The natural trim
The Natural Trim takes off what nature would through movement and abrasion. The natural trim uses the sole as a guideline for balancing the hoof. The reason we use the sole for a guideline is that it builds itself according to what the coffin bone and internal structures need to protect itself.
In horses that have thin soles, one side may be thinner than the other, therefore, tipping the coffin bone either forward or side-to-side. Generally I will leave 1/8 inch of hoof wall above the sole plane. Especially when rehabilitating a hoof, if we use the sole to guide in how much wall to take off, the thin sole will build in the areas it needs protection the most and rebalance the coffin bone.
Every hoof is different. We balance each individual hoof at each trim to what it needs in its rehabilitation process. Taking something away from the hoof for cosmetic reasons or to obtain standard measurements and angles to determine what to trim will work against us. You can't carve a perfect hoof out of a living organ that has become distorted. If we did this, we would cause sensitivity and cause the horse to not want to move. We need to set the hoof up for proper movement and allow the hoof to rebuild and heal itself with each and every step.
Nature made an amazing organ in the hoof. It changes with the weather, it changes with the terrain, it grows faster with more stimulation, abrasion, and movement. It has the ability to heal itself if we can learn to trust what it is trying to achieve and stop fighting against it.
"Let's hope our hoof care is better than no hoof care at all!" ~ Pete Ramey
The
top pictures are before my first trim on the horse. He has contracted
heels, thin soles, stretched white lines, flares and unconnected hoof
wall an inch below the coronary band, atrophied digital cushion and
frogs and a lot of body problems.
(It is pretty clear that about half way down the hoof wall has a solid connection to the coffin bone. Midway the hoof wall flares and shows how much growth is needed before he has a completely connected hoof. He is almost there!)
Here is my donkey before I started and six months into his rehabilitation. He had atrophied and sensitive digital cushion and frogs, stretched white lines, disconnected and flared walls. He would walk very gingerly with his head to the ground. He's a gravel cruncher now.
Just for fun!
Ian and Donkey Doodle in the sandbox