In this Issue:

™
Barefoot in Indonesia! .......2
From the Editors ...............3
Barefoot Racehorse...........3
Domestic vs. Wild (cont.) ...4
Bowker’s Rehab Center .....6
Barefoot Barrel Star..........7
Dr. Cook: Revolution.........8
A Champion Rehabbed ...11
HoofHelpOnline.com ......11
Side Dominance..............12
South African Jumpers....14
Dressage, Natural Way....15
3rd World Conference.....16
Bruising by Bars .............18
Hoof Boots .....................20
Mem’s Coffin Bones ........21
Order Form ....................21
Professional Corner.........22
Hoofcare Resources ........23
Belle, Then and Now........24

www.TheHorsesHoof.com News for Barefoot Hoofcare ISSUE 33 – WINTER 2008

Domestic vs. Wild Horse Hooves

Domestic Horse Hooves in Distress...
This is adapted from Jaime Jackson’s presen-
tation at the 2008 Wild Horse and Burro Some experts in our field believe that as many
Summit, which took place October 11 & 12, as 90 percent of domestic horses worldwide
2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. are not clinically sound. The deleterious effects
of pathology caused by domestication weigh
by Jaime Jackson heavily upon many of us, both in the field, and
when we return home at night to ponder the

I
have been a professional hoof care practi-
tioner for the past 35 years. I was initially a day’s work.
farrier, from the mid-1970s until 1982, “Of the 122 million equines found around the
when I first went among our wild horses in world, no more than 10 percent are clinically
Nevada. Since then, I’ve become a “natural sound. Some 10 percent (12.2 million) are clin-
hoof care Practitioner”—trimming horses to go ically, completely and unusably lame. The An amazing mustang hoof, forged by nature.
barefoot or with custom-fitted hoof boots. remaining 80 percent (97.6 million) of these For me, it was the signal to enter wild horse
All photos courtesy Jaime Jackson

equines are somewhat lame... and could not
pass a soundness evaluation or test.” American
Farriers Journal, Nov./2000, v. 26, #6, p. 5.
Wild Horse Hooves
During the 1970s, I became peripherally aware
of wild horses through my professional practice.
The government has just initiated the first pub-
lic adoptions. Eventually, early on in the Reagan
Administration, one of my own clients adopted
a “mustang mare,” fresh from the range, and I
was asked to look at her feet to see if they were
in need of trimming.
country. Why? To find out how this could be.
If what I saw was a freak occurrence, or the
physical embodiment of what nature intended
for the foot of Equus caballus. If you will, I was
seeking a true-to-life model for better hoof care.
The domestic horse world, to the extent it was
thinking about it, was rampant with unsubstan-
tiated opinions about what is “natural” for the
horse’s hoof. The wild horse, I believed, would
provide definitive answers.
The Great Basin of the West, Home to
America’s Wild, Free-roaming Horses

I was aston- Fate would place me in wild horse country, off

ished by what I and on, for the next four years. As I gathered
saw. These my data, published my findings in our profes-
were not sional journals, and lectured at our conferences,
hooves in need (cont. on page 4)
of my help, or
anyone’s for
that matter.
Jaime Jackson at work. Solid as a rock,
honed to per-
In 1992, I published my first book about my fection, they
experiences with the wild ones, The Natural were the pic-
Horse: Lessons From The Wild, marking my ture of health
first public step in the direction of wild horse and durabili-
advocacy. Since 2000, this advocacy has con- ty—in fact,
tinued as part of the humanitarian organization, quite some-
AANHCP (Association for the Advancement of thing I had
Natural Horse Care Practices). You can learn never seen
more about us at our website, www.aanhcp.net. Wild Horse Country. Star Ridge Publishing
before. Litchfield Corrals, 1983 Archives, The Natural Horse (1992).

