The back of the foot is exactly where three of his most well-known studies have focused. The first was his hemodynamic flow theory, which proposes that blood flow through the network of tiny capillaries in the heel region plays a vital role in shock absorption of the hoof. Second was his discovery of proprioreceptor sensory cells in the heel region; these cells may transmit information to a horse’s central nervous system and allow him to “feel” his way across the ground. And third was his study presenting the differences he’s discovered between a “good” foot and a “bad” foot.

Dr. Bowker realized that previous work on hooves did not differentiate between healthy and unhealthy feet, so he set out to change that. In his cadaver studies, in horses under the age of 5, the back part of the foot looks the same. But after the age of 5, horses soon begin to split into two different groups that are easily identifiable. The good-footed horses developed fibro-cartilage in the digital cushion area of their hooves; while the bad-foot horses do not develop fibro-cartilage, and their digital cushions remain fatty connective tissue.

In the good-footed horses, the digital cushion is completely transformed into a very strong fibro-cartilage. It is clear that the horses were not born with this fibro-cartilage; rather, the tissue is stimulated (through movement), and the fibro-cartilage is created through this stimulation. Bowker is convinced that the horses’ early years are crucial for the development of the hoof, and only movement can create this crucial structure. Once the fibro-cartilage is created, it appears to be permanent. In addition to this fibro-cartilage in the digital cushion, a good foot also has thick lateral cartilages (3-4 times thicker), well-developed microvessels, and fibro-cartilage in the center of the frog.

A good foot will also tend to land slightly heel-first, which activates the proprioreceptors in the heel, stimulates the blood flow and allows for hemodynamic shock absorption. A toe-first landing is the sign of a sore horse.

A bad foot is not genetic; the horse was simply unable to adapt to improper load, negative stimulation, or inadequate environment. And, there is still hope for the older bad-footed horse. The cells to create the fibro-cartilage are still there, so the theory is that they can be activated through stimulation at any age, though no studies have yet confirmed this.

The horse’s foot changes throughout its life. All four feet of a horse are different from each other, due to environment, exercise, trimming and active stimulation of the foot. And even wild horses’ hooves are all different, which makes it impossible to use them as a gold standard. There is no one wild horse model.

The horse’s foot is incredibly adaptive! It is only when its ability to adapt is exceeded, that lameness shows up. Amazingly enough, laminae are created in response to stress. The hoof is constantly adapting to stresses in the environment, and it appears that more laminae actually develop in the areas of stress inside the hoof. Fewer laminae are better, and extra laminae are signs of stress (they become thinner and longer, with a greater chance of laminitis). It has not yet been confirmed, but shod horses may have more laminae than barefoot horses. However, shod horses with toe clips do have more laminae around these clips. (This means we can mechanically increase the density of laminae!) Horses, in general, have more laminae on the flared side of their hooves, and more laminae at their toes. There are also more laminae in front of a sole callous; the pillar edge of a sole callous appears to be a stress area.

Not only are laminae created in response to stress, but it appears that hoof horn is, also. More about this later, but it appears that hoof tubules actually change direction according to load and stresses in the hoof wall.

The hoof is so responsive that there is a change in the physical contact area of the hoof between standing on concrete and standing on rubber. The hoof wall is fluid; hard but will actually move. There is a little more surface area of the hoof when the horse stands on hard rubber versus concrete, and this drastically reduces the pressure inside the hoof capsule. There is only 1/3 the amount of pressure on the hoof wall when standing on rubber versus standing on concrete.

Over and over again, we kept coming back to the importance of movement for the health of the foot. While this has long been a constant theme for natural hoof care, it was nice to finally have some science that backed this up! Dr. Bowker gave one clear reason why movement is so important: it improves the perfusion of the foot. This was readily measurable in his blood flow studies. Movement is also the only way the horse can develop the fibro-cartilage in the back of the foot, so a young horse without freedom of movement is a young horse destined to develop into a bad-footed horse!

Dr. Bowker has also taken his study of movement out into the field. Using very expensive and sophisticated pedometer devices, he measured the movement patterns of groups of horses living on 2-3 acre plots, and discovered that most healthy horses averaged about 4,000-6,000 steps per 24-hour period (3-5 miles). In contrast, horses living 24/7 in a stall took about 800 steps per day.

