Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Proverbs 4:7 TACT (T he A natomically C orrect Trim) For Corrective and Maintenance Hoof Trimming. By Linda J. Harris [It is suggested you read through these directions 7 times.] Introduction: This book is the unfinished result of 9 years and over 10,000 hours of UNlearning what I was told or taught about the horse's foot, to being able to see what is really there. It is unfinished because as more is learned more will be added. And if I find anything in error it will be changed. You the reader are not only welcome but invited to write to me and give me any input you may have, so that collectively we can all increase our knowledge and understanding of the horse s foot. My sole purpose in spending all this time to uncover something I did not even know was hidden, was simply the love of my horses, and lack of quality farrier care in my area. I never intended for it to turn into such a journey of discovery. What I will show you here is the true anatomy of the horse s foot, and several things that have up until I uncovered them been unknown to mankind, even though they have been right in front of his face for thousands of years. It is these discoveries about the truth of the structural anatomy of the horse s foot that make all the difference between an unsound, a semi-sound and sound healthy footed horse. Not recognizing these aspects of the anatomy has also led to disease and a lack of results in correcting unsoundness issues. If you want my full story it will be included in the end of this book along with a thorough evaluation of the current state of knowledge (so-called) with in both farriery and what has come to be known of as the barefoot, natural hoof care movement. It is my purpose to give you an accurate understanding of the structural anatomy of your horse's feet, and the ability to read and determine their state, along with an understanding of how they should be trimmed to correct any malformations. If you have an accurate understanding of these things it will INCREASE the comfort of your horse not decrease it or cause needless pain, which is something that has 1
become epidemic in some barefoot teachings, and taught as necessary. PLEASE, PLEASE know that the teaching going around in some circles, that a horse must go through some pain for some gain, and which some mistake as what has come to be called transition time, is 100 percent totally false. You will understand clearly why this is so, when you come to see the TRUTH about your horse s feet, you will also know what is the main cause of some of the needless pain people have been putting their horses through due to a false understanding of the anatomy. 2
Understanding the True Foot of the Horse. Most of the time when people think of the horse s hoof or foot they picture it in a similar manner to fig. 1. However what we see as one unit in this picture, is really two objects joined together. The horses true foot is what you can not see, which lies inside of the hoof you can see. With enough force the hoof capsule which grows from the inner foot, can be removed just like you would take the shoe off of your foot. But would cause all the pain of having all your fingernails ripped off. Ideally the external hoof capsule which grows from and is attached to the inner foot, should be form fitted to the inner foot. This means there is no lack and nor excess of any one part of the hoof capsule. Whenever there is too much or too little of any one part, it causes hoof distortion, inflammation, pain, and disease to the inner foot. foot disease does not stay isolated to the foot but travels up the bony column to other areas of the body and even affects the attitude and sense of well being of the horse in general. 3
Your trimming is what will put the shoe on for a perfect fit, or force it off with an improper fit. The reality then is this. You are not dealing with one object, but two that are joined together. One of these objects you can see, and one you can not see. And your task is be able to read, understand and trim the object you can see to form fit the object inside of it that you can NOT see. Well gee that sounds simple enough! The truth is trimming hooves is not Rocket Science. It is however a lot like Brain Surgery. The difference being, you can t open the hoof capsule and fix the inner foot. You must do all your fixing on the external to heal the internal. Getting to Know the non-visible Foot of the Horse. What I can t show you here are the dissection pictures of all the inner whole feet that have been posted on the internet since the explosion of the natural hoof care movement. I can how ever give you links for you to look at them and this is definitely advised. Because the better you see and know this foot, the better and more precise your reading of the external capsule will be, and the better your trimming will be. 4