The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare ISSUE 33 – WINTER 2008 Page 1
 Domestic vs. Wild, Cont.
(cont. from cover)
it became clear to me, and others that, indeed,
the wild horse was far more than a romantic
spirit of the west to protect. Or just a “cheap
horse” to be adopted. The wild horse and burro
were profound Teachers of Nature’s Way—if
only we might humble our egos to embrace the
message. At first, few did. I heard commonly
from my clients, “Jaime, I don’t want anything
wild on my horse, including a wild horse foot.”
At the beginning of 1982, I had called it the
“wild horse trim.” By the end of 1982 nature
Here is one of my earliest encounters, two fami-
(human nature, that is), compelled me to ly bands I got to know. The arrows designate the Grass pastures—a high risk environment.
change it to “the natural trim”—an acceptable alpha bay and beta buckskin breeding stallions.
sobriquet which has stuck to this day. Note the rocky terrain everywhere. Star Ridge Note that, contrary to popular belief, lush, fruc-
Publishing Archives. tan-rich green grass pastures are actually high-
Wild vs. Domestic: There is a Difference! risk environments for the devastating hoof dis-
By not being too obnoxious, one hopes, I was
I’ve been asked to share with you the “differ- able to gain the trust of bands like this one above; ease called founder, or laminitis. It is my firm
ence” between the hooves that I found in wild they allowing me to mingle amongst them, to belief that the wild horse model can teach us
horse country, and what professionals like engage their social mechanism of relative domi- much about safe forages for the domestic horse.
myself must deal with among their domestic nance (necessary to keep from getting killed or Common Characteristics of the Wild
cousins. First, I must say very adamantly, there ostracized from their world), and to move along Horse Foot
is a difference. But this difference is probably with them within their well-defined travel forma-
best understood in terms of how hooves are tions. During one stay, I was actually allowed to Now that we have seen how the wild horse hoof
forged in the wild, versus what happens in typi- hold an alpha stallion’s hoof in hand—he clearly is forged, let’s look closely at some of its typical
cal domestic confinement situations. offering it to me, once I signaled my interest to do characteristics.
so, as a student of the wild horse foot. They are First, we see that the wild hoof has a relatively
In the wild, the hooves are sculpted against a
that intelligent and accommodating. short hoof capsule.
rugged, arid environment. Our Great Basin is
very similar, no doubt, to his species’ ancient In contrast, in civilization... the hooves are hardly
ancestral homeland in which he evolved to abraded at all. There is no order to hoof size,
become Equus Caballus. It is no wonder that he shape, and proportion—as we see in the wild.
is such a prolific survivor: it is the perfect fit And it is no wonder. Life is comparatively dull,

in.
between animal and environment. with most horses standing around daily simply
waiting to be fed—many supersized into obesity 5-3
All photos courtesy Jaime Jackson

with rich feeds and chemical additives that don’t

2.

belong on the dinner table of any species. For an

animal biomechanically designed to be on the
move constantly, idleness is the devil’s play-
ground. Yet horses are typically kept as caged
animals, the way animal predators are incarcerat-
ed in our demeaning zoos. Relatively short hoof capsule with toe lengths
from 2.5 to 3.0 inches.

