August 13th in pics





stunning photography brought to you by Mallow and her LG cell phone that has been dropped on its head too many times to count; and Aristoitle, a horse outstanding in his own field.

Hoof comparison part 3

Hi.. still coming back for more hoof pictures? (really?)

Previously you were wowed by this story and photographs. Here is a brief update with crummy cell phone photographs for those of you who like looking at pictures. :P

This is the right front hoof before I did anything to it. You will see there is one place on the sole that is lighter in color than the surrounding material. This is a piece of the sole that chipped off exposing new healthy sole. I took my knife and gently exfoliated all the sole that would crumble off.


This is the result of the exfoliation and lowering of the outer hoof wall. Nearly all areas of the sole crumbled off on their own except for one fairly large spot at the apex of the frog. I left this patch of old sole alone with the thought that treating it like a scab will allow the sole underneath to do what it needs to. I don't know if this is the 'right' approach, but it felt better to me to let it stay rather than paring it off.


I did rasp over this patch on the toe when I went around the hoof wall and lowered it. Normally one wouldn't want to rasp over the toe callous.. but since I have this buffer scab of hoof I didn't see any harm in bringing it down a little bit.

Once I lowered the hoof wall I finished up the trim with a bevel, or mustang roll all around the hoof wall.

Anyone interested in barefoot natural hoof care should visit the web page of Pete Ramey. Here is why I advocate his web page and his approach..
1. After studying many cadaver hooves of foundered and healthy horses, along with the feet of wild horses Pete has learned to use the hoof (sole) topography as his guide to trimming. There are no predetermined angles that the hoof must be trimmed to fit into.
2. Each foot is an individual and is treated as such.
3. I appreciate the fact that Pete is constantly learning, and trying to better himself and his trimming.
4. He has a conservative approach to trimming based on his study of rehabilitated foundered horses, and cadaver hoof dissection. He knows what is going on underneath that sole topography we see when we pick up a hoof.
5. Pete has a collection of research articles which he has written and shares them on his web page.
6. I noticed that he now has a DVD collection of his lectures for sale. If this DVD collection is anything like his weekend seminars - they will be full of great information!
7. ** Pete is not paying me for any part of this endorsement.**

B-day preparation count down..



I found this on Toothpaste For Dinner. Go visit his site for more cartoons, you'll be glad you did.