The Barefoot Horse

01/25/2025

Hello fellow equine lovers!

Welcome! My name is Lacey and I started this page and business over 10 years ago. While I and my business have evolved drastically, my love of equines has not. This has fueled me to really evaluate the methods used for training, hoof care, feeding, treatment for common conditions, husbandry and everything that goes with owning horses.

As I've learned, I've changed how I do things. For instance, when I started this journey, I thought (and was trained) that barefoot trimming was the ONLY way to help horses. Everything else was garbage and detrimental to the horse. Shoes were the devil and anyone who used them was too. This is so force fed in certain groups and teachings that we still see it and hear it today. One of the most common things taught in this way of thinking is "if you have to use (metal) shoes to get a horse sound, then the horse isn't healthy and has underlying issues." I'm sure many of you have heard this.... and yet.... barefoot trimming has made composite shoe and boot companies explode in the last 10 years. Does that make sense? Doesn't that mean that barefoot trimming is still running into the same soundness issues that traditional farriery has for years? These composites are still a tool used to enhance the soundess and comfortability of the horse. Which is great! We want our equines healthy, sound and happy.... but why demonize one way of doing it while doing the same thing?

Some of these shoes and boots even have metal in them now to add stability, because composite by itself can actually be too flexible which can cause lameness as well. Turns out, a lot of horses actually appreciate having metal on and under their hooves to help them while in work.

As I would learn over many, many years of working on horses as well as my own, it takes a combination of a good, thoughtful trim AND hoof protection for the majority of horses to be able to do well. We can make the same mistakes with composite shoes and do the horses just as much harm as can be done putting on traditional metal shoes, and I think it's really important to realize that.

Regardless of what we use, we should all be on the same page of wanting our horses to feel and move their best.

In conclusion, I'll be renaming this page.... but I haven't figured out what represents it well yet. I still want to stick with "The -------- Horse" Maybe "The Basic Horse" ❤️ suggestions welcome ❤️

*Photo of me and the horse who taught me everything, with patience love and gentle pushes to actually listen to him above everyone else.

01/18/2025

Somedays I really miss waking up and heading to a barn full of horses. I miss working with my hands and healing parts of the beings I was working on. I miss the small conversations we had between our bodies and energies. I miss the connection. I miss talking to owners who became like family. I miss being worn out from a long day of hard work.

But then again, now I am able to enjoy my own horses and actually cover miles we've missed all these years. Not just on flat roads or fire breaks in the forest a few times a year, but through mostly wild territory every day of the week if thats what I want. Foothills, mountains, peaks, canyons.... the areas of my dreams.

Now that I'm not spending all my time under horses and traveling for horses, I can finally start to deep dive into topics on horses and hooves that had to simmer for a few years before I could truly understand them.

So my question to all of my followers is.... what do you want to talk about? What do you want to know? What is the one thing that holds you and your horse back from being everything you want to be?

I'll address these topics as separate posts or sequences of posts if the have many levels ❤️

12/18/2024

I'm starting the process of having a custom saddle made for myself and my horse. Correct saddle fit is so absolutely important to keep your horse healthy.

Over the course of 10 years I've tried over 30 saddles on my horse. None fit him well at all. Many were "quarterhorse bars," standard gullets, standard makes and models. Sadly, many of these don't fit the majority of horses.

What do you think these white markings on these horses are from?

Is it normal? Or is it abnormal, but common? The answer may surprise you!

12/08/2024

When we learn the art of listening to our animals, understanding why they choose the things they do starts to make more sense. If we become REALLY good at listening, we start to lose the need to know WHY as well, because it no longer matters. What matters is what they need and want, not what we think makes sense.

You see, generations of horse owners have put their own feelings on their horses (it's so easy to do!) and as a result, we have come up with these standards of care that don't fit the horses nature at all.

Stalling for example. It may make it easier for us for feeding, grooming, catching, etc., but it's not in the horses' best interest. Yes, there are some horses that have grown up with it and seemingly love their stalls, but I'm willing to bet the majority of horses do not.

When given a choice mine will only use a shed when the bugs are bad. Otherwise they seek shade under the trees, and stand out in all types of weather. When allowed to choose, they find different spots in the pastures for different reasons. They know what they want and need.

When we start giving them choices, we start being able to observe what they would choose if we were out of the picture. I also got to witness this same thing on a major breeding farm. In severe rain and thunder storms the horses would all line up almost military like, with their butts to the wind. They had multiple shelters but would only use them in the heat of the day to escape sun and bugs. However, if they had trees for shade I can guarantee they would have picked the trees over the shelter.

Horses like to be able to see what is going on around them. Generally, they don't like to be isolated, locked up in a small box or have options on what they feel safest doing taken away.