Pea rock(Gravel): Horses (especially laminitic horses) love pea rock, which is a small, smooth, round river rock. Bowker recommends 3-6 inches of pea rock, on top of sand base. While horses may stand with their toes down in pea rock, their weight is actually on their heels. In his blood flow studies, pea rock created the highest blood perfusability rating.

Substance P Receptors: The sensory nerves in a horse’s foot are there for more than just pain; the nerves secrete a potent vasodilator called “Substance P.” Substance P acts on the small blood vessels in the foot. In the navicular horses he studied, the Substance P receptors are gone! The Substance P receptors were destroyed, and therefore there are less blood vessels and a loss of blood flow regulation. The decreased blood flow leads to remodeling of the bone. Navicular horses have lost the ability to control blood flow through the foot, due to the loss of these receptors. When a horse has lost the Substance P receptors, we end up in a catch-22 situation: the hoof can’t heal until blood flow improves, but the blood flow needs the Substance P vasodilator to improve!

Pulsating Veins: The veins in a horse pulsate. This is a unique feature of the horse, and something that has not been acknowledged before. “Veins of the distal limb of the horse have extensive musculature around them, and this smooth muscle appears under neural control. The vein pulsates like an artery!” However, in a laminitic horse, the venous pulses become less distinct and less consistent.

In regards to Dr. Bowker’s description, “The hoof wall inside is like peanut butter.” This one item probably got more comments of disbelief than any other, because so far no one has seen any peanut butter when dissecting a hoof. Not only was Bowker describing the inner wall, with its softer texture, but also I think he used this analogy to make a strong point: the hoof is changing, fluid and malleable, and NOT a rigid structure.

Everything we learned at Dr. Bowker’s presentation totally reverberated with us. We discovered new ways to think about the old familiar concepts and we acquired new tools to communicate these concepts to clients. How great is it to have an easily explainable scientific explanation for why shoes are best avoided? (just define peripheral loading!)

Trimming Ideas:

Note that Dr. Bowker is not a professional Trimmer/Farrier! His research does, however, provide us with a wealth of guidance. Trimming needs to be done as frequently as possible to minimize peripheral loading effects. Excess hoof growth will exacerbate peripheral loading. One of the best trimming tools for minimizing peripheral loading is the roll developed by Keith Seeley and David Qualls, because it relieves the pressure on the outer hoof wall.

Dr. Bowker is a big advocate of backing up breakover on hooves: “Short toes are the best thing you can do to a foot!” His simple recommendations, which he calls the Physiological Trim, are short toes, short heels, and trimming for the 1/3-2/3 balance of the foot: 1/3 of the foot in front of the apex of the frog, and 2/3 behind it.

To create a thicker hoof wall, shorten the toes. To fix an underrun heel, shorten the toes. In an insulin-resistant horse, the inside of the hoof wall is actually unstable (keratinocytes are migrating more), so to compensate, reduce load on the hoof wall (short toes and “KES” roll”) . Note: Dr. Bowker is against thinning the sole at the toe from the bottom, so flared toes should be backed up from the front only.

Clarification on bar trimming: Some people have taken Dr. Bowker’s recommendation of weight-bearing bars a little too much to heart, going so far as to discontinue all trimming of bars on all horses. I clarified this with him—when he talks about weight-bearing bars, he means the rear of the bar being weight-bearing upon impact. He said that he very much believes in concavity of the hoof! So if a bar needs trimming, it needs trimming. Dr. Bowker is, however, very much against excessive removal of the bars, i.e. trimming them to the point where they no longer function as a weight-bearing structure. The bars need contact with the ground for correct blood flow and sensory stimulation. (And remember, terrain matters, so a horse on deeper terrain would receive more contact with shorter bars, and vice versa.) Since the bars are responsible for some of the sole growth, they should not be removed. He also recommends that the soles and their concavity are strictly environmentally influenced as long as the bars are trimmed to the environmental needs.

Folks, all of this is just the beginning, it has taken Dr. Bowker Decades to study and learn this information. WE have films, x-ray’s, Thermo imagining, CT’s MRI’s,  pictures, videos and papers to enhance these ideas of Correct Horse Balance.

