remains of the Warrumbungle Mountains, national park roads, hills and cropping country is this year's challenge for horses and riders in the prestigious Tom Quilty Gold Cup endurance ride 2022 in New South Wales Australia.
It will be the fifth time to enter the Tom Quilty ride for Darryl King, who has been a passionate endurance rider for the past 25 years. To Darryl, endurance riding is not about being the first over the finish line. Indeed, it is about completing the ride with a happy and healthy horse:
“It’s all about how you manage your horse. Even if you come in last, you are still a winner because you have made it through, which is quite an achievement in itself,” Darryl said.
The thrill of endurance riding is multi-faceted according to Darryl, who said enjoying the different sceneries along the ride and catching up with friends around the campfire in the evenings makes it all a rather addictive experience.
You might be alone with your horse on the trail for many hours, but endurance riding as a sport is most certainly a team effort with help from friends and family, Darryl King said.
Darryl and his wife Steph run a pure and high percentage Crabbet Arabian Stud with about 30 horses at the moment, which are all barefoot. Their New South Wales farm offers a great environment to condition barefoot hooves as the ground is mostly dry, hard clay. As such, Darryl keeps his endurance horses completely barefoot on the 10 kilometer training rides he goes on three to four times a week in between competitions.
However, in more wet and soggy areas of the country, it is harder for endurance riders to keep their horses barefoot. Their horse’s hooves would be softer and more sensitive to changing surfaces as they are not naturally conditioned in their home environment to hard and rocky ground - conditions they are likely to face on an endurance ride.
Luckily, hoof boots are allowed in endurance competitions and are the perfect aid for endurance horses with sensitive hooves. Hoof boots such as Scoot Boots are lightweight with excellent drainage and ventilation, and have a flexible protective sole with superior traction on the varying surfaces you can come across on an endurance ride; Rock, gravel, mud, sand and slippery grass.
Many endurance riders like to add endurance gaiters to their Scoot Boots to provide extra comfort and protection from rubbing on their horse’s heels during challenging rides. However, on very long distances such as endurance rides over 80 kilometers, even the most comfortably fitting hoof boot could start causing discomfort at the pressure points.
In order to eliminate any potential rubbing, Darryl is one of the many endurance riders who swears to using glue-on Scoot Skins, that provides the ultimate hoof protection without any risk of straps causing discomfort to the horse’s skin along the ride.
With Glue-on Scoot Skins you eliminate any risk of rubbing on your horse’s sensitive skin whilst still protecting the entire hoof sole of your endurance horse as opposed to a metal shoe.
Glue-on skins from Scoot Boots are made from the same durable, flexible and shock absorbing material as the regular hoof boots from Scoot Boots. However, Scoot Skins are designed without heel or pastern strap to secure them on the hoof and are made to be glued on the hoof wall directly instead.
The lack of straps and fittings altogether ensures that there is no risk of rubbing on your horse’s skin whilst still providing your endurance horse with full hoof protection and extra shock absorption from the ground.
“I like the security of knowing there are no straps that can break and no need to worry if something could get caught under the straps and hurt the horse. It’s just less worry and less hassle using the Scoot Skins Glue-ons for endurance,” Darryl said.
Although all Darryl’s horses are healthily barefooted, he always protects their hooves with Scoot Skins in endurance competitions. The glue-on Scoot Skins protect from bruising of the hooves on rough gravel tracks and give extra grip and traction on slippery slate surfaces on the mountain trails that Darryl frequently encounters on endurance competition rides.
The name is Bonn. James Bonn. When Darryl brought home 5yo James Bonn, he was a rather nervous horse who had survived two floods and was injured badly from swimming through the flood waters. Today he's a strong, confident 13yo, who has already competed successfully for nearly 8 years.
Obviously glue-on boots take a little extra effort to apply and take off as compared to the super easy slip on- and off regular Scoot Boots. To make up for the extra effort, the Scoot Skins can safely be left on the horse for an entire trim cycle. Watch this video on how to glue on the Scoot Skins.
There is no need to worry if you end up with more glue in the boot than hoof - the Scoot Skins are not ruined and can be cleaned and reused over and over for as long as there is still a nice, deep tread on the soles. Should your first attempt with the glue gun end up in a sticky mess or lost boots, rest assured you’re not the only one:
“The first time I used glue-on boots for a competition many years ago, we started off with boots on all four hooves but finished the ride with only one boot left! Yes, there was a bit of mocking happening from our fellow contestants, but I really wasn’t too bothered as we were able to continue although the boots went flying. If my horse had been shod with metal shoes, we would have had to stop and sit on the side of the track waiting for a farrier to come and help,” Darryl said.
Darryl puts the poor gluing job down to very hot weather temperatures that could have caused the glue to set too quickly. Nonetheless, Darryl has since mastered the gluing process and the handsome Mr James Bonn is all set to enter the prestigious 160 kilometer Tom Quilty Gold Cup Endurance ride happening on the 8th-10th July 2022 in Tooraweenah, New South Wales.
Scoot Boots’ fitting and sizing team will also be present at the ride if you are looking for advice on the use of Scoot Skins. Or just want to join us in cheering for Darryl and James Bonn!
This year 2022, the board of the Arabian Horse Society of Australia decided to honour James Bonn's outstanding performance over a number years with the Lifetime Achievement Award in Endurance.
Read more about Using Hoof Boots for Competitions & Performance
Read more about why Barefoot Horses Remain Sounder than Shod Horses
Read more about How to Successfully transition your Horse to Barefoot
Read more about using Glue-on Skins from Scoot Boots here
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Exactly as with us humans, exercise and movement is the best way to keep age-related disorders at bay. Like aging humans, older horses tend to lose muscle mass, become less flexible, be prone to arthritis and absorb essential nutrients less efficiently. Additionally, a deteriorating immune system will make it harder for senior horses to fight infections and recover from illnesses.
However, movement and appropriate exercise can help prevent or postpone all of the above age-related issues. Movement lubricates your aging horse’s joints and increases his blood circulation, which is essential to distribute nutrients and oxygen around his body. Gentle exercise will help him maintain his ligament and muscle strength and strengthen his immune system.
Although in order to encourage movement in your older horse, he first needs to be comfortable so movement doesn’t cause him pain. In the following, we will learn how Vince Ray from New Zealand is using Scoot Boots to relieve the pain from laminitis, arthritis and splintering, flat hooves in his senior horses.
The retired racehorse Suzie enjoys the comfort of protective Scoot Boots during turnout in his paddock. Regular hoof care is just as important for your senior horse as he won’t be wearing his feet as much as when he was ridden.
In rural Auckland, New Zealand, Vince Ray lives with his herd of eight horses - a fantastic bunch of individuals, as he says. Two of these horses are retirees and have been struggling with each their health issues. Although Vince has carefully pieced together aids like balanced, supportive diets and corrective trimming, something was still missing to help his two aging geldings be more comfortable moving around in their home environment.
Protective, shock absorbing hoof boots have proven to ease the pain from a wide range of hoof conditions such as thin soles, navicular and laminitis, and make even the most sensitive horse comfortable enough to stride through rocks and gravel. However, one thing is to use hoof boots during rehabilitation or on challenging trail rides, another thing is to leave them on 24/7 during turnout in your horses paddock.
Rightly, Vince was concerned about leaving hoof boots on his horses during turnout for many hours at a time. Some hoof boots with poor ventilation, such as the ones that are fully enclosed, are likely to trap dirt and heat, which can increase the risk of thrush and other hoof infections. However, hoof boots from Scoot Boots have superior ventilation and drains away any debris and water that could otherwise get caught inside the boot.
“Admittedly, I was skeptical about leaving hoof boots on for the better part of the day. I expected there to be at least some amount of chafing. However, there's been none of that with either horses. The hoof boots have been a really good addition to their day to day life and maintenance of their health and comfort,” Vince said.
As with any tack, it’s important to regularly check that your turnout hoof boots fit and is comfortably in place. However, should your horse unexpectedly throw a boot in the paddock, rest assured there’s no nails, wires or hard metal in Scoot Boots that can hurt him.
Some time ago, one of Vince’s senior horses started to develop laminitis. Although this is a severe and utterly painful disorder, Vince responded quickly with corrective trimming and let Cam wear his Scoot Boots 24/7 to relieve the pain, and slowly Cam was able to regain his soundness.
However, at the age of 28, Cam is like many other elderly horses also suffering from arthritis. As such, his Scoot Boots are still a vital part of his well-being to help him be more comfortable. According to Vince, Cam’s less flexible joints tends to make him drag his feet and in doing so, he collects grass, earth and manure, that builds up into a quartet of filth stilettos:
“In the fashion world this would make Cam a trend setter but in the real world, all it makes him is uncomfortable and susceptible to thrush. Alongside a diet high in omega 3 fatty acids and gentle exercise, wearing Scoot Boots in the paddock has been the perfect solution,” Vince said.
Joints that become affected by arthritis will become stiff and tender, which worsens with age. Protective hoof boots can help relieve the concussion that goes up through the horse’s body, when he stands and walks on hard and uneven ground. To maximize the shock absorbing properties of your hoof boots you can add extra pads inside the boots.
Vince Ray’s lil’ orange grandpapa - Cam, a 28 year old Welsh x Timor pony.
Vince’s other retired horse, the off-the-track Thoroughbred Suzie, has a decent list of health conditions to his name of which some are chronic. According to Vince, this is due to less than favorable living conditions in his previous “homes”. Suzie’s gut has lasting damage and his feet suffer greatly from his reduced ability to absorb and metabolize essential nutrients.
The years of detrimental hoof care practices Suzie was subjected to as a racehorse and some time beyond don’t help the situation either. Summertime is especially brutal to Suzie, as his flat hooves dry out and the hard ground makes them splinter:
“Wearing his Scoots in the field makes him so much more comfortable, improves his posture, and reduces the amount of splintering of his hooves. Certainly an extremely important piece in the 5,000 piece puzzle that is Suzie, and he's all the happier for it,” said Vince.
Horses that have been shod with metal shoes throughout their working lives, may not need shoeing anymore once they are turned out to enjoy their well deserved retirement. However, keep in mind that it can take some time for the horse to transition to barefoot, especially when your horse has reached that age, where everything takes longer to recover from. In this case, using supportive hoof boots would be the ideal solution to keep your senior horse comfortable when his shoes have been pulled for retirement.
OTTB Suzie can be a bit of a mission to keep comfortable, according to Vince.
As already mentioned, keeping active and fit is vital for the well-being of your senior horse. Although his riding and working days may be over, there are still many ways to keep your horse both mentally and physically active for as long as possible. This could be groundwork exercises, taking your horse for a stroll in the bush or some gentle stepping over poles and other activities on an obstacle course.
Or, you can do like Vince, who much enjoys playing with his horses at liberty. He uses a mix of clicker training and environmental constraints to design movement challenges, puzzles and fun activities for the horses. According to Vince, this style of non-forceful work is suitable for just about any horse to build confidence, improve movement function and fitness and not least to boost their joy for life.
“I’ve got a big love for modern movement & motivation science. I went off the deep end about 5 years ago when rehabbing a very shut-down Suzie and never looked back. Helping horses thrive and not just survive ain't always a simple task, but seeing them rediscover the horse they want to be makes one feel all warm and fuzzy inside y'know,” said Vince.
Vince and Suzie playing at liberty for fun, exercise and mental wellness!
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author
Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Every single day during winter Matilde Brandt takes about 100 liters of hot water from her shower and carries it down to her car, before she drives out to see her horses. She lives in an apartment in the center of Oslo, the capital of Norway, and her horses are agisted just 15 minutes drive away in the great forests that surrounds Oslo.
“It usually freezes from minus fifteen to zero degrees celsius here in winter and there’s no electricity or hot water where my horses are. So I need to bring out hot water to defrost their drinking water and give them a temperate drink,” Matilde explained.
Simple daily tasks like mucking out the paddock also becomes a challenge in the freezing Norwegian winter, as Matilde first needs to chop the frozen manure free with an ice pick, before she can clean it away.
“People do ask me how I can be bothered with such a hassle, but winter is actually my favorite time of the year with my horses. There’s no mosquitos to harass us in winter, the horses turn wonderfully fluffy and the magical, white snow and frost brightens up the entire landscape - it’s just beautiful,” Matilde said.
The multi-talented horse Iver is trained by Matilde herself. He recently co-starred in the new Norwegian film “Tre Nøtter til Askepott”
(Three Wishes for Cinderella) as the Prince’s horse.
Currently, Matilde has two Norwegian Døle Horses; Eira, a youngster, and seven year old Iver. Both horses are barefoot, which is an advantage not least in winter time, as the natural heat in the hooves help to prevent the packing up of snow and ice underneath the hooves that can otherwise cause lameness and injuries.
The accumulation of snow and ice that freezes rock-hard under the horses’ feet, is most prevalent is horses that are shod. Firstly, because the horseshoes create extra cavities for the snow to get stuck in. Secondly, research has shown that iron shoes can drain horses of body heat through their feet and shod horses tend to have colder feet compared to barefoot horses.
If your barefoot horse should still be struggling with hard lumps of ice and snow under his hooves, hoof boots are a great way to protect his feet. Hoof Boots such as Scoot Boots are made from flexible material, which is harder for ice and snow to set on compared to the naked hoof. Scoot Boots offer superior ventilation, which makes them suitable for turnout in the paddock where they will also provide your horse with traction and protection from hard, frozen ground.
Riding your horse in winter time can also be dangerous due to the risk of slipping on snow, ice and uneven frozen ground. Although letting your horse wear hoof boots - either as they are or with extra traction studs applied - can make many difficult winter riding conditions much safer.
“Studded Scoot Boots have excellent grip on ice and they stay on at full speed and in deep snow. I’m beyond amazed by these boots,” Matilde said.
By applying studs to your hoof boots, you will maximize their traction as the studs will dig into the ground - just like the studs on football players’ boots that prevent slipping on the grass field. Scoot Boots are made to provide excellent grip on all surfaces and have ample room to apply studs to the sole of the boots to enhance their grip even further.
Ice studs from Scoot Boots are ideal for riding on flat ice like frozen roads, as the small size of the studs makes it possible for them to pierce through the ice and create a grip on this most slippery surface. These ice studs also work excellent on slippery, flat grass arenas. However, if you’re riding on an uneven surface, you’ll need longer and thicker studs to provide sufficient grip.
Studs are very easy to apply and below you can watch a video on how to do it. Although amending Scoot Boots does cancel the warranty on them, the drill holes don't ruin the boots and you can still use them as normal without studs attached.
“I use my hoof boots 80 percent of the time in winter, mostly with ice studs applied or bigger studs for more traction. I love that Scoot Boots don’t get wet and heavy from snow and ice slush like some other brands of hoof boots, that takes many hours to dry out between each use,” Matilde said.
There are conditions, however, that make winter riding unsafe, no matter the size of the studs in your hoof boots. So make sure to always check the surface of the places you want to go - especially if you can’t see the ground due to snow cover.
“Be very careful when riding onto a new area covered in snow, as you never know if the snow is sitting on top of a layer of ice. In that case there are hardly any studs that can help you and it’s just too dangerous,” Matilde said, who has 20 years of experience riding and driving horses in Norwegian winters.
A more obvious surface condition to stay away from is when highly uneven ground has frozen rock-hard. You may be able to walk through it if your horse’s feet are protected by hoof boots, but the great risk of your horse stumbling or twisting his lower limbs might not be worth taking.
Once the ground starts to defrost again, you’re probably left with a slushy mud soup. But no need to worry, now your studded hoof boots are back in effect and will provide your horse with a safe grip on mud, slippery grass and ice slush. Remember, there is no such thing as bad weather as long as you make sure to dress for the occasion.
Iver always wears hoof boots when driving to protect his hooves from excessive wear.
Check out Matilde's Instagram to see more stunning photos from her horsey adventures.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author
Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Surrounded by national parks and extensive mountain ranges, the North West corner of the American State Arkansas is a gorgeous place to keep horses and go trail riding. This is also where Arkansas Walkers run by Jill Roberson, has been raising Tennessee Walking Horses and trained them for trail riding for the past 10 years.
“I used to ride a Quarter Horse that I was very happy with. But one of my friends had a gaited Tennessee Walking Horse and when I tried riding it, I was just like; Man! This horse is so comfortable! So from there on, there was no turning back from gaited horses,” Jill said.
The Tennessee Walking Horse is one of several different breeds of horses that has the natural ability to “gait”, which means they have more gaits than the usual three gaits; walk, trot and canter/gallop. The most famous extra gait of a Tennessee Walking Horse is the “Running Walk” where the horse, similar to a normal walk, always has one foot on the ground, only the horse can go much faster than in a normal walk.
When the horse always has one foot on the ground, it means he won’t bounce up and down like in a trot. The running walk is therefore an exceptionally comfortable gait for moving at speed across the landscape on hour long trail rides. In the following, we will explore more features of gaited horses and learn how you can use hoof boots to improve your horse’s gait and make him as comfortable as you are when he carries you in a smooth gait.
