Big Island Farrier Godmother

All my clients are successfully going bare foot here in Hawaii, even on our sharp lava rocks! It requires a natural trim, not the "farrier trim" that prepares hooves for metal shoes. It can take some time for horses to grow a proper, strong foot that can withstand all terrain but they will thank you by being more sure-footed and confident.

By imitating the feet of the mustangs in Nevada, where the volcanic terrain is equally rugged, and slightly shaping along the lines of the wild horses on the East Coast wetlands, we can have healthy, natural hooves on our Hawaiian horses.

Why should you consider letting your horse go barefoot?

The best justification for barefoot hooves comes from Tomas Teskey D.V.M. in his article:

The Unfettered Foot

Wikipedia says: Iron horseshoes may have been invented by the Roman legions. They were used in Europe during the Middle Ages at a time when nobility began to live in castles. For the fist time, horses were kept in stalls, often for long periods of time if the castle was under seige. As the horses were forced to stand in their excrement, the ammonia and lack of circulation to the hooves began to take a toll. The health of the hoof began to deteriorate, and the horse began to exhibit signs of hoof degeneration and hoof pain. This led to the invention of the horse shoe.

60 million years of evolution has given horses the perfect feet!

Updated 050308