By all mean Contact me at

David Qualls
Shoe – Less Farrier Services
Or
Robert M. Bowker VMD, PhD,
Professor of Anatomy, Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine

Coastal Horses bring a whole new challenge to Barefoot,
We at Shoe – Less Farrier Services are committed to environmental needs
Of the Horse

We offer a service that will  bring Balance and Harmony
To your Coastal Grass Eating Partner

Contact

David Qualls

678-314-0381

Or
davidaqualls@yahoo.com

SHOE – LESS FARRIER SERVICES
Would like to extend an Invitation to
Horse Lovers and Horse Care Providers
to attend this  “Classroom/Hands on” Seminar
Located in Beautiful Huntsville, Alabama

The Buckman Family of the Crosswinds Stables
Will be Hosting this Event

TOPICS Will include, but not limited to :

Saturday
Review of Equine Anatomy and Terms
Over-all Equine/Human Health relationships
Myth Deprogramming
How to spot potential Hoof and Body problems
Pre – Corrective Techniques
On-Going Corrective Protocols
Post – Corrective Care
Q&A Session

Sunday
Saturday Quick review
Hands on Safe Equine Handling for Evaluations
Hands on Equine Evaluations
Hands on Farrier Skills Class
Hands on Basic Massage Treatments
Hands on Safe Equine Stretching Techniques
Q&A One on One all day long

Saturday Sessions will begin at 9 am Local Time
Lunch 12 -1 pm Provided with Full Attendance
Sessions end around 6 pm

Sunday Sessions will begin at 9 am
Lunch at 12-1 Provided with Full Attendance
Seminar Ends at Dark

Those wishing to attend may save a seat by making
VIP Reservations with David Qualls or any of Shoe-Less Farrier Service
Team Members
Pre- Arranged Full Seminar Tickets are
$150.00 Per Participating Attendee
Casual Observers may attend both days @ $25.00 per day
Barn Door Entry Fee is $200.00 Attendee, $40.00 Observer
VETERINARIANS AND HORSESHOERS MAY ATTEND FOR FREE
For much more information or reservations Call or Email
David Qualls
678 314 0381 or davidaqualls@yahoo.com

The Goal of this Event is to Help Humans better understand
“IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HORSE

So, what is the secret to Training that new Horse you have? Or the one that you’ve let “sour”?  Boy, I’m sitting here thinking about all the money I’m not going to make inventing my own brand of carrot stick (mine would be Blue) and all the DVDs and books I’m not going to get to sell. Oh well, “It’s All About The Horse,” not my wallet. Are you ready for this? Are you ready to know the secret my Cherokee Grandfather passed down to me?

OCCHAM’S RAZOR!
I’m not saying my Grandfather knew who Mr. Occham was or what he is famous for penning, but he proposed to me the almost exact same theory about life, especially when dealing with Horses. Mr. Occham (actually a 14th century Franciscan Friar in England)  said ** “Simple explanations are, all things being equal, are generally better explanations than complex ones.”

My Grandfather’s favorite saying to me about Horses was “Keep it simple”.

Folks, when you’re working with a Horse, Keep it Simple. Don’t get so wrapped up in the Thousand Dollar Clinics that complicate a simple solution. As a rule if you “do something” 3 times the exact same way, you’re training your Horse.

Do you tack up your Horse in the same place every time? Do you dismount at the same place at the barn every time? Have you ever noticed you Horse is harder to lead to the “tack spot” than anywhere else?  Or that when riding getting him to the dismount spot is the easiest thing to do?  If you do have these “special places” then I’d almost guarantee you have seen the effects of this TRAINING that you have done unknowingly. See I told you Training is SIMPLE.

Now all ya have to do is remember it’s not difficult to train if you’ll just relax and just do what is simple and energy economical for the Horse !

** Not a direct Occham quote, but this gives the general idea of what he proposed

For more Training Ideas and Proven Protocols, please feel free to contact me anytime!

Omega, New Mexico – Every woman must “be found to be wearing a corset” when riding a horse in public. A physician is required to inspect each female on horseback, and ascertain whether or not the woman is, in fact, complying with this law!

Hartsville, Illinois – You can be arrested for riding an ugly horse.