Whilst most horse breeds can be taught to gait to some degree, it only appears naturally in horses that carry the gene to gait in their DNA. In fact, that Danish vikings played an important role in the prevalence of gaited/ambling horses around the world, as they selectively bred horses with the special “gait keeper” gene resulting in the famous five-gaited Icelandic Horse and frequently traded these horses on their worldwide journeys.
As vikings would have used their horses to carry them many miles across various rugged terrain, the smooth gait called “tölt” - similar to the running walk of a Tennessee Walking Horse - would have been an attractive trait. This way riding long distances is much less tiring for the rider as you can hardly feel the horse moving underneath you. As such, gaited horses with their gentle nature and sure-footedness makes for the perfect trail riding companion.
Today the smooth movements of gaited horses are also highly popular with riders that have knee or back issues. However, it’s important to keep in mind, that no matter how easy it might seem to ride these horses, they can’t make up for poor riding skills or imbalanced, inexperienced riders:
“You need the skills to encourage natural forward movement in the horse and make sure he’s relaxed and comfortable at the same time. It takes practice to gait correctly and some gaits can be quite wearing on the horse. You can’t get a horse to gait if he’s tense or has a sore back,” said Jill.
Jill gaiting bitless and barefoot wearing protective Scoot Boots on the rocky ground.
Although gaited horses are perfect for trail riding, they are also sometimes in shows. In parts of the US it is unfortunately still legal to use inhumane devices to enhance the gait of Tennessee Walking Horses known as the “Big Lick”, like applying chains, heavy weighted shoes, chemicals that makes it painful for the horse to put weight on his front feet and sharp bits to exaggerate head bobbing or force unnatural high head carriage.
However, according to Jill Roberson, there is absolutely no need for either bit or horse shoes to make a horse gait. Jill likes to start all her young horses bitless wearing nothing but a rope halter to encourage forward movement and relaxation.
“One time I had a young horse returned to me for training because the owner couldn’t get him to gait, he just rushed forward. When I saw the kind of bit the owner was using on him, I clearly understood why. Once the horse came out of the pressure from the sharp bit and learned to relax, he gaited just beautifully,” Jill said.
Jill's horses are also kept barefoot, which Jill believes is better for the horse in the long run and keeps the frogs healthy. She went the barefoot way because she wasn’t happy with her farrier's last trim and asked a friend for help, who happened to be a qualified barefoot trimmer.
“I kept one of my horses shod because he had a large vertical crack up his hoof wall and I thought the shoe would help keep it together and heal it. Obviously it didn’t. But after finally deciding to get rid of the shoe, of course the crack went away as the new hoof grew out,” said Jill.
There is, however, one protective device that Jill couldn’t do without for her barefoot gaited horses, which we will look at in the following.
Scoot Boots are excellent for gaited horses because of their light weight and the low profile that doesn’t restrict any joint movements. This is Dark Chocolate, one of Jill’s Tennessee Walking Horse broodmares who has the beautiful “silver dapple” color.
As beautiful as the rugged landscape may be where Jill lives with her horses, it also poses some challenges for her horses feet. The very rocky highland terrain was the reason why Jill kept her horses shod and didn’t initially think her horses could do without the protection of horse shoes. Although she found the perfect solution with hoof boots and today she recommends everyone who comes to buy a horse off her, to get a pair of hoof boots as well.
“I stock different brands of hoof boots but Scoot Boots are my favorites, especially for gaited horses. Scoot Boots don’t interfere with the horse’s ability to gait at all because they are so lightweight. And Scoot Boots are great for trail riding here as they have good traction, last a long time and have many openings so dirt and rocks don't get caught in the boot,” Jill said.
If your horse has a tendency to over-stride whilst gaiting, you can simply add a bell boot on top of the Scoot Boot or add a gaiter to the boot, which will protect the entire heel area.
Jill also highlights the adjustability of Scoot Boots, that can be stretched to fit a larger heel bulb, have extra shock absorbing pads inserted and gaiters added to prevent rubbing. In comparison to horse shoes that are found to increase the concussion going up through the horse’s legs, Scoot Boots are made from highly shock absorbing and flexible material which will encourage heel-first landings and keep your horse comfortable and protected on all terrains.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author
Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
We all know how important regular hoof care is to our horses. However, what’s just as important, is to choose a hoof care professional that is qualified to take care of barefoot horses in particular. The reason is that a barefoot horse needs to be trimmed differently to a horse that wears shoes and not all hoof carers are qualified to do that.
A barefoot trim is the best trim for a barefoot horse because of its specific aim to imitate the trimming that would naturally occur in wild horses. Wild horse’s incredible ability to maintain strong, resilient, healthy hooves are due to two main factors; their natural diet and extensive daily amount of movement. Ideally, we shouldn’t need to trim our horses at all, but the domestication of horses has changed their circumstances dramatically.
Horse owners are frequently faced with a myriad of hoof related issues that are largely caused by the consequences of domestication. These consequences are typically lack of movement and exercise due to stabling and turnout in small paddocks, inappropriate diet such as low fibre sugary grasses and grain feeds, and lack of consistent hoof conditioning across a variety of surfaces such as rocks and gravel.
Horse shoes were initially invented to make the horse better equipped for our domestic purposes. Today horse shoes are still used as a remedy for hoof issues, although they address the symptoms of the issue and are not a cure for the cause of the issue. On the contrary, the barefoot approach to hoof care seeks to support the horse in building strong, resilient hooves to optimise their ability to heal themselves from inside out.
That’s why it is essential to choose a hoof care professional that understands what underpins healthy barefoot hooves and how to support them. In the following, we will look at how a qualified barefoot trim can support healthy, high functioning barefoot hooves and the health of the horse as a whole, as opposed to a traditional pasture trim.
Whether your hoof carer is a farrier or barefoot trimmer, they should be capable of identifying why the hoof is growing as it is, what it is supporting and what it is possibly compensating for.
We are well aware that some shoeing farriers will be better educated in barefoot hoof function and trimming than others. Likewise, not all who call themselves barefoot trimmers are qualified or have acquired sufficient knowledge or experience to do a good job. However, the difference between these hoof professionals' initial approach to hoof care can be quite significant.
Traditionally, a shoeing farrier is primarily trained to have great knowledge about horseshoes and how these can be used for different purposes. As such, it is only natural that a shoeing farrier will reach for a shoe in order to correct various hoof issues rather than look at how the hoof can be helped to heal itself. This has likely not been a part of his initial farrier training as the main objective would be to learn how to shoe a horse correctly.
When you call a traditional shoeing farrier and ask him to trim your barefoot horse, he will commonly perform a so-called pasture trim. The term “pasture trim” refers to the fact that it is recommended to let shod horses out of their shoes for a time once a year to let the hooves recover from the shoes and nails. During this time, the horse will usually not be ridden due to the lack of shoes, whereas the horse will be turned out on pasture.
The technique of a pasture trim is practically no different to the trim the farrier would do before applying a new shoe. The farrier will ordinarily cut or rasp the entire hoof back to a flat plain appropriate to suit the shape of a shoe. This means that all parts, heel, bars, hoof wall, sole and frog will be taken back to a specified height and levelled out, if the hoof has grown taller on one side or has flared at the bottom. Finally, the farrier will rasp the edges of the hoof wall to prevent chipping.
It can be risky business to cut back the sensitive sole and frog on an unshod horse and it’s not uncommon that pasture trimmed horses become sore after a trim.
Quite differently to a pasture trim, a barefoot trim seeks to take as little off the hoof as possible. The ultimate aim of a barefoot trim is to help the horse develop as tough, hard wearing and healthy bare hooves as he would have had, if he had lived in the wild. In principle, a barefoot trimmer will only take away the excessive growth of the toes that the horse’s environment hasn’t been able to help him wear off naturally. As the frog and sole will shed themselves, these parts are usually left untouched.
A sound horse should primarily land heel-first, which means the health and functionality of the frogs are of the essence. As such, it could have wide ranging consequences if the frogs are cut back to the point of soreness. Further, thin and sensitive soles are a common hoof issue in domesticated horses and it would only exacerbate the issue, if the soles and the toe callus were to be trimmed back beyond what they would naturally shed.
Another typical difference between a barefoot trim and a pasture trim is the length of the toe and breakover. Since a pasture trim commonly will shorten the entire hoof, the toe is often left longer than after a barefoot trim, and this longer, straight toe is likely to delay the breakover of the foot. On the contrary, barefoot trimmers use a so-called brumby roll technique to round the toe at the hoof's natural breakover point, to imitate what would have occurred naturally if the horse had worn his hooves as wild horses do.
A barefoot trim will also rarely try to level out the hoof or change it’s conformation before closely assessing if these imperfections have a functional purpose for that particular horse. For instance, flaring on the inside of a front hoof could indicate that the shoulder of the horse is stronger and bigger on that side. Then it’s a biomechanical issue that needs addressing by an equine body worker and in such a case, it could cause imbalances throughout the horse's body or even lameness, if the flare is taken away without addressing the underlying cause.
This Thoroughbred is basically self-trimming due to good hoof conditioning in his home environment. Six weeks after his last trim, all his barefoot trimmer needed to do was a light rasp at the tip of his toe and heels.
According to Nic Barker and Sarah Braithwaite in Feet First - Barefoot Performance and Hoof Rehabilitation, there are three main factors contributing to healthy hooves. Roughly, the horse’s diet accounts for 65% and his environment/exercise accounts for 25%, whereas trimming actually only accounts for 10% of the contribution to healthy hooves.
As barefoot trimming is informed by the studies of wild horses’ tough and naturally healthy hooves, it belongs to the barefoot approach to include the knowledge of all the factors that contribute to good barefoot hoof health. As such, your barefoot trimmer should furthermore be able to advise you on the importance of a fibre/forage based diet and appropriate environment for barefoot hoof conditioning.
This holistic approach to hoof care also includes acknowledging the need for cooperation with other equine health care professionals in order to treat the horse as a whole. For example, if your horse has biomechanical issues that have affected his hooves, it is invaluable that your horse’s body worker and hoof carer can work together on developing a plan to make a joint effort to best help your horse recover. It could also be cooperation with your horse’s vet, podiatrist, equine nutritionist or even your riding instructor.
But perhaps most importantly, your barefoot trimmer should be able to involve you, the horse’s owner, in their work. Your trimmer might be visiting you every four to six weeks, but in between those visits it is crucial you understand the treatment plans and know how to exercise them. A trimmer can only do so much, if the work isn’t continued on a daily basis by the horse’s owner. In the end, your engagement is likely to be the key to the success of your horse’s treatment.
A good trimmer will want to see how your horse moves before assessing how he needs to be trimmed.
Very often horse owners decide to go barefoot with their horses simply because shoes haven’t worked out for them. Either the horse keeps losing shoes and rips his hoof walls in the process, or remedial shoes have been applied to help treat a hoof or lameness issue and haven’t been effective. Although it is important in this situation to realise, that you will need the support of your hoof carer in the process of transitioning out of shoes.
As such, it could be counterproductive to hold on to your shoeing farrier during transition, if he is not fully supportive of your decision to get rid of the shoes and if he doesn’t have the motivation and knowledge to help your horse through the transition to barefoot. Particularly if your horse is being transitioned to barefoot for rehabilitation purposes, you do not want him to have a traditional pasture trim. Instead he will need the entire holistic approach of an experienced rehab barefoot trimmer.
When a horse who has barely ever touched the ground with his bare feet due to the application of horseshoes, you must expect some degree of foot soreness after removing the shoes. Sore feet could make your horse alter his gait and movements in an attempt to avoid the pain, which could result in a whole other range of problems. As such, you want to ease the transition. The best way of getting your horse used to touching the ground and rebuilding his hoof strength naturally, is by letting him wear some well fitting, shock absorbing hoof boots.
Most experienced barefoot trimmers provide the service of helping to fit suitable hoof boots on your horse and if not, try finding one in your area by using our Scoot Boots stockist list. This list might also be helpful to locate a qualified barefoot trimmer if you’ve been inspired to try a different approach to hoof care and a more appropriate trimming of your barefoot horse.
Although Scoot Boots offer supreme protection of your barefoot horse, these boots still allow hoof stimulation from the ground, which is essential for the hoof to recover its strength and soundness.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author
Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
When going barefoot with your horse it’s important to remember that his hooves will adapt to the environment he spends most of his time in. As such, it is to be expected that your horse could be somewhat footsore when out hacking on gravel or rocky trails, if he’s spending most of his time in a soft, sandy paddock or on thick grass and muddy soil.
However, there are ways to strengthen his hooves naturally to be more resilient on hard, uneven and rockier surfaces. It will take some effort on your side, but it is likely to not only improve the condition of your horse’s hooves, but also make for a much happier and healthier horse in general.
One way is to make your horse’s home environment, his paddock, resemble life in the wild as closely as possible. And with a little imagination, this is possible on even small pieces of land and on a few acres of paddock. In the following, we will look at different ideas on how you can improve your paddock environment to make your horse happier and more fit, whilst building strong and healthier barefoot hooves.
Natural hoof care professionals agree that the key to healthy hooves is a combination of 1) sufficient exercise and movement, 2) a forage based diet balanced with essential vitamins and minerals, and 3), regular qualified hoof trims. In this blog, we will look closer at the first part - which of course - should be combined with the other two parts for the best result.
When you look at horses in the wild, it becomes evident why daily movement and exercise is essential for your horse. Free roaming wild horses travel between 15 and 20 kilometres per day in search of forage and water. This amount of exercise stimulates the horses’ metabolism, their agility and overall fitness and health.
Additionally, wild horses’ hooves adjust to the environment they move across and their hooves will grow according to how quickly the natural environment wears them down. That is why wild horses rarely suffer from the common hoof issues of domesticated horses and why wild horses don't need to be trimmed by a farrier.
According to the Barefoot Blacksmith Andrew Bowe, it is miles under saddle that grows the best hooves in domesticated horses. In his experience, it is commercial trail horses and endurance horses that have the healthiest and strongest bare hooves. However, far from all horse owners are able to exercise their horses to the same degree as endurance horses are. As such, it is useful to look at what you can do to encourage movement where your horse spends most of his time - in his paddock.
After observing how the wild mustangs in the U.S. Great Basin are following trails when moving around in their territory, Jaime Jackson developed the concept of a Paddock Paradise. The idea is to mimic these natural trails in your horses’ paddock by setting up a fenced off track around the perimeter of your property that eventually can lead to an open paddock in the middle.
Research shows that compared to turnout in a regular open paddock, horses move more miles and more frequently when on a track system. The reason for this is that the horses will need to travel between feeding stations, water supply, rolling spots, sheltered areas and pasture. As such, when designing your paddock paradise, you need to be strategic in placing these features as far apart as possible. Plenty of small hay nets well spaced apart is also more effective than one large hay feeding station.
The amount of daily exercise will further increase if you can incorporate hills in your track system. If your land is flat, there is always the option of creating hills yourself with compacted dirt piles similar to mountain bike tracks, so your horse can exercise some different muscle groups by going up and down.
Another effective way to sneak in some gymnastic exercises is by placing natural obstacles on the track. This could be poles on the ground to make the horse lift its feet or even large tree trunks that require the horse to jump or perform some nice, high knee lifts. Keeping more horses together on the same track will also increase movement, as they will then be able to practise natural herd behaviour such as playing, following each other and grooming.
Pea gravel is a popular surface on track systems as it is gentle on the horses’ hooves whilst providing great stimulation for their soles and frogs. Here it is used as footing in a shelter and around a water station at Stepping Stone Equine Hoof Care to help rehabilitate a horse suffering from navicular.
Apart from mere exercise, a track system provides you with the perfect opportunity to condition your horse’s hooves on different surfaces. Daily exposure to a variety of surfaces is crucial for achieving strong, resilient barefoot hooves. As mentioned, horses' hooves are highly adaptable to their environment and if only ever exposed to spongy arena bedding and soft grass in the paddock, your horse is likely to be somewhat footsore on rougher surfaces.
As such, it is really useful to put down a variety of surfaces on the track that your horse travels on daily to get to his desired destinations. Paving the ground with large rocks around the drinking station is a popular feature, which will not only help to keep the ground dry and mud free, but will also make your horse walk across it and stand on it as he’s drinking.
Rough gravel tends to be harsh on sensitive hooves but is nonetheless a great surface to further condition already healthy barefoot hooves. A less harsh version is pea gravel, which consists of small, pea sized rounded rocks. Pea gravel is suitable for both healthy hooves and hooves that need rehabilitation or conditioning during the transition from shod to barefoot.
If you are utilising your track system to limit and manage your laminitis prone horse’s grass intake, you might not want to give him access to a grassy area. Although he would still need a soft place to lie down for a sleep or a roll. Although many horses love sand for this purpose, it can be difficult to keep in place in times of heavy rain or wind. Sandy loam or fine soil will also do the trick and is easier to control.
