Is Trimming Expensive?

(Prior to writing this article, I had assumptions of what the answer might be, but never did the math to fully support it.)

I, like many other trimmers who are dedicated to the best barefoot care of your horses, likely charge more to trim horses' feet than some farriers in our local markets. This price reflects the expertise, education, and experience that we bring to your horses. The intent of this article is not to debate how prices should be established, or how we should set prices, but instead to just make a simple comparison, from a monetary standpoint, between barefoot trimmed horses kept on a good schedule, and shod horses kept on a good schedule.

Assumptions

Care Cycle

We'll make a few assumptions that will guide this, and those are that the horses are being cared for on a 6 week trim/shoeing cycle during the months of May through November, and then the cycle is extended to 8 weeks during the winter months. I am also assuming that the shoes are kept on only during that period May through November, and during the winter those horses are maintained barefoot. If you are not in the know, these cycles reflect a standard of good hoof care. Laminitis is the common result for horses kept on a significantly longer cycle, throughout the year.

Cost of Services

I do not go out and survey other farriers regarding their fees, but for the sake of this comparison, we'll assume that we are talking about the care of a trained saddle horse whose behavior is not terrible, and so my fees would be $75 for a trim, and a number I hear floated around for shoeing might be $120. I also assume that the shoeing farrier charges $55 to trim in the off season These numbers may be a little low, but for comparison, they'll work.

Comparison

The care cycle described above would have a horse's hooves worked on approximately 8 times a year, 6 times during the period May through November and twice during the winter. The summary below reflects the carried out math.

• Trimming. 8 cycles of barefoot trimming to cover the whole year at a cost of $75/trim costs $600/year.

• Shoeing/Trimming. 6 cycles of shoeing at $120/visit and 2 cycles of off season trimming at $55/visit, comes to a total of $830/year

If we assume that the horse is not completely transitioned to barefoot living in the mountains, and the horse requires front hoof boots to maintain comfort in the mountains, then this would add an approximate $210 for boots that will last several years, and still allow a horse the benefit of remaining barefoot all year.

Conclusion

It appears that the first year is more or less a wash, if hoof boots are required. If not, barefoot trimming saves a little bit of money. Personally, I don't place money as the primary motivator for decisions on how I care for my horses. I first consider what is best for the horse, and then research an affordable solution.

I hope this article is helpful, and I am happy to discuss any of it with you. We will continue to produce content that will try to answer questions that pertain to barefoot trimming and horse general care. Let me know your questions.

Absorbing Impact

A brief video to help illustrate the first three ways that a horse is designed to absorb impact, before the stress is absorbed by tendons and joints.

Equine Cushing’s

Some Thoughts on Cushing's Disease

A friend is battling Cushing's Disease in one of her horses, and it spurred me to look back at notes and experiences, in regard to the condition, and to reach out to some of our holistic care friends for their insight.

What is Cushing's?

• Also known as Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID).

• A condition where the middle lobe of the pituitary gland (base of the brain) becomes enlarged and over produces hormones.

• Common in horses 15 years or older

• Common in all breeds, but more common in ponies and Morgans

• Increased cortisol production and insulin resistance result

Clinical Signs:

• long, curly retained hair coat

• laminitis

• cresty neck

• increased drinking and urination

• lethargy

• weight loss/ muscle loss

• excessive sweating

Veterinary Test

The dexamethasone suppression test is the most effective test that I am aware of, but comes with a cost.

As I understand it, the dexamethasone suppression test is performed as follows:

1. Blood is drawn from the horse at, or around, 4 pm

2. administer dexamethasone

3. Draw blood 19 hours later

4. Look at cortisol levels

Problems that I see with this test include the likelihood of false positives seen in the fall of the year, and more critically, as a hoof care professional, steroidal drugs can be a contributing cause for laminitis, already a problem in the patient.

Holistic Lifestyle Changes:

Movement

The affected horse should be turned out in area large enough to exercise freely, and should be out with another horse, or multiple horses that encourage active play. If other horses are not present, or they do not interact in spirited play, then the horse should be exercised by the owner at a trot or fast walk for at least an hour per day.

Diet

The horse should be kept on a low sugar/starch diet with grass hay as the cornerstone of the daily feed.

Barefoot Trim

The horse must be maintained barefoot, and an experienced natural hoof care practitioner (hey, I know a guy!) should be performing physiological trims on a frequent basis (3-4 week interval) in the early stages to heal the laminitis. Heels must be short, toes as well. Hoof care should mimic the hooves of horses in the wild. Laminitis, and any “rotation” of the coffin bone is a healing effort by the horse, and should result in a more natural, balanced, and comfortable foot if the growth is managed to mimic nature.

Some observations:

The cresty neck can be viewed as one indicator of severity. A bigger and harder cresty neck inidcates a more severe case, and when the pome is smaller and moveable, this indicates improvement or a less severe case.

With proper care, the cresty neck can effectively disappear.

The Hind-Gut

It is commonly believed among holistic horse care folks that Cushing;s Diseaseresults, at least partially, from deficiencies in the horse's hind-gut, the cecum, large colon, small colon, and rectum, where fermentation takes place. To stimulate and maintain hind-gut function, probiotics and natural herbs should be employed.

We stock some of the necessary supplements, and could help find the ones that we don't keep on hand.

Strategy for Supplementation

Some supplementation will be in the form of herbs and probiotics, as previously discussed, to stimu;ate and maintain hind[gut function.

Other supplements are ones that we have seen contribute to rapid and strong hoof development

Yet others serve as anti-inflammatories, immune boosters, and serve to promote bloodflow necessary for healing.

Results

Folks that we know to be absolutely truthful, and very knowledgeable holistic horse care providers tell me about a Cushing's case that was effectively eliminated, and the horse simply remained on a maintenance dose of herbs and supplements by employing the described strategy.

We can cure laminitis with lifestyle changes and natural hoof care, restoring a more natural hoof structure and form that will serve the horse better in the long run. We've done this repeatedly.

If you would like to consult further with us on this, or other horse or hoof care topics, [lease reach out to us.

The Unfettered Hoof

I am constantly studying to improve my knowledge and improve the natural hoof care that I provide to horses.

I came across this article from the Journal of Veterinary Science written by Dr. Tomas Teskey, DVM. The article is very well written and introduces some of the strong arguments for keeping horses barefoot at ALL times. The article is written by a veterinarian, published in a veterinary journal, and is written with the intent to sway other equine veterinarians away from shoeing and aim them in the direction of natural barefoot hoof care, to the great benefit of their patients. It is, however, not overly technical, and easy to understand.

The article, complete with pictures can be found here: https://www.successwithhorses.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DR-Tesky-PDF.pdf

It is my intent to expand on some of these key points in the near future, but this article and this gentleman's credentials warrant my sharing his work.

Please share this article with your veterinarians, other horse owners, and anyone who might find it interesting.

At the end, if there are questions I can answer, or if you'd like your horses put on the trimming schedule, send me an email at jimnorman@millironnranch.com, or text or call me at 307-248-1279.

I look forward to any discussion that this article might introduce.

Blog Post Title Three

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