Pattonsburg, Missouri – According to the Revised Ordinances, 1884: ” No person shall holler, shout, bawl, scream, use profane language, dance, sing, whoop, quarrel, or make any unusual noise or sound in such manner as to disturb a horse.”

A Wyoming community passed this one: “No female shall ride a horse while attired in a bathing suit within the boundaries of Riverton, unless she be escorted by at least two officers of the law or unless she be armed with a club,” And continues with this amendment to the original: “The provisions of this statue shall not apply to females weighing less than ninety pounds nor exceeding two hundred pounds.”

Wolf Point, Montana: “No horse shall be allowed in public without its owner wearing a halter.”

A Fort Collins, Colorado Municipal Code: “It is unlawful for any male rider, within the limits of this community, to wink at any female rider with whom he is acquainted.”

West Union, Ohio: “No male person shall make remarks to or concerning, or cough, or whistle at, or do any other act to attract the attention of any woman riding a horse.”

Abilene, Kansas, City Ordinance 349 declares: ” Any person who shall in the city of Abilene shoot at a horse with any concealed or unconcealed bean snapper or like article, shall upon conviction, be fined.”

1899 vintage law from Waverly, Kentucky: “Any person who shall ride a horse in a public place while wearing any device or thing attached to the head, hair, headgear or hat, which device or thing is capable of lacerating the flesh of any other person with whom it may come in contact and which is not sufficiently guarded against the possibility of so doing, shall be adjudged a disorderly person.”

A 1907 Cumberland County, Tennessee statute reads: “Speed while on horseback upon county roads will be limited to three miles an hour unless the rider sees a bailiff who does not appear to have had a drink in thirty days, then the horseman will be permitted to make what he can.”

Figure out this 1913 Massachusetts law: “Whosoever rides a horse on any public way-lain out under authority or law recklessly or while under the influence of liquor shall be punished; thereby imposing upon the horseman the duty of finding out at his peril whether certain roads had been laid out recklessly or while under the influence of liquor before riding over them.”

Male horse buffs in Basalt, Nevada, are prohibited from eating onions between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. while out riding. Law specifies only men!

Ice Cream lovers beware! In Cotton Valley, Louisiana, citizens are not allowed to eat an ice cream cone while on horseback in public places.

In McAlester, Oklahoma, it’s taboo for a woman over 235 pounds and attired in shorts to be seen on a horse in any public place.

It’s illegal in Marion, South Carolina, to tickle a female under her chin with a feather duster to get her attention while she is riding a horse!

It is a violation of the law for a married man to ride on Sunday in Wakefield, Rhode Island. Married women aren’t mentioned, so it must be okay for them.

A newly married man in Kearney, Nebraska, can’t ride alone. The law states that he “Can’t ride without his spouse along at any time, unless he’s been married for more than twelve months.”

It is strickly against the law in Bicknell, Indiana, for a man to leave his new bride alone and go riding with his pals on his wedding day. The penalty is a week in jail.

In Bismark, North Dakota, every home within the limits of Bismark must have a hitching post in the front yard.

Budds Creek, Maryland, Prohibits horses from sleeping in a bathtub, unless the rider is also sleeping with the horse.

In Headland, Alabama: “Any man on horseback shall not tempt another man’s wife. An unmarried horseman should not stop overnight when the woman is alone.”

Bluff, Utah’s legislation regarding the Sabbath: Women who happen to be single, widowed or divorced are banned from riding to church on Sunday. Unattached females who take part in such outlandish activities can be arrested and put in jail.

Citizens are prohibited from buying, selling or trading horses “after the sun goes down” in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, without first getting permission from the sheriff.

In Schurz, Nevada, they have an old law which prohibits the trading of a horse after dark.

In Pee Wee, West Virginia, people are prohibited from swapping horses in the town square at noon.

A unique law in Pine Ridge, South Dakota where horses are banned from neighing between midnight and 6 a.m. near a “residence inhabited by human beings.”

And in Pocataligo, Georgia, horses aren’t allowed to be heard neighing after 10 p.m.

Paradise, California, retains a most unusual law that says it is illegal to let a horse sleep in a bakery within the limits of the community. What about goats, cows, etc.?? Only horses are mentioned.