Since this manual is a digital document, as I get better pictures of the inner foot from my own dissections I will post them in it, and you can recopy certain pages and add to your portfolio. That is what these measurements are going to help you do. The measurements are not exact but they give you something to work with and I am hoping by the time you are done reading this that you will have a good understanding of what you can not see which is the foot that lies behind your horse's hoof wall, sole, frog, bars, and bulbs. 5
PREPARING THE FEET: There are three prerequisites not called for in other trims, and if you are not willing to do them, then this trim is not for you. 1. Is foot preparation and 2 and 3 are taking specific photos. 4 is optional, but advised. 1. Cleaning the foot.you will need a hoof pick, small bucket, hard bristled brush, small rag and towel Clean the feet of all debris making sure to get deep into the collateral grooves. Take a bucket water, preferably warm with a dab of soap and clorox (optional). Wash and scrub the sole, frog, collateral grooves, and hoof wall, dry with a towel or let air dry. The purpose of this is so that you can actually see the details of the foot and clearly mark the mapping lines. 2. Take pictures of each foot. The purpose of this is two fold. (1) pictures will show you the true condition of the feet as they currently are and will keep track of the changes in the hoof. (2) You will sometimes have to tweak your trim depending on what the photos reveal. This means you will see imbalances in pictures that you do not see with your eyes in person and you will learn what areas you may need to trim more off of, which you normally miss. I often take up to 80 to 100 pictures at each trim. Here are the six main photos you need.. Again these are a prerequisite to the correct application of the anatomically correct trim. If you are not willing to do this, please (no offence intended) but please find yourself another method. You can take more angles than this, but this is the minimum for evaluation and trimming. 3. Your next step will be to map the foot and then take another set of pictures of the mapped foot. In this first trim you will have THREE SETS OF PICTURES. 1. Pre trim, 2. After Mapping, 3. After trim. From then on you will only have two, pre-trim and after-trim. The purpose of all these photos, is to keep a historical record of how TACT works. And your individual participation in this movement is vital in that anything you can do to help your horse will help others. AND you need to develop and eye for the hoof, and note improvements or missed distortions. 6
4. SHARE. You will be given a forum to share your journey. Your observations are important, and if there are any details you notice or if there are any steps or details in the strategy that need need worked in or out, your information and opinions can contribute to that. And believe me, weather you realize it or not YOU and what you are doing here with your horse IS MAKING HISTORY. It is my goal that we change the destructive state of current farrier and barefoot natural hoof care practices that are in truth continuing to destroy the horses true foot, and causing emotional and physical pain to both horses and their owners, as well as financial burdens. Sharing what you learn and your journey is a good way for you to learn as well. TACT WHOLE HOOF MAPPING PROTOCOL Understanding the Dorsal Toe Wall. Did you know that your horse s foot has THREE AREAS OF HOOF WALL? And that all of them are for a different purpose and carry out different functions? 1. The Wall that grows from the coronary band down the laminae and ends where it meets the sole corium, 2. The same wall which is then joined to the sole at by the white line and grows with the sole. 3. The Wall that grows beyond the sole, which is excess wall. (Understanding these will become even more important when you map the heels.) The goal is to have W1 perfectly connected and formed, to the anatomical shape of the wall of internal foot. This positions it correctly to then join with the sole and be able to support and retain the sole. This is the function of W2, it is a support 7
and retaining wall for the sole ridge. W2 supports the sole because the sole is softer than hoof wall and can not maintain it s form without it. And W2 retains the sole back under the foot where it s supposed to be. So again, W2 acts as a retaining and supporting wall for the sole. W2 is one of the 3 WEIGHT SHARING surfaces of the bottom of the foot. Those 3 WEIGHT SHARING parts are, W2, the sole and the Frog. W1, W2, and W3 must be maintained in a delicate balance to avoid hoof distortion and disease. This is what the wild desert mustang accomplishes from the time he is born. The mustang or wild horse through the movement he gets over rough terrain, wears W3 down daily. Therefore W2 is able to grow the sole to its optimum thickness. W3 should have no weight bearing participation whatsoever! It is generalizing the whole hoof wall and not specifying and understanding it s 3 different parts and their function, that has led to gross error in farrier and veterinary science, that the laminae of W1 via W3 (excess hoof wall rim) bears the weight of the horse, in farrier and veterinary science. W1 should have NO WEIGHT BEARING PARTICIPATION WHATSOEVER! When W2 which is excess wall becomes weight bearing, this is when hoof distortion begins. Distortion starts with W3, is transferred to W2, which then affects W1 and can ultimately lead to laminitis, since W1 is connected to the laminae. If W1 is even slightly torn away from the laminae, even by a millimeter it will stretch the sole forward with it. This pulls and stretches the sole away from and out from under P3 (the coffin bone). The sole has tubules that grow down from the sole corium at a specific angle. When the wall is torn away, pulling the sole with it, it changes the angle the sole tubules grow, forcing them to grow forward at a more 8
