Natural Hoof Care ???

[S.S.A.P.]

http://www.hoofrehab.com/
Has anyone been using this method? For how long? Are you alternating with shoeing? Sorry for all the questions but this is a topic that interests me very much.
We haven't shod a horse for (geez I think) 10 years and have more or less been using somewhat of the same methods - although we didn't know it had a name until a few years ago.

The offering on this site offers alot of food for thought. I'm only into #2 of the DVD series. It requires lots of rewinding to sink into my brain!
Several alternate sites are available on his/their link page.
Comments in general about hoof care is great to read about also.

 

[Faster horses]

You might take a look at www.hopeforsoundness too.
Gene Ovnicek is a personal friend and his methods work wonderfully.
I only glanced at what you posted, I'll go back now and look at
it closer. Probably this man has the same theories as Gene. Gene
used to shoe all the problem horses at our place in W. Montana
when he was developing his program so I can attest to the success he has achieved. It was like watching him 'pour
magic" on some of the horses he helped. Navicular, founder, you
name it and he has worked on them with success. I have seen him do
some amazing things, and many times on horses that the vets said were "DONE".

He studied the wild horses in the Pryor Mountains for years, measuring
and studying hoof growth in a natural setting.

I think all this stuff is great for our horses. I know when Gene visited us in SE Montana, where we don't have to shoe our horses all the time, he remarked that the country had been good for our horses feet. In W. Montana it is so rocky, that horses are usually shod all summer.

Thanks for the link.

 

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

We don't put shoes on anything that we don't have to. By that I mean, nothin on the place has shoes, uless there's a rel problem that requires a shoe to correct. Right now Lil Lilly's newest barrel horse has shoes on the front, because he had a sand crack when we bought him that went all the way up to the hair line. It's almost grown out, and when it is, he'll not have shoes on anymore.
We go over the horses feet about once every two weeks, and trim their bars, and file off any chips on the hoof. We've only started doin this the last six months or so. And it seems to work really well. Before that we had them trimmed once ever 6 weeks or so. Saves quite a bit of money too in farrier bills. The lady that got us started on this method of keepin the hooves done, studied in Germany. She gets $75 a head, but showed us how to do it ourselves. She'll check on em ever now n then and see how we are doin, but perdy much now Lil Lilly can take care of her own horses feet.

 

[koj]

I have been using NB shoeing for about 5 years with great results. I just started to use the mustang roll about a year ago. Again, the results are great. The hopeforsoundness website is great. Ovnicek is going to be in Miles City October 26th, 27th, and 28th. I have one of his videos and try to follow it to the T.

I can't say enough good about this method.

 

[Denny]

I only shoe 1 or 2 horses with sharp shoes in the spring dureing calveing.To tell the truth I have a few horses that are 10 years old and have only ever been trimmed once or twice in their whole lives.My old mare hasnt been trimmed in 2 years and her feet look very good.I figure if the horses were wild knowone would trim them so why waste time and money.If it ain't broke don't fix it..

I won't trim a cow's hooves and around here cows rank higher than horses..