Back to Square One - The Trim

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

In an ideal world all horses would emulate the wild mustangs of the open range when it comes to hoof trimming. Their feet are things of beauty, perfectly trimmed and balanced to the needs of each individual horse. Nary a flare, chip or crack.

Well, of course they are . those feet are attended to every single day by an expert in the field .Mother Nature . and she does not make mistakes (a turkey's wattle perhaps being the sole exception).

Take a horse off the range, change its diet, restrict its foraging habits, take away its natural inclination to slowly graze over large expanses of varying terrain and all of a sudden you have taken Mother Nature out of the hoof care process and replaced it with a human being . and not with just any old biped, but someone who has chosen the profession of farriery to be their life's work.

The good news is that most farriers really enjoy the work, enjoy working with horses and take satisfaction in the fact they are able to provide a service vital to a horse's well-being.

The bad news is that in a large part of the world anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a farrier. Schooling, mentoring, licensing and hands-on experience are no guarantee that the individual will enjoy the work, the horses or the profession and their work and the horses will suffer for it.

The ugly part of hoof care is in the pain and suffering a horse may be forced to endure all because of a simple thing like a trim gone bad. If the wild horse can keep its feet trimmed to the correct length and hoof angle (your basic balanced hoof) just by walking around and eating what comes naturally, why is it then that the majority of lameness problems incurred by the domestic horse can be traced back to the trim?

Given enough room, natural forage and a ground surface sufficient to perform a true "natural trim," the average horse's feet will pretty much take care of themselves. However, it is truly the lucky horse that is placed in a situation like that and fewer still that are not called upon to "work" in some fashion or another that places abnormal conditions and stresses upon their feet.

So, okay, the Mother Nature Trim is not an option for most horse owners. Now, they are faced with two choices. Learn to take care of their horse's hoof care needs themselves or find someone to do it for them. Personally, I encourage every horse owner to learn as much about what I'm doing to their horse's feet as they can and learn to do as much of the work as they are comfortable handling.

Ideally, horses should come with an owners manual with a very detailed set of instructions in hoof care as well as a hands-on training session covering your basic trimming techniques along with a complete set of tools. However, since they don't and most folks selling a horse are unwilling or unable to provide this type of instruction, the next best thing is to find a farrier school or farrier willing to provide you with this need-to-know information. Even if you have no plans to ever trim your horse's feet, the simple fact that you know how to do things right allows you to recognize when something is being done wrong . and that may just save you a lot of time and money as well as your horse's life.

The vast majority of horses go through life needing nothing more than having their feet trimmed flat and level to a hoof length and hoof angle dictated by the horse's conformation. That's it. It is almost as simple as it sounds. The difficult part comes in recognizing exactly what constitutes this state of balance. I don't know anyone born with this knowledge. You have to search it out. There are lots of books on the subject. I think Dr. Doug Butler's, The Principles of Horseshoeing II is one of the most comprehensive and easiest to understand. It is used as a textbook in many of the horseshoeing schools and is geared to the student level. The Internet has numerous sites devoted to the care of horses feet. I suggest you ignore all the hyperbolic chatter about the name given to a particular trimming method and just concentrate on what the final shape of the hoof is supposed to look like. Whatever trimming method you or your farrier use, the name is not going to mean a thing to your horse . all that matters is that you get it right.

And once your horse has been trimmed you need to be able to record how the horse was trimmed so that, among other things, you will know for certain that your horse is being trimmed the same way every time. If your farrier tells you he or she uses hoof lengths and hoof angles to determine the proper balance, then write this information down. Whatever method is used, you need to be able to explain this system to a new farrier, an out-of-town farrier, the trainer's farrier or whoever is going to handle your horse's hoof care while your regular farrier is on vacation, on their honeymoon or trying to make bail.

A decision to deviate from a flat and level trim should not be made lightly or without knowing and appreciating the consequences of this type trimming. Corrective trimming for a conformation fault usually needs to be completed before the epiphyseal plates have fused. Epiphyseal closure times for the lower limb bones vary, with the Distal Radius being the last to close at around twenty-four months.

Once this occurs, any attempt to alter a hoof stance by trimming a hoof from a flat and level balanced state is going to alter the normal points of stress and concussive forces from their natural location. This may result in causing more problems that a simple crooked stance.

