Four years after graduating from Oklahoma Horseshoeing School, Kate Romanenko attended a hoof trimming seminar that changed her entire concept of equine management. She immediately stopped shoeing horses and began practicing natural barefoot hoofcare.
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Kate Romanenko, a natural barefoot hoofcare specialist from Woodville, ON, answers a question after her demonstration at The Mane Event.
Photo: Sherry Butt
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Romanenko shared her knowledge with a packed audience at her natural barefoot trim demonstration on Saturday at The Mane Event.
Horses don't need shoes because they are already wearing them, says Romanenko. Hoof functions include shock absorption, circulation, traction, protection and protein and waste excretion. "Shoes interfere with normal hoof function," she said.
Romanenko said the natural barefoot trim allows the hoof to do its job, giving your horse maximum blood flow to grow healthy strong hooves. The natural trim can prevent frequent stumbling, bruising, hoof cracking, lameness and founder, navicular, thrush or abscesses.
A natural trim is not the same as going barefoot, Romanenko explained. "A natural trim means trimming the hoof the way a wild horse would wear his hoof down in his natural environment."
Another aspect of natural barefoot hoofcare is creating a more natural environment for your horse to live in.
"I'm really big on environment," Romanenko says. "You have to understand how the hoof works. It's all about the health of the horse."
Some examples of creating a more natural environment for your horse is allowing your horses to eat off the ground, which promotes the natural body posture with the head low. In nature, hooves are exposed to water daily when horses wade in a stream in order to drink. If your horse doesn't have access to this daily ritual, create it by soaking the ground around the water trough.
Romanenko showed the audience several examples of horses with problem feet. By finding out the cause of the problem and eliminating it through natural barefoot hoofcare, the horses went on to live more healthy, pain-free lives.