Getting back in the saddle

Well things are starting to get back to normal around the ranch, fire’s were trying to get us yesterday but then came the rain, and thank God for the first responders, you got to love them. I had to put my big plans on hold last year for several reason, not the least of which was the economy, but we are starting to move again and I hope to have some good news soon on that front.

Twin Oaks just got its very own Veterinarian this month, Dr. Christian Comeau, made it official on Sep 1st. Dr. Chris left his position of some 14 years at Bakersfield  Vet to strike out on his own, and we that know him are happy and proud that he has. Dr. Chris has lived in Twin Oaks for many year, and has served the community all that time, but now we can call him our own. We will be sharing him with our friends in the local communities like Tehachapi and Lake Isabella, but Twin Oaks will be his base. If you would like to find out more about Dr. Chris and Twin Oaks Veterinary Service, give him and his wife Laura a call at 661 867 2554, Tell them Steve sent ya.

The pic is of the Rankin Ranch in Walker Basin, I took it comeing down from Havala

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you, I hope 2011 will be a much better year for the world. On a personal note, I have a family member that needs my attention right now, so I will be staying close to the ranch for awhile. I hope to get back to our projects, and clinic plans, sometime in the spring. In the mean time Ill be working on some new articles that we will publish in a few months, and Jason and I will be showing off our new Slide Boot very soon. Also check out our new lower prices on our Easycare Boots at my website store.Till then remember, No Hoof No Horse.

Steve http://www.navicular-founder-rehab.com/karshner_natural_hoof_care_005.htm

Update on Hailstorm Jaci

Here is a link to Jaci and Kerry’s last competition, Jaci and Kerry have been kicken ass all summer and they both look like they aren’t even tryen.   Remember no Hoof No Horse, this horse has her hoofs back.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXW1_QlgGEk

Easycare News Letter

My partner Jason McClure was just published in the Easycare news letter this month. Check it out, it is a great asymmetry case and the pix are very telling, Go Jason!!!http://easycarenews.com/10-28-2010/articles/rehabilitating-the-asymmetrical-horse/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Emailmarketingsoftware&utm_content=145544640&utm_campaign=November2010-ConsumerNewsletter&utm_term=JasonMcClureRehabilitatingTheAsymmetricalHorse

No Hoof No Horse ( Barefoot In Paradise)

  

 

     Its taken me a while to get settled from our last trip to Maui, but I thought I would share some of our Clinic pix and a few thoughts on the future of barefoot in Maui, and whats in store for Jason and I for the future.  

     I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of folks that attended our Clinic, and the personal hospitality of the people and the Island. Most of the folks attending were either Farriers, practitioners, or owners that were doing their own trimming, and Dr. Brain from Maui Vet Clinic, and Dr. Betsy Allen who practises on the island as well. We started right off with the most burning questions on everybody minds and then dove into our first case. I love this kind of exchange, these people are very knowledgable, and really only need to connect the dots. Most have done their home work and just need to see things realtime to understand what they have been reading about for months, or in some cases years. We finished the Q&A discussion and then started in on a foundered mare that Peter, (one of the islands Farriers) had been working on for about 8 months. Peter has attended several Barefoot Clinics and put what he had learned to work on this mare. Peter and the owner Sandy allowed us to do the trim on this horse, and Jason and I shared with the group our technics on how to finish the final attachment of this horses coffin bone to the hoof capsule, and why releaving the hoof wall where the hoof is still separated is so important. Sometimes I forget that everyone doesn’t get the chance to take one of these founders all the way through to completion, and some of our attendees may have never seen one at all. This mare had the benefit of a very good Farrier that was applying natural hoof care practises and an owner that was dedicated to her recovery. We also had x-rays from the day of the Lamanitic episode and x-rays just days before the Clinic. What a great teaching tool it was to be able to see the obvious rotation in the coffin bone in the initial pictures and then see the results of months of Natural Hoof Care on the foot. It was very easy to see that this bone and hoof capsule were back in line with each other and that with maybe two more trims this horse would be completely connected and sound, Bravo Peter. Rick Allen put this clinic together for us this trip and I had the opportunity to work with Rick the day before the clinic and answer some of his big questions about his trim and how could he make it better. Jason and I showed Rick every little trick we have learned over the years and Rick shared of few of his with us, Rick has started moving towards more barefoot solutions for some of our old problems and recently got his Easycare Boot Dealership on Maui. Rick also is an EMT working for the ambulance company on Maui when he’s not working on horses. Rick not only serves the horse community there, but serves the community as a whole aswell.  

