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Those two horses to the right are our own. Diesel is a 1400lb. Percheron/Paint and Jules is an Arab. They are Barefoot everyday in our Rocky Mountain pasture. Their hooves are now beautiful after having pulled their shoes and putting them on a Barefoot Hoof Care Program. When they are taken from the pasture and ridden on trails with surfaces that are significantly more rocky than their normal living conditions, they are sometimes booted to prevent pain or hoof damage. But, normally their tough, hardened feet never need any pampering. Barefoot Hoof Trimming - What is it? Using the natural wear pattern of wild mustangs as a basis, we provide a hoof trimmed similar to how a horse would wear down its hooves if it could travel 20-30 miles per day like the wild mustangs and feral horses. These hooves are healthy, strong and capable of carrying a rider/pack saddle, or jumping, competing or just having fun! The trimming method incorporates consideration of the horses living conditions, diet, use and current hoof development. We believe any horse can lead a healthy, productive life while being BAREFOOT!
IT WORKS FOR EVERY HORSE, BUT NOT EVERY HORSE OWNER!
At High Performance Hooves we believe in tough love for horse owners and much love for their horses. If you are willing to do what it takes to transition your horse to tough barefoot hooves, join us in helping your horse. Lazy owners and owners that believe horses need a high sugar diet need not read any further. You will need to feed your horse a good clean low sugar diet. You will need to understand how to feed your horse and balance its daily intake of minerals, proteins etc. You will need to purchase hoof boots. You will need to clean the poop out of your paddocks (every day!). You will need to allow your horse to move across challenging turf. You will need to get your horse's hooves trimmed on a regular basis (and NO, every eight weeks is probably not often enough!). You will need to be realistic about how much you are willing to get involved with your horses health and hoof care. And you must be prepared to be told you are CRAZY by your friends and vets. But, the results are worth it.
We recommend you read every website and book you can on the topic before you call us. If you think you would like to "try" barefoot, but in the back of your mind you still think you may need to shoe your horse, call a shoer. We do not take "dabblers" as clients. If you are not convinced that you are totally committed to barefoot, we do not want you as a client. If you cannot stick to a trimming schedule, we do not want you as a client. Your horse will not have the opportunity to transition properly to barefoot and he/she will not be happy, you will not be happy and we will not be happy. Be prepared to take steps to make it work or it will not work. And no, your horse will not be "transitioned" to barefoot after one trim.Regarding dangerous horses, we expect your horse to be trained to allow us to work on there feet. Don't call me because your trimmer can't get your horse to stand still. That is your job. Any "trimmer" that has to beat a horse to stand still should be fired and you the horse owner need to get your horse trained to stand. If your trimmer just "cowboys" your horse to make it stand still, you both have a problem. Do not call us if your horse is not trained to have its feet handled.Added 06/30/09 FOUNDER- Did your horse really Founder? We get more and more calls regarding "Foundered" horses. Many times these horses are on a good low sugar diet, little green pasture time and no sugary treats. They may be tender on gravel roads or rocky ground due to lack of transition but not suffering from Founder. There may be no separation, no bounding pulse, and not be flat footed but they are diagnosed as Founder cases. Have the vet show you exactly what signs he/she is using to claim Founder. Being sensitive to rocks is not Founder! I know of at least one horse being put down for "Founder" because he couldn't walk on a gravel road. Have the vet prove Founder and get X-rays. We do see what we call "Trim Induced Founder". Especially in minis and ponies. Some trimmers do not know how to trim a small foot and leave the heels very, very long and do not clean out excess sole which tends to build up in these small feet. The horse is not a Founder case, it is a case of very poor trimming. We work on one mini that had a trimmer see it every 6 weeks but just happened to let the heels grow to over 4" tall. They also did not clean out the huge amounts of built up sole that cause the hoof to deform and push the toe 5" out in front of the horse. The trimmer caused this problem, not the diet. Get all the facts about your horse and get a trimmer/vet that knows what Founder is and what Founder is NOT.Check out our new "Tool Review" under "Trimming" for opinions on hoof knives, rasps etc.
We also offer trimming with power Tools see our "Power Tool Trimming" Page under "Trimming"
MORE Information: Continue into our site for tips on Hoof Care including Founder, Navicular, and Hoof Cracks, Feeding, Hoof Problems, and why YOU DON'T NEED TO SHOE YOUR HORSE! Every area of this site will be updated and expanded as we find the time to get all this information out to YOU...for now, hit all of our pages for helpful information and links.
Contact Jay DeHart
Please do not call before 8:00am or after 8:00pm. Thank you.
406-777-1256 Home 406-544-4849 Cell
Stevensville, MT
Updated Tuesday, February 09, 2010 1:53 AM
Cloudy | 30°F | High: 37°F
Low: 26°F
Wind: 8 mph
Humidity: 74%
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