Mud is not only a dangerous slipping hazard but also the most unhealthy substance for horse hooves. Mixed with manure and urine it becomes a potent bacteria cocktail and constantly soaked hooves become soft and susceptible to infections and bruising. Here are non-slip pavers being packed with road base gravel to provide a dry surface for the horses around a hay feeder.
Many common hoof issues are related to the horse compensating for soreness, which leads to toe-first landings and under-stimulated heels and frogs. If the heel soreness is caused by an infection such as thrush, this obviously needs to be treated. Otherwise, although it seems paradoxical, gradual stimulation of the sore tissue is the best way to rebuild it.
Although it must depend on the condition of your horse’s hooves as to how quickly you should expose him to stimulation from different surfaces. Thin soles and sore, contracted heels should be protected with hoof boots until they have had time to grow better. The advantage of using hoof boots such as Scoot Boots, is that these boots will still allow hoof stimulation from the ground, which is essential to stimulate healthy growth of the affected tissue.
Once you have a consistent, comfortable heel-first landing in protective hoof boots, you should start to gradually let him be turned out without boots on an appropriate surface. Depending on your horse’s hoof condition, he might always be most comfortable in hoof boots when you’re riding on rocky surfaces. That is perfectly normal, as it takes a lot of consistent exposure to harsh ground for your horse to achieve as hard, rock-crunching feet as wild horses have.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author
Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Imagine you have had a month off doing nothing but eating, sleeping and lazing around. Then one day, you get a 15-20kg pack strapped on your back and sent off on a two hour hike, jogging uphill, downhill, across uneven terrain and maybe also asked to perform a couple of sprints or jumps along the way. That doesn’t sound particularly pleasant, does it?
The fact of the matter is, that even if your horse is excited to get out exploring new territory, horses very quickly lose their stamina and muscle strength when they’re not exercised regularly. , which are the muscles along his withers and spine, that are crucial for his ability to carry the weight of a rider and tack without injuring his back. Additionally, his hooves are also in jeopardy of getting bruised and sore, when he’s exposed to unfamiliar rough terrain.
Although this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go on that trail ride, now that you finally have the opportunity. But it means that you need to take extra precautions to prevent injuries and to ensure that the outing becomes as enjoyable for your horse as it is for you. In the following, we will look at different things you can do to make your unfit horse comfortable during the ride and what you can do for your horse in between rides, to keep him a little more fit and conditioned.
First step to safely bringing your horse back into work is assessing his condition. If your horse is overweight from too much grass during his time off, it is not only his back that is at risk of suffering from the extra load of a rider, but also his joints and ligaments. If your horse is on the skinnier side, it is easier to see the potential loss of muscle mass especially along his back due to inactivity.
In both instances, whether your horse is skinny or overweight, you should keep your ride at a slow pace such as a nice, energetic walk and only include a few short sections of rising trot at a long rein. If your horse is struggling to go long and low on a loose rein, you should retract from trotting, as your horse would be hollowing his back in discomfort.
Always keep in mind that horses are not naturally designed to carry weight on their backs. A horse should never carry more than 20% of his bodyweight and this includes not only the weight of the rider, but also her full dress, boots, helmet, saddle and all other tack. The maximum 20% weight limit refers to your horse’s optimum weight, whereas a fat horse can’t carry more because he weighs more.
And importantly, this weight limit is suggested to be safe only when the horse is walking, as the load of rider and tack becomes more strenuous for the horse the faster he is travelling, and also depends on how difficult the terrain is.
As such, it is useful to also assess the challenges of the upcoming ride in comparison to the environment your horse is spending most of his time in. If he’s usually living in a flat paddock, then suddenly traveling uphill and downhill with a rider would be stressful on his joints and ligaments, and it could be sensible to dismount and walk him in hand up and down the steepest bits of the trail, until he becomes more fit.
Assessing your horse’s home environment is also important in order to know whether his feet are fit for the upcoming trail. If the surface of his paddock is mostly soft grass or soft, sandy soil, then that is what his hooves are conditioned to be comfortable on. As such, taking him on a trail that includes gravel, rocky ground or a long section of asphalt road, will most likely require some protection of his feet to avoid sore soles and bruising.
Another factor that is commonly overlooked, is the influence that changing weather conditions has on your horse’s hooves. For instance, if your horse lives in a generally dry environment, a sudden wet spell can soften and swell up his otherwise hard and rock crunching feet. Any sudden dramatic weather change can either dry up or soften your horse’s feet, causing risk of bruising or hoof abscesses in otherwise healthy hooves.
Having a pair of well fitting, shock absorbing hoof boots ready in your tack room, will be a great, preventative solution, whether your horse has unconditioned feet or hooves that have been affected by weather conditions. Hoof boots such as Scoot Boots, are quick and easy to put on and will protect your horse’s feet from whichever difficult surface you might encounter on your trail ride.
The shock absorbing properties of Scoot Boots - that can be optimised further by adding a Scoot Pad - will also help your unfit horse to better absorb the concussion from each stride and help prevent damage to the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon caused by toe-first landings. This brings us to look at how you can help your horse keep his feet well conditioned in between rides.
Horses in the wild are on the move almost constantly whilst grazing and looking for water. In Australia, wild horses have been found to travel an average of 15 kilometres per day. This amount of movement does not only keep the horses fit, it is also conditioning their feet to withstand walking on a variety of surfaces as they move across the natural terrain.
Domesticated horses rarely have the opportunity to exercise themselves that much. However, inspired by the research of hoof care professional Jaime Jackson, creating a “paddock paradise” at home has become increasingly popular with horse owners around the world. The concept is to provide the horse with an environment as similar to the wild as possible in his own, limited paddock space.
The main component of the paddock paradise is a fenced off track around the paddock, which is cladded with different footings along the way to naturally condition the horse’s feet. The track system should be designed to encourage movement by placing hay stations, water troughs, grazing areas and shelters far apart, as they would be in the wild.
If you are lucky enough to have some steep areas on your property, these should also be included in the track so your horse is encouraged to do some daily hill exercise. Gentle obstacles like poles on the ground, a fallen three trunk or a stream of water is also great to keep your horse alert and better conditioned to confidently face a varied trail ride.
Horses are made to move! Replicating life in the wild in your own paddock, is a great way to keep your horse active in between rides.
In conclusion, there are multiple factors to be mindful of before you pull your unfit horse out of the paddock to go for a trail ride. Whilst it is common to think of the risk of overworking a competition horse and the accompanying risk of injuries to such a horse, we too often overlook the risks posed to our occasional trail riding horses, which are in fact athletes too.
Pleasure horses are often asked to carry a greater load than professional sports horses and at the same time, we often expect them to perform on more difficult ground, such as moving up and down uneven hills and rocky terrain. Overloading an unfit horse with too much weight might not show immediate damage, but as we know, horses are silent sufferers and chronic injuries are likely to appear over time.
However, setting up your horse’s home environment to encourage movement and imitate life in the wild, is a great way to keep him more active between rides as well as conditioning his hooves in a natural way. Not to mention his mental wellbeing, which will benefit greatly with more daily stimulus and the opportunity to unfold more natural behavior in a “paddock paradise”.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Does your horse suffer from lameness, thin hoof soles, back problems or ligaments and tendon damage in his legs? Chances are that it is related to your horse having developed a tendency to land on his toes rather than his heels. As such, paying attention to how your horse lands after a stride is perhaps more important than you’d think.
A toe-first landing is when your horse first touches the ground with the front part of his hoof after a stride and thereby lands with all his weight on his toe. This landing is perfectly normal in some circumstances, like when he maneuvers through rocky terrain, climbs uphill or moves across slippery, muddy ground. However, this movement becomes unhealthy if your horse uses toe-first landings consistently.
When your horse lands toe-first, he’s landing on the thinnest part of the sole where the concussive forces are unable to be dissipated and thus are absorbed by the horse’s lower limbs, which are not designed for this. Additionally, the thinnest part of the sole has the least amount of protection for the most sensitive parts of the hoof such as the pedal bone/coffin bone.
Over time, excessive toe-landings can lead to a myriad of painful conditions such as arthritis, navicular and pedal osteitis. So, let’s take a look at how you can help your horse develop strong heels and frogs to encourage the natural heel-first landing and thereby prevent damage to his feet, legs and eventually his back.
Former farrier and barefoot trimmer Dave Macdonald, who is also the co-founder and designer of Scoot Boots, demonstrates the importance of heel-first landings in this video.
There are a number of visual signs which can reveal if your horse has a tendency to land toe-first. Among these signs of toe-first landings are narrow, soft frogs and worn down toes, whilst the back of the hoof is growing high. However, the best way to determine how your horse lands is by filming it:
You can use an app to create a slow-motion video or watch the video frame by frame, so you can capture the position of your horse’s feet as they are about to land. For inspiration, watch this amazing footage by the renowned hoof rehabilitation facility Rockley Farm in the UK, or join the Facebook group Barefoot Method for Navicular, where many horse owners post homemade footage of their horse’s landings.
In the still photo above, you’ll see that the grey horse is about to land with his toes first, whereas the bay horse has his knee fully extended to land with his heels first.
Once you have determined that your horse has a tendency to land on his toes, you need to figure out the cause. Since horses are designed to land on their heels which are their natural shock absorbers, horses will usually only choose to land on their toes in order to avoid putting weight on their heels due to pain. This pain can be caused by various conditions such as thrush, contracted heels or under-run heels or even soft tissue or bone damage in the hoof.
Horses that are shod are more likely to prefer toe-first landings, as their heels and frogs rarely touch the ground. Stimulation from the ground is needed to grow a wide, healthy frog and to develop a strong digital cushion for shock absorption. As such, if your horse is shod, the first step is to remove the shoes and have a qualified barefoot trimmer to assess his feet.
Long toes can also be causing your horse to land toe-first, as the breakover will be delayed - the breakover meaning the point where the hoof will tip forward and propel itself onto the next stride. This can be corrected by regular trimmings and so can under-run heels, by trimming them back to support better heel growth and correct balance.
However, any hoof rehabilitation should always start with taking a good look at your horse’s diet to make sure it supports healthy hoof growth. In the following, we will look at what else you can do to get your horse to land on his heels again.
Consistent toe-first landings can be particularly harmful for the coffin bone/pedal bone and is likely to damage the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon (DDFT) over time.
Ironically as it may seem, the best way to make your horse land heel-first, is by helping him to load weight back onto the heels - yes, the sore heels that he has been avoiding putting weight on by shifting to landing on his toes. The reason is that the caudal heel needs the loading force and stimulation from the ground in order to regain its health and strength.
As hoof rehabilitation expert Pete Ramey says, symptoms such as narrow, underdeveloped frogs, high bars and worn down toes, are not only the cause of improper movement, but also an effect. As such, putting your horse on stall rest or propping him up on remedial metal shoes will not condition his feet to become sound enough to land heel-first again.
On the contrary, once you have determined the cause of his pain in collaboration with your barefoot trimmer and/or equine veterinarian, you’ll need to provide an environment for him in which he is comfortable enough to move around and land on his heels. Depending on the level of pain your horse is in, this surface environment could be sand, soft grass or spongy sawdust. As he becomes more comfortable, you can slowly progress to walking him on asphalt, pea gravel and rockier terrain.
However, most horses will benefit from the extra protection that shock absorbing hoof boots can provide. Using hoof boots will optimise the recovery process from toe-first landings, as the extra protection will in most cases make the horse comfortable enough to start loading his heels again straight away.
You can help your horse recover effectively from toe-first landings by letting him wear protective hoof boots. The greatest advantage is that hoof boots encourage heel-first landings by cushioning your horses feet and adding extra shock absorption, whilst still allowing the frog and caudal heel area to be stimulated and thereby begin the recovering process.
Hoof boots such as Scoot Boots are lightweight, flexible and offer unsurpassed ventilation, which means your horse will be able to keep them on 24/7 during recovery if needed. The soles in Scoot Boots are shock absorbing in themselves, but you can also add extra pads inside them if your horse is particularly sensitive.
If your horse was shod and has now come out of his shoes to rebuild the strength of his heels and frogs, hoof boots are particularly helpful to ease the transition from shod to barefoot. Getting your horse comfortable enough to get moving and start conditioning his feet healthily, is the main priority in the recovery process from toe-first landings.
Ideally, once your horse is comfortably landing heel-first in his hoof boots, you should start walking him barefoot as well on an appropriate surface. As he regains his caudal strength, his frogs should widen and you should be able to see his heel bulb increasing, as his digital cushion develops accordingly. Your horse might always need protective hoof boots on some surfaces and that’s perfectly fine. The main objective is to get him back to landing on his heels and regain his natural shock absorption.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has three: An off-the-track Thoroughbred, a paint horse and a Shetland pony, who are all bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Good health comes from within. That goes for your horse’s hooves as well as for the rest of his body. As such, many hoof issues could be an indicator of an imbalanced diet, and you should always start by looking at your horse’s diet, if you want to optimise the health of your horse or are transitioning him to barefoot, and want to support hoof rehabilitation through his diet.
Horses’ hooves are designed to constantly replace worn away tissue. So the horse needs a constant flow of nutrients to build these new layers of hoof and the quality of the new growth depends on the quality of the nutrients. While good quality hay and fresh grass contain all of the vitamins a horse needs, it generally doesn’t provide optimal levels of minerals. Zinc and copper deficiencies are particularly common in horses.
Zinc and copper are not only vital for your horse’s immune system, but also for the health of his hooves. Zinc deficiencies are associated with slow hoof growth, thin hoof walls and weak hoof horn. Low copper levels have been linked to cracked hooves, leading to issues such as thrush and hoof abscesses.
Vitamin E is needed to build keratin, which is the major structural protein in the horse’s hooves, coat and skin. As such, horses need quality sources of protein and vitamin E to maintain hoof growth and strength. Also fatty acids are important for healthy hoof growth, so balancing the ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6 in your horse’s diet will also be relevant.
Although some nutrients are more important for hoof health than others, they all work together. As such, you should be careful about adding extra targeted hoof supplements to your horse’s diet, as this could change the balance of the total intake of nutrients. Instead, it is much more effective to get his entire diet right, which will then be feeding his hooves as well as the rest of his body optimally.
As an example, a common targeted hoof supplement like biotin has shown little scientific evidence of increasing hoof growth if the horse isn’t in fact deficient of biotin to start off with. While biotin does support natural hoof growth, biotin will not necessarily make it grow faster. As such, adding extra biotin to your horse’s diet will most likely only be effective, if your horse actually has a biotin deficiency.
Carol Layton B.Sc M.Ed from Balanced Equine is one of the leading equine nutritionists in Australia. According to her, you shouldn’t consider hoof health as separate from the rest of the horse:
“An overall balanced diet will give the horse the best nutritional conditions for growing healthy hooves. It’s that simple. So, if you are feeding your horse to improve hoof health and hoof growth, you will inevitably be feeding for a sounder horse in general, because it’s all connected,” equine nutritionist Carol Layton said.
In the following, we will look at how you can provide your horse with a balanced diet that supports healthy hoof growth and his overall soundness and wellbeing. We will also look into which minerals you should be careful about over-supplementing and other tips for helping your horse build strong, barefoot hooves.
The ground stone in equine nutrition is forage - good quality fresh grass and hay, which should always be the bulk in every horse’s diet. Forage does not only contain all of the vitamins a horse needs on a daily basis, but is also the best source of fibre, which is the most essential source of nutrients for a horse.
Apart from the nutrients in forage, grazing on grass or hay is paramount for your horse’s digestive system and his physical and mental well-being. Horses are designed to chew and take in small amounts of feed all throughout the day and should never go without feed for more than four hours at a time. Research shows that horses spend between 10-17 hours a day grazing, broken into 15-20 periods of grazing.
With forage being the bulk of your horse’s diet, it is well worthwhile getting it tested for essential nutrients, if you want to ensure your horse is getting what he needs. Many horse owners, however, are reluctant to test their horse’s hay and pasture, which makes Carol Layton wonder:
“Why wouldn’t you want to know what the biggest and most important part of your horse’s intake contains? The total content of your horse’s diet is bound to be inaccurate, if you rely on calculating the nutrients of a small amount of daily hard feed. You would never rely on only a small portion of a human athlete’s diet, in order to know what to supplement correctly,” Carol Layton said.
Testing your hay will also provide you with its sugar levels, which could be vital knowledge if your horse is insulin resistant or prone to laminitis. You should never let your insulin resistant horse munch away at rich, sugary grasses unrestricted, as this could lead to laminitis. Grasses that are poorer in nutrients are much healthier for horses. However, strip grazing or using a grazing muzzle can help restrict your horse’s intake while still allowing him to move around and graze, if you only have access to rich grass.
As the table above shows, horses that are not doing much more than being horses, don't need many supplements - if any at all. However, domesticated horses usually have less of a feed variety in their paddocks as compared to in the wild, where horses will forage on a range of vegetation like herbs, berries, nuts and tree bark, as well as finding minerals in the soil as they graze through various landscapes.
We also generally want our horses to do better than merely survive. And performance horses in particular require more nutrients than a horse in the wild. As such, the National Research Council (NRC) has calculated the Nutrient Requirements of Horses adjusted to their weight, workload and stage of life.