Going over the x-rays

Showing off new slide boot that Jason and I have developed

Explaining the trim on the founder mare

  We took a look at a three month old, that had some conformation problems, and then his mother that turned out to have a mild case of Asymmetry. Jason and I were able to show everyone what Asymmetry is and how it will affect their horses performance over time. asymmetry is a growing problem and is best addressed when the animal is young and able to change balance and muscle mass easily.  

  

I want to thank my two boys Ryan and Nick for coming with me to Maui to help with the video project, and of corse my partner Jason Mclure for flying in all the way from Kansas to be a part of the Clinic and video project. Jason’s nic name is Dorthy, of corse a reference to Kansas and the Wizard of Ozz,  so,Jason and I will be doing a clinic tour in the spring, back in his neck of the woods, and we will be calling it( What Else) Barefoot In Ozz.   

Equine Affaire 2009

  

Working on Yonnick Firehorse's horse Diva

    Last year I spoke at Equine Affaire in Pomona on Reversing Navicular syndrome with Natural Hoof Care. Jason and I will be there again in Feb 2011. Our plans are being finalized now but our hope is to be there for some Presentations, demonstrations and to do some one on one consultations at our both, with people looking for Natural Hoof Care solutions to their horses problems. As always we will represent our Easycare Dealership by answering your booting questions and help you pick the right boot solution for your horse. 

    Finally I would like to thank Crowdiddy Productions for their video work at the Clinic, and last but not least my good friend Wendy Agustin. Wendy opened her heart and her home to me and my family this summer, and there would have been absolutely no way we would have been able to do these two Clinic this summer with out her. There is always a unsong hero behind everything that we do, and for me that was Wendy, ill never be able to thank her enough for putting up with the chouse that came into her life when I hit Maui, things that only she and I understand, but I hope one day I will be able to be there for her, like she was for me, I love you Windy, We all do.

So untill next time remember(No Hoof No Horse)

Indy, A Five Year Rehab Story

Every rehab and Shoe Transition is different, and how I handle them depends on the horse and the owner. In the case of Ruth and Indy, Ruth had lost the use of her horse and had been doing nothing for years but trying to manage Indys feet and pain. She was at the end when she called me,sure her horse would have to be put down because she thought the only thing  that could keep  him even marginally comfortable, were the shoes that NOW wouldn’t even stay on her horse. When I read the Vet report from Alamo Pantado, I have to admit it wasnt looking to good for Indy. Alamo said he was lamanitic, had some rotation of the coffin bone, pedal osteitis, and I believe some where in the report they said they saw some  Navicular changes. How many things can one horse have and still stay standing? Go to my website and look under testimonials, and then click on Indy for Ruths complete story of her journey.

August 3rd 2005

Indy had been shod with pads, wedges,clips, I sware the shoe weighed 20 lbs, he was very contracted in both heels, and the Asymmetry was obvious in the front feet and his shoulder muscles were typical of a horse having been in this condition for a long time.

Pads wedges clips hoof wall done

Indy’s hoof wall was cracked and rotting away from all the shoeing and nail holes. Ruths Farrier had tried to repair the cracking , but there is only so much you can do when a hoof wall is gone. Indy’s left front was his low underslung side and of corse his right was the clubby side. Indy’s feet where so unhealthy, his frogs were almost none existant, severe bruises in the soul, we had several abscesses erupte during the first few months, and his hoof wall was very thin and brital.

Asymmetry is obviouse

Pulled shoes starting first trim

As you can see, all I could do was get rid of the dead hoof wall, bring the toe back a bit and get those heels back up underneath that leg.

