Heart to Hoof Horsemanship

01/01/2025

Happy New Year 2025!

12/25/2024

Photo taken on this beautiful, peaceful Christmas morning of my 4 merry mares! Wishing you a wonderful time with your friends, family, horses and animal friends.

12/12/2024

From my experience in managing horses naturally for 20+ years, and caring for horses generally for 35+ years: I honestly think that one of the biggest problems we horseowners face is our tendency to throw "treatments," "remedies," and products at a horse's hoof and/or health issue. Whether they are natural or traditional remedies/ supplements/therapies, it's really all the same - treating the symptoms. I don't mean there is not a place for these products - both natural and traditional medicines. Of course they need to be utilized! But natural horse care is about analyzing the root cause, and that cause is typically too simple for us to wrap our minds around.

For example, a lot of serious thrush is caused by horses' hooves being exposed daily to urine and f***s. Even horses kept out of stalls can still end up standing around in wet manure piles. In the photo example here, this was a Haflinger with lovely hooves, yet he developed bad thrush in his frogs due to poor living conditions. The owner remedied the inadequate environment, and the problem went away. No diet change nor topical chemicals were needed in this case.

Natural horsekeeping for our domestic horses is indeed a challenge! Most people can never do it perfectly, and that's okay. But when we have a health problem, the first thing we should do is analyze how far we have deviated from what is truly the BEST equine management: freedom of movement 24 hours per day in a herd on breed appropriate terrain, low sugar forage free fed as much as possible, regulated exercise as needed to provide enough daily miles, and hooves trimmed and maintained frequently to simulate natural wear and healthy equine hoof shape. Putting these elements firmly into practice can produce transformative results. We ALL come up short of doing it perfectly, but carry on!

Check out Hoof Help Online 🐴 Exclusive content you won't find anywhere else, plus a barefoot trimming course, community access, recorded livestream video events, 80 issues of The Horse's Hoof Magazine, 1000's of photos, 100's of articles, 70+ videos, FREE App and more! Learn more at: https://members.hoofhelponline.com/

The Horse's Hoof offers a FREE monthly barefoot horse care e-newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/thehorseshoof/50-giveaway

Happy Hooves! - Yvonne Welz

11/20/2024

The Horse's Hoof Barefoot News November 2024 is released!
Sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/thehorseshoof/50-giveaway
What's in this issue? 🦃 Give Thanks for the Wild Horses! 🦃 PHCP 2024 Conference Takeaways, Part 2 🦃 Comprehensive Equine Discomfort Ethogram 🦃 Dr. Sue Dyson on Horse Hoof Health 🦃 An Intelligent Hoof Boot?! 🦃 Hoof Help Online - for Hoof Heretics! 🦃 and more!

10/23/2024

The Horse's Hoof Barefoot News October 2024 is released!
Sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/thehorseshoof/50-giveaway
What's in this issue? 🎃 Pumpkin Spice Hooves 🎃 PHCP 2024 Conference Takeaways, Part 1 🎃 Barefoot Trimming for Donkeys 🎃 Scholarships Available for Hard Workers 🎃 Fast and Easy Hoof Trimming with a Grinder 🎃 Halloween Cavallo Boot Giveaway 🎃 A Lifetime of Soundness - for Horse and Human Alike 🎃 and more!

10/12/2024

A Lifetime of Soundness - for Horse and Human Alike?

25 years ago, I learned a different paradigm for healthcare, directly because of natural hoof care. Learning from Naturopathic Veterinarians, I found out that food and toxins were the major contributors to disease, along with living conditions that are extremely unnatural. The modern horse in the modern lifestyle - stabled 20+ hours per day in isolated stalls, fed "meals" 3 times per day, exercised in a 1 hour intense session, with metal nailed to its feet - was set up for hoof and health failure.

The myriad of problems in the HUMAN healthcare system is finally at the forefront of people's minds right now. Humans are equally set up for failure - it's like they ARE the horses locked into stalls, eating unnatural fake processed food, with almost no exercise all day long, surrounded by a stew of environmental toxins. No one can be healthy like that!

How about we all get healthy together - horses and humans? There is nothing better than fresh air, sunshine, clean food, and freedom for horse and for owner. We can get more exercise by walking and playing at liberty with horses, or enjoy long trail rides or other fun activities. Horses need to live outdoors in herds, and we humans need to spend as much time as possible outdoors with them!!!

Check out Hoof Help Online 🐴 Exclusive content you won't find anywhere else, plus a barefoot trimming course, community access, recorded livestream video events, 80 issues of The Horse's Hoof Magazine, 1000's of photos, 100's of articles, 70+ videos, FREE App and more! Learn more at: https://members.hoofhelponline.com/

The Horse's Hoof offers a FREE monthly barefoot horse care e-newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/thehorseshoof/50-giveaway

Happy Hooves! - Yvonne Welz

10/05/2024

2024 Mustang Mission Fall Fundraiser Auction!

Erin Phillips: "I have been very excited about this auction, as we have so many different items available (art, gift bundles, decor, jewelry, and more!). This is by far the biggest auction we’ve had so far, and there’s a lot to choose from. I hope you find something you love!