Following this research, most horses won’t get the optimal amount of each essential mineral from grass and hay alone and need to be supplemented. Note that many commercial all-in-one vitamin/mineral supplements have levels of minerals that are too low to make a difference or in ratios that are incorrect.
Instead, these products often include a long list of vitamins and other ingredients that your horse doesn’t really need if he’s on a good forage based diet, although most horses would benefit from supplementation of vitamin E. So make sure to read the labels carefully. If you’re in doubt, ask a qualified equine nutritionist for advice.
Horses that have access to fresh, actively growing grass and quality hay should also be well covered for essential amino acids and protein. However, horses on heavy grain based diets are often lacking some of these, because most grains contain very little protein. As such, if your horse needs hard feed on top of his forage, go for legume based feeds, which are high in fibre or quality proteins such as soybean, lupins, beet pulp and faba/tick beans.
You can base your horse’s diet on the following simplified 4 steps:
Equine nutritionist Carol Layton also uses the data from NRC when she customises diets for her equine clients. In particular, Carol emphasises getting the so-called ratios balanced, which refers to how certain minerals should be rationed according to each other.
“Many minerals compete with each other, so the ratio is extremely important to get right. Otherwise some of the most essential minerals might not even be absorbed by the horse, even though you are supplementing them,” Carol Layton said.
Especially the ratio between calcium:phosphorus and zinc:copper are important. Ideally the horse should have slightly more calcium than phosphorus, but if the horse has too much calcium - for instance through a large amount of lucerne hay on top of a concentrated calcium supplement - it will inhibit the absorption of phosphorus. Likewise, too much phosphorus will inhibit your horse’s calcium absorption.
Horses only need relatively small amounts of the trace minerals copper and zinc. However, also here it is important to get the ratio right in order to avoid one mineral inhibiting the uptake of the other. Ideally, the horse should have three times as much zinc as copper. In this case, it is also relevant to keep an eye on how much iron is in your horse’s feed, as excessive amounts of iron could reduce the uptake of zinc.
Many all-in-one vitamin and mineral supplements include added iron, which you should be cautious about. Horses rarely need iron supplemented except for those diagnosed with chronic blood loss. Excess iron has been linked to liver disease, joint pain, metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance, and even hoof issues such as abscesses and laminitis.
Hoof showing healthy new growth after the diet was balanced with sufficient zinc and copper. Photo courtesy of Hoof Care Professional Maja Stocker and Carol Layton/Balanced Equine.
As we’ve discovered, improving hoof health begins with getting your horse’s diet balanced. However, diet is only the first step to helping your horse grow strong and healthy hooves, because even the best of diets can’t make up for poor trimming or lack of movement to condition and stimulate your horse’s hooves:
“You can put your horse on the most perfectly balanced diet, but his hooves are unlikely to be the best they can be, if they aren’t conditioned through exercise or trimmed correctly to encourage correct movement,” Carol Layton said.
As such, once you have your horse’s diet on the right track, you will also need to get a hold of a qualified barefoot trimmer. Ideally, your trimmer would also be able to help with correctly fitted hoof boots, if your horse is transitioning from shod to barefoot, or is rehabilitating from laminitis or other hoof issues.
And then it’s time to get your horse moving! Depending on the state your horse’s feet are in, he should be encouraged to move as much as possible. Walking on various surfaces is paramount to hardening up your horse’s hooves naturally and stimulating his frogs. Apart from riding or walking your horse in-hand, he would also benefit from a paddock setup that imitates life in the wild like the "paddock paradise".
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Each year many thousands of Thoroughbred horses are retired from the racetrack. Although these horses have been started under saddle and raced at a very young age, they have extraordinary potential to become wonderful family and performance horses in many different disciplines if given the chance.
When Thoroughbreds are no longer needed on the racetrack, they are usually turned out and taken off their high energy hard feed from one day to the next, resulting in quickly losing their muscle mass and condition. Racehorses are also commonly shod at a very young age so their hooves haven't been able to develop to be strong and resilient. As such, many of these ex-racehorses will need some tender love and care before starting their new careers away from the racetrack.
In the U.S., The Retired Racehorse Project was created in 2010 to assist ex-racehorses in finding new careers by increasing their demand in equestrian sports. This project includes The Thoroughbred Makeover, which is a training competition held in Kentucky aiming to showcase the trainability and talent of Off-Track Thoroughbreds (OTTBs).
Kallie Zeinstra from Michigan has rehabilitated several retired racehorses and competed in the Thoroughbred Makeover competition for a number of years. One of these horses, Southern Diva, aka Lola, came to Kallie with poor hooves and body condition. In the following, you can learn how Kallie used barefoot transition, hoof boots and kind, bitless handling to recover and retrain Lola into a happy, confident equine athlete.
Lola & Kallie at the Thoroughbred Makeover 2019.
Thoroughbred horses are often said to have poor hoof quality. This could be due to the fact that the core objective of Thoroughbred breeding is speed, which is bound to compromise other aspects of the horse. Adding to this, most places it is still compulsory for racehorses to be shod in order to race and this usually happens before the horse turns two years old.
This early shoeing is problematic. The structures in the hoof; frog, digital cushion, lateral cartilages and venous plexus, takes five to six years to develop. And putting a shoe on an immature hoof, effectively shuts down that development. When Kallie Zeinstra brought home the four year old Thoroughbred Lola one month after she was retired from the racetrack, she still had bits of shoe nails left in her hoof walls.
“Most of the Thoroughbreds I have taken off the track still have their racing plates on or have only had them pulled (no trim), they also usually have thrush. I like to pull their plates and give them a light rasp leaving some wall all the way around as their soles are not used to making any contact with the ground and are usually quite thin,” Kallie said.
Thoroughbreds are notorious for having flat, thin soles, long toes, under-run heels and thin hoof walls which are prone to flaring and cracking. Likewise, the ex-racehorse Lola had thin hoof soles, under-run heels and wall flaring. But even though genetics are to blame for many of these traits, there are ways to improve the condition of the hooves and Kallie had a plan for how to help Lola become more comfortable.
After Lola had her first barefoot trim, Kallie immediately put her in hoof boots from Scoot Boots to protect her thin soles from bruising:
“I have found that the use of Scoot Boots, especially at the beginning stages of transitioning from shod to barefoot, has a considerable effect in the comfort and speed with which my horses transition to barefoot,” Kallie said.
According to Kallie, this gives the hooves a transition period and keeps the horse comfortable to encourage movement during turnout. Movement is imperative during transition to barefoot and hoof rehabilitation in general, as it stimulates hoof growth. Using Scoot Boots allows the horse to be comfortable on any surface even with thin soles and encourages the horse to land on his heels and stimulate his frogs, which is essential to rebuild his natural hoof strength.
Kallie supported Lola’s weight gain and hoof rehabilitation with a forage based diet with balanced vitamins and minerals. Then she gradually increased Lola’s in-hand exercise on different surfaces:
“I am dividing up Lola's walking time 50/50 wearing Scoot Boots and barefoot so we can continue to strengthen her soles but also not push her to the point of discomfort,” Kallie explained.
Lola in the process of rehabilitating her feet using Scoot Boots.
In the U.S., about 20,000 new Thoroughbred foals are each year added to the population of racehorses. Thoroughbreds commonly have very short careers on the racetrack as their peak speed is reached around the age of four and as such, they are likely to be retired between the age of four and six. This leaves a large number of racehorses exiting the industry each year.
According to the National Thoroughbred Racing Association quoted by USA Today, 7500 retired Thoroughbreds are slaughtered each year. Since the United States has outlawed horse slaughter, these ex-racehorses are exported live on trucks to be slaughtered in Canada or Mexico. The vast majority of the horses are perfectly sound and the only reason for being sent to slaughter, is that they haven’t been fast enough to win on the racetrack.
As this is an inconvenient truth for the racing industry, they have partnered up with the Thoroughbred Charities of America, which are aiming to increase the demand of ex-racehorses in equestrian sports. This charity is behind The Retired Racehorse Project, that each year since 2010 facilitates the Thoroughbred Makeover competition in Kentucky to showcase the trainability of ex-racehorses.
Currently the Makeover offers ten disciplines that trainers can choose from to compete in with their Thoroughbred after ten months of off-track training. The disciplines are Eventing, Hunter, Jumper, Dressage, Field Hunter, Competitive Trail, Working Ranch and Freestyle.
Three months into Lola’s recovery, Kallie was selected as one of the 723 trainers to compete with their ex-racehorse in this competition, which was to be held nine months later in October 2019. At this point, Kallie hadn’t decided on which of these disciplines to compete Lola in, as she wanted it to be up to Lola to show what she would take a liking to.
Lola enjoying her first trail ride.
When racehorses are taken off the track, they need time to adjust to a very different lifestyle. Many racehorses are kept in stalls in between their scheduled workouts and have had little time to graze, play and laze around naturally with a herd. Moreover, racehorses are typically fed large volumes of high energy hard feed, which will take time for their digestive system to adjust away from. This unnatural lifestyle makes Thoroughbreds subject to stress-related illnesses.
When Kallie started riding Lola, her main priority was to relax her and gain her trust. They almost exclusively walked and for every ride Lola gained more confidence and lost more of her race track tension. Kallie rode her bitless, which is known to have a calming effect on ex-racehorses, as they associate the bit with needing to race. Any head tossing, teeth grinding and other signs of nervous tension tends to disappear when riding bitless.
Lola quickly learned to love going on trail rides, neither traffic or other riders seemed to bother her. When going on softer gravel free trails, Lola went without her Scoot Boots to get additional stimulation of her hooves. These trips to the park were very important to Lola and her future, said Kallie:
“Lola is learning to stand quietly tied to the trailer, ride out alone and in groups, and to have confidence with anything she might encounter along the way.”
At seven months into Lola’s recovery her exercise and fitness had steadily increased as well as the health of her hooves:
“We have added 2-mile walks down our gravel road two-three times a week alternating between riding with Scoot Boots and barefoot, which have helped to make some very positive changes to her hooves,” Kallie said.
Road riding barefoot to condition Lolas feet.
In June, eight months into Lola’s recovery, the duo went to their first show to do two dressage schooling tests in walk and trot. Despite how calm and relaxed Lola had become going to the park to ride, she was nervous unloading from the trailer at the show. After a lot of walking around to ease Lola’s tension, Lola was able to navigate through both tests, but had a hard time standing still for the salute.
At the next show, Lola was less nervous and by their third show, Lola stayed quiet and focussed on her job. In the cross country jumping class, Lola calmly and happily trotted out the start box and continued through the whole course, never batting an eye at any of the jumps.
“As we were cooling out we had several people come up to us to say how much they liked Lola and surprised that I rode her bitless cross-country. I happily explained that all my Off-Track Thoroughbreds are transitioned to riding bitless right off the track,” Kallie said.
Kallie and Lola ended up winning the open Starter Division, but according to Kallie, the best part of the day was that Lola received the Good Egg award. This award was created to recognise the horse who took the best care of their Starter Division rider:
“Lola was the youngest and most inexperienced horse in that class that day, I’m so proud of how well she took care of me throughout the day and what an amazing example of an Off-Track Thoroughbred,” Kallie said.
The following month, the duo went to their fourth schooling dressage show. Lola had been making great progress in her confidence and relaxation at shows, but she continued to struggle with wearing a bit for Dressage, carrying her head high with tension through her back and chewing the bit. Kallie then decided to take a step back and reevaluate where she and Lola were headed, as it was time to decide on which disciplines to participate in at the Thoroughbred Makeover.
Winning the Good Egg award for being the horse that took best care of her rider.
Kallie then entered them into a Field Hunting competition, a discipline offered at the Makeover and one that allows riding without a bit. Some horses love the ever changing pace and obstacles in a hunt and some don’t. Lola flourished in the field and made it clear to Kallie that this was a discipline to pursue for her at this moment.
When Kallie and Lola finally made it to Kentucky on 2nd of October 2019, Lola had grown an inch taller and put on several hundred pounds of muscle. Her hooves had improved drastically, now showing a healthy wide frog, good sole depth and strong walls. She was able to freely walk over most surfaces barefoot and when wearing her Scoot Boots, according to Kallie, Lola was an all terrain-vehicle.
On the exceptionally hot day of their first Thoroughbred Makeover class, Lola was anxious but did her best to follow Kallie’s directions. On the second day, Lola again had some anxiety. But as soon as Lola realised they were going on a hunt, she had a light bulb moment as if saying ‘oh that’s what we're doing today!’ and rode confidently through the course, handling the halts, jumps and crowd.
“As equestrians it is often easy to get focused on one goal or discipline because it is what we want to do. I try to always listen to what my horses are telling me. Sometimes they make their wishes loud and clear by being what we perceive as stubborn or disobedient, but just as often they whisper. That is why it’s our job to make sure we do not talk over our horses and instead give them the confidence to find the job that they can love as much as we love them,” Kallie said.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Pedal Osteitis is inflammation in the pedal bone, also known as the coffin bone or distal phalanx, which is the very bottom bone inside the horse’s hooves. The inflammation leading to pedal osteitis is most often non-septic, meaning that it is the result of chronic sole bruising from repeated concussion during work on hard surfaces.
Septic causes are infections such as abscesses, puncture wounds in the sole and laminitis. Improper trimming and shoeing as well as navicular disease can also lead to pedal osteitis. The symptoms of pedal osteitis are lameness, heat and foot soreness. These symptoms are similar to laminitis and navicular disease, which can make the condition tricky to diagnose accurately.
Moreover, pedal osteitis is usually diagnosed following an x-ray revealing demineralisation – seen as uneven edges - of the pedal bone inside your horse’s hoof. Although the edges on healthy pedal bones are rarely perfect either, whereas the veterinarian needs to carefully investigate the horse’s work history in order to diagnose more precisely, rather than merely relying on x-rays.
In the following, we will take a closer look at the causes of pedal osteitis. Knowing the causes will provide you with valuable knowledge about what to avoid, in order to prevent pedal osteitis from developing in the first place, or help your horse recover from pedal osteitis before it becomes chronic.
The pedal bone, also known as the coffin bone or distal phalanx, is the fingertip of the horse.
Trauma is believed to be the main cause of pedal osteitis in horses. As such, horses that are worked, ridden or driving a carriage, on hard surfaces such as roads, or horses that continuously land on hard ground after a jump, are more likely to develop the condition if these types of concussions are repeated over time.
Horses that are landing toe-first are also at high risk of doing permanent damage to the pedal bone and other structures in the lower limb. Heel pain/caudal foot pain is usually what’s causing toe-first landings. If your horse isn’t landing on his heels as he was intended to by nature, it is very important to address this as soon as you notice it.
The solution to toe-first landings could be as simple as helping your horse to rebuild the strength in his heels. Wearing hoof boot is a great place to start his recovery, as the superior shock absorption from Scoot Boots in particular, will encourage heel-first landings and help regain the strength in the heels by stimulating the frogs. Read more about rehabilitation from heel/caudal pain in our article about navicular here.
Wearing highly shock absorbant hoof boots such as Scoot Boots, will reduce the amount of concussion your horse’s feet are subjected to and will protect his hoof soles from bruising - like wearing a pair of sneakers.
As for repeated concussion on solid ground, there tends to be some contradictory beliefs on how to protect the horse’s hooves from hard surfaces. Traditionally, farriers recommend putting shoes on a horse that works on roads, as it is believed the hooves would wear down too fast if not shod. Although according to Nic Barker and Sarah Braithwaite in Feet First, it has long been proven that healthy barefoot hooves adapt their growth to the speed of which they are being worn.
Moreover, metal shoes are significantly restricting the hooves' ability to absorb shock, letting more than double the amount of concussive force up through the limb. That is also the reason why remediate shoeing hasn’t been very successful in helping horses with pedal osteitis.
Common treatment of pedal osteitis in horses involves remediate shoeing, sometimes with a pad inserted to protect the sole of the hoof from concussion. Although this might lift the sore foot off the ground but does not treat the cause of the soreness. In fact, the hoof needs to be used, if it is to regain its health.
That is, nonetheless, what Professor Robert M Bowker, VMD and director of the Equine Foot Laboratory at the Veterinary Medicine College at Michigan State University, has found in his comprehensive research. According to Dr Bowker, metal shoes are like wearing high heels, which unevenly distribute pressure and decrease the foot’s ability to absorb shock.
Mark Bailey, a UK based Equine Podiatrist, also believes in treating the cause of the disease instead of the symptoms. An example is one of Marks clients, a Thoroughbred named Rooney, who was diagnosed with septic pedal osteitis. The suggestions from the veterinarian to rehabilitate this, was a wall resection and remedial shoes with a wider inside branch.
Although in agreement with Rooney’s owner, Mark chose a different approach. He reduced all potential forms of inflammation - nutritional, environmental and mechanical. Rooney’s diet was tweaked to include good amounts of anti-inflammatories and was kept barefoot in a covered barn with a sand surface (with company to encourage movement and natural behaviours) for half of the day.
