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If you've kept up with the literature over the past several years, you've probably heard about the four-point trim , and you may have heard about the three-point or the five-point trim as well. Likewise, you've probably encountered some of the less “pointed” terms, like natural trim and wild horse trim . Unfortunately, despite all the pointed talk, the vast majority of horsefolk (including some farriers and veterinarians) still don't have a solid understanding of what's being discussed and—in many cases—argued. Although it can get complicated and involved, when you cut through all the talk and terms and get to the basic points, the main ideas largely center on breakover and support. To make the first brush stroke in this big picture, then, we must start by looking at the basic anatomy of the equine front limb. The limb itself comes underneath the horse in virtually a straight line, dropped vertically from the shoulder. As it nears the ground, however, the articulation changes and, rather than remaining vertical, we end up with the pastern and the hoof capsule on an oblique angle. Subsequently, as the hoof capsule grows, it literally begins to grow out from under the limb. If the limb and the hoof were both vertical, the horse would simply get taller as the hoof grew, and there would be no real problem; we'd just have to jump higher or become dependent upon extendable stirrups and mounting blocks. However, since the lower limb and the hoof are on an oblique angle, a ¼” of growth means that the hoof has moved ¼” further forward; subsequently, the horse's base of support has moved ¼” out from under the limb. When we trim the horse's hoof, then, we're not merely removing excess horn from the bottom; we're also “backing the foot up” and restoring the base of support. In fact, that's the reason we have to trim horses' feet as often as we do. A little bit of extra growth would be insignificant if it simply made the horse taller, but given that it also means the horse is losing his foundation, his base of support, it's essential that we perform regular maintenance to keep the support base under the bony column of the limb. The longer a horse wears a set of shoes or the longer he goes without a proper trim, the more the hoof capsule migrates forward and begins to fail as a foundational and supportive base. Good farriers have been backing feet up—maintaining good foundational support and facilitating and easing breakover since the beginning of equine domestication. Unfortunately, over the years, many horseshoers haven't qualified as “good farriers” and haven't been students of locomotion and mechanics. Their tendency has been to shoe the foot, not the limb, not the horse. Shoeing the foot and ignoring the limb eventually creates problems; as the toe is allowed to pull forward and the heels necessarily follow, horses will tend to stumble over their toes and get heel sore, and the hoof capsule will begin to distort and fail. If you check out the literature, you'll find a plethora of terms to describe the various failures: under-run heels, seedy toe, long toe / low heel syndrome, etc. These problems, like many of the problems we see with the horse's hoof, aren't entirely a result of poor farriery; nevertheless, poor farriery can exacerbate and perpetuate the problems. Starting in the late 1970's, observers began to look at specific populations of wild or feral horses. One of the “discoveries” they made was that these horses, living in an arid climate and travelling on a vast and varied terrain, were observed to abrade their hooves and self-maintain an appropriate hoof capsule. As these observations and studies began to work their way into the popular literature, they provided a corrective to some poor farrier practices and informed the general population with knowledge that good farriers were already practicing and had been building upon for centuries. The domestic horse, living in a fairly constant climate and terrain, depends upon us for capsular maintenance. Because we keep our horses in an artificial environment, even the barefoot horse on 24-hour turnout usually requires intervention. The climate is generally too constant, and the terrain isn't varied enough for him to self-maintain an appropriate hoof capsule. In some cases, the artificial environment will dictate that we must shoe the horse to protect him from excessive wear; in other cases, it will entail that we trim the capsule regularly to reduce length and maintain an appropriate support base. Ultimately, farriery and hoof maintenance is more than simply clipping toenails. While it may not be rocket science, it shares many of the same principles: mass, force, velocity, shear, propulsion, impulsion, acceleration, thrust, load…. Subsequently, farriery should be a study as well as a practice—a study not simply of observation, but a thorough study of maintaining the domestic hoof in relation to the whole horse.
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