This is our biggest fundraising event of the year and greatly benefits our work to save wild horses and burros."

https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/101464/auctions/167440

09/29/2024

I love these! A made in the USA brand to support. 2 styles of hackamore bitless - one with shanks, and one without. And a very nice hackamore bridle design.

09/29/2024

This is beautifully said.

“It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:17

Good training and education requires kindness, patience, understanding and a willingness to restructure and explain ideas repeatedly in numerous different ways from a variety of viewpoints.

Adult, child, Human or Horse these rules apply.

If a horse misunderstands the cues for piaffe applying those cues with greater force will not achieve success. If a child cannot read the letters ABC increasing the anger and volatile nature of the teacher will not help the child learn faster.

A gap in a students knowledge cannot be bridged by the force or indignant frustration of a teachers exasperation in teaching the subject matter.

Only with patience, time and a willingness to explore each sticking point or misunderstood concept can a student achieve confidence and competence.

We all known this. We all agree upon this.

Many of us would proudly state this concept as a part of our integrity and something we fight for.

So why do I see so many people who believe they know better, kinder more ethical ways to educate people and horses attack, bully and harass those who require education to change?

Do you not see the trap???

What a toxic mindset to foster.

“All animals are equal but some are more equal than others”

All people should be kind but I can be foul to this person because they have lots of social media followers and I think I know a better way to achieve what they’re training…

WHAT?!

How can people preach love and tolerance than attack those they believe themselves better educated than?

If we, this odd little aspect of the horse world truly are blazing the trail of enlightened horsemanship on a journey to improve horse happiness and welfare we have to stop being so foul to people who haven’t had the same realisations yet.

The mindset of a person who believes to speak love then act out hate towards others because “they deserve it”

Can you not see how twisted that is? How when people act like that they are part of the problem and genuinely bring nothing closer to a solution. No change. Nothing. Just more hate and a wider gap between both camps.

The amounts of pages on Facebook and instagram I see join together not in celebration or enthusiasm but by collective hatred. It’s sickening.

How can we grow to be a better horseman, better people if we foster such evil concepts and allow them in our world.

I do not agree with everything I see in every aspect of the horse world. But I will fight to share the ways we can improve and I will not attack every person who has not found my personally perceived level of competence but share with them the aspects I think they are lacking.

I believe bullying animals is wrong

I believe bullying people is wrong

We must do better

Hate breeds hate not love

Photography credit to JShpicture

09/24/2024

The Horse's Hoof Barefoot News September 2024 is released!
Sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/thehorseshoof/50-giveaway
What's in this issue? 🐎 The Power of Frequent Trimming! 🐎 Wild Mustangs and Heel Height 🐎 Barefoot Quote of the Month: Dr. Robert Bowker 🐎 Do you have a Metabolic Horse? 🐎 2024 PHCP Conference Raffle Prizes 🐎 Hoof Boots versus Metal Shoes 🐎 Horse Photos for Research! 🐎 and more!

09/18/2024

This is a USA high desert Mustang hoof. I LOVE looking at feral horse hooves. It is important to realize that cadaver hooves will never appear the same as the living hoof (they shrink and change). Also, Mustangs will never be directly comparable to our domestic horses, due to their drastic lifestyle differences, for good and bad (not all wild horses have perfect lives). Nonetheless, feral equine hooves provide VALUABLE information that any student of the hoof should readily absorb.

Is the hoof form relevant to the trimming of domestic horses? There can be many arguments for and against. Keep in mind, the heels of an equine with a robust digital cushion can appear to be very low, and yet be incredibly strong. Most domestic horses have weak digital cushions and cannot have heels this low without discomfort. What is natural - low heels, mid range heels, or higher heels? That remains a subject of debate. Dr. Robert Bowker argues that all hooved mammals walk on the pads of their feet; why would the horse be any different?