The other half of the day, Rooney was turned out in hoof boots and therapeutic pads, which he was also wearing whenever walked across a hard surface. Only twelve weeks later, a follow-up MRI showed substantial improvement in the condition of the margin of Rooney’s pedal bone.
If you would like to read more about the advantages of taking your horse barefoot, see our step-by-step guide on how to transition your horse to barefoot.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
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By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Everyone knows how important exercise is to keep fit and healthy. This goes for your horse too. Although excessive exercise can do more harm than good, and years of strenuous athletic activity is likely to take its toll on your horse’s joints and biomechanics.
Arthritis in horses is basically joint pain caused by inflammation. Sadly, arthritis is not only a consequence of old age, but can afflict horses of all ages. According to Kentucky Equine Research, there are three stages of equine arthritis. The first stage is called Synovitis, which is recognised particularly by the swelling of the affected joint due to an increase in joint fluid production.
The second stage is chronic arthritis, also known as DJD – Degenerative Joint Disease. This is characterized by chronic, progressive degeneration of the joint cartilage and is commonly found in the fetlock, knee or in the pastern and hock.
The third is Osteoarthritis, which involves progressive degeneration of the joint cartilage, enlargement of the bone margins, and changes in the membrane surrounding the joint capsule. This condition is marked by pain and stiffness during activity and is more common in older horses.
Years of strenuous exercise is likely to take its toll on your horse’s joints. Arthritis is one of the most common reasons horses are retired prematurely.
As a horse owner, acting promptly to any signs of pain, swelling and lameness in your horse is utmost important. In cooperation with your equine veterinarian, most horses can recover from the first stage of arthritis, but not if the inflammation is ignored and degeneration of the joint cartilage has begun.
The first stage, which is inflammation of the synovial membrane, is typically found in horses that are worked strenuously day after day. DJD is usually the result of recurring incidents of Synovitis, perhaps in combination with stress from landing after a jump, working at speed or doing prompt stops, as this causes the once smooth cartilage to become rough and flattened, losing all ability to withstand compression.
However, there are other factors than demanding exercise, that are known to either make matters worse or cause arthritis in itself. These include old injuries, joint infections, genetic predisposition, poor conformation and poor trimming and shoeing.
The latter is mainly problematic due to the fact that horseshoes significantly reduces the hooves’ ability to absorb shock, which allows greater concussive force to pass into the bones and soft tissue of the distal limb, according to Nic Barker & Sarah Braithwaite in “Feet First: Barefoot Performance and Hoof Rehabilitation”.
In addition, farriers often trim the horse’s hooves to fit the shoes, rather than fitting the shoe to the shape of the hooves. As hooves are highly dynamic, they will grow to compensate for issues in other parts of the body such as imbalances from old injuries or joint pain. Then if the hooves are trimmed back to fit a certain shape of shoe, it is likely to put more stress on the affected joint, if the underlying cause of the issue is not resolved.
Shod hooves lose more than fifty percent of their natural ability to absorb shock, which affects the joints throughout the limb.
At acute arthritis, which is recognised by swelling, lameness, stiffness and usually excessive heat in the joint, it should be possible for your horse to recover with rest and veterinary assistance. At this stage, it is crucial to rest your horse for a sufficient amount of time and slowly increase the workload afterwards to avoid a relapse, which could lead to more chronic joint damage.
At the second and third stage of equine arthritis, you will not only need to rest your horse. Now the most important thing is to help him be as comfortable as possible. Hoof boots are a great help through all three stages of equine arthritis, as they provide cushioning and shock absorption, which will relieve the stress on the aching joints.
Hoof boots from Scoot Boots are an excellent choice, not only because you can add extra shock absorption from Scoot Pads but also because they are unsurpassed in their level of ventilation. The supreme ventilation means that your horse can keep them on 24/7 without the risk of bacteria build-up that could then cause additional issues.
Being able to turn your horse out comfortably rather than keeping him contained in a stall, is essential to maintain joint mobility and keep stiffness in check. If he’s comfortable enough, you can even keep riding your arthritic horse. If wearing hoof boots, these will also lessen the impact on your arthritic horse, if he should happen to step on a sharp object, as his reaction to this could otherwise cause a painful shock up through the limb.
Scoot Boots used to increase shock absorption and keep woolen socks in place to warm up sore arthritic fetlock joints.
Depending on which stage of arthritis your horse is at, your veterinarian might choose to inject anti-inflammatory agents directly into the affected joint or supply him with a daily pain relief such as Butazone, especially if he’s got arthritis in multiple joints. Although supporting the treatment with a joint supplement is often recommended.
Equine joint supplements are big business and deciding which brand to choose can be a challenge in itself. However, a good place to start is asking your veterinarian for advice. Most joint supplements, for humans as well, are based on Glucosamine combined with Chondroitin, which has many years of research behind its effectiveness.
Hyaluronic acid has also proven effective in some horses for controlling heat, pain and swelling. MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is another popular supplement for horses with arthritis, which has excellent anti-inflammatory properties. Although you need to keep an eye out for the levels of active ingredients in your supplement, whether that be Glucosamine or MSM, as levels are often too low to be effective.
Joint supplements are not only effective in relieving pain and inflammation but can also be a way to help prevent arthritis by keeping your horse’s joints healthy. However, adding a supplement to your horse’s feed is not a one-stop-fix. You need to keep the rest of his body fit as well, as we will explore in the following.
Thoroughbreds typically start to race at the age of two and long before their body structures have fully matured. Racing thoroughbreds often suffers from joint effusions, which are pockets of fluid around the ankles.
You might need to adjust to the fact that your horse is likely to develop arthritis at some stage, as he gets older. That is why it can be really useful to learn how to keep him as comfortable as possible. Although there are few factors that have proven to increase the likeliness of developing arthritis and as such, should be avoided.
First, you should avoid your horse getting overweight. Excessive weight can cause laminitis, but is also overloading the joints and as a result, the joints are likely to wear down before time. Similarly, you should be careful about riding your horse too young. The extra weight of a rider will put unnecessary stress on his joints, if he hasn’t matured enough.
Keeping your horse fit and active has proven crucial to keeping arthritis at bay. Appropriate exercise will strengthen the muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding the joints and keep the structure stable. Although this refers to unforced exercise such as paddock turnout and light ridden work. Keep in mind that the horse wasn’t built to carry a rider or to do hours upon hours of work in an arena or on a racetrack.
The last and perhaps most important thing to be aware of, is that unbalanced hooves will inevitably lead to arthritis. It is imperative that your hoof care provider understands how your horse is built to be in balance to avoid merely trimming him to the perceived perfect hoof look, as this could potentially bring the entire limb out of balance and force the horse to put too much stress on his joints.
As such, whether your horse is shod or barefoot, make sure your horse is always up to date with trimming and that be done by a qualified hoof professional.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
If your horse has never had an abscess before, it can be a scary experience – from being perfectly fine in the evening, the next morning he is so lame that he can’t take a single step. And when checking the affected hoof and leg, there might not even be anything visibly showing that could be causing the sudden severe lameness.
Though chances are that your horse has developed a hoof abscess. Think of an abscess like a deep-lying pimple, a small bacterial infection that has grown larger and larger and the accumulation of pus is building up pressure. This pressure pushes on nerves within the horse’s foot and often causes excruciating pain.
Like a pimple, the abscess will pop and drain itself eventually. Although the abscess can be situated in such a difficult spot, that your veterinarian wants to surgically drain it. This could be important, as some abscesses can spread deeper into surrounding structures in the hoof and cause additional soundness issues.
However, like when you squeeze a pimple to burst, it does give immediate relief, but there is also a high risk of contaminating the open wound with more bacteria, than if you had left it to burst on its own. As such, if your veterinarian isn’t worried about the position of the abscess, it is better to leave it to blow itself.
A hoof abscess that has blown and is venting through the tip of the sole. Photo by Megan Bruce.
Applying a poultice to help soften up the foot is the best way to encourage your horse’s abscess to burst and relieve the painful pressure. You can buy ready-made veterinarian wraps, but you can also make your own. One way is to mix 1/3 Epsom salt with 2/3 of wheat bran and add enough water to make it into a paste. Another option is to mix enough iodine or Betadine with ordinary table salt to make it into a paste.
There is no need for stall rest whilst your horse is recovering from a hoof abscess if using hoof boots from Scoot Boots, as these boots will help keep the poultice in place and keep it dry and clean.
There are several common causes to hoof abscesses in horses. When the weather is very dry, the hoof can detract and create small cracks in the sole. Then after a sudden wet spell, the hoof expands and these small cracks can break open and allow bacteria to enter and get trapped inside, when the hoof detracts again.
Deep bruising of the hoof can also cause an abscess to develop and it’s not uncommon to see an abscess venting right next to a bruise on the sole. Though most commonly a hoof abscess occurs after a penetration of the foot – a sharp rock, piece of glass or a horseshoe nail. The penetration could happen several weeks before the infection has built up enough to make your horse lame.
Poor hoof health can make your horse more susceptible to developing abscesses. A stretched white line, also known as white line disease, creates a soft spot that’s easy for foreign objects to penetrate and infect. Further, even a minor inflammation of the laminae can make way for an abscess to develop. As such, an abscess can be a consequence of a mild laminetic episode that hasn’t become severe enough for you to notice.
In fact, laminitis and hoof abscesses share some of the same symptoms, which is another reason for having your horse checked by your veterinarian, if he shows some of the following signs:
If a horseshoe nail is driven into the dermal hoof tissue or touches on the white line of the hoof, the penetration can cause an infection to build up even if the nail is removed straight away. Some horses are particularly sensitive to foreign objects in their hooves and are at risk of developing abscesses every time they are shod. An example is eventer Megan Bruce’s Bugsy:
“I was getting very good at tubbing and poulticing, but it was becoming impossible to work him, as every time he recovered and we assumed he was ready to go out and start work, another abscess would spring up,” Megan said.
It wasn’t until Megan decided to go barefoot as a last resort, that Bugsy remained sound. As Bugsy was very foot sore when his shoes came off at first, Megan used Scoot Boots as protection during the transition from shod to barefoot:
“His Scoot Boots were doing a grand job and he would switch from a tender footed horse, always seeking soft ground and verges, to a happy confident horse who was keen to trot and canter.”
Although getting rid of the metal horseshoes is only the first step in building strong hooves that are better conditioned to resist recurring abscesses, as we will explore in the following.
Megan Bruce and Bugsy competing barefoot in Scoot Boots.
Megan Bruce described Bugsy’s feet as being classical Thoroughbred when he was shod: Thin soles, brittle hoof walls and very little hoof growth. As such, a horse like Bugsy would need to rebuild the health of his hooves before he can live happily without abscesses and the metal shoes that caused them.
First step is to look closely at your horse’s diet. Removing sugar and starch from his diet and supplying premium vitamins and minerals to fill his exact needs is utmost important. This will not only support healthy new hoof growth, but also help prevent white line disease and laminitis from occurring, which can lead to hoof abscesses.
Next step is conditioning the hooves to become stronger and more resistant to bruising and penetrations that can lead to infections and abscesses. Providing a variety of surfaces for your horse to move on will help build thicker soles and stronger hoof walls. This variety should also include a dry area so your horse’s feet aren’t soaked in mud 24/7 during wet weather.
If your horse is conditioned to work and live barefoot on challenging surfaces such as roads, gravel and rocky ground, together with a correctly supplemented low sugar/low starch diet, you have laid the best foundation for your horse to avoid struggling with recurring abscesses. Read more about how you transition your horse to barefoot on our detailed page on Barefoot Transition.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
Fortunately, having your horse diagnosed with navicular is no longer a death sentence. There is no need for nerve blocking or special metal shoes that may help for a little while. Learn how going barefoot is used to rehabilitate navicular horses successfully all over the world.
By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Until recently, most unidentified heel pain/caudal foot pain was diagnosed as navicular syndrome. If x-rays would show damage to the navicular bone, this would be diagnosed as navicular disease. Both diagnoses are likely to be devastating news to any horse owner, as thousands of horses have been either put down or spelled out for the rest of their days, due to severe lameness thought to be incurable.
Only this is not the case anymore. Across the world, veterinarians and professional hoof rehabilitators are slowly starting to acknowledge the potentials of recovering horses from navicular by going barefoot. Getting rid of the metal shoes and allowing the horse to move correctly and regain his balance has proven effective on horses with navicular syndrome as well as navicular disease.
This has become possible due to treating the cause of the heel pain rather than attempting to treat the symptoms, which has traditionally been common practice. In the following, we will explore some of the research supporting a transition to barefoot as an aid in recovering from navicular and discover how navicular horses are being rehabilitated in real life.
Traditionally, navicular disease has been diagnosed when x-rays have shown remodelling of the navicular bone in one or both of the horse’s front feet. Symptoms of navicular in horses include:
Though many horses tend to have the same symptoms but not show any changes to the navicular bone when x-rayed, whereas these horses would be diagnosed with navicular syndrome. This basically meant that the horse was sore in the caudal foot/heel and veterinarians were not sure what caused it.
Illustration: Susan Kauffmann
In navicular disease, it was believed that the remodelling of the navicular bone was causing the symptoms, and it was – and still is – common to advise shoeing with ring shaped shoes, to lift the sore heel and frog off the ground to relieve the pressure. This has only proven effective in some horses and only for a limited time before the symptoms reappeared.
Although already in 1974 with the publication of The Lame Horse, Dr James R. Rooney of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists proved that it was not the mysterious remodelling of the navicular bone that caused the symptoms. It was in fact the other way around. But it has taken years before Dr Rooney’s groundbreaking studies were recognised and his findings were followed up with additional research.
The renowned veterinarian and PhD Robert M. Bowker, who is also head of the Equine Foot Laboratory at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, is doing comprehensive research in the structures of natural hooves. Both Dr Rooney and Dr Bowker have found that changes to the navicular bone, that lead to navicular disease, is the result of long term toe-first landing.
Toe-first landing
As such, the toe-first landing is not only a symptom of heel pain but can be the cause of the heel pain itself. If the horse isn’t conditioned to land on his heels and thereby stimulate the frog and heel, the entire hoof structure will weaken and cause stress to the soft tissue, deep flexor tendon and ligaments further up the leg. Read more about the importance of heel-first landing in our series of articles here.
When it became custom to perform MRI scans of navicular horses and not only x-rays it was evident that most horses in fact did suffer from tendon or ligament damages. This can be caused by long term toe-first landing due to weak and under stimulated frogs and heels, but also by the horse being overworked and other strain and exertion injuries.
When the horse is wearing metal shoes, the frog and heel is lifted off the ground and prevents these from being stimulated to become strong and healthy. As such, shoeing can be the cause of navicular. This is the reason why shoes are removed from the horse immediately, if you take your navicular horse to be rehabilitated at Rockley Farm in Exmoor England, run by Nic Barker and Andy Willis.
Since 2005 Nic Barker has rehabilitated hundreds of horses at her farm in England. She, among many other professional hoof rehabilitators, have solidly proven that going barefoot is the most effective way to recover a navicular horse. At Rockley Farm, Nic has an impressive 83% success rate of recovering horses from deep digital flexor tendon lameness and collateral ligament and navicular bone injuries.
This means that 83% of the horses she has rehabilitated have gone back to the same performance level or higher. The remaining 17% of the horses have gone home sound but not performing on the same level as before. According to Nic Barker, the only horses that are less likely to make a full recovery are the ones who have been worked continuously on painkillers to endure their lameness.
Nic’s main focus is allowing the horse to recover from the tendon and/or ligament damages by regaining the strength to move correctly and in balance. This starts by removing his shoes if he’s shod, and providing the right surface to stimulate the frog and encourage heel-first landings. The idea is to rebuild a strong, balanced hoof, which will then support correct movement of the entire leg and shoulder.
Horses are only accepted at Rockley in agreement with the owner’s veterinarian. The horse usually stays at Rockley for eight weeks but already shows progress at the four week check-up with the owner and veterinarian. The horses go on a forage based diet with premium vitamins and minerals to encourage hoof health from the first day, and they are worked in and kept on different stimulating surfaces as the hooves are improving.
“I had reservations about taking his shoes off, and the vet was very sceptical,
but now I know it was the best decision ever for Connor.” - Marie Bak
At Scoot Boots we have also received numerous testimonials from horse owners, who are cheering over the fact that their navicular horses have recovered by going barefoot using Scoot Boots as an extra protection of the hooves in the process.
Here is a quote from Marie Bak, who had tried everything from nerve-blocking, steroid injections to remedial shoeing before going barefoot and finally recovering her show-pony Connor. He had been suffering from navicular and a tear to the deep digital flexor tendon:
“Who knows where he would be now if I hadn’t taken his shoes off. It really is inspiring to see what a difference taking shoes off a horse can make. To see him happily working again is priceless and I will never look back – barefoot all the way!”
