Natural nail care is the practice of raising horses so that their nails are worn naturally so they do not suffer from overgrowth, splitting and other disorders. Horseshoes are not used but pet horses may still require pruning, exercise and other actions to maintain natural shape and wear levels.
In the natural nail care philosophy, the term barefooted horse refers to a horse that is kept barefoot full of time, as opposed to horses equipped with horse shoes. Barefooted horse nails are trimmed with special consideration for a barefoot lifestyle. The movement of barefoot horses supports the general use of barefoot horses, both in non-competitive and competitive riding, often coupled with a more natural approach to horse care. Horses are kept barefoot in many parts of the world, including South America, Mongolia and other industrial and non-industrial cultures.
Video Natural hoof care
History
Horses are ridden and used to work by humans for thousands of years before horseshoes are found. The Ancient Greeks did not shoe their horses, and Xenophon in his classic work on horseback writes, "naturally sound nails spoiled in most stalls," and suggested measures to strengthen the hooves of the horse:
Recently, Jaime Jackson, who studied wild and domestic horse nails, promotes a modern variant of natural nail care at The Natural Horse: Lessons from the Wild (1992).
Maps Natural hoof care
Benefits of barefooting
Although horses have been used without shoes throughout history, the benefits of maintaining horses barely lately are enjoying increased popularity. Not only are horses profitable with healthy nails in some cases, horses can also be cheaper to keep horses barefoot, and many owners have learned to cut their own horse's hooves. Because the health benefits and movements of barefooting have become more pronounced on horses that have completed the transition, the horses are competing barefoot in various sports (including dressage, jumping, flat racing, skating, road racing, and driving resistance).
Barefoot trim
There are several styles of barefoot trim used today, including Wild Horse or "Natural Trim" (developed by Jaime Jackson) 4-Point Trim (Dr Rick Reddin of NANRIC), Strasser Trim (one of the most controversial as the only horse and the bars are knitted to spread the frog), "Pete Ramey" prunes where the elements of the wild horse trajectory are the goal, but the process includes removing the nail wall and forcing the horse to run primarily on the palm. Some types, such as 4-point Trim can be used alone, or with shoes.
Barefoots are marketed to the public as something different from "grass" or "field" trims trained to provide, taking into account the angle of the hoof and corner of the horse's bones, although each type of barefooted brand has its own distinction and there is no standardization or agreement between the various barefoot advocacy groups. In contrast to the farrier trim, barefoot trim is marketed as an approach for high performance nails without shoes, or just as a natural approach to nail care (depending on individual pruning methods). However, they are something different, designed by nature itself to nurture healthy and healthy nails without using shoes.
Barefoot trim aims to mimic the way in which nails are naturally nurtured in wild horse herds, such as wild horse herds like American Mustang or Australian Brumby, as well as wild zebra and other wild horse populations. The wild horses have been observed by Gene Ovnicek having nails that tend to make contact with the ground at four points, and the walls of the nails do not touch the ground at all. But the study and measurement of wild horses collected by Jaime Jackson, a Farrier at the time and working in unison with Farrier Leslie Emery (author of Horseshoeing Theory & Practice) from 1982 to 1986 debated the findings of Ovnicek. Natural Horse: Lessons from Wild, 1992/1988 Annual Conference of the American Farriers Association). The trim guide he created for AANHCP requires that the nail wall be on the ground as the most distal structure - with soles, frogs and bars also serving as a support structure when horses are in uneven terrain. It is said to be another difference between barefoot trim and grassland trim, where the nail wall is left long and in contact with the ground. As with the wild horse population, the barefoot domestic horses can develop callouses on the palm of the nail, allowing them to travel in all types of terrain without discomfort.
Essential to the slim success of barefoot is a consideration for the environment and the use of domestic horses, and its impact on the balance of nails, shape, and comfort of the horse. Goals depend on which method is followed: 1) many apart from AANHCP suggest shortening the wall of the nail and heel to the outer edge of a single concave for the best nail conformation, and 2) applying a round bevel ("mustang roll") to the bottom edge of the wall to allow break which is correct (the moment when legs are dismantling and tips forward as it starts to lift the ground) and to prevent chipping and burning the walls.