I think once we start realizing this, we will start having better relationships with our horses. We can't say we love them and be narcissistic about it ❤️ they need a voice too.

Once we are enlightened, I believe a lot of the issues we see in horses today will start healing- including physical, metabolic and behavioral ones.

05/29/2024

This is the truth ❤️ through and through. No matter what, WE need to take responsibility and be held accountable for the horses WE own in order to respect those we hire to do a job WE don't want to do or can't do. No excuses ❤️

RESPECT THE FARRIER!

No, I’m not talking to your horse, I’m talking to YOU.

Recently, I’ve seen posts empathizing with horses who struggle with the farrier, and holding farriers accountable, but I didn’t see any empathizing with farriers, and holding us owners and trainers accountable, so here I am.

I also trimmed today, so I’m feelin’ it.

Sure, I’ve seen the typical posts that talk about disrespectful horses, but I think it’s high time to stop deflecting and blaming our horses for what is actually OUR disrespect and lack of responsibility.

We don’t just have a responsibility to our horses, but to our farriers.

I made a living trimming professionally for about a dozen years, I blew my shoulders out on it, got burned out on it, I know how demanding it is, so I’m a stickler for being appreciative of our farriers and setting them up for success.

If things don’t go well, we don’t get to blame our farrier for what is OUR lack of preparation.

Blaming our ‘disrespectful’ horses is pretty lame as well, no pun intended.

Trimming is physically hard work, it’s dangerous work, and it’s technical work.

First of all, we don’t get to complain about the quality of work if our horses can’t stand still.

Second, our farrier has every right to get firm or use restraints if they are concerned for their safety and we insist they continue.

If we aren’t comfortable with that, yes, we do have EVERY right to stop the session at ANY time and reschedule, but our farrier should be compensated for the missed appointment, and it will be our responsibility to prepare our horse for the next appointment, whether we do it ourselves, or pay a trainer, or plan on sedation, or schedule enough time for our farrier to give breaks or train, IF they agree to that and will be compensated for their time.

We should always compensate our farrier a training fee if they do agree to train on our horse, or reschedule if they don’t have the time or inclination to do so.

We should not complain that our farrier just didn’t have enough patience with poor Fluffy.

It is OUR responsibility to prepare Fluffy to be patient and comfortable with the poor farrier.

We should not blame farrier impatience for what is actually frustration when we expect our farrier to train on our horse without compensation, or without their agreement when they don’t have the time or inclination.

If our horse needs to put their foot down more often than normal for some reason, and doesn’t have good duration, it’s our responsibility to make sure that can happen without our farrier getting torqued on, and compensate monetarily for that extended time.

It’s amazing how patient a farrier can be when they aren’t getting tossed around, and are actually getting compensated for overtime like any other professional.

Our horse’s bad joints are not an excuse to contribute to the deterioration of our farrier’s joints.
If we have an arthritic horse, we should visit with our vet about using some pain relief before the appointment, for the sake of both horse and professional.
If the horse simply needs trimmed with the foot lower, we might consider giving a tip; the farrier will probably need a masseuse, unless they’re fortunate enough to be as short as me.

Farriers love their job, they love our horses, or they wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing, but it’s really difficult for them to love their job and love our horses if we aren’t pulling our weight.

That means doing what is necessary to get our horses comfortable physically, and having them used to getting their feet picked up, handled, tapped on, rasped on, held between legs, with the same duration that will be expected by our farrier, BEFORE our farrier shows up.

But it isn’t always about foot handling.

If our horse can’t confidently and patiently stand on their own for the same duration that it takes to get their feet worked on, adding a stranger who’s asking them to do it on three legs isn’t going to improve the situation.

Our horses should be comfortable standing, whether it’s tied or with us holding them, for the same duration it takes to get their feet done; we can use a hay net to facilitate some patience and peace of mind initially.

Finally, we should never, EVER expect our farrier to put up with herd bound issues. If our horse can’t stand still, we should bring in a buddy so our farrier can do their job.
Separation anxiety should be addressed on our own time, not our farrier’s.

Being respectful of the hard work that a professional puts in not only physically, but intellectually, and skill-wise, doesn’t mean we have to get harder on our horses, it means we have to get harder on ourselves, and show a little more appreciation.

“A person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected.”

04/20/2024

This is a great example of why it is sooooo important to work with your horses and get them confident. When you do, you do not have to expose them to every single thing known to man for them to be calm about it.

This horse has never seen or heard a dremel, but he didn't even flinch.

It's so important for your farrier, chiro, vet, massage therapist, trainers and so on to be able to do whatever they need to do with your horse. Calling them out to work on an unruly, distrusting, spooky animal is not ok, unless it's a trainer that fully knows what they are getting into. Even emergency situations are not an excuse because the animal should have been worked with prior to the incident.