Check out Hoof Help Online 🐴 Exclusive content you won't find anywhere else, plus a barefoot trimming course, community access, recorded livestream video events, 80 issues of The Horse's Hoof Magazine, 1000's of photos, 100's of articles, 70+ videos, FREE App and more! Learn more at: https://members.hoofhelponline.com/

The Horse's Hoof offers a FREE monthly barefoot horse care e-newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/thehorseshoof/50-giveaway

Happy Hooves! - Yvonne Welz

09/07/2024

MIĘDZYNARODOWE ZAWODY W JEŹDZIE BEZ OGŁOWIA – ENERGYS 2024 transmisja na żywo (sobota 07.09, niedziela 08.09)   07.09.2024 – SOBOTA – CZĘŚĆ 1 – 08:30-14:00 07.09.2024 – SOBOTA – CZĘŚĆ … Czytaj dalej „10 International Bridleless Chamionship Energys – WROCLAW 2024”

09/07/2024

Pre-Rehab facility?
There is great power in preventative hoofcare. Barefoot used not as rehab therapy, but as a way to ensure future long term health and soundness. A way to change the future of horsekeeping.

There is still a need for rehab facilities—but what about a PRE-rehab facility?! Can you imagine if there were well-respected equine centers across the country (or world) where horses were raised from birth in natural, ideal conditions and their hooves kept carefully shaped for perfect soundness? Centers could each cater to different disciplines, such as dressage, or western performance, or endurance, etc. Enlightened performance riders could visit these facilities to purchase horses with unbeatable hooves.

These centers could also focus on education, bringing in a steady stream of visitors and students to teach natural horse and hoof care, and the correct shape of a healthy hoof. These locations would be ideal for trimming certification courses, internships, and mentorships, while professionals could visit these centers for advanced studies. Such centers would be ideal locations for the study of horse behavior, as well as providing large numbers of easily accessible barefoot equines for new and better hoof studies. Right now, this is just a dream, but who knows what the future will bring?

Check out Hoof Help Online 🐴 A unique platform for learning: You receive exclusive content you won't find anywhere else, plus a barefoot trimming course, community access, recorded livestream video events, 80 issues of The Horse's Hoof Magazine, 1000's of photos, 100's of articles, 70+ videos, FREE App and more! Learn more at: https://members.hoofhelponline.com/

The Horse's Hoof offers a FREE monthly barefoot horse care e-newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/thehorseshoof/50-giveaway

Happy Hooves! - Yvonne Welz

08/28/2024

The Horse's Hoof Barefoot News August 2024 is released!
Sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/thehorseshoof/50-giveaway
What's in this issue? 🐴 Equine Welfare & Natural Horse Care 🐴 Taking Barefoot into Top Level Competition! 🐴 2024 PHCP Conference 🐴 Barefoot Quote of the Month: Sarah Albanozzo 🐴 Dr. Robert Bowker Video Series 🐴 End of Summer Hoof Woes? 🐴 August Cavallo Boot Giveaway! 🐴 Congratulations to Mustang Mission! 🐴 Hay Feeder Height and our Horses 🐴 Beyond the Barn Podcast

08/16/2024

So very well said. We all WANT to be as positive as possible - just like positive training with our horses, it's great to be optimistic with humans, also. But to say nothing about something truly bad is being complicit. We have to say something, but in a productive way.

We are in a tumultuous time in the horse world as more and more of us recognize the sentience of these precious animals. What does it even mean to be 'sentient'? The Oxford dictionary defines it as, "able to perceive or feel things". Just marinate in that for a second. Horses have 'feelings', they can experience emotions like joy, fear, pain, grief and empathy. If you've been around horses long enough, you know this to be true.

I'm not going to lecture, but I am going to offer some suggestions. When you see these reels or posts that are very clearly abuse, please take the time to hit the three dots at the top right corner of the screen and report them. I am encouraged to see more and more people speaking out on these posts but the ridicule that follows these brave souls is discouraging. Rather than comment and have someone call you a 'Karen', leave a link to Dr. Sue Dyson's 24 signs of pain in horses or another scientifically backed article. As sad as it is, some people truly don't know just how much a horse is able to 'feel' and quite frankly other times it's just plain convenient. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

To do nothing is to be complicit. It's interesting to me that some readers will target well intentioned and often helpful posters of information with their 'worldly horse experience', but they will scroll on by the Cowboy reefing his horse head around to his boot with his spur dug into the horses ribs. This abuse and mistreatment of horses is far from isolated in our English riding world. It is universal, in all disciplines and until there is accountability, it will continue and at the horses expense.

This photo below is one of my favourite of my beautiful mare Gracie. The lessons she has taught me and the lessons she still has yet to teach, make my heart swell with gratitude. I will never understand how anyone can look these animals in the eye and not see their sentience. As my late Grandmother would say, "she's a very knowing horse".

It is very telling if you tack your horse at liberty and give them a choice. Sometimes, this isn't practical but I encourage you to give this a try on occasions where you're not having a lesson or going on a date with a friend to ride out. Accept their decision even if it's 'not today, thanks'. When we start giving our horses choice and honour their thoughts and feelings, something changes in them. Some horses really and truly enjoy their work with us and you will know whether this is true if you just listen to them.❤️

08/16/2024

Great video to explain why overbending the neck is harmful to the horse.