The advantage of using hoof boots from Scoot Boots when transitioning your horse from shod to barefoot is that these boots allow the hooves to move naturally and encourages heel-first landings, which is crucial in order for your horse to recover from navicular. The shock-absorbing material of Scoot Boots protects your horse’s sore feet whilst still allowing the frogs and heels to be stimulated. As such, hoof boots are essential to relieve the pain from navicular in your horse on his way to recovery.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
One of the first things most horse owners are taught about hoof care is how to recognise the rotten smell of thrush. The condition is often accompanied by black, tar-like residue from either the central sulcus or from the collateral grooves around the frog. This condition is rather common for horses that are kept in wet or muddy environments, or left to stand in manure and urine drenched bedding.
However, the bacterial infection known as thrush is just as likely to occur in dry environments. According to the renowned hoof rehabilitation expert Pete Ramey, a hard, dry frog with a deeply infected central sulcus Hoof Rehab is far more painful for the horse than a soft, wet frog with the same infection.
Although an infection in a dry hoof does not necessarily smell and is not likely to discharge black residue. And even though the infection will be highly painful for your horse, it might not even show signs of lameness, as the horse could simply be altering his strides to avoid putting pressure on the sore frog and instead be landing with his toe first.
The ACEHP certified barefoot trimmer Angie Howard of Stepping Stone Equine Hoof Care, always keeps an eye out for symptoms of thrush when she visits her clients. According to Angie, detecting dry thrush starts with knowing how your horse’s hooves look when they are healthy.
“The central sulcus shouldn’t be much deeper than a thumb print and ideally you should be able to see the bottom of it. If the thumb print starts to develop into a deep crack, there might be something in there you can’t see, and you should start your treatment,” Angie said.
Another sign of soreness in the frog can be recognised by paying attention to how your horse moves. A healthy horse should be landing confidently with his heels first and not on his toes, Angie explains:
“If you take your horse out for a good trot, the strides should be nice and long, and your horse should land with his heels touching the ground first before rolling forward onto his toes. If your horse’s strides seem short and stubby as compared to normal, you should definitely check for thrush.”
Horse owners might not see thrush as much more than an annoyance, as it doesn’t immediately make the horse lame. However, the long term effects of an unhealthy and sore frog, can lead to an abundance of severe body issues for your horse. This is because the horse is then likely to compensate by disengaging his frog and put too much weight on his toes.
If the horse develops chronic toe-first landings, Pete Ramey has found that this can cause issues such as thin soles at the toe, recurring hoof abscesses, hoof capsule rotation, flaring of the hoof wall, wall cracks, navicular damage and injuries to the ligaments and tendons all through the horse’s leg, shoulder and back. Read more about the damaging effects of toe-first landing here.
According to Angie Howard, disengagement of the frog can also in itself be the cause of thrush and as such it can easily turn into a vicious cycle.
“A frog that doesn’t get stimulated becomes weak and is much more prone to bacterial infections like thrush. You see this in horses that avoid putting weight on an injured leg during the recovery period. But also particularly in horses that are shod, as the shoes lift their frogs off the ground and as a result the frogs don't get the stimulation they need to be healthy,” Angie said.
Persistence is key to helping your horse get rid of thrush. You need to treat your horse’s hoof daily by cleaning the infected area and applying a remedy that will kill off both fungal and bacterial infections. Although Angie Howard advises you to be careful about which products you use:
“Many commercial products are quite harsh and contain chemicals that can harm or even kill the new tissue growing under the thrush – and that defeats the entire purpose! You want to use something that encourages new growth and treats the infection as well.”
Angie recommends using a 50/50 solution of apple cider vinegar and water to clean the infected area. Then applying a natural product that is suitable to reach the bottom of the cracks such as “Stay Put Cream” or “Hoof Clay” by Good Gear Naturals. And you need to keep at it for as long as it takes for the crack to heal and close back up.
“If there are loose flaps on the frog that prevents you from getting into the cracks properly, your qualified barefoot trimmer will cut these back. Otherwise I wouldn’t recommend trimming the frog. The heel might also have grown too high if your horse has been going toe first for a while, but never cut the heel back to normal height at once. This has to happen carefully and gradually little by little during your regular trims.”
When Angie Howard is out trimming, she always carries a selection of hoof boots in the case that one of her clients should be in need of some extra protection on their horse’s feet. A horse that is sore from thrush would be such a case, says Angie:
“If your horse isn’t lame you can still ride him, given that you cushion his feet with padded hoof boots and keep up with treating the thrush. This can actually help the healing process, as the boots should make your horse comfortable enough to land heel first and start stimulating the frog again.”
The grey horse is landing with his toe first while the bay horse is landing comfortably heel first wearing padded Scoot Boots.
In case your horse is too sore from his thrush to move properly, Angie recommends wearing well fitting hoof boots 24/7 during recovery to help ease the pain.
Many therapeutic boots for horses are fully enclosed which can cause bacteria to build up and that isn’t helpful whilst treating your horse for thrush. In Scoot Boots, the hooves stay clean and dry as the horse’s natural hoof heat combined with the boot’s constant airflow works to dry out the hooves in the boot.
The excellent ventilation and drainage, which expels mud, dirt and water, makes Scoot Boots a great choice for your horse during his recovery from thrush. Scoot Boots can be used while riding or they can be kept on 24/7 when needed. Adding Scoot Pads would be ideal to achieve optimal shock absorption on your horse’s sore, thrush infected feet.
The environment of which your horse lives in and what you feed him, are essential to his overall wellbeing. Environment meaning everything from keeping his paddocks clean from manure, to how well your paddocks are designed to encourage movement and stimulation of the hooves.
“Horses in the wild travel many miles a day across a large variety of ground such as soft pasture, rocks and gravel, sand and mud. This all helps to keep their bodies and not least their frogs healthy, which is the best prevention of thrush,” Angie explains.
As hoof health starts from the inside, it is just as crucial to steer away from sugary grasses such as rye and clover, as well as feeding grains such as barley, wheat and oats. These types of feeds contain high levels of fructose and starch, which can not only compromise the overall health of your horse’s hooves, but also cause laminitis and hindgut ulcers, according to numeral studies referenced in “Feed Your Horse Like a Horse” by PhD Juliet M Getty.
“Your horse might like these sugary and starchy feeds, but you are not doing him any favours by feeding them to him. Consider his long term health instead and he will love you for it,” said Angie.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen
Laminitis is the local manifestation of a body-wide metabolic breakdown, according to Kentucky Equine Research. Why this metabolic collapse materializes in the feet is not completely understood, but the damage that occurs is well documented.
More specifically, laminitis is the result of a disruption of blood flow to the laminae, which is the tissue inside the hoof holding the hoof capsule onto the foot. The disease occurs when the cells of the laminae don't receive sufficient nutrients from the blood and become unable to keep the pedal bone/coffin bone inside the hoof in place. In severe cases the pedal bone will then start to rotate downward and can penetrate the sole of the hoof.
Progressed laminitis is easy to recognise by the characteristic back-leaning horse that tries to keep his weight off the front of his feet. The condition will cause intense pain and it is devastating to any horse owner witnessing their best friend in such agony. However, there are signs you can watch out for in order to catch the disease before it progresses this far.
A typical posture for a horse with progressed laminitis in his front feet - leaning backwards to avoid putting weight on his sore toes.
All horses react to not feeling well in different ways. Some isolate themselves and don't want to hang out in the herd; some get overly grouchy; some appear depressed and lethargic. Others may exhibit a rapid respiration or excess sweating. Or a reluctance to pick up the hooves for cleaning as usual and avoid gravel or rocks whereas the horse was usually willing to go over any terrain.
Affected horses will often walk with shorter strides than usual and land with the heel-first. The short, careful steps are most obvious when the horse is walking on a firm or rocky surface or when turning around. When resting, the horse will often shift the weight from one foot to the other and prefer to stand with the hind legs placed further underneath its body.
Although it is normal that the temperature fluctuates in your horse's hooves, they are not supposed to stay hot for many hours at the time. A horse that is developing laminitis is also likely to be sore under the sole of the hooves and will pull the hoof away, if you press a hoof pick against the sole in front of the frog towards the toe.
As the cells of the laminae begin to die, the lack of blood supply to the hoof causes a bounding pulse in the vascular bundle. You find the pulse by running your fingers down both sides of the back of the fetlock until you feel a soft, thick vein under the skin. If the horse is sound, you will hardly be able to feel the pulse.
A bounding pulse can be a sign of developing laminitis.
If you notice some of the signs mentioned above, it might be time to consult your vet, as you should always consider signs of laminitis a medical emergency. Notifying your vet can be particularly urgent, if you have a miniature pony or a heavy breed horse, as these can be more prone to develop laminitis due to lack of exercise or obesity. Read more about the latest research on obesity-associated laminitis here.
Obesity is, however, only one of the many known causes of laminitis. Understanding the causes of laminitis can also provide valuable knowledge on how to prevent the disease from developing in the first place. As a start, you should always be cautious with grazing lush pastures, especially between late morning and late afternoon hours. This is because the plant sugars are the highest during these times, according to the laminitis-prevention-treatment American Association of Equine Practitioners
Last year, a study by Nick Bamford and colleagues at the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science found that only 15-30 minutes of light exercise five times a week can reduce the risk of laminitis. The exercise improved the insulin sensitivity of the horses, which is important, as the horses then didn’t need to produce as much insulin to control their blood sugar, whereas high insulin levels are a risk factor for laminitis.
Another well-known cause of laminitis are grain based diets. All horses, but those that are prone to laminitis in particular, would in stead benefit from a forage based diet. Finally, be careful not to let your horse drink copiously following exercise, as this can not only cause acute laminitis but also colic.
Once your horse has been diagnosed with laminitis, your vet should help with customising a specific low sugar/low starch diet. If the horse is shod, you will also need to have your farrier remove the shoes immediately, to relieve the pressure on the sole. A good barefoot trimmer can work out a special trimming routine for your horse throughout the recovering phase.
The overwhelming priority when treating laminitis is to keep your suffering horse as comfortable as possible. As your horse now has to be kept off pasture, you will need to provide him with another kind of soft bedding to lie in, such as sand or a thick layer of straw or wood shavings. Next, your veterinarian will recommend cushioning his hooves to give him additional relief.
Hoof boots will provide immediate physical relief by alleviating significant pressure on the laminar attachments. Meanwhile, the extra stimulation on the sole promotes enhanced blood flow, which will assist in flushing out excess inflammatory fluid and promoting faster healing. Scoot Boots are particularly well suited for horses with laminitis, as they are designed with an open toe which eliminate pressure on the sorest bit of the hoof.
Scoot Boots are impact absorbing like the sole of your sneakers, which will help protect the sensitive soles of your laminitic horse. If you need additional cushioning in the early stage of recovery where the hooves are most sore, you can add Scoot Pads to your boots. Adding a pad might require you to go up a size in boots, so please advise our sizing team about this when ordering your boots and pads.
As mentioned, Scoot Boots are uniquely designed with an open toe, which makes them ideal for laminitic horses. However, Scoot Boots are also highly adaptable as shown in the photo beneath by India Woods. She has cut the entire toe off the boot and rasped the sole to create a customized breakover suitable for a laminitic horse with pedal bone rotation.
Another advantage of using Scoot Boots for your horse with laminitis is the exceptional airflow in these boots, which will allow your horse to keep the boots on 24/7. This means you don’t need to expose your horse’s sore hooves by taking the boots off to allow the hooves to dry and air out, as other types of boots will require.
The flexibility of the entire Scoot Boot also allows for natural movement of the hooves which will stimulate the blood flow and promote faster healing. As the horse improves, exercise will be the next important step in rehabilitation. At this stage removing the extra pads from the boots but still keeping the horse booted, is a gentle way to start the transition. As such, the Scoot Boots can assist your horse all throughout the road to recovery from the dreaded disease.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
About the author Helle Maigaard Erhardsen is an investigative journalist specialising in environmental issues. Her devotion to the outdoors includes a life long passion for horses of which she has two: Pannigan, an off-the-track Thoroughbred and Audrey, a Shetland pony, who are both bitless and barefoot. Helle is born in Denmark, where she graduated from the Danish School of Media and Journalism in 2015. Her work is characterised by comprehensive research and she was nominated for the special media award Bording Prisen for her investigative reporting with the newspaper Ing.dk. She later obtained a Master’s degree in Journalism, Media and Communication from UTAS, when she relocated to Tasmania. |
Are you reaching the point of providing the essential ingredients your horses need to grow and develop high quality hooves, capable of handling all kinds of terrain? If so, I would bet you are considering a grass-based diet low in sugar and high in fiber, with quality proteins and fats. You may also be thinking about added vitamin and mineral supplements to complement whatever may be lacking in the forage. I hope your list of requirements also includes a lifestyle with other equine friends to dance and feel secure with. Hopefully you are imagining a habitat that provides for a walk to get water and full time freedom of movement, with a variety of ground surfaces to provide support, stimulate circulation, toughen the hooves and encourage playful activity.
Perhaps the day arrives and the shoes come off! To your horse, it feels as if a big part of their hooves are suddenly gone. What their brain had become accustomed to is now very different in weight, length and sensation. Within minutes, circulation is increased, nerves report more sensations and the hooves themselves move and bend in ways the steel shoes didn't allow just moments ago. There will likely be areas of infection exposed and thin, weak walls from a series of nail holes. You've made the decision that no shoes will replace what were just removed, so how do you proceed?
Instead of talking about how we might want to trim a set of hooves at this point, let's focus on what we don't want to trim for the next 3 to 12 months.
Here we see the immediate before and after sole pictures of a sport horse with severe heel deformities (small, narrow frog). Underneath the shoe is infection that will resolve and weakened walls that will grow out with time. No trimming is done at this time, because just removing the shoe is all ready a Big Change.
It's so tempting to "make things a little prettier" right after shoes are removed, and I will tell you to stop, do nothing and allow things to Be for a few moments. Some farriers and trimmers will point confidently to "all the junk" that should be taken away, shaped up, or pared off...because it's "junk". This is where one of my famous lines will be offered: "It may be junk, but it's all he's got. The more you trim at this point, the longer it will take for the horse to get better". Other than perhaps a very light bevel or roll to the edges of the hoof walls, I most always recommend no trimming when shoes come off, at least for a few days. The value in this is helping nature work its magic. You've decided to allow your horse the opportunity to grow better hooves, so let's help them do exactly that!
The hooves are specialized skin structures, capable of making wonderful calluses if we don't defeat them by over trimming. Invariably, hooves transitioning to a more natural state will break out the walls in their quarters, or sides. This is because nail holes have weakened these areas and the natural bending and torque occurring without the rigid steel is allowing this to happen. This is the first step in "self-trimming", a vital function we must work to respect and allow. Natural hooves are not flat, and every part of the solar aspect of the hooves is intended to participate in weight-bearing. One vital realization that will really help you avoid lameness and speed your horse's transition to a barefoot lifestyle is to allow old sole layers to pack into a callus.
Sole callus can be defined as a dense ridge of thicker sole material ahead of the frog, directly underneath the tip of the coffin bone, supportive and protective, allowing for increased comfort and buying time for stronger toe wall to grow in.
Here is a front foot sole view of a horse out of shoes for four months. Note the sole layers and sole callus allowed to remain to form calluses and offer support and protection. A small amount of flare can be reduced at the corners of the toe.
While calluses also form through pressure and response from within, in this early stage we can note some of this "junk" compressing into a callus. If you haven't seen this because you've always trimmed off the junk, I encourage you to give this a try. Besides being more humane and helpful to the horse, this is a sound practice because we are changing our whole approach to care of the hooves. We are not replacing strong, natural, dynamic hoof material with rigid, concussive steel, and we are allowing for and counting on natural exfoliation to drive the production of higher quality growth. A winning strategy for success with barefoot horses is to always leave hoof material behind to wear (exfoliate) on its own.
Nature seeks support from the earth that yields in every step. Steel is aggravating, extremely rigid and drives concussion bone deep. Without a steel shoe, a hoof has the opportunity to develop calluses, a very important one being the sole callus.
We must not defeat this if we desire to assist this remarkable feat of nature which protects the horse. Many horses coming out of shoes land harder on their toes due to weak heel structures. The sole callus behaves very much like toe wall in a sound barefoot horse. It forms in the exact position where future toe wall will be. It handles primary weight bearing and extreme forces of breakover. It contributes to sole depth (thickness), which is vital for preserving and protecting the tip of the coffin bone. Indeed, one of the biggest mistakes made in trimming barefoot horses is invading the sole callus with trimming tools. It may appear that toe depth or thickness is excessive because HEEL structures are so weakened in previously shod horses. Don't remove sole at the toes or a toe callus to balance or "go along with" low or under run heels that need to develop--if you do, the whole hoof will be over trimmed. Instead, provide adequate depth of terrain which allows for nice hoof prints, and use hoof boots with pads to stimulate the frog and heels to get thicker and stronger--this way, the heels "catch up" to the toes and balance things out in just a few weeks. In the alternative scenario of higher, upright heels, consider reducing height a little at a time to allow a more comfortable transition.