After first trim ready for Boa Boots

Indy was in a lot of pain when we started, and I could tell he was waiting for the nails and the pounding with a lot of painful anticipation. I spent a lot of time with Ruth and Indy on that first day, they both were scared, and very unsure of what was going to come next. After the testing and the trim, I put Indy in a pair of Easycare Boa’s with a 12mm pad and watched him walk away. Ruth couldn’t believe it was the same horse, Indy was pretty happy about it too, the stiffness and tippy toeing was replaced with a nice long stride and it looked like every muscle in his body had decided to relax at the same time.

Indy was in alot of Pain at this first trim

Indy’s LF wasnt as contracted as much as  the right was, but the heels had to be brought back almost a full inch. It was only 3 or 4 weeks and Ruth was up on Indy in the boots and back on the trail, a place she had not been with her horse for a long time. A few months after that Ruth said ” I can feel his balance coming back and he feels like he’s under me again”.

Left front before trim

Left front after trim

See how contracted the heels were

Left front after trim

We had a few ups and downs, but I don’t think any of them were related to his feet. Ind’y Asymmetry issue is getting better as his balance has come back. Now I know what you are thinking, Jesus that took a long time 2005 till 2010, well that is true, but it took a lot of years to get Indy into the bad shape he was in too. But like I said at the beginning, how I approach a horse and a client, depends on them and their need and wants. After Indy got back on the trail in a month Ruth and i decided to take it very slow and keep him sound while we changed his feet. Ruth has been able to ride Indy in every kind of ground Barefoot for over 4 years, she’s happy, Indy’s happy, so I’m happy. One of the things that I have found is that when a horse is shod his feet change to overcome the imbalance, trauma and damage that is being done to his feet, skeleton,and muscles. You can trim a foot correct, but until all the rest of the horse believes it, it will keep going back to where the muscle memory tells it to go. You just have to keep putting the foot and the balance right and over time the body will believe, and eventually the horses feet will reflect the new balance. Over time the trim will hold, and the feet will become the same size, and hold their angle.

Me and Jason working on Indy summer 2009

2008

2009

2010

Indy’s feet don’t look perfect, but they are perfectly sound, and every year they look better and better, you just cant beat that.

May 4th 2010 Right Front

For more of Indy’s story in Ruths words go to my website, click testimonials and then click on Indy.

Jaci Update AKA Hailstorm Jaci

Left Front Before First Trim In August 09

 

Left Front

The left front was Jaci’s low underslung side, on the before pic you can see by the black marks where the back of her heels are. I brought the heels back almost and inch on that first trim, keeping the heels back and the toe to the white line brought the foot back under the horse in just over 3 months. Notice in the last pic how wide the heels are, how fat and healthy the frog is, and the obvious caluose this horse has in the toe. The landing zone on this foot is fanominal. 

Right Front Before First Trim

 

In this pic you can see the back of the heels marked in black, this was Jaci’s high clubby side. 

Right Front Before Last Trim

 

Notice how much these heels have decontracted and how far back they are compared to where we started. Also note the calouse in the toe on this foot as well. 

Jaci's knees, they have been holding level.

 

Jaci’s knees are holding level now between trims, and both front feet are starting to look the same on the bottom, balance and time are the key. 

Kerry, Julie, and Jason have all done a great job on this horse, and with out everyone working together the way they have ,Jaci would have never made it back to competitive shape. She is back and she is strong, and i am looking forward to attending her next competition. This rehab took just under a year after she was brought to me in Ca. She spent 3 months here and then returned to Kerry and Julie, where they continued her daily work out regiment. There were many ups and downs but the crew hung in there, and now Jaci and her family are back together and looking forward, not only to many years of competition, but many years of competition Bare Foot. This is what can be done when you BELIEVE and never give up on the animal you love. This is everyone’s success story and we all share in the happiness and pride in our hard work, but I have to say that there is a silent partner here, one that doesn’t always get  credit, with out the boot products from Easycare none of this would have been possible, so THANK YOU EASYCARE INC for producing such a great product line, from all of us involved in the Jaci rehab story. 

