Performance Hoof, Performance Horse E-Book

Nic Barker

• Herausgeber: J A Allen
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Many horses will, at some point during their lives, suffer hoof problems which, in extreme cases, can cause permanent lameness. So why should oustandingly healthy, hardworking feet be a relative rarity? Performance Hoof, Performance Horse explores the idea that, given the right conditions, healthy hooves are not difficult to maintain and neither do they need much in the way of human intervention, and that the unshod or 'barefoot' horse can be tough, strong and sure-footed. The book offers practical advice on how best to work with a horse with compromised feet in terms of nutrition, surfaces and exercise in order to restore its hooves to optimum condition. Topics covered include: assessing hooves and hoof balance; the pros and cons of trimming; fixing problem feet; and developing stronger hooves. Fully illustrated with 87 colour photographs.

Leseprobe

Performance

HOOF

Performance

HORSE

Nic Barker

J.A. ALLEN

First published in 2017 by

JA Allen

JA Allen is an imprint of

The Crowood Press Ltd

Ramsbury, Marlborough

Wiltshire SN8 2HR

This e-book first published in 2017

www.crowood.com

© Nic Barker 2017

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of thistext may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 90880 971 1

For Ghost, Felix, Charlie and Bailey who taught me my first lessons, and Angel, Dexter and Jack who continued my education.

The extract from Beyond Words – what animals think and feel by Carl Safina is reproduced with his permission. The quote from Kim Walnes’s blog The Way of the Horse is used with her permission. All photographs are the author’s unless indicated otherwise.

Disclaimer

While this book is as accurate as the author can make it, there may be omissions or errors. The publisher and author cannot accept responsibility for loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

CHAPTER 1Rock-Crunching Hooves

CHAPTER 2Balanced Hooves, Dynamic Hooves

CHAPTER 3Healthy Hooves: A Way of Life

CHAPTER 4Tracks and Tradition: Where Your Horse Lives

CHAPTER 5How to Assess Dynamic Hoof Balance

CHAPTER 6Rehabilitation, Exercise and Movement

CHAPTER 7Trimming, Balance and Symmetry

CHAPTER 8Building Better Hooves: From Bogs to Deserts to Tarmac

CHAPTER 9The Importance of Research

CHAPTER 10Rehabilitation of the Whole Horse

CHAPTER 11Troubleshooting: Real or Imaginary Troubles

CHAPTER 12Further Troubleshooting

CHAPTER 13Anthropomorphism?

Index

Acknowledgements

This book could not have been written without the advice and help I received from my fellow hoof enthusiast Steve Leigh (with whom I have filmed hooves, brainstormed about hooves and obsessed about hooves), and my extraordinary veterinary friends, Becca Hart and Freya Brookes, who have pored over data, answered questions and kept me more or less on the straight and narrow. The mistakes are my own.

My heartfelt thanks go to every single owner who has ever decided to give that crazy barefoot idea a chance and send their horses to Rockley for rehabilitation, and all those who have read the blog or joined us on social media over the years. Most of all, my gratitude goes to all the horses who have made me think, opened my eyes, and inspired me with their ability to grow better hooves than I ever imagined.

Rockley Farm, March 2017

Foreword

As a veterinary surgeon, owner and rider, I have learnt a huge amount about whole-horse health from Nic. Her logical, practical approach makes physiological and ethical sense.

My own horses have been kept to the principles explained in this book for several years. They compete successfully in British Eventing and British Dressage, and follow hounds. They are sounder, have cleaner legs and are better prepared to handle variations in terrain and ground conditions.

Dr Rebecca Hart BvetMed, MRCVS

CHAPTER 1

Rock-Crunching Hooves

Recently I broke the rules.

Andy and I were going away, for the first time in ten years, and for the first time in ten years we only had our own horses to worry about. It was a warm, mild, mellow autumn and we wanted to make life as easy as possible for the friends who were looking after the horses while we were away. We left the horses with access to the tracks (seeChapter 4), a feeder full of haylage, and forty acres of grass to do with as they wished – no restrictions on where they went or what they ate, and no formal exercise for three weeks.

It might have sounded risky, but when we got home the horses were in fantastic condition and, most importantly, had the same rock-crunching feet they had when we left. I didn’t really expect anything else – after all, I wouldn’t gamble with the health of our horses – but it was an interesting affirmation of something I have been exploring for several years now: that great hooves, healthy hooves, aren’t that difficult to maintain, nor do they need much in the way of human intervention.

A healthy hoof is a normal state of affairs for a healthy horse.

I will say from the start that throughout this book, when I talk about healthy hooves, it means hooves that are totally sound, capable of covering mile after mile on all sorts of terrain, day after day, at all paces without shoes. I am well aware that hooves like this don’t happen by accident, certainly not in a domestic environment. On the contrary, we are used to seeing unhealthy feet as the norm on many, perhaps most, of the horses we see day to day. Given that so many of us begin our hoofcare journeys with horses that have unhealthy feet, it is perhaps not surprising that it can often feel as if achieving a healthy hoof is an impossible struggle, and that there are obstacles and challenges continually in the way.