horizontal angle, which flattens the sole in the toe. Until you get W1 and W2 restored you can not have any thickness of sole. You are also in danger of your horse developing laminitis. The diagram demonstrates how dorsal wall distortion takes place, usually slowly over time, without anyone being aware of it, until one day you come out to the barn and your horse is dead lame doing the founder stance. Most of the time, W1 will curve before the separation reaches the coronary band. When this happens the toe wall looks more like the hoof to the right. This foot has the same stretching of the sole going on in the toe, even though it may not have the exact same kind of separation in W1 as the foot in the diagram above. The TACT method of hoof restoration, reverses hoof capsule distortion, and helps you to grow a new correctly fitted capsule to your horse s foot. Many times when the wall curls and the toe stretches out horizontally as it does here, the toe will break away in 9
chunks. This is the foot trying to trim off the excess distorted wall and sole. In this foot both the dorsal wall and quarters are torn away and stretched out (also called flared) from the red line down,leaving little to no sole under the actual perimeter of the inner foot. What we want to do is reverse the process and restore the wall sole and height of the hoof capsule, which will pick the foot up off the ground, as demonstrated below. If you study this diagram you will understand why sometimes you can rasp down a wall and sole and sometimes you can t. Here are some more simulations depicting what happens to the toe, the sole and the dorsal wall. You must understand these so you can determine what kind of toe your horse's feet have, because that will determine how you trim them and what technique you use for correction or maintenance. 10
This diagram shows you the two directions you angle the rasp to take the toe back or down. Depending on the kind of foot you are dealing with you may take the toe BACK as on the long toe that is stretched forward and thin soled. Or you may take the toe DOWN as in the toe to the right that is long in that it is high with a lot of retained sole. Or you may have to do a combination of both. I will try as hard as I can to help you understand and be able to know what kind of toe you have and how you should deal with it. But there is always that chance that you will misread and take too much off of some area and make your horse sore. I hate to say it, but take it as a learning experience, because it will teach you not to do that the next time. I m sorry that our horses have to suffer for our learning curves, but sad truth is that if you do not learn to help your horse the correct way, I can safely say that there is NO ONE out there who will at this time. So again, the kind of toe, the level of distortion or wall separation and sole stretching, and how low the inner foot is to the ground depends on weather you will use the rasp to take a toe or dorsal wall DOWN or BACK, or A COMBO OF BOTH. My desire is that you get adept at being able to read the sole and become the hoof s master craftsman in maintenance and correction. This is why we will take so much time with me helping you to understand the dorsal wall, before I just get you to a measurement you can mark and then cut to size. This is NOT that kind of trim and if you learn what I tell you here your horse, if he does not have permanent damage will go sounder than you could have ever believed. I have inverted the toe here because this is the direction you will be rasping with the foot picked up. Now take a close look here and imagine you are using the rasp on the far left toe. You can see why Rasping DOWN might not be the wisest thing to do. You would rasp into the sole corium and blood would result. The toe on the right does not need taken back it s got a good connection to the inner foot all the way up. But it does need taken down, which because of the way the wall naturally grows down and forward will also slightly take it back. 11