Things happen. We may get horses we thought had been trained that aren't, that should be safe, that should know, and so on and so forth... you can't help how they came to you, but you are responsible for how they are in your care.

If you need help, be honest and ask for it. Most professionals have dealt with a lot of crazy cases and behaviors and have figured some things out. It's up to you to do right by your animal and teach them so they can be secure, confident and safe for others to work on and with them and you as well! It's for your own safety as well!

We love our jobs and we love these big, amazing animals. Help us help them by being their biggest leader. Teach them, and if you don't know how, learn ❤️

03/24/2024

How many of you can pick up your horse's hooves and see this type of foot?

Can you identify all the structures and whether they are healthy and robust? If they are not, can you see the difference when they are weak and compromised?

Do you know the course of action that needs to be taken in order to heal the hooves? If not, what is stopping you? Knowledge is power and your horse needs you to be their experienced voice.

If the hooves don't look similar to this one posted below, there is room for improvement ❤️

If you feel confident (or even if you dont) in posting this same view of your own horse's hoof, I will take the time to mark it up and show what is good, and what could use improving and how to go about doing that. No judgement. Just help.

Are you wanting to learn? Feel free to comment below, and I will be happy to answer your questions. We are all here for the horse ❤️

03/16/2024

Drying out hooves for thrush applications! You could also just use sawdust, but I have the pellets for my cats litter box so it was easy to just grab a few handfuls!

03/14/2024

Would you believe this buckskin was formerly navicular, has severe ringbone fusing P1 and P2 and past episodes of caudal failure on both front and hinds?

It's been a seriously long road, but this horse never gave up even though I was at the end of my rope multiple times.

I've also learned that what he was teaching me all along isn't unique to just him, although he's a one in a million horse both in personality and physical issues, his issues have helped me to help other horses as well.

Check out that shoulder and upper body movement, flying lead changes and extension of the front legs. No stiffness there ❤️ we have been pain free and lameness free for 6 months.

03/11/2024

Can you tell me the differences you see in the backs of these horses, good or bad?
There are a few very obvious things that stick out, but I want to bring more attention to them as they are directly related to the hooves ❤️

02/26/2024

This is the same hoof. At one point with some severe thrush that had eaten away the majority of the frog, and the same frog after thrush treatment. This took a couple months of treatment.

The left photo is extremely common (sadly) but is definitely not normal. Please don't think this is OK or normal. It isn't. Thrush can eventually get bad enough to eat through the entire frog and up into the sensitive tissues that the frog grows from.

This is not only painful, but it also destroys the entire back of the hoof (and front if left long enough in this condition) and it's function.

Pain from a weak, infected frog > avoiding pressure on the back of the foot > weak digital cushion > more pain > contracted heels > more pain > weak heels > navicular pain > toe first landings > permanent internal damage > true navicular "disease"

Don't let the thrush become a career ending problem. It's so easy to fix!!

Treat an infected frog daily, just like you would if you or your kid has a good cut or scrape. Keep the hooves out of nasty bacteria laden areas (manure filled lots, muck around feeding areas, dirty stalls, etc). Keep the hooves as dry as possible (this may mean amending your lot/areas the horses stand most and keeping up with picking manure). Keep the horses moving daily for food, water and minerals.

02/24/2024

I've been thinking back recently on all the years of lessons I received from just my one gelding. 11 years.

11 years of constant shifting of everything. Everything I was taught, everything I read, everything I was sold.... everything. Nothing worked how it was supposed to, and when I reported back with dismal results the answer was always defensive and that I must be doing something wrong and not feeding enough of the product, not doing the diet right, not trimming enough, not wrapping enough, etc etc etc. It wasn't EVER - MAYBE THIS HORSE IS DIFFERENT AND MAYBE IT JUST DOESNT WORK FOR HIM. MAYBE YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO HIM. Never.

It made me feel as though I was failing because of the thousands of dollars I spent on supplements, tests, xrays, vet visits, products aimed at "dissolving away" the issue, learning different methods of trimming, booting, casting and gluing and NONE of it helped. I had people tell me they had never ever seen such bad arthritis in a horse, let alone one as young as him. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought of just putting him to rest multiple times over the years.

If I had to add it up it would easily be over 10 grand that I spent over the years. It would be hundreds of hours spent wrapping his legs, questioning everything I was told, over trimming and ignoring what he was telling me all along because others said he was wrong.

This industry is so hell bent on everything being perfect, we forget that a horse is like us- imperfect. We need to learn to accept that and see the imperfections as useful bits of information instead of just jumping on the band wagon to fix everything.

Here's a newsflash- not everything can be fixed. In fact, a lot of times we make things worse by trying to force "perfection."

