This is one book that I read through once and then turned around and read it again right away. If you're a farrier, I suppose it would be easier to understand, but I had to work through a few terms on my second time through the book. But that's just because I'm slow.
There are many things which I enjoyed about Pete's book. To list several of them:
1. He explains things thouroughly and simply
2. He gives a lot of photo samples.
3. He is humble about his own abilities; he informs the reader how he is always learning better ways to trim the domestic hoof.
4. He tells the stories of his successes with hoof rehab as well as his failures.
I will now take a stab at explaining some of the concepts and ideas contained within this book. In a nutshell it is about trimming domestic horse hooves after the wild horse pattern.
In this book, Pete Ramey constantly talks about "working towards the wild-horse model".
Did you ever think about the fact that wild horses don't have anyone (humanly speaking) to look after their hooves? And yet they are not plauged (for the most part) with the same hoof problems as domestic horses. This quote by W.E. Webb (dating back to 1872), draws attention to this unfortunate occurance:
“I should like to draw attention to the whole learned fraternity of blacksmiths, who mutilate horses, the world over. The hoofs were as solid and as sound as ivory, without a crack or wrong growth of any sort.
It is noticeable that the equine race, in its wild state, has none of the ills of the species domesticated. The sorrows of horse-flesh are the fruits of civilization. By the study and imitation of nature’s methods, we could greatly increase the usefulness of these valuable servants, and remove temptation from the paths of many men who lead blameless lives, except in the single matter of horse-trades.” (emphasis mine)
Most of us probably do not know what a proper hoof should look like. Until I started studying the subject I didn't realize that I had never seen a single good hoof. Here's an example of a wild horse hoof:
The most obvious characteristics (to me anyway) of the wild horse hoof is:
1. how deeply concave the sole of the hoof is; and
2. The rolled or rounded hoof wall.The hooves of Mustangs naturally wear this way, and thus it is known as the "mustang roll".
Trying to glean from the recesses of my rusty mind, the info that I read in Pete Ramey's book (God help me not to mess this up too badly!) I will attempt to tell you why the "mustang roll" has it's benefits. I remember Pete Ramey explaining the rolled hoof wall like the handle of a broom. If you take the rounded end of the broom handle and pound it repeatedly into gravel, it would take a lot of pounding to break it. But if you chop off the rounded end and then pound the splintered broom handle into the gravel, it will more easily break apart. This illustration was to show the difference between rolling the edge of a hoof wall after trimming (the way it would naturally wear) and rasping the hoof wall flat (the way it is done for shoeing).
(There I explained that as well as I could remember, but I have a feeling that I am messing it up rather badly.)
As it is, I would have a hard time explaining everything to you about this subject, not only because I'm not an expert on it and I have a hard time retaining what I read, but it's also much too involved; I can only scrape the surface and point you to some articles and books that I have read which have helped me to form my opinion about barefoot horses. Read these for yourself, they are much better explained than mine! But I hope that I at least made you think and start searching out the best hoof care for your horse. As a start, I highly reccomend that you read Pete Ramey's book : "Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You."
Pete Ramey's Website:
(you can find more hoof pics here!)
Here's an article about Rethinking Horseshoes :
Click here to read the difference between the typical barefoot "pasture trim" and the "natural trim"
(barefoothorse has a lot of resources)
This is an all-around great article on what a good hoof should look like:
Find a Natural Hoofcare practioner near you!
For other hoof care websites, see the "Horse Websites" list on the left sidebar.
