This is not the latest gimmick in hoof care. It is about returning the horse's hooves back to their natural state as Mother Nature intended. It is solid research based on wild horses living in their natural environment. We ask these questions:
- Why do horses is the wild never need their hooves trimmed by a farrier?
- How is it that our domesticated horses only live on average 20 to 25 years (often much less), while the wild horse's average life span is 30 to even 40 years?
- Why is it that the wild horse never suffers from founder or navicular, yet our domestic horses often do?
 These and many more questions were the basis of Pete Ramey, Jamie Jackson and Dr. Hiltrud Strasser's research that now spans more that 20 years. They discovered that environmental differences from the wild horse vs. the domestic horse had a tremendous impact on the health of the horse. Since many horses were being put down due to lameness alone, they were determined to find out why. Thanks to their invaluable research we now have the means to rectify founder, laminitis and navicular issues. That's right - we can cure these once thought of death sentences for horses. Too good to be true you ask? Not anymore!
The discoveries in traditional farrier methods vs. the wild mustang's hoof care resulted in having to revisit our trimming procedures. Looking back in history and wondering why we put shoes on our horse's hooves, it was further noted that we have been continuing a procedure purely based on tradition, not the awareness and technology we now have available to us. In addition, with all the research now being done on nutrition alone we have better answers at our disposal.
When we look at the structure of life for a horse in a herd we find the basis of their survival. They are highly sociable creatures, not loners. They enjoy open space, not small confinements. They do not attach metal to their hooves and they do not search for blankets to cover them. So why then do we do this to them?
We are the creatures that put on a blanket/jacket for protection, seek shelter (we are after all cave dwellers), and put shoes on our feet for comfort and protection. It is time for us to rethink that what we may be doing to our horses isn't in their best interest, it is likely only ours.
Our goal then is to provide the most natural environment for our horses as possible while living in a domestic lifestyle. We can never replace Mother Nature in it's purest form but we sure can improve many practices that we have become accustomed to.
Here at Horses by Nature we trim our own horses with this method and have seen nothing short of miracles in improved health and well being. And no, we will never again nail a shoe to our horses hooves again!
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