In Southerland, Iowa, a law governs how horses may be seen when on the streets during evening hours. The animal must always have a light attached its tail and a horn of some sort on its head.

No man is allowed to ride his horse “in a violent manner” if he happens to be in Boone, North Carolina. No rodeos in this town!

Female riders in Clearbrook, Minnesota, be aware of this one governing the heel length of a horsewoman’s shoes. Any such woman can wear heels measuring no more than 1-1/2 inches in length.

A loony clothing ordinance in Upperville, Virginia, bans a married woman from riding a horse down a street while wearing “body hugging clothing.” A $2 fine can be imposed on any female rider who wears “clothing that clings to her body.”

An attorney can be barred from practicing law in Corvallis, Oregon, should he refuse to accept a horse in lieu of his legal fees.

Trying to find a wife? Watch out in Tranquility, New Jersey that you don’t violate this law. The law states that a person can’t distribute handbills while on horseback as a means of advertising for a wife.

It is against the law in California for horses to mate in public within five hundred yards of any church, school or tavern! The penalty can be a $500 fine and six months in jail. This law is not clear as to whether the horse or owner is fined and jailed.

McAllen, Texas, have outlawed citizens from taking pictures of horses on the Sabbath. Any person who “disturbs” or “otherwise antagonizes a horse” in this manner will be subject to a fine of at least $1.50 and can be jailed for as much as “three full days and nights.”

In Burdoville, Vermont, it states that “no horses are allowed to roam loose between March 1 and October 20!”

In case you have an accident in Hortonville, New York, here is their antique law: “The rider of any horse involved in an accident resulting in death shall immediately dismount and give his name and address to the person killed.”

Rhinelander, Wisconsin, if you are riding a horse while intoxicated, an old ordinance takes care of the problem. Such a horseman, per the law, must be given a “large dose of caster oil.” Who doles out the penalty? The horseman’s wife! Refusal to take the caster oil results in a fine!

The first thing we humans have to learn is a very hard thing for us (and it’s not really our fault, it’s our parents’ fault; they did this to us! They are the ones that kept telling us “how smart we are”). The first thing? Horses are smarter than we are. Sure they can’t drive a car (they know that’s dangerous).  No, they can’t text message on a cell phone (they know that’s a waste of time/life).  And no, Horses don’t go to college so they can earn more money (see I told you they’re smarter, they don’t need money, they have us do it for them).

Seriously, Horses have a very simple rule for life, live it! and don’t do things that could shorten that life. Yeah, some Horses do get into things they shouldn’t but usually it’s us humans that put those things in their world. Once we learn this we can start the process to think smarter like our Horses. When we’re out on the trail, we are not just thinking about walking, like our smart Horse is, we get to thinking about how much fun this is, how we’d like to quit our jobs and do this every day. We think about that cloud over there and is it going to rain on us before we get back; speaking of our job, boy do we ever hate going to work tomorrow. All the while our Horse is just thinking about walking and maybe wishing we would have kept our new year’s resolution to lose weight. Humans are taught being single minded is not a trait that helps us obtain the things we think we need. Horses, however, show that being single minded is far safer and makes life a lot less complicated. This is not to say Horses don’t think many things, they do!  They just think about one thing at a time — whether that be eating, making little Horses or getting away from danger.
If we allow our smarter Horses to teach us we can also learn, deity like forgiveness.

This is key to “thinking smart like our Horses”.  We tend to remember things way past the point of being useful, and in most cases only hurt us in relationships with others in our lives. When we forgive someone or something we need to train ourselves to really forget it! If it’s worth forgiveness then it really is worth forgetting. I’ll bet your Horse when he forgave you last week for getting mad at him for not doing exactly what you thought he should, has forgotten all about your bad temper, and is truly glad to see you today! Boy; if only we were that smart…….

Another lesson our Horses have learned that we just can’t seem to get through our thick dense skulls is being happy just being alive. Unless we cause it, Horses just don’t stress out about things. They deal with whatever is in front of them, be that a barren paddock, an empty water trough, or ants in their hay. They adapt to these situations and look for other things to do. We, on the other hand, take these mild inconveniences and blow them completely out of proportion. This, my human students, is unneeded stress that causes us no end of problems. Fix the paddock, fill the trough, and move the dang hay off the ant hill, done! No stress, no worries and a Horse like calmness settles over us!

