Whether I’m teaching a student or working cattle, I rely on my horses’ healthy bare feet to help me get the job done.
I do a lot of different activities with my horses, from arena training to trail riding to long days working cattle. My ability to do my job relies heavily on my horses, so I need to keep them as healthy and sound as possible, whatever we are doing. When it comes to hoof care, I have found that my horses are most likely to remain strong and able to work when they are maintained with physiologically correct barefoot trimming.
This is not the same thing as what many people call a “pasture trim”; it requires specialized knowledge of how the equine hoof is meant to function, how to optimize hoof shape and balance to maximize function, and what to leave alone so that you don’t inadvertently keep a horse foot sore by “cleaning it up” too much with the hoof knife at every trim.