Natural means being healthy and sound, be it in the hoof or the entire horse.
Natural hoof care is conditioning a horses hoof so that it may go barefoot.
Not only go barefoot, as nature intended, but excel in it's barefoot state. This results in a sounder healthier horse, from the ground up!
Impossible you say? No, really it's very possible and there are horses the world over, competitive and pasture ponies that are so much better off for it.
There are several models available to horse owners from the invasive to not so invasive. The model I base my work on is the wild horse model, as taught by Jaime Jackson and the AANHCP. A man I have great admiration and respect for, and an organization that I am very proud to belong to.
The AANCHP tenets "Cause no Harm " and "Respect the Healing Powers of Nature" are the basis of my practice.
We start with a pathological hoof that has been subject to all the rigors of our modern and domestic lifestyle that we put it through and within months you can have a solid, healthy, sound hoof and horse. A horse than can go on any terrain and is much healthier than when we started.
Natural hoof care is MORE than just the hoof though, and that's an important distinction I think all horse owners should be aware of.
Everything that happens to a horse shows up in his feet. His diet, his environment, any stress, it's all there in his hooves.
Natural hoof care is only a part of the overall picture, including natural boarding and horse keeping practices, natural feeding practices, health care etc.