This horse is five months out of shoes and was doing very well on varied terrain. A new trimmer mistakenly rasped and flattened the sole callus, causing the horse to become immediately lame.
Here is a hoof growing out from previous laminitis and founder. Note the thickened, callused toe behaving as wall at the toe until the new wall growth can come in to take its place.
This horse became lame immediately after trimming. Pictured is her hoof with obvious, fresh rasp marks at the toe. Trimming a flat place for shoes versus trimming for barefoot soundness are very different techniques.
Toe callus gives us a futuristic vision of a rounder hoof instead of the deformed oblong hoof we see coming out of shoes. The rounder hoof is showing itself because of more appropriate stimulation and dynamic movements that were previously denied. Calluses allow for more comfortable movement, which is mandatory for regaining optimal circulation, normal nerve function and higher quality hoof growth. Removing or rasping on a toe callus sets back all these desirable rehabilitation goals.
As you progress in the weeks and months after pulling shoes, keep the walls and any flaring reduced, especially when you can see nice development of sole calluses. Resist any urge to remove flared wall too high--simply keep breakover under control and allow the calluses to work. Take pictures every couple of weeks so you can learn and follow along in your horse's progress--many times, toe calluses will flake away once new, strong hoof walls reach the ground, and your pictures will reveal a more round instead of oblong hoof shape. Keep your horse moving as much as possible to recruit vital circulation and healthy nerve function (see previous blog on "proprioception"). More movement calls in more of nature's ability to provide quality hoof structures capable of serious work.
This series of hoof pictures from a 9 year old Morgan mare illustrate the progression from shoe removal, three months and ten months later. Note the infection has cleared up, calluses have formed over the entire sole, the toe callus has come and gone during new wall growth, and the hoof has become a more natural round shape instead of deformed and oblong.
Shoes removed from a 9 year old Morgan mare. Note infection, nail holes, narrowed frog and weakened, thin hoof walls.
3 months barefoot, pre-trim. Healthy toe callus, strong heels and bars grown in for support.
3 months barefoot, post-trim. Keeping breakover correct and controlling small amount of flaring at toe. Entire sole and sole callus left intact.
10 months barefoot. New hoof with more round shape, thick hoof walls regrown, expanded frog and callused structures from lifestyle and habitat changes (varied terrain, gravel, exercise).
For tons of ideas and in-depth discussions of managing your horses in a holistic way, please consider getting my book, ‘Insight to Equus--Holistic Veterinary Perspectives on Health and Healing’, self-published and available only at above link. For a 10% discount, enter ‘toe callus’ in the promo code box before January 1st, 2021!
Dr. Teskey has degrees in botany and veterinary medicine from Arizona in 1991 and Colorado in 1995. Within five years of graduation, he ventured into less popular and more holistic herd health practices for livestock and has now specialized in equine hoof and dental care, describing in detail the connections between the environment, nutrition and the body, specifically the foundational importance of hooves and teeth.
He is a strong advocate for responsible animal care and promotes connection and partnership as a way of life.
He and his wife and children spend time between Arizona, USA and Hungary, working on horses, ranching and farming and doing educational clinics around the world.
Dr. Tomas G. Teskey Veterinary Insights
I consult regularly with Leroy on the state of affairs with the herd.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
]]>This article was written for the media platform of the Horse Riding Clubs Association of Victoria (HRCAV), following their pioneering decision to allow the use of hoof boots for horses ridden in dressage competitions. The HRCAV formed in 1981 and is a large affiliation of 251 club members and currently has 5,169 members total.
Kudos to the HRCAV for sanctioning the use of hoof boots in dressage competitions! This is a most progressive change in equine hoof care and has the potential to increase the athletic longevity of many dressage horses.
Those members who prefer to keep their mounts barefoot now have access to the same competitive edge as heavy steel shoes, but with the bonus of full and flexible solar protection that is removable after their ride.
This way, horses get the best of both worlds; comfortable hoof ware under the saddle and barefoot in the paddock!
That’s all good news, but hoof boots are not ‘set and forget’ like nailed-on shoes and they need to be done right. Nobody wants to see a flying hoof boot - minus its horse - saluting the judge!
The new ruling states that hoof boots are allowed in dressage as long as they do not “protect the soft structures of the hoof, such as the heel bulbs and the coronet band” (Chaff Chat, 2020).
As such, compliance totally affects the choice of hoof boots for dressage competition. It appears the only hoof boot model that currently fits these criteria is the Australian Scoot Boot, which in fact, has been added as a permitted item of equipment (please refer to DRESSAGE GEAR CHECKERS GUIDELINES)
Choice? Yes, you can use any boot you like, as long as it's a Scoot Boot. And you can have any colour you want, as long as it’s back, however, not quite; there are a variety of brightly coloured straps that can be purchased from the parent website if you must have bling!).
Fortunately, Scoot Boots (known hereafter as ‘Scoots’) are quite universal and can be made to fit most hooves, they generally seem to be up to the task of dressage.
Dressage arena surfaces aren’t exactly like the rocky road to Mars, so the need for hoof protection may not be all that obvious.
In terms of dressage performance, the most common issue with a barefoot horse, as opposed to one that is traditionally shod, seems to be an inferior cadence. There are at least two reasons for this;
Firstly, many barefoot horses shorten and lower their stride to protect themselves because they are sensitive to the repetitive pressure and abrasion of pushing into the arena surface (yes, even on sand). They either have an inadequate sole thickness or poor structure around the heel bulbs (such as underrun and collapsed heels) or both. In regards, hoof boots provide comfort and therefore confidence for sustained optimum strife.
Secondly, the relationship between the weight of shoes and movement is well established. Heavy shoes force a horse to put more effort into moving, which has the effect of creating more lift and momentum, hence an exaggerated expression of movement. This is why dressage horses are usually shod ‘heavy’.
A barefoot horse does not have this competitive advantage, but hoof boots are quite the panacea!
Some dressage horses will need hind foot protection as well, mostly due to the collapsed, underrun and sensitive heels. Fortunately, the slim-shaped variant of Scoots is suitable for most hind hooves.
Sometimes, the only way to find out is to put some hoof boots on and see how much the horse’s stride improves. You might be surprised.
Rather than committing to buying an expensive pair of new boots just to find out if you need them, you may get lucky and find a pair of old hoof boots you can borrow (most HRCAV clubs seem to have a couple of those crazy barefoot and booted folks generous enough to lend a pair of pre-loved hoof boots).
It wouldn’t have to be Scoots, you could try on any style of hoof boots to check for stride improvement.
Nothing sticks to a hoof quite like a nailed-on metal shoe. A hoof boot is - at best - a glove and it needs to fit like a glove; tight enough to stay on the hoof and in the right position, but not so tight that it rubs. Not too loose, not too tight, just right.
Trouble is, hooves come in many different sizes and shapes, and Scoots come in many different sizes and shapes (at last count there are at least 25 different size Scoots) and for each hoof, there are usually 2 or 3 different size Scoots that will suitably fit. But which one is the best fit?
Horse owners can purchase Scoot Boots online by following their simple two-dimensional measuring guidelines and if the stars align, then horse and hoof boots will be married at first sight!
However, the author’s ongoing experiences suggest that it is rarely that simple…
It seems there are simply too many nuances hidden within the three dimensional and ever-changing ‘plastic’ hoof that is attached to the end of a long leg with all of its torsional pressures.
When fitting Scoots for your horse, there is a greater chance of sustained success if you involve the services of a professional hoof care provider who is trained and experienced in the subtle art of hoof boot fitting.
Experienced hoof boot fitters don’t rely on two-dimensional measurements alone. Instead, they put actual boots on actual hooves to check for a three-dimensional fit. This way they can swap sizes up or down, checking for overall suitability until the best right answer for each hoof has been determined. A bit like Cinderella, only the other way around.
Scoot Boots come in two different shapes; the self-explanatory regular and slim.
A surprising number of hooves fit well into Slim Scoots. Some hooves are simply contracted and unhealthy, but many hooves have such a well-developed frog and heel bulb area that they effectively measure extra-long from heel to toe and fit into a larger sized Slim hoof boot than measurements would indicate. An experienced boot fitter can judge this.
Hooves need to be set up correctly to wear hoof boots. The hoof walls need to be kept straight with no flaring and the breakover balance to be kept reasonably short.
There doesn’t seem to be any further specific trimming requirements for using Scoots. They should be able to be matched to your horse’s normal barefoot trim style so long as the above mentioned universal parameters are adhered to.
Scoot Boots should then be measured to fit a freshly trimmed hoof. The manufacturer recommends that measurements for determining fit should be taken no longer than 10-12 days after trimming.
A great feature of Scoots is that they are elastic enough to accommodate a growing hoof. However, many ‘performance’ horses have hooves that grow more forward than downwards, which means that the boots get pulled tighter at the heels.
On hooves like these, a boot that fits snug immediately after a trim will likely be too tight after 6 weeks of growth, but for a hoof boot to still fit after 6 weeks of growth it is likely to be too loose on a freshly trimmed hoof.
If it is best to fit a boot snug to a freshly trimmed hoof, then maybe the horse owner can pick up an old rasp and maintain the growing edges of the hoof (which is not much harder than picking up hooves and giving them a good clean with a hoof pick). That way a horse’s hooves never get too big for their boots, right up until when the hoof care provider comes back to tidy things up.
Of course, not all horse owners are willing, or even able to pick up and push a rasp (which is fair enough, they didn’t sign up for that when they got their first pony all those years ago); but there may be other solutions.
A handy extra for Scoots in an Anti-Slip Shim, which is a small sheet of soft rubber that slips into the front of the boot and takes up any slack between the boot and the hoof.
If a slightly bigger Scoot has been chosen so it doesn’t become too tight towards the end of the trim cycle, an Anti-Slip Shim can be used on the freshly trimmed hoof and then removed after a couple of weeks when the growing hoof begins to tighten the fit of the boot.
What about having a pair of Scoots that fits freshly trimmed hooves and another slightly larger pair that hits the hooves are 3-4 weeks?
This idea is not as indulgent as it may sound. The economy of using hoof boots instead of horseshoes is very favourable indeed. It only takes a couple of shoeing cycles to break even and thereafter, begin saving a lot of coin with ongoing hoof care costs.
If necessary, the shape of the hooves may be altered to better fit into Scoots, either by following the contour of the sole plane through the quarters to decrease overall width, or to trim a flatter ground surface through the quarters to increase overall width. Either way, the vents at the bottom of the Scoots can be used to lock onto a hoof in the quarters (for anyone not familiar with farrier speak, the quarters are that section of the hoof wall adjacent to the length of the frog; the sides of the hoof when viewing the ground surface).
If there are localised areas where the fit is too tight (usually at the arches of the boot around the lateral cartilage and heel bulbs), Scoots are thermoplastic and can be locally altered by heat shaping. This involves applying a small heat torch directly to the area to be reshaped until it is pliable, then changing to the required shape and holding it in that position whilst dunking it in water to cool down and regain its rigidity. Simple but effective.
Too loose and Scoots twist or come off. Too tight and they rub.
This is the frustrating aspect of hoof boots in general and Scoot Boots in particular. Even though the inventor has successfully fitted many horses with boots, he still doesn’t always get it right the first time, every time and unfortunately, hoof boots simply won’t work for every horse on the planet. Some hooves just don’t conform. Please sir… can I have my anvil back…
If a hoof boot is too easy to put on, logic suggests it would also be too easy to come off. This is why, with hoof boot application, a grunt is always needed.
Fortunately, out of all the hoof boots on the market, Scoots are up there with the easiest, and quickest to put on, but the horse’s rider still needs to bend down to ground level and connect the two straps at the front of the boot.
This is best done with two hands; one to stretch the strap across the front of the boot and the other to push the strap on the catch. It is more about technique than strength. But if your aged or arthritic fingers find it too hard to pull the securing straps across the hoof, then pliers or a hoof pick make this task quite easy.
These techniques are demonstrated live when purchasing boots from a trained fitter (a service you obviously can’t get via the online world).
The top Pastern Strap doesn’t need to be used in a dressage arena, which is a bonus.
Some horses have a twisting action which puts a large amount of torque through the hoof-boot-ground interface, resulting in a boot twisting on its hoof.
With dressage, this is usually only an issue on firm grass arenas.
If a hoof boot is twisting on its hoof, the first thing to check is the tightness of the fit by seeing if you can rotate it on the hoof with a firm hand. If it does rotate, then a change down in size or maybe even to a Scoot Slim style boot could be the solution.
The Anti-Slip Shims now come with a central rib that bonds the boot and the hoof which may be enough to stop the twisting.
There is also a more secure strap (known as the Mud Strap) that can be attached if the twisting persists; good out on the trail but may contravene the minutiae of the new ruling.
A surprisingly large number of horses have different sized front hooves. Instead of having one that is too tight and the other too loose, a horse may need two different sized boots. Scoot Boots can be purchased individually for this purpose.
Clubfeet can also be hard to fit around the heel bulbs and may need an experienced operator to significantly heat shape the boot (if indeed it can be done).
Hooves with low heels can be accommodated by inserting rubber wedge pads that lift the heels to a better position within the back end of the boot.
Some badly deformed hooves (such as contracted or collapsed hooves) may simply be too far off the measuring chats to fit into any form of Scoot Boots.
The grip is reasonable in Scoot Boots, but it may need to be enhanced when working on grass arenas that are short or frosty.
Just about anything that can be screwed into a regular horseshoe to increase grip can be screwed into a hoof boot. The only difference is that Scoot Boots need threaded metal collars (also called T-nuts) inserted as a receptacle for grass studs.
It’s not unusual for hooves to change size in the months after coming out of shoes.
They can either get larger or smaller, depending on whether they tighten up through a previously stretched laminar connection or expand in a contracted caudal hoof. Good luck to anyone who can guess in advance the extent of such changes!
Amy Blair’s TB, Coogs, hooves 6 weeks into his barefoot transition.
For this reason, boot fitting should be delayed for about a month after removing shoes, for the freshly unfettered hoof to reveal how it is going to change.
Hoof size can also change after switching to a new hoof trimmer. This can be especially so when switching between a traditional flat ‘farrier’ trim and a modern contoured ‘barefoot’ trim. A hoof can be significantly narrower when trimmed to the contour of the sole plane (barefoot style), but wider when trimmed flat-front front to back (traditional style).
Rubbing can occasionally be an issue with Scoot Boots in dressage. If rubbing occurs, the first thing to do is check the boot isn’t too small. As previously mentioned, hooves can change size.
If the boot does seem to fit correctly but still rubs, this may be solved by taking off the Pastern Strap and the screw fitting that attaches the strap to the boot (it’s not needed in the dressage arena anyway).
Otherwise, heat shaping to stretch any of the tight spots may be required.
On rare occasions, a hoof is simply not the right shape around the lateral cartilage to accommodate a Scoot Boot and will rub unless a special Endurance Gaiter is used. But…
Scoot Boots come with a removable Gaiter that sits around the top of the heel bulbs as protection against rubbing, but for rule compliance, it seems that Gaiters are unable to be used.
Endurance Gaiters
Trail Gaiters
In sandy arenas, Scoot Boots actually perform better without Gaiters anyway, with less pooling of sand where the Gaiter forms a ‘reservoir’ with the top of the heel bulbs.
Scoot Boots are the best hoof boots for sandy arenas because most of what goes in comes straight back out through the various openings around the boot at ground level.
There can, however, be some pooling of sand behind the pastern above the heel bulbs, especially if the sand is a bit ‘sticky’. This is primarily an issue when Gaiters are used, but as mentioned earlier, Gaiters are likely not compliant with the new ruling and are probably not needed in the dressage arena anyway.
Problem solved!
This article is primarily concerned with the use of Scoot Boots during dressage competition, but we should consider that the healthiest and most well-adjusted dressage horses are those regularly ridden away from the arena. If a horse needs hoof boots for dressage, it will need them for the harsh trains. Sometimes hind boots may be needed as well.
Keeping Scoot Boots in their place can be a problem when horses are ridden at a pace out on muddy or rough trails or when they shy or spin on solid surfaces such as bitumen. To counter this, they have optional extras such as Mud Straps for better security and Endurance Gaiters for better rubbing protection in tough going; both excellent options.
Any discussion of hoof boots needs to be accompanied by the obligatory safety spiel.
Simply put, underneath a horse is not the safest place for a human head. When putting boots on hooves be sure to keep your head to the side of the horse, well clear of the kick and strike zone (and the knee-to-the-head zone).
Also, whilst most horses are fine with Scoot Boots from the moment they are first put on, it is wise when trying them on a horse for the first time to walk it in hand until it appears to accept them. As well all know, some horses don’t need much of an excuse to go troppo, and all of a sudden these little black gremlins are clinging to their hooves… it’s best to always be cautious.
But wait… there’s more!
There is far more that could be discussed concerning optimising performance with Scoot Boots. There are numerous ‘corrective booting’ options available such as Pads, lateral wedges and orthotics.
But it’s a brave new world - hoof boots and dressage - so we best keep that story for another day.
