A Healthy Hoof Grows From a Healthy Horse
Healthy in Body, Mind, Spirit and Environment. Part 4 of 4
The Environment or Natural Space is Mother Earth herself, and the direction of the South.
We all live in different places, yet on the same Mother Earth. Life as we experience it is on a constant plane of change as everything in nature is alive in the cycles and circles of time. Our presence here as humans has a wide rage of effects both in honor and dishonor regarding the environment. The Rule of Opposites comes into mind again. Critical thinking helps us to find harmony and balance between those opposites.
As I began to delve into a more natural way of keeping my horses, I had to eat a lot of humble pie. We learn things from other people, and when we are young those first impressions often set the stage for where we go and what we do. We are constantly given choices to make. Sometimes we make them for selfish reasons, sometimes we concede to a hard lesson or are fortunate enough to make a soft landing and are thankful. The path of learning is ever present before us in this Great Circle of Life.
When I consider the Environment or Natural Space for the horse, we are also revisiting the other directions and how they all connect. The Environment is the place where the horse lives. It’s where they express the dynamics of their species which includes the mind, body and spirit. They have evolved to live in family bands and herds in large open areas covering 15-30 miles each day. When doing so, it wears their hooves or keeps them “naturally trimmed” for the environment they live in. A dry environment like the horses in Nevada had much shorter, drier hooves than the ones that were in Missouri. The terrain, along with movement on it, dictates the need at that time. As seasons and the environment change, so does the shape and amount of wear of their hooves. Just this week, I trimmed 2 horses that were moved to a very large paddock that has asphalt and concrete in the hay feeding areas of a large herd. It’s easier for the facility to keep clean during the winter months. Those horses soles became thicker and flatter in 1 winter trim cycle (6 weeks). Prior to that, the soles had more concavity when on a more yielding terrain. They adapt to the environment they move on.
You can go here to see what hooves look like on wild horses that live in various different environments.
In domestication, it is rare that they live with family. Their family is created or almost non existent in some boarding facilities. There is also a broad range of what that experience is as well. Large pastures and woods with a shelter in the company of others, natural water and full time turn out… to… a 10 x 10 box stall with turn out in a small paddock, alone, just long enough for the stall to be cleaned and then back to the stall until their human or the trainer tack them up for a ride in a indoor, or outdoor arena or out on the trail. I have seen both those opposites and everything in between. Some can adapt and others struggle with it.
I have had the most success with whole horse rehabilitation with horses who live in the same space as their humans in the company of other horses (or equids like mules and donkeys) in a space that gives them choices and keeps them moving. Movement is Medicine! The more we do to mimic a natural environment, the better they do in every Direction. The Paddock Paradise or Track system is a great way to provide that, as well as large tracts of land with a lot of diversity in a herd.
The plan we take going barefoot is diverse, and has to fit the horse, the owner and the facility. There is no one size fits all. The Environment is where it all comes together.
This is how I approach holistic hoof care. Using the principles I have learned to find harmony and balance through the four directions. It is my hope that some of what I share might help you in your journey with your horse.