And that the walls grow straight down at indi-

vidual angles, without flare or convexity.
This photo was used on the cover of the 1st edi-
tion of my book, The Natural Horse. Here we see
the typical alluvial fan, pocked everywhere with
volcanic rock. Star Ridge Publishing Archives, The
Natural Horse (1992).
The hooves are compressed, ground, and mold-
ed through an array of vigorous, athletic behav-
iors that are driven 24/7 by his native instincts.
The incessant search for food, pow wows at the
waterholes, family life, stallion rivalry, the threat Stall life...or rather, prison life.
of predators, and so forth, conspire in the form Note the straight wall growth down the toe.
We see them gnawing on their cell doors (called
of a locomotive force, that “brings out” and sus-
cribbing), self-mutilating, enduring swollen ankles The turn of the hoof wall along its ground-bear-
tains the ancient hoof adaptation. In a sense, it
as they are crammed back into their stalls follow- ing surface, which NHC practitioners call the
is pre-ordained—meant to be.
ing the daily ride, if they get out at all. It is a foot “mustang roll,” reflects the extraordinary wear
I’ve seen nothing but that form in the Great and back sore culture, with endless off and on or of the capsule and how the “roll” counters any
Basin habitat. Without it, I am dubious that he totally debilitating lameness, amid depression, propensity for splitting or other epidermal rav-
can survive. Indeed, Nature will not tolerate the confusion, and other aberrant behaviors one eling during the hoof’s locomotive support
weak parody of the domestic hoof back in the never sees in the wild. It is all man-made and it is phase. Note, too, that the hoof in the following
barn. ubiquitous. photo is white. The wild hoof model dispels the

Page 4 ISSUE 33 – WINTER 2008 The Horse’s Hoof, News for Barefoot Hoofcare
 Domestic vs. Wild, Cont.
myth harbored by many a horse owner that Significant is that there are distinct front/hind deal with it daily. There is much to garner and
unpigmented hooves are inherently weak and shapes, and, although not shown here, left and learn from his wild brethren.
incapable of the same durability and soundness rights are virtual mirror images of each other
Below are some commonly-seen problematic
as the pigmented, dark hoof. in terms of size, shape, proportion, and wear
domestic hooves. NHC practitioners trans-
patterns.

All photos courtesy Jaime Jackson

form such feet into healthy, naturally shaped,
and fully functional hooves using the wild
horse model.

Before

An exemplary white hoof showing the depth of L-R: A comparison between front & hind hoof
the “Mustang Roll.” shape in a wild horse; Right front and Left hind.
Finally, and not least in importance, the wild
hoof facilitates athletic movement—and I dare
say, without manmade protection such as the
metallic shoe—as he traverses the most abrasive After
terrains imaginable by any standard.

Here is another view of the heavily worn outer

wall—the “mustang roll.”

Underneath, there is a smooth, concaved base

of support. Using the wild horse model, we can change the
hoof at top into the healthy-shaped hoof below.

Athletic movement of a wild brumby in Australia. Before

Credit: C. Pollit, Brumby Studies, Field Operations/
Laminitis Research Unit, Queensland University.
Making the WH "Difference" Work for
Domestic Horses
The domestic horse, I have learned, can bene-
fit from these vital Lessons From the Wild—by
knowing why the wild horse “difference”
occurs, and then doing something about it.
Much of what is taken to be gospel concerning
The volar dome of a wild hoof is impressive. the horse’s foot clashes with Nature’s Way,
and must be ignored. This is happening today, After
There is a thick solar plate that protects the
as a much welcome and burgeoning “natural
inner sensitive dermal structures, clearly visible
care” revolution is taking place in the domes-
on the cross section below. Note the frog, a
tic horse world. Tens of thousands of domestic
softer epidermal structure, is protectively
horses worldwide have been brought into the
wedged between the inner turns of the hoof
fold of the new “Nature is best” paradigm,
wall, called the bars.
whose roots are founded within the wild horse
model presented here today.
In conclusion, the wild horse hoof is what it is
and what nature has intended from the begin-
ning. I have surveyed thousands of them, both
in the BLM intake corrals and in the field. And Another example of the natural trim at work.
there in its unpolluted, untoxified form, it is a Please note that I’m still working on this horse,
beautiful sight to behold. Looking back over to and this change was accomplished in 4 trim ses-
the domestic realm, with all its problems and sions, or 3 months. The mare, lame at the out-
set, is now sound and rideable.
darkness, the “Lessons From the Wild” are a
welcome respite for the human soul, a breath For more info, visit www.aanhcp.net and
of fresh air if you will for those of us who must www.jaimejackson.com
The hard sole base.

www.TheHorsesHoof.com ISSUE 33 – WINTER 2008 Page 5