There are thousands of lessons we can learn from our smarter-than-us-Horses. If I were the writer I “pretend” to be, I’d write a book all about these lessons, but as you can see, I’m no Shakespeare, L’Amour, or Seeley. These couple of lessons from above are the big ones, though, and can get us humans on the right trail and walking WITH our Horses, not “head on” into them. Do yourself a favor, turn your computer off, go outside, and ask your teacher out there for extra credit “work” (a ride). Hey before ya leave, thanks for stopping by, and if I or any of my team members can ever help you out, just let us know. We’ve at least learned; “IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HORSE”

S t o p!!!  Back the wagon up.  This is not enough information to be hiring someone to take physical care of your Horse, be they a vet, farrier, dentist, or voodoo witch doctor! I just returned from a seminar (Nov ’08) in which an internationally renowned farrier association hosted a “Whole Horse” clinic. There were several farriers from around the U.S. talking about “whole Horse care,” yet not one — not a single one of these farriers — mentioned the animal and its care above the fetlocks. There were several vets at this clinic, as well, and not surprisingly, not a single vet talked about bone and muscle alignments.

Over the two-day period of this show not one speaker stood up to talk about the interaction of how one professional caregiver can affect the condition another caregiver is responsible for. Yet each and every speaker stood on the stump and claimed “they consider the whole Horse”.  When I finally couldn’t stand it anymore I asked the question “how often should I check a client’s (the Horse) teeth while caring for its feet?”  When the roar of laughter died down, the speaker was aghast that a farrier would ever lower himself to be a dentist, to which I explained I was not a dentist and only possessed a sophomoric knowledge of the Equine oral system.  The speaker went on with much self satisfying humor to explain there was not a correlation between the teeth and the shoeing of a Horse.  (see article on Teeth)

By the way, this speaker is the president of this farrier association and the leader of this “whole Horse clinic”. So I resigned myself to sit still, shut up and just wait for the lunch break so I could stop by the store and buy the nippers I went there for in the first place.

Horse lovers, if you hire a professional to care for your Horse because he or she claims to consider the Whole Horse, it’s up to you to make sure they do.  Ask questions NOT related to their field of expertise.  If they can’t explain what they are doing and how that will aide in another area of care, chances are they really have no idea of Whole Horse Care.

Let’s say you call a new farrier and he claims to consider the whole Horse.  You invite him to the barn, he gets out of the truck shakes your hand and heads straight for your Horse.  Once they meet (and the Horse accepts him as he is a well-meaning human) he picks up a foot or two and proceeds to explain that your Horse needs a “corrective shoeing” to fix the cracks in the side of the hoof. He then explains extraordinary care may be necessary to fix these cracks. You being an above average owner ask this farrier “so these special handmade shoes won’t hurt anything else on my Horse?” to which he explains “Lordy no, we need to fix the feet to help every thing else”.  FOLKS, this farrier, as I have learned, believes he is a whole Horse care giver and he is the furthest thing from that!!!!!  He’s a farrier that is maybe an unwilling participant in an age old practice, of doing “old school” practices while charging “new school” prices. What this farrier is NOT doing is practicing Whole Horse Care.

He may have well been right in saying we have to fix the feet BUT without a complete evaluation — complete meaning every aspect of your Horse and its environment — a true and honest Whole Horse Care program cannot exist.

Again it’s up to you, the owner, to speak up for your Horse if you can or you can then expect the same never ending issues to plague your Horse. If you do speak up, you will quickly understand this guy may be concerned about your whole Horse but he doesn’t understand HOW to affect the Whole Horse.

So now what do you do?  Well, you’re doing it.  You are looking for new answers.  You are looking outside the shoe box.  You’re seeking information that makes sense!

Am I “your man”?  Maybe, but you need to ask me questions.  And if you don’t like my answers then no, I am not “your man”.  Keep looking!  Someone is out there who has your answers!  Just know this:  YOU, not anyone else, is responsible for your Horse’s health, your Smokey Joe trust you to learn about him, your Smokey Joe has willingly placed his trust in your human understanding and he expects you to deliver on your promise to not only love but to protect him!