Collateral grove measurements and retained soul

After first trim

A few months ago I was asked to look at some horses of a friend of one of my clients. These horses had been receiving Natural Hoof Care but the owner was concerned that the feet and toes were being left too long. After checking on the horses and agreeing with the owner, I asked her what her Practitioner had to say about her trim and why she left the foot so long? She told me that the Practitioner told her that it would be unethical for her to take the foot back any further, because of the depth of the collateral grove at the point of the frog. I had never herd anyone use the term unethical in relationship to a long toed horse before, so I did some checking and found the source of the term. Wanting to understand why this practitioner thought this horse should not have its retained or false soul removed, I looked further into the training that this practitioner had received and talked to some practitioners that have had the same training. The Ramey model and guidelines are what these practitioners are being taught, so why the long toe and retained or false soul on these horses, I’ve read Pete’s guidelines on the depths he considers adequate for the collateral groves, it all seemed very streight forward to me, and then it hit me. If you follow this blog at all you know im very interested in Asymmetric horses or as some refer to it High Low syndrome. The long toe underslung heeled foot on these horses is the perfect example of retained or false soul in the toe. When the foot grows forward as in the case of this horse and others with long underslung feet, the point of the frog goes forward with it. When the frog and the soul come together in this calloused retained soul, there are no collateral grooves to speak of, only hard welded soul and frog.  If you don’t see this as false soul, I can now understand why someone would say that they could not take anymore soul out of the foot. If you think what you are looking at  is calused soul, and there is no depth in the collateral grove, and you’ve been taught to leave it alone because it needs more depth, then I can understand why that person would leave that soul alone. So what we need is some more training on recognizing retained or false soul. This can be a challenge for any Farrier or Practitioner, and I think for most of us it is experience that gives us the knowledge and skill to see and understand the foot well enough to make those dicissions. Also Id like to say that this is erroing on the side of caution, which I think is much better than cutting and lameing a horse in the name of Natural Hoof Care. I will be adding this subject to my clinics in the future, in hope of giving our new Practitioners a better understanding of how to identifie this problem.

Bottom left front before trim

Left front, toe too long underslung heels, right front toe to long heels too high

Left front after last trim

Right front after last trim

Right front last trim

Right front bottom

The winter was very hard on these frogs, they were very thrushy when we started and it actually took a change of stables to get the horses frogs healthy and ready to support. If you have a horse like this in a stable with only limited pasture time you may have a real problem growing a healthy frog. We moved this horse to a ranch close to me where she could run freely on very sandy ground. It took only a month for her to start growing heathy frog, sand is a great surfice to make frog contact when booting is not an option. If you have horses that you are not sure about, send me a pic and ill try and help you threw it. Until next time remember No Hoof No Horse.

Back To Maui ( Barefoot In Paradise Take 2)

I will return to Maui on the 4th of August for another clinic, and to work on our video project that we started in May. I’m sorry I wasnt able to get any of our video up on the blog, it turns out the formating of the video was too much for the blog to handle. We will be shooting this next clinic in HD but will be able to format it for the blog after our return. If you would like to attend  the clinic on the 7th, email me at skarshner@aol.com and we will send you the time and location. It should be a lot of fun,  Maui Farrier Rick Allen will be hosting, and will be sharing his thoughts on natural hoof care, and my partner Jason Mcclure will be coming in from Kansas to help with the clinic and share some of his thoughts and success stories aswell. Two of my boys, Ryan and Nick will join us aswell, you might remember them from their Cingular Wireless commercials a few years ago, they are always good for a few laughs and a great help to me on the road. Till then remember, No Hoof No Horse

Barefoot In Paradise

Just got back last night, and boy did I have a great time. It was a very quick trip but I feel like we got a lot done. I’ll be going over the pix and the videos over the next few weeks and will share them with you as soon as I get them in prospective. I learned a lot over the last 8 days, not the least of which was the fact that the horse people on Maui are great and are open to learning all they can about natural hoof care. This island has many micro climates and conditions, and depending on where the horse you are working on is kept, you must trim to that enviroment. This is true every where, but where else can you have rain and then 5 minutes away have none, some parts of the island are very dry others very wet everyday. This place is a challenge for its hoof care pros and would be a challenge no matter what your skill level or experience. I met the 40 year veteran Farrier, and the new hoof care practitioners, all in the same place discussing their problems and their success.  The exchange was in lightning for all and I think we all picked up a few new things we could use at the clinic. I will be returning soon to do some follow-up on the horses we worked on and to have another clinic  hosted by the main island Farrier Rick Allen.