Caballo Barefoot Trimming & Scoot Boots South Africa

24/03/2025

NPA (negative palmar angles) are what I'd consider a plague that I see most commonly amongst Thoroughbreds. NPA is strongly linked to early shoeing in open-heeled shoes with no frog support at a young age leading to very poor caudal development and low angles. I believe other factors play a role here too, inappropriate diets causing flaring/long toes, ulcers and lack of free movement on firm ground.

NPA messes with the horse's posture putting unnecessary strain on tendons, ligaments, the musculoskeletal system and more.

This lovely horse always has me feeling a little sad when I see his feet as there's only so much one can do to improve them. I grabbed some pics at his last appointment and was thrilled to see that he'd actually made some significant gains. This also shows up in improved posture (not featured here as he was being a bit of a worm) which will have him feeling a lot better in his body. While his feet will never be perfect, this was very encouraging progress for five months since his shoes came off.

What to do about caudal failure?

*If you must shoe traditionally, look at frog support options

*Try composite shoes with built in frog support as a more ergonomic option. Your horse may appreciate the support alongside the shock-absorbing properties of composite shoes.

*Consider giving your horse a break from shoes provided you have set him up for success with a barefoot-friendly diet, trim and lifestyle. This often yields some very quick improvements and at least a couple degrees of gains.

*Use hoof boots. We have played around with 3 degree wedge pads in the boots which often results in an immediate improvement in posture. There are debates as to whether wedges are good or not and it's one I'm still exploring myself personally. I think it's fair to let the individual horse tell us what he feels.

*The last option is to not buy these horses in the first place and seek out ones with good angles and strong digital cushions.

21/03/2025

19/03/2025

With all the rain and mud wherever we look at the moment, here are some tips for keeping your EVO hoof boots on:

1) Safety straps (featured above) - these nifty straps add an extra layer of protection.

2) Be mindful when going through deep mud - keep a very close eye on those boots!

3) Check and tighten your screws regularly or use Loctite if you don't need to adjust your boots' settings regularly.

4) Make sure your boots are fitting as snugly as possible. To get them on, swivel the boot at the toe to go over one heel, use a hoof pick to get it over the other, and ensure that the frog part of the boot is properly aligned with the centre of frog.

15/03/2025

06/03/2025

Once upon a time, I finished feet like you see in the top picture. It’s the icing on the cake and makes it look like a clean, tidy, professional job. Some may not care but in the sport horse world, aesthetics tend to matter to some.

My problem with this finish is that it’s void of vital information.

The photo on the bottom makes me feel like I didn’t do a good enough job with the finish. It feels incomplete and sloppy to me.

BUT, what you see in this photo provides critical information.

This horse was otherwise sound and competing. There were no major complaints or lameness. However, the hoof quality started to change a bit when it had been really solid for 6 months and the ever so slight but there growth rings are there. Which, had I buffed that all away, we never would have seen the warning signs.

I was able to share with my client the value of why I finish a foot the way I do now and advise the person to look into the diet and possible bloodwork based on hoof wall quality and those event lines.

Long story short, the news was shared with me that bloodwork was done on a hunch and the horse has a high insulin level.

This is EXACTLY why I don’t dress the hooves. We likely saved this horse from suffering a full blown laminitic episode.

And she isn’t the first one that the hoof was telling us there was an underlying issue when everything else seemed “fine”. My clients have been able to make adjustments to diet or check bloodwork on several other horses when things like this appear.

In the sport performance world (for all horses), this is one small change that can make a world of difference.

I will live with my job looking a little less tidy or professional because I know the value of this information and just how much we can help the horse sooner.

28/01/2025

It's been a while so I thought to do a re-introduction post seeing this year is my 20th year of working in the hoofcare industry. What started as a situation that made no sense to me at the time, ended up in a career path that I never thought I'd end up on. It's been a wild ride constantly filled with ups and downs, challenges, and many satisfying victories.

Back in 2005 my parents bought me my first horse, a Thoroughbred, who lived in the mountains and was pretty sound for what she lived and walked on. I instinctively preferred a horse barefoot and that's honestly all I really knew about hooves.

Her new life was at the coast, on lush green grazing and soft going, yet each time the farrier trimmed her she was very sore for days on end. I was presented with the solution: shoes. But that didn't make sense, why was it that she was sore on soft going with regular trimming and sound on pretty harsh going when she was barely ever trimmed?

I refused the offer of shoes and bought hoof boots. I fired my farrier but didn't really know where to turn from there. Thanks to the help of a few farriers in my area and the assistance of Lisa Huhn and Anne-Louise Macdonald from Equinextion over the following years (at a distance, but nevertheless) I kept my horse sound and comfortable. She was never shod, and nor was any horse I owned thereafter. In fact, I pulled shoes off all of them successfully, and they were all Thoroughbreds.

I quickly learned that to be successful at keeping horses barefoot, a holistic approach needed to be adopted. I was educated on appropriate diet for growing healthy hooves, how posture/body issues tie into the greater scheme of things, and how very important hygiene and movement are if one is to succeed. I learned what to do when things fail even after trying everything else, especially where hooves and suffered some permanent damage (enter hoof boots and composite shoes) and how we still wouldn't necessarily have to get those horses shod in metal.