I would very much like the opportunity to be “your man” and I really do practice Whole Horse Care.  To see this in action, all you need to do is contact me and introduce your Horse to my spirit! As my “Services” page states, my Evaluations are 100% Free!!!  Even if you decide to not use my services, maybe my information will help you make your farrier a better Whole Horse Care Giver!

Let’s take look at common problems and see what a farrier will recommend:

Problem or Discipline                                                                       Farrier Solution

Wears hoof wall faster than growth rate………………………………………….. SHOES

Navicular Syndrome………………………………………………………….. Special SHOES

Founder…………………………………………………………………………. Heart Bar SHOES

Western Pleasure……………………………………………………………….. ¾ Rim SHOES

Hunters……………………………………………………………………………. Egg Bar SHOES

Tennessee Walkers……………………………………………………………… OMG SHOES

Ropers…………………………………………………………………………….. Full Rim SHOES

Dressage ……………………………………………………………………….. Egg Bar SHOES

Western Trail………………………………………………………………….. Toe Grab SHOES

Jumpers…………………………………………………………… Aluminum Egg Bar SHOES

Pasture Pet………………………………………………. Whatever’s-on-the-truck SHOES

Gaited Horse……………………………………………………………………… Gaited SHOES

Stifle……………………………………………… Handmade-Special-Each-Visit SHOES

Rain Rot………………………………………………………………………………………… SHOES

Okay.  Most farriers will not recommend shoes for a Horse with rain rot, but they are taught that shoes are the answer to almost every problem a Horse can have.

Most Farriers in America have attended some type of Horse Shoeing School or apprentice program.  While this can be great source of knowledge, some so-called schools produce more harmful “professionals” than they do knowledgeable Hoof care providers.  This makes for a lot of well-liked farriers that do an outstanding job of keeping shoes on a problem Horse, but have very little knowledge of WHY they are doing what they do.  They shoe because that is what they know.  Shoeing is the BOX they have nailed themselves into, and Horses for the most part do NOT like boxes.  (That’s why trailer loading takes so much training).  So if Horses are outside the Shoe Box……..why aren’t you???

Let me be real clear here, I wouldn’t want you to think I am a “every Horse should be barefoot trimmer” — I most certainly am not.  I have and I will continue to shoe Horses when they NEED them.  And for me, that’s the key:  NEEDS THEM. Scroll back up to the problem or discipline chart.  See the first one:  “Wears hoof wall faster than growth rate”?  When I get a call about this condition my first thought is not “put shoes on” but more like, what is this Horses environment like?  What is this Horse being asked to do for a living?  Is the Horse soundly Balanced?  Would riding boots be a viable substitute?  If “we” shoe this Horse is it going to be allowed to have shoeing breaks?  (a MUST for me, otherwise I’m not interested).

This approach seems to have placed my thought patterns outside most farriers’ Shoe Box, and some of these farriers get down right mad when one of their “brothers” escapes their box.  But the way I see it, I’m in better company outside that box.  Remember…That’s where the Horses are at!!!

David Chapter 1 Verse 2 (King R. Rogers Version)

Heck fire, Festus.  We gotta git outta here!  And let me shoot my 30 shot 6-shooter.

“Them outlaws that stole them worthless confederate dollars outta the bank are gonna git away! I’m gonna show off this here $500 fancy shirt and $10,000 saddle!!!  And Festus, we gotta git all this done before noon.  I gots a Kobe steak and lobster lunch a wait’n fer me in my air conditioned trailer……”

Folks, this AIN’T got nothing to do with THE COWBOY WAY… never has and hopefully never will. This here is Hollywood (also known as Hollyweird) and the only thing they know about the West is that’s where the map says they’re at. They sure as shoot’n don’t know nothing about Cowboys.  Sadly, though, a lot of youngsters grew up with The Lone Ranger, or Matt Dillon (shot more times than a target at a military shoot’n range).  These yesterday’s kids grew up and some began to see that ‘ole Sam Colt made a pistol that would shoot 30 times IF you reloaded it 5 times.

Some of these kids found out that “breaking a Horse” has nothing to do with a Horse. The breaking refers to what happens to the rider — or at least his bones if he’s dumb enough to get on an ill ground trained Horse.  The bad thing is some of these kids from yesterday never learned what Cowboy really is.  They still think what was on the silver screen or TV is what a Cowboy is.