My gelding's story is quite unique and I have accepted that I will NEVER have the answers I searched for for so long, and that's OK. He has taught me the art of listening and putting my ego aside and healed himself easily once i stepped out of his way.

Long story ahead. I bought him at 1.5 years old. He was lame only on turns on his right front. I was told it was thrush and scolded for it being so bad (it was like that when I got him). I began treating it and teaching him to pick up his feet and that lead to me learning to trim. His first trim by a professional made him lame. His subsequent trims by me after I learned to trim made him lame. His lameness kept getting worse but I kept getting told by vets the bumps on his fetlock were normal and it was thrush causing all of it and it wasn't "that bad."
Fast forward to 3 years old and I had finally had it and took him to an equine lameness specialist. The top xrays in the comparisons below are what they found, but the vet saw the issue as soon as he stepped off the trailer.

Ringbone. He had developed ringbone in both front joints between P1 and P2 before the age of 2. At this point I was told by the vet to just Bute him up and ride while I could because he wouldn't last long in the world. I was heartbroken. I decided I wouldn't ride him unless he was having a really good day and had boots on. That didn't work because the boots actually made him worse.

So ensued the next 7 years of trying everything I could to first reduce the ringbone, and then when that was not working, I moved on to different trims, glue ons, supportive supplements, etc.

He finally came sound when I decided to let go. I let him be a free ranging horse and his hooves developed some bad deformities. It was hard to look at because it wasn't "balanced" or pleasing to the eye. Somehow this period of dysfunction to my eye lead to him creating the perfect balance for his legs and body and we are now riding again. No pain supplements or meds, no crazy diet, no hay testing, no 24/7 boot wear, no sweat wraps, no gimmicky straps around the legs.... just him allowed to be imperfect and happy.

Please listen to your horse. They will tell you what you need to know ❤️

Below I will list out every single thing I did to try and fix this horse instead of just accepting what he was saying.

*Easyboot front boots with gaiters-no pads
*Easyboot front boots with gaiters- with pads
*Dynamite Specialty feeding program with all the extras to help with removing oxidants, adding chelated minerals and the whole 9 yards for 4 years
*Dynamite Specialty Wound Balm for wrapping his fetlocks (this was wrapping 4 hours at a time while he was in a stall at first once a week, then suggested at 2-3x a week and supposedly it would "melt" away the ringbone). This was done for 3-4 months before I gave up due to him actually coming out of the stall worse than he went in.
*Glue on easyboots with sicaflex
*Supplements and herbs aimed at reducing and eliminating the ringbone (tried different ones for a few years)
*Was told he had laminitis (which was actually caused by the trimming prescribed for him) and that he had to be on a dry lot only with tested hay and balanced minerals. Did this for 4 years before giving up with no improvement. (California trace, California trace plus, Vermont Blend, Arizona Copper complete)
*Tried casting his hooves
*Tried casting with DIM
*Took courses to learn massage and manipulation to help his body
*Had 4 full sets of radiography done each about 3 years apart, and lameness evaluation at a university where he was diagnosed 3/5 lameness and Navicular
*Had one round of osphos injections right into the joint with the arthritis
*Easyboot Trails with 2 different densities of pads
*Soaking hooves with all sorts of different concoctions
*Easyboot clouds
*Easyboot stratus
*Easycare Lovechilds (glued on)
*Easycare versa golds (nailed on)
*Easycare NGs (nailed on)
*Easycare Octos with DIM (glued on)
*Hoof Armor
*Had a farrier out to look at him to see if he could see things I couldn't and he found quite a good deviation in his fetlock. This causes a twist in his lower leg and explains why he cannot be balanced to industry standards- on top of the ringbone fusing his P1-P2 joint.
*Started making my own mineral mixes and herbal concoctions and this did show some improvement in coat quality but did nothing for his arthritis or hooves.
*Paid for training in traditional shoeing in order to be able to set him up in shoeing packages myself
*Dove into allowing him to self trim because any adjustment or basic trim from his distorted hooves would make him lame- we did this for 1.5 years before moving across the country
*Didn't touch his hooves, except for routine thrush prevention, for the last 9 months, allowed them to become "ugly" and he became sound. His frogs are now improving as is the shape of his hoof.
*Significant improvement in movement and poature with reduced lower back pain when steel shoes and 3d wedges are placed on the hind hooves.

Moral of the story.... start listening instead of assuming you know what's best and trying to fix what you don't understand.

Buckshot- Doc bar lines
Born May 2012
Radiographs show complete disintegration of the joint and overlapping ringbone to stabilize the two bones, which essentially made one bone over time. This eliminates movement of the arthritic joint and thus "repaired" the damage. Aren't horses fascinating?