While I am pretty set on working with a certain formula to get horses barefoot, I've become a little less dogmatic about it over the years, realizing that sometimes there is some wiggle room for error in the formula, but it is small and for some horses the small wiggle can be to their detriment, and for others it can be insignificant.

In 2019 my husband Giacomo joined our business shortly after completing his barefoot trimming courses with Ida Hammer in USA. I had trained him some years prior to this and what was his part-time business before we married very quickly became full-time, helping us to grow substantially and help many more horses.

In 2024 we and our colleague Theo Janssen founded the Barefoot Trimmer's Association of South Africa, realizing that there is a dire need for education in our industry, as well as the offering of formal qualifications that will in the future be easily accessible to South Africans.

Fast-forward to the year 2025 and we are still at what we love doing, splitting our lives between our peaceful home in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng, which offer various different climates and unique challenges. We are forever learning, growing and we retain an open-mind towards new developments in the hoofcare world.

Thank you to all of our supportive clients who have stuck with us loyally over the years, as well as to my family who have supported me through all sorts of seemingly "wild at the time" ideas since I was very young. I am grateful I was never pushed into a certain direction, always encouraged to ask "why" and to challenge ideas before making up my mind about something.

23/01/2025

Is your barefoot horse struggling on hard going after the recent rains and influx of lush, sugary grazing?

After the recent big rains we have noticed sudden weakening white lines, loss of concavity and hoof-sensitivity on hard going on some horses that are not the most genetically blessed, or those that have nutritional deficiencies or absorption issues.

It is no surprise that the owners of these horses are disappointed as they don't necessarily want to shoe their horses after successfully transitioning to barefoot.

If your horse fits into this category we can help! We have yet again extended our sale on both Scoot Boots and EVO hoof boots as follows:

Scoot Boots: R4200 per pair
EVO Hoof Boots: R3800 per pair

To size your horse and view our return/exchange policy WhatsApp Christine on 0733895245

*Sale ends 28 February

17/01/2025

A bit of the behind-the-scenes that happens when Giacomo resets the Easycare Octo composite shoes. We've opted to put a new pair on today to save on clean-up time but these still have plenty of life in them after about almost 10 weeks of use and being re-set once.

We are using Easycare superglue for these applications and the shoes are staying on right through their 4.5-5 week cycle despite some hectic rain. Proper preparation and correct sizing is key!

11/01/2025

Behind every set of freshly trimmed hooves is a clean-up dog, similar to a drug addict, having the time of its life.

08/01/2025

Working in an industry where so often one feels totally unappreciated and even thoughtlessly taken advantage of, it is a blessing to receive a note like this. ❤️

08/01/2025

I pulled this out of the archives from about 13 years ago. If memory serves this was a mare who was at least well into in her teens who'd never been trimmed before. Three trims in and her hooves were radically changed and I'm sure her body felt much better too.

These were rough days for me, the feet were HARD and plentiful in this area due to drought, the horses knew nothing of what I wanted to do with them and the work was risky. I often wonder why I had to do it but I think I learned a lot during that time and most importantly, I survived it. I also met wonderful, very solid people who I know would have my back in a pickle.

20/12/2024

The Easycare Versa Octos in action on this beautiful dressage horse.

Expertly applied by Theo Janssen 😎

17/12/2024

I won't lie, I've been pretty terrified of heat fitting boots for fear of breakage (and we did pay some school fees here due to poor lighting where the plug point was) but what I can say is - what an awesome little tool to have - when the lighting is good anyway 😂

On the left is a normal size 2W EVO boot and on the right is one that has been heat fitted. The boot can be heat fitted multiple times which is an even bigger bonus. This is perfect for hooves that flare or are inbetween sizes.

We will be continuing our sale on both EVO and Scoot Boots until the end of January 2025. WhatsApp 0733895245 for more info

12/12/2024

Reset time for this lovely girl. She's in the Easyshoe Octos for a bit to help grow out some cracks.

08/12/2024

My monthly highlight is hopping out of the car at our client's place and having Koos run to greet me. Nevermind that I have about 10 roosters back at home, this guy is my favourite ❤️

03/12/2024

We have had an overwhelming amount of positive feedback about the EVO boots!

Isabel from Riversdal says:

"Hi there! I just want to let you know that the boots work fantastically. He is a different horse. He is more forward and even his stride is bigger, no more guarding."

Happy trail-riding Isabel and hubby 😊

29/11/2024

Why we love the EVO Boots:

1) Super adjustable and heat moldable
2) Accommodates heel height discrepancies as well as underrun heels which helps to prevent rubbing
3) Boots come free with coloured gaiter options: pink, turquoise, yellow, red or black
4) Boots are sold singles so that we can easily obtain a fit individual to each hoof
5) Durability is excellent
6) Shortened breakover

Did you know? Albert Villasevil, the EVO boot sales and technical services director, is also a vet who specializes in hoof care and rehabilitation. We believe that his expertise has helped to create a superior product that is highly adaptable to the individual needs of each horse.

Our boots are on sale at R3800 per pair until 3 December but order today and get your pair of EVOs for just R3600 per pair!

For assistance with sizing and to view our exchange/returns policy please WhatsApp 0733895245