I charge $50.00 / Trim and $150 / New set of Shoes either “Hot” or “Cold”. Specialty jobs such as show shoes, pads, borium are priced individually. My travel fee is $0.25 / km both ways.
What is Barefoot Trimming and Why is it Better?
To
put it very simply - barefoot trimming is about simulating and
stimulating. First we are simulating the wear horses' feet would get if
they were free to get all the exercise they needed to keep their feet
self-trimmed. Secondly we are trimming the foot to stimulate it to grow
healthy and in the proper form. In other words we are helping nature - key word "helping". We are not trying to impose our idea of perfect form on the foot. On the contrary, we read each foot to see what IT is trying to tell us it needs.
Is a Natural Barefoot Trim different than just leaving my horse barefoot, or having a normal farrier trim?
Yes and No, it
depends on your farrier. The exception would be if your horse lives on
the type of terrain and gets adequate exercise to facilitate
self-trimming. (And some horses do!) Most horses do not get enough
exercise and the various terrain to wear their hooves sufficiently to
give them the short, tight feet they could have in the wild.
The hoof wall grows continuously. If growth exceeds wear (this is the most common scenario) then the feet become too long and/or too wide and the hoof starts to deform, creating pain and compromised movability. Our goal is to keep the feet at the optimal length and shape for each horse and those may well change as the horse's feet become more healthy. There is no perfect length. A barefoot horse left untrimmed can be just as bad off as a horse with shoes on, or a horse who is trimmed badly.
In addition to keeping the length under control, we also use a "mustang roll" to keep the toes from running away (a common problem) and the break-over where it belongs. If you have seen horses with shoes, then you've probably noticed that the shoes have been worn in such a way that the front is rounded. This is how horses try to wear their feet. The roll is important, it not only saves the horse the work of doing it themselves, it keeps the foot from chipping.
The hoof wall grows continuously. If growth exceeds wear (this is the most common scenario) then the feet become too long and/or too wide and the hoof starts to deform, creating pain and compromised movability. Our goal is to keep the feet at the optimal length and shape for each horse and those may well change as the horse's feet become more healthy. There is no perfect length. A barefoot horse left untrimmed can be just as bad off as a horse with shoes on, or a horse who is trimmed badly.
In addition to keeping the length under control, we also use a "mustang roll" to keep the toes from running away (a common problem) and the break-over where it belongs. If you have seen horses with shoes, then you've probably noticed that the shoes have been worn in such a way that the front is rounded. This is how horses try to wear their feet. The roll is important, it not only saves the horse the work of doing it themselves, it keeps the foot from chipping.
How often should my horse be trimmed?
In a perfect world it
would be every day a tiny little bit, unfortunately this is unrealistic
for most of us, but a most common barefoot trim would be every 4-6
weeks. In some cases, due to hoof problems, more frequent trimming may
be necessary. After being trimmed a few times the feet may begin to self
regulate. That means that the growth will start to balance with the
wear. When this happens many horses can go 6-8 weeks or longer between
trims. This also largely depends on the amount of exercise your horse
have and the environment he lives in etc.
There is tons of great
information about Barefoot Trimming online and I don’t want to bore you
with it all. On the other hand if you are interested in reading up on it
more here are some wonderful links:
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