There are several studies, but no double-blind scientific study, which suggests that removing horse shoes and using bare foot trimming techniques can reduce or in some cases eliminate the founder (laminitis) in horses and navicular syndrome.
It is generally approved by most natural nail care practitioners that the management of animals (diet and rising conditions) is the most important component to the success of the horse for barefoot. If the diet is not natural, there will be inflammation and the horse can not feel comfortable.
Impact horse shoes
The removable iron horses known as "hippos" may have been discovered by Roman legions. Nailed on shoes is certainly used in Europe in the Middle Ages.
The horses were shodded with horse shoes that were nailed from the Middle Ages to the present day, although the trained hunters also did bare footprints for horses that did not require additional shoe protection. It is standard practice for most horses' shoes in active or working competition. However, there is a growing movement to remove shoes on working horses. Advocates of barefooting demonstrate the many benefits of keeping barefoot horses and presenting studies that show that undue spawning may cause or aggravate certain nail disease in horses.
Damage from properly installed and applied horse shoes can be seen in the gradual distortion of the nail shape, along with other diseases. Fingernails are often sensitive when walking barefoot after long hammering (because they are not thick enough to use calluse). It can take weeks, months, years, or more, depending on the condition of the horse before, before the horse is heard and can be used with bare feet. During this transitional period, the horse can be equipped with boots that protect the soles of the feet until the horse has time to heal and build a callouse, although these boots, especially when improperly installed and used, can cause nail damage as well..
Nail health
Two things that can directly affect the health of the nails are diet and exercise. Observers of wild horse populations note that horse nails remain in better condition when horses are in a herd situation and are free to move about 24 hours a day, like wild horses, allowing good circulation inside the nails. It is recommended that horses be allowed to walk at least 5 miles per day for optimal nail health. The terrain should vary, including gravel or hard surfaces and water features where the nails can get wet once in a while.
Diet is also very important, because changes in feed can directly affect the health of the nail, which is most noticeable in cases of laminitis. Even some straw may be high enough in sugar to cause laminitis. A healthy diet for horses currently with or susceptible to laminitis is based on free access to straw that has been tested for carbohydrate content and found to be less than 10% starchy WSC, some mineral supplements, and no grains. Foods and foods with high sugar content (carbohydrates) are correlated with higher risk of clinical or subclinical laminitis and with other nail disease.
Natural nail supplements can be used as a boost to the horse's immune system when worried about lamination or other nail disease. D-Biotin supplements, often including amino acids containing sulfur dl-Methionine, commonly known as an effective natural supplement for managing nail health.
Modern research by individuals such as Jaime Jackson and Tia Nelson have studied wild horses to observe the way in which they naturally eat and wander about affecting their nails. They noticed that the hoofs of these horses had different configurations of domestic horses housed in gentle pastures, having shorter, thicker toes, stronger nail walls.
Controversy
Whether wearing shoes or barefoot is better for the horse is the subject of some controversy. Opponents of the barefoot movement argue that routinely domesticated horses pass through abnormal levels of activity, stress, and tension, and their nails are subject to excessive wear and tear. Stably maintained horses are not exposed to the same environment as wild horses, which can affect the quality of their nails. In addition, humans sometimes like certain traits above nail quality (like speed), and will nurse horses with poor nail quality if they are exceptional athletes. This can lead to overall declining nail quality in type and equestrian horses in general. Traditional nail care advocates suggest that polishing is needed to protect the nails from unnatural destruction, and that horseshoe and its various incarnations are needed to keep the horse's use under extreme and unnatural conditions.
See also
- The anatomy of the front of the right foot
- Equine podiatry
- Farrier
- Horse care
- Horseshoe
- Hiltrud Strasser
- Jaime Jackson
- Horse nails
- Lack (equine)
References
- The Natural Trim: Principles and Practices, J. Jackson, J Jackson Publishing, 2012
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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