Special trimming may be necessary to alter a stance or flight path of a hoof to prevent the horse from injuring itself or creating a dangerous situation for the rider. Hooves may be trimmed to affect certain traits in a horse's gait or to encourage a horse to travel in a particular way.

Horses used in competition frequently encounter a situation where a conformational deviation from the norm becomes a problem due to the extraordinary stresses placed upon it during competition. Here again, the farrier must have a clear understanding of the cause and effect of any special trimming of the hoof. Any action to affect a change must be balanced against the negative effects of trimming a hoof from it's natural state.

Corrective trimming used alone or in conjunction with a special shoe or brace is often the only way to protect an injury while allowing the horse to affect a recovery.

Any deviation from a flat and level trim carries with it the very real danger of causing more harm than good. That, and the fact that what works for one horse may not work for another. One of the basic tenets of corrective trimming is that you use the least amount of correction to achieve the desired results.

This means that you don't try more than one correction at a time unless you know for a fact that it takes more than one action to make the correction. If the farrier changes three things in the way he trims a horse, then it becomes impossible to know which one worked; more than likely, you end up in a situation where either nothing worked or the result is not acceptable and you have no idea which of the changes caused this particular problem.

Corrective trimming requires knowledge, skill and perhaps most importantly, patience.

The really ugly side to a horse trimming is when the farrier trims the horse and it immediately goes lame. This is usually caused by the horse being trimmed too short. If you keep a record of what hoof lengths will keep you horse sound and insist upon your farrier sticking to these settings, then this should not happen . period. There really is no excuse for trimming a horse too short. If the horse has a thin sole and requires special trimming instructions, then someone needs to be there to make sure this special situation is brought to the attention of the farrier before the horse is trimmed and then goes lame for a week. If the horse is not sore before trimming, it really should not be sore afterwards.

Anyone who suggests trimming the horse a little short ("He may be lame but it will cure up in a couple of days.") in order to stretch the time between trimmings needs to be shown the gate before they lay a hand on your horse.

Another reason a horse may be lame right after a trim is if the horse has been trimmed far out of balance. We're not talking about the horse being a little tender after its shoes have been pulled for the coming winter. That particular condition can be easily avoided by acknowledging this possibility and leaving a little extra hoof for additional protection. You might have to schedule the next trim a week earlier, but that's certainly better than watching the horse walk on eggshells for a week.

When a horse is trimmed so far out of balance that it becomes lame, then unless the farrier has a plausible explanation (I'd be interested if you hear one) and is not out fixing the horse by the time you hang up the phone, you need to find a new farrier. No one is perfect . mistakes can be made, but this is another reason you need to keep records of how your horse is trimmed. A farrier may see between two to four hundred horses between appointments. A tactful (or not) reminder that this is how this particular horse was trimmed the last time is not an insult to the farrier's memory but rather an indication of how serious you are about your horse's hoof care program.

It is incredible the number of horses that do not receive regular hoof care and yet remain sound year after year. I am constantly amazed at people who shoe their horses during the spring and summer yet, when the season is over, turn the horse out until spring without ever removing the shoes or having the feet trimmed for months. I mention this because for a horse to be trimmed so far out of balance that it becomes lame, means that something is very, very wrong.

I keep mentioning records for a reason. If you look at the number of problems people mention on forums on the Internet, I think you'll see that a lot of them can be directly attributed to misadventures in trimming. Being able to tell someone exactly how you want your horse trimmed is the easiest way I know to avoid these problems. Of course, this assumes the farrier will listen to you and can/will follow your instructions. To my way of thinking, if an owner's level of interest in their horse's hoof care program includes keeping records of hoof lengths/angles or similar instructions, it is a pretty sure bet that not only is their horse going to be a joy to work on but my part of the job has just been made that much easier.

There are a number of books on the market that are written just for the horse owner who is interested in learning more about their horse's hoof care. From a farrier's point of view, I think the better informed a horse owner is, the higher the level of hoof care the horse is going to receive. This translates to regularly scheduled appointments as well as an increased level of awareness of events affecting the health of the horse's feet and lower limb structures.

Having a horse's feet trimmed is part of owning a horse. It is and should be a partnership between both the horse owner and the farrier to see that it is done in a timely manner and done right. Skill, understanding and a willingness to do what's best for the horse should be the overriding concern which should help alleviate any likelihood of a sore horse resulting from a poorly executed trim.

Buz Riley - 2004 ©

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