What is Natural Hoof Trimming?

Natural Hoof Trimming is relatively new to the horse world and has really only been around since 2002 when Jaime Jackson published his book, "Horse Owners Guide to Natural Hoof Care". In 2003 another book was published by Pete Ramey, a contemporary of Mr. Jackson, entitled, "Making Natural Hoof Care Work For You". Since then Mr. Jackson and several other practitioners have formed the AANHCP, the American Association of Natural Hoof Care Practitioners. Pete Ramey introduced another organization in 2006 called, The American Hoof Association (AHA). These two certification organizations are at the forefront of the natural hoof care movement. The AANHCP is an educational organization that trains students in the philosophy and practical application of Mr. Jackson's version of a natural hoof care. The AHA is a peer-reviewed certification entity that certifies natural trimmers based on a consensus of natural trimming practitioners.

The premise of natural hoof care is to trim domestic horse hooves to simulate the natural wear found in wild horses. Looking at the wild horse as our model gives us a window into how horse hooves are supposed to look if all of the natural factors in a horses life are working properly. Jaime Jackson's research into wild horses has given us some extremely valuable information for natural horse and hoof care. He has shown that, in the wild, horses simply do not have problems like obesity, laminitis, navicular and founder. Jaime attributes most of this simply to proper diet and exercise.

The average wild horse travels 15 to 30 miles per day in search of food and water...there is the exercise part. Wild horses travel over every imaginable type of terrain and still don't need shoes. Running around in rocky areas toughens and callouses the sole and heels and allows the hoof to toughen to the point that it is being worn off at roughly the rate of growth. Therefore, because of lifestyle, wild horses don't need their hooves trimmed. Their hooves also don't crack, flare, or breakout...because the internal stresses that build up from a lack of wear or trimming, which cause a hoof to crack or break, simply do not exist. This suggests that with a properly maintained trim, a good diet, and exercise, we can expect our domestic horses feet to perform in a similar fashion and our personal experiences as hoof care providers support that.

The diet of the wild horse is almost exclusively dry wild grasses, much like dry grass hay. They very rarely encounter green grass pasture and will only encounter grains in the fall months when the prairie grasses ripen before winter. There is a message here for us...

The goal of natural hoof care is, in reality, the goal of overall natural horse care. It is a formula much like gardening. Simple nutritious food that is appropriate for the species, plenty of fresh clean water, fresh air and sunshine, someplace to get plenty of regular exercise and someplace to get out of bad weather. That's it...you will have a generally healthy horse if you can provide these things.

But the first thing most horse owners need to do is stop treating their horses like people. They are not meant to eat 90% of the products that are being sold for their "health". Owning horses doesn't need to be about buying products, it should be an attempt to provide a relatively natural environment where both you and the horse can meet under safe and controlled conditions and interact for the positive benefits to both of you.