Folks, let me introduce you a little to what being a COWBOY really is!!!

W O R K

For those of you cross-eyed green peas, that’s WORK

That’s right, folks.  The Cowboy Way is about WORK… all of it hard, most of it dirty, a lot of it lonely, some of it painful.  But ALL of it with pride.  There is no way a Cowboy will WORK without his pride.  This is not to say he is prideful, he is just proud of his BEST!  He will be proud of his best and shamed of his not so best, and that not so best will be the thing that occupies his mind ’til it becomes his best.

The one thing that makes his best easier is his ability to work in tandem with his Horse, and his word.  As a matter of fact, without these two things a Cowboy had might as well be a politician, or a used car salesman.  When you spend 12 hours or more a day on a Horse you learn real quick, easy is better than harsh.  He learns how to get his work partner to want to help him be his best, and he learns real quick asking is better than beating.  You also learn your Horse is gonna be 100% honest with you and they expect the same in return. Again, easy is better than harsh.

You want to start a knock-down, drag out with a real Cowboy?  (I hope not)

Say something bad about his Horse, or be harsh with his Horse.  If he IS a Cowboy, God help ya; ya’ll fix’n to go a round.  He has put so much of him in that Horse, he believes his Horse is the best part of him!!!  (You could walk up and slap me, but slap Smokey Joe and I’m gonna pull my not Hollywood 6-shooter!) You see most Cowboys ain’t got time for a wife and youngins.  He’s too busy trying to be the best at what he does.  So his Horse becomes his wife, child, mom, dad, and bestest friend.  (Don’t make more outta that statement than what’s there. This ain’t about Brokeback Mountain.)

This does not mean that a Cowboy is perfect.  I’m just saying he seeks perfection within himself.  To do this, the “day” starts at least an hour before the ‘ole sun gets up, and he ain’t no way gonna go to bed before that day’s job is done. Tell ya something else that’s as important to a Cowboy as his Horse, and that is the only thing he ever will really own: his word.  You see, that is all any of us ever really own, only I can give my word and only I can break my word. See, it’s mine.  Not the government’s, not yours, and heck, it ain’t even the Good Lord’s.  It’s MINE!  So to a Cowboy all he ever is, is his word.

My daddy taught me this, and I learned it better working cows off the back of a Horse, and it has served me well through all the walks of my life.  I’ll tell ya, I have seen green-peas that came on willing to learn and willing to admit they didn’t know much, but they understood what a promise is and they’d promise the ramrod such-n-such a thing and damn near kill themselves trying to keep their word.  These green peas are rare and they are the ones the Boss and Ramrod hire at full wages, to replace the draggers that got too big for their spurs.  Again, does this mean Cowboys are perfect?  NO, but a Cowboy seeks that perfection within.

The Cowboy Way is or should be The American Way … and it used to be…..

Somehow, though, Cowboy has become a “bad” adjective.  It makes my blood curl to hear someone say, “he’s cowboyed that Horse too much” or “he’s a cowboy shoer” or he’s just an @#$%%# cowboy.

Folks, if this idiot is doing all this, the LAST thing he is is a cowboy.  Sounds to me the folks calling this idiot a cowboy need to turn Hollywood off and spend some time Ranch’n.  They’ll find out real quick the idiot they’re calling a cowboy ain’t no such thing.  He’s just a dime store plug in Horse riding IDIOT and should be left alone.  More importantly, he needs to leave HORSES alone.

People, I’ll tell ya now, and if ya don’t believe me look around, the best trainers are what?????  They don’t wear foxhunting breeches.  They have blue jeans on and a horn on their saddle.  Chances are they understand THE COWBOY WAY.  You see, to seek this within perfection ya have to learn “you” ain’t good enough.  “You” need help.  And to a cowboy the closest friend we have to ask for help is our Horse.  A Real Cowboy will ASK his Horse, he doesn’t force or demand, he shares.

So I’ll thank ya’ll to call an idiot an idiot and call us Cowboys….Cowboys.

And with that, I’ll tip my hat, kick off the dust, and offer ya a pot of coffee……just brewed!!

Happy Trails and ya’ll remember

“IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HORSE”