Easter was purchased as a five year old with limited training. She began being shod in January of 2004. In the fall of that 2005 She began showing signs of soreness in her back, hips, and neck which was showing up at the jog and in turn causing judges to call her lame and not place her. Due to this the owners began having chiropractic therapies done. While this helped the problems kept coming back and the adjustments were done frequently to keep her sound.
By the spring of 2006 her movement had slowly deteriorated to the point that she once "flat-knee’d”, had given way to an excessive amount of knee action. ( Which is undesirable in Western Pleasure.) The x-rays were taken in April 2006 showing her alignment issues in addition to contracted heels. The change in Easter’s movement was immediate. While it has taken a year for her to get her "new hoof". The difference in her and her attitude is remarkable. Due to some issues suffered as a 2 year old, Easter still gets adjustments every 6-8 months as maintenance but the lameness issues have disappeared.
This year she won Reserve World Champion at the Pinto World Show in Ideal Pinto Western. in that class the horse is judged on movement on the rail as well as conformation in halter.
Charlie was purchased as a four year old in February of 2006. For the first 2 months Charlie had her feet “pasture trimmed" by the regular farrier. It was decided that she needed shoes all around to help her movement and to allow her hoof wall to spread out.
After a few shoeings, Charlie began having major interference in the front and behind. She was hitting her back ankles causing injury to her canon, pastern and ankle. She was also pulling and bending her front shoes from overreaching. She was being ridden with leg wraps on all four legs to help prevent injury. Her movement was suffering as well. She developed knee action and was also showing signs of being uncomfortable, and her heels were beginning to contract. Charlie started the natural trimming on the same day that Easter did. Her movement changed so drastically that in 2 months she was named reserve pinto world champion. After a year of trimming, Charlie has finished her amateur superior in hunter under saddle and is nearing her open superior.
Both of these horses exemplify the principles of natural trimming. To take two animals that their owner had practically given up on, and took a chance on uncharted waters (for most of the horse show world) has proven to many people that show horses don't need shoes to show and win. Both the owner and myself have spread the word about the difference in her horses movement, attitude, and the improvement in the health of their feet.
Easter and Charlie
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