Andrew Bowe is a career master farrier who specialises in bare hoof care – keeping horses barefoot and using only sustainable hoof protection that doesn’t adversely affect hoof function – aiming to achieve equine performance and longevity.
Having over 30 years’ experience (with both traditional shoeing and bare hoof care) he is often called to help horses suffering from chronic lameness or hooves that are proving difficult to transition away from metal shoes.
Nowadays, Andrew spends much of his time educating horse owners to maintain their own horses’ hooves as well as training aspiring professionals, lecturing for the Australian College of Equine Podiotherapy.
He is also a qualified scientist and part time journalist and writes hoof care related articles.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
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What a great time to head out with our horses and explore some trails! Whether our horses are barefoot or wearing hoof boots or steel shoes, we are hoping for fun and great adventures. Some of us are racing comfortably through the sand, while others seek out the uneven, steep and rocky trails.
I am usually out working with my barefoot horses on very rocky terrain, checking fences and water, and seeing where the livestock are grazing. Some barefoot horses and those wearing hoof boots look like they are navigating slowly, carefully choosing their steps over the roughest parts. Are they feeling pain or discomfort? How can we tell? Unconditioned horses or those that lose a steel shoe on the trail are suddenly very uncomfortable - what is happening in these cases?
Dr Tomas Teskey DVM, an equine veterinarian specializing in natural hoof care and barefoot soundness, explains proprioception and why it is perfectly understandable for horses to move in these different ways.
We know what good and bad steps feel like - the pain of landing on something sharp, the frustration of losing our balance on uneven or slippery ground, or the comfort of soft grass and sand. Successfully traversing a variety of surfaces (avoiding injury and getting from point A to point B) is accomplished through a ‘feedback system’ of nerves giving us valuable information. Horses have loads of these nerve endings in their feet, especially above the frog and heels. This is a nerve system providing touch sensation and proprioception, meaning “sensing where your body parts are and what kind of positioning is necessary to keep your body safe.”
Let’s take a deeper look at what these nerves are doing there, especially as it relates to getting their hooves and bodies healthier...
Horses and many other animals can detect a wide range of frequency vibrations through their feet. These nerves have a unique structure under the microscope and we have come to understand how they transmit signals, detect approaching animals or even ‘predict’ earthquakes and tidal waves.
We humans are not nearly as sensitive to the lower frequency vibrations created from deep earthquake activity, but if you suddenly notice your horses or other animals ‘heading up the mountain’, they very well may be exercising ancient instincts to seek higher ground in order to escape an oncoming tidal wave!
Different types of ground create different frequency vibrations in the body as the hooves strike the earth. Softer surfaces don’t create much vibration and harder ones can create ‘very stimulating’ or painful vibrations that can damage nerves, blood vessels and affect the entire body. Healthy hooves are efficient at dampening harmful vibrations from firm ground or steel shoes, up to a point.
We have long known that horses with steel shoes experience more concussion walking than barefoot horses trotting on the same surface. Many farriers describe a painful tingling sensation in their own hands and arms from pounding hammers on steel anvils, a painful condition called Reynaud’s Syndrome.
Horses that lose a steel shoe or those transitioning to a barefoot lifestyle often look like they are having serious trouble moving. The vital movement necessary to rehabilitate these animals is made beautifully possible by good-fitting hoof boots and pads made of dynamic (moveable) materials that truly protect and complement the dynamic nature of the hooves. With time, this therapy helps them ‘reset’ and calm their nerves that were previously subjected to damaging concussion from walking on steel.
If we step down carefully, we can handle very hard and uneven surfaces. Hoofed animals are also able to do this, especially the ‘split-hoofed’ animals like sheep and goats, which prefer and excel at living in the rockiest areas of the planet. Horse hooves are designed for varied terrain and prefer the surfaces where they can leave a nice ‘hoofprint’.
Every part of the hoof is intended to take pressure and receive stimulation, and each is quickly adaptable to handle a wide variety of terrains when given time to adapt. By design, donkeys handle rocks the best, followed by mules and zebras, and then horses.
When horses step down ‘too hard’ on a rock, the nerves in their feet provide immediate information to stop, reposition, use the other feet more, and compensate with body position, all to prevent injury, which could be as simple as a small bruise or as deadly as a fractured coffin bone. This adjustment happens at incredible speed, so much that it takes very high-speed video to appreciate. It is vital for horses to detect how much pressure each hoof receives every time it engages the ground.
Horses with steel shoes are handicapped when it comes to detecting bad steps and poor footing, and suffer a much higher incidence of bruising, nail punctures and catastrophic injuries versus healthy barefoot horses. They simply can’t get the vital feedback quickly enough to take care of themselves properly.
Healthy horses that adapt to varied terrain ‘pay attention’ to where they put their feet and rarely trip, whereas horses with steel shoes or ones kept in stables often walk along as if the surface doesn’t matter, and often trip over obstacles or even their own feet. I notice this when horses change environments and learn that it pays to walk around cactus, thorny bushes, sharp rocks and shifting soil - they adjust their hoof position and body balance better and better as they spend time on varied terrain.
Of course, riding a horse that is learning such things can be quite unsettling when they suddenly trip or seem to ‘mis-step’ when hitting a rock. They are simply protecting themselves. Even when wearing boots that allow for good sensation, there will be instances when they reposition their feet very quickly - this is a good thing!
With time, all horses I have rehabilitated to a healthier barefoot lifestyle get better and more confident and are eventually able to go without boots if they are properly managed (provided varied terrain in their home habitat and exercised regularly). The joy and power of riding barefoot horses in rough country, with boots if necessary, is an experience I hope any conscientious horse person can experience.
Having good proprioception provides security for life. Stress levels and anxiety are higher in horses with steel shoes, soft or deformed hooves, body inflammation or those confined in stables. Feeling the earth under your moving feet is a vital connection for health. There is a groundedness, stability and sense of secure balance when hooves are able to feel normally.
Not too sensitive and not too insensitive, the ‘sweet spot’ of knowing where your hooves are and feeling secure comes from lots of movement on varied terrain with friends, eating good grass, and being with humans that can learn how to make that happen.
If you would like to learn more interesting facts about your horses from a holistic perspective, please visit Dr Teskey’s website and read about his new book, “Insight to Equus - Holistic Veterinary Perspectives on Health and Healing”.
Dr Teskey has degrees in botany and veterinary medicine from Arizona in 1991 and Colorado in 1995. Within five years of graduation, he ventured into less popular and more holistic herd health practices for livestock and has now specialized in equine hoof and dental care, describing in detail the connections between the environment, nutrition and the body, specifically the foundational importance of hooves and teeth.
He is a strong advocate for responsible animal care and promotes connection and partnership as a way of life.
He and his wife and children spend time between Arizona, USA and Hungary, working on horses, ranching and farming and doing educational clinics around the world.
Dr Tomas G. Teskey Veterinary Insights
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
Gwen Santagate is the author of "10 Secrets to Healthy Hooves" . For the last 37+ years, she has maintained healthy hooves with natural trimming on thousands of horses and specialized in pathological rehabilitation hoofcare for the last 18 years. She keeps a small herd of her own equines and continues to offer consults for horses in need.
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It may be what's commonly known as Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Disease (DSLD), which is now commonly known as Equine Systemic Proteoglycan Accumulation (ESPA).
It's a painful condition that affects primarily:
It is most prevalent in Peruvian Pasos.
Originally thought to be a disease that affects only the suspensory ligament, it has, in fact, been found to be a systemic disorder that affects all of the connective tissue in the body and organs of the horse.
“Degenerative suspensory ligament desmitis as a systemic disorder characterized by proteoglycan accumulation”
- Published from the Department of Large Animal Medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia.
Unfortunately, at this time, there is no cure for DSLD. Supportive measures can be put into place to help manage the disease. Correct barefoot trimming is a primary measure that must be taken to help the horse, diet, of course, is another large factor to help mitigate inflammation. Suspension of any riding of the horse with DSLD is a given.
It is said that a balanced, natural, barefoot hoof trim. A square toe, for easier break-over, seems to help most horses with DSLD.
When my mare was diagnosed with DSLD, I trimmed her hooves religiously every 4 weeks. Once I went over the 4 week trim cycle, she became noticeably worse. So we kept her well trimmed with impeccable balance. I did not, however, square off the toes. But, the proper balance of the hooves affected her pain levels immensely! That meant ensuring that her hooves were balanced medio-lateraly, diagonally and the proper 1/3:2/3 ratio of the hooves, from the toe to the heels were exact.
I also took her off all processed food and supplements, and used special herbs for pain relief, White Willow Bark was the successful herb for controlling her pain. Once I did that, all signs of Cushings Disease (yes, she had Cushings) disappeared, she was able to go out with the herd and graze grass again. She lived for another 2 years in relative comfort until her rear suspensory snapped. We then had her euthanized humanely.
The typical post-legged stance of a horse with DSLD:
Photos above courtesy of http://dsld-vet.blogspot.com
Compare the above photos of a horse with DSLD to those of a healthy horse:
DSLD usually appears later in the horse’s adult life (greater than 15 years old). However, DSLD has been diagnosed in foals and horses younger than 15 years old.
If a horse is suspected to have DSLD, a complete exam, including an ultrasound, should be done to rule out any other causative factors. DSLD is unique in that it has a bilateral distribution. This means that both forelimbs, both hindlimbs or all four limbs are affected. A horse with DSLD will be severely lame on affected limbs after a fetlock flexion test and will react negatively to palpation of the suspensory ligament and its branches. The suspensory ligament will also feel harder and thicker than a normal, healthy suspensory ligament, and the area may be warm and swollen.
If you suspect your horse has DSLD, please do not hesitate to have a full veterinary exam. While the early stages of DSLD generally do not cause a great deal of discomfort, as the disease progresses, more aggressive treatment may be needed to help the horse live out the rest of its life as comfortably as possible. Allow the horse as much movement as it wishes; do not confine the horse in a stall. Wrapping the legs may be beneficial, as well as hosing the area with cool water to help comfort the horse. Do not ride the horse, or cause any excess exercise.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
Gwen Santagate is the author of "10 Secrets to Healthy Hooves" . For the last 37+ years, she has maintained healthy hooves with natural trimming on thousands of horses and specialized in pathological rehabilitation hoofcare for the last 18 years. She keeps a small herd of her own equines and continues to offer consults for horses in need.
]]>Although I've written a bit on this topic before: the-hairline-tells-it-all, I wanted to revisit the topic balancing the hooves again. Just recently, I've seen far too many examples of 'balanced' hooves being posted, yet when inspected more closely, almost all of those hooves deemed to be in 'balanced' were, in fact, diagonally imbalanced.
This article on Penzance will clarify my points I'll go over here briefly
These are all ways to determine the balance of a horse's hoof.
Diagonally imbalanced hooves can cause all sorts of issues, from limited striding to definitive lameness. All it can take is one or two mild swipes with the rasp to even and balance things out. Other times, it may take some time and close inspection between each rasping.
So the next time your horse feels 'off', especially shortly after a trim, check the balance of the hooves. My strong belief is that the horse should always move better after a good trim. If not, then there is something that needs to be tweaked with the trimming process or style.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
Gwen Santagate is the author of "10 Secrets to Healthy Hooves" . For the last 37+ years, she has maintained healthy hooves with natural trimming on thousands of horses and specialized in pathological rehabilitation hoofcare for the last 18 years. She keeps a small herd of her own equines and continues to offer consults for horses in need.
]]>“Scoot Boots are too expensive. They sound great and I wish I could use them, but I just can’t justify the cost”.
This is the number one objection we hear from many horse owners who are considering buying Scoot Boots. If we had a dollar every time we heard this.... well, we would have a lot of dollars! All jokes aside, it’s always surprising to us when someone has this common misconception.
We truly do want the best for both you and your horse, and we know Scoot Boots are the best solution on the market to protect your horses hooves and keep them healthy.
For the purposes of this article, we are going to work out the cost savings for our customers in the United States Dollars (USD), but the numbers are similar in all countries. In the United States, the cost of shoeing and trimming varies drastically between regions. For this example, we are using the average costs in the United States, which is $60.00 USD for a trim and $150.00 USD for a set of shoes. This amount will differ depending on your location, it may be cheaper or more expensive, but you can compare these costs against what your farrier or barefoot trimmer charges.
A Barefoot Trim:
A Set of Shoes:
If you live somewhere else, or the prices we’ve used don’t reflect the trimming/shoeing costs near you, we invite you to do the math for yourself and write your results in the comments below!
Let’s start with looking at the costs over a 1 year period. On average, horses need to be trimmed, on average, every 6 weeks. So, if you are paying for a trim and a set of shoes every 6 weeks for 1 year, you will end up with a yearly cost of about $1,300.00 USD.
If you transition your horse to barefoot instead, and only pay for a barefoot trim every 6 weeks for 1 year, you will end up with a yearly cost of about $520.00 USD. If your horse is barefoot, it may require hoof boots, such as Scoot Boots, to give it extra protection and support. One pair of Scoot Boots will cost $200.00 USD. So, for a new pair of Scoot Boots and all of your barefoot trims over a one year period, you are looking at a cost of $720.00 USD. That gives you a savings of $580.00 USD over a one year period!
Here’s the breakdown:
Metal Shoes Over 1 Year Period:
A set of metal shoes for one year - $1,300.00 USD
Barefoot and Booted Over 1 Year Period:
Barefoot trims for one year - $520.00 USD
One pair of Scoot Boots - $200.00 USD
Total - $720.00 USD
Cost Savings:
Cost Savings - $580.00 USD!
Now, let’s look at a second year with Scoot Boots. For most horse owners, a pair of Scoot Boots will last several years with regular riding. So, for this second year, we will not include the cost of a new pair of Scoot Boots. For a full year of trims with a set of shoes, the full, yearly cost is still about $1,300.00 USD. For a full year of barefoot trims, the end cost is about $520.00 USD. In year two, you would have a cost savings of around $780.00 USD!
Looking over a full two year period (the average life of Scoot Boots), this is the cost breakdown:
Metal Shoes Over 2 Year Period:
A set of metal shoes for two years - $2,600.00 USD
Barefoot and Booted Over 2 Year Period:
Barefoot trims for two years - $1,040.00 USD
One pair of Scoot Boots - $200.00 USD
Total - $1,240.00 USD
Cost Savings:
Cost Savings - $1,360.00 USD!
The Scoot Boot shell and securing straps are made from thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), which has excellent abrasion and shock absorbing abilities. Scoot Boots do not have any components that will break off.
The durability of any hoof boot will depend on the type of terrain you ride on, and gait of your horse. If your horse has a floating movement, then the boots will last several years with occasional riding. If your horse scuffs and twists its feet, then the Scoot Boots will wear slightly faster. If you participate in endurance riding, you can expect to get up to 600 miles (1,000 kilometres) use from a pair of Scoot Boots. Again, this will depend on how light your horse is on its feet.
Every pair of Scoot Boots is sold with spare rivets, screws and knob hooks for easy replacement. If repairs are needed for your Scoot Boots, they can be completed with a regular screwdriver. No special tools or extra supplies are needed.
No, just one pair of Scoot Boots will be sufficient for your horse. Scoot Boots are excellent on all types of terrain including, but not limited to mud, sand, water, rocks, desert, and snow.
Unlike other hoof boots on the market that contain cloth or leather pieces, there is no wait time when you clean your Scoot Boots. After a ride, they can simply be hosed off along with your horse.
In the end, we all want to do what is best for our horse, regardless of the effect it has on our wallet. We know that you’ll see a cost savings benefit by keeping your horse barefoot and booted, but is that lifestyle actually better for them in the long run?
More and more research is being done that shows the massive improvement in hoof health associated with keeping horses barefoot, rather than being shod. Scoot Boot’s blog features countless success stories from horse owners that made the decision to transition their horse to barefoot and have seen incredible, positive changes as a result. They’ve seen improved soundness, healthier hooves and even a full recovery from debilitating conditions such as navicular. We invite you to read some of these stories here.
Not only are you setting yourself up for cost savings in regular hoof maintenance, but you are helping to ensure that unexpected (and expensive) hoof related medical issues don’t suddenly arise. Issues such as navicular, laminitis, ligament and tendon stress and joint problems can be avoided and reduced with proper barefoot trimming, while shoeing can exacerbate these issues, leading to expensive veterinary and farrier charges.
A healthy horse with healthy hooves is every horse owner’s ultimate goal. At Scoot Boot, we also have your horse’s best interests at heart. That’s why we have taken such care in the design of our hoof boots. We want your horse to live their best, most full life, and we want to help you get them there.
Yes, keeping your horse barefoot and booted instead of shod will save you money, but, more importantly, it will keep your horse’s hooves healthy and protected over any terrain, in any conditions.
If you would like to learn more about Scoot Boots, to see if they would be a good solution for your horse, please reach out to us here. Our knowledgeable staff are here to help.
The team at Scoot Boot believe passionately in the barefoot horse and strive to build a supportive community of barefoot horse lovers.
Find more information about using Scoot Boots here.
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