Barefoot methodology as a viable farriery option

The equine foot evolved to provide an effective interface between the distal limb and the ground for weight-bearing, shock absorption and providing traction. The use of horseshoes became necessary when horses performed a lot of work on abrasive surfaces. These days, however, most equine athletes train and compete on soft, manufactured surfaces that are conducive to having the horses barefooted, especially if they have good-quality hooves and can be taken out of work for a short period of time while the hoof goes through the adaptive process. Being barefoot for a period of time is often useful in treating horses with chronic foot lameness, hoof capsule distortions with compromised heel structures, sheared heels or frogs that are either recessed or prolapsed relative to the ground surface of the foot. The benefits of being barefooted include superior shock absorption, better energy damping and improved weight-bearing ability. Without shoes, the foot undergoes greater expansion and vertical movement at the heels and foot shape is maintained by friction and wear between the entire solar surface of the foot and the ground. Shaping the barefoot hoof involves removing excessive hoof wall using hoof nippers at an angle of 45 degrees dorsal to the sole-wall junction (white line) to create a bevel in the bearing surface of the hoof wall. The heels are rasped horizontally to the same horizontal plane as the frog which makes the palmar foot 'load sharing'. Starting at the heel quarter, the rasp is used around the circumference of the foot at a 45 degrees angle and then a rounding motion from proximal to distal is used to produce a thick rounded perimeter to the distal hoof wall. It is important to leave all the horn/mass on the solar surface of the foot for protection. Adaptation to being barefoot requires a period of time to allow the structures of the foot to strengthen along with reshaping of the foot at 3-4-week intervals. A version of this manuscript was presented at the American Association of Equine Practitioners Scientific Program in 2023.