In order to both correct a long or high toe (long forward horizontally stretched forward, or high with excess sole vertically), or keep and maintain a good foot, you have to know what breakover is and where to consistently keep your dorsal wall and toe. Consistency and accuracy in anatomical trimming is KEY to developing the wild horse model foot, which is simply an anatomically correct foot, that does not need boots. Knowing where to keep the dorsal wall and toe and sole in the toe is called THE BREAKOVER. Breakover is where the EXTERNAL hoof capsule rolls over in the toe area as the horse takes a step. You want the wall and sole in the toe to be a length and thickness that both protects the inner toe of the horse's foot as well as keeps all the leverage of the wall and sole off of it. Here is what I have forgotten to tell you and what you must remember. This is that, in reality you are not dealing here with one object but TWO separate yet connected objects, an inner foot and a hoof capsule which is connected to and grows from it. It is the only part of the horse that actually can be pulled off like outer wear, which is like a shoe or boot. The hoof capsule should be form fitted to the anatomy and shape of the inner foot, but when it s growth get s out of bounds, it can become too large and exert pressure and leverage on the internal foot, causing pain, inflammation and various diseases of the horse's foot. BREAKOVER is where the wall and sole in the rim of the hoof capsule must end in order to prevent both pressure and damage to the internal foot, as well as create a condition that will keep the toe of the hoof capsule from distortion, which is the cause of 99 percent of all hoof disease. In order to create the right breakover point in the toe it must be measured and found both vertically and horizontally. Both a stretched forward toe, and a high toe can be beyond the correct breakover. And each form always creates it s own forms of damage causing leverage on the inner foot. Here are the feet of two different horses, but the leverage of the toe on the left is what caused the same kind of damage to the horse on the right. 12
Here I take and show you what the breakover is currently in the foot, and mark with arrows some of the leverages this is causing that will damage the foot internally. This is like you having a wooden clog strapped to your foot, that is 4 inches too long and being forced to walk in it. Where is it going to hurt? What pressures will that exert on your foot. Same with the horse when his hood capsule does not form fit his foot. I show in the simulation to the right where the wall both W1 and W2, should be growing down to. Remember W2 does what? It supports and retains the sole under the perimeter of the internal foot where it should be. What is the wall doing now, currently in this foot? You should have asked Which part of the wall? There are a number of things both W1 and W2 are doing to affect the internal foot and eventually lead to the death of this horse, after a LONG, LONG period of pain and agony. Yes that is how serious this is and we all know that to be a fact. Really now let s stop and think about this. What are all the ramifications if the foot above is never corrected? That foot will eventually become like this foot that belongs to a very young quarter mare, that is now a broodmare and may still be alive and may not be (at this time I do not know.) But this is the kind of foot that eventually leads to having a horse put down. 13
What are the consequences of this? Well besides the pain and agony of the horse, what about your pain and agony? And what about the financial ramifications in trying to get help for this horse? All this can be prevented through the knowledge and understanding of what I am trying to relate to you here. This kind of stuff breaks my heart, not just for the horse but for the owners. It was several years previous to the writing of this book that the owner of this horse wrote to me asking for help, desperate to help her horse. And at the time the foot was completely beyond my understanding it was so far gone. now I know HOW this mare's feet got this way. Now, I may or may not, be able to help a horse this far gone. But what I know I can do, is PREVENT it from happening to others by giving people an UNDERSTANDING of the TRUE FOOT OF THE HORSE, and how these things happen to begin with. As they say, An ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure. So this is just one example of one kind of dorsal wall and toe distortion, in which breakover plays the primary role in either destroying the foot or keeping it in balance and healthy. Therefore you have to know where and how to created a breakover point in the hoof wall and sole to either facilitate correction of a distorted foot or maintenance of a correct foot. So now we are going to look at how you rasp the angle and direction of W2 and the sole to create a safe proper breakover point, for correction. The purpose of this is to get all the leverage off the distorted wall and sole and bring the toe back to where it should or would be breaking over IF the wall was already grown down tightly connected to the laminae of W1. Taking the unnatural leverage off the stretched forward wall and sole, and bringing it back to where it should have been will facilitate and encourage W1 to grow down reconnected to the laminae of the wall of the inner foot. You must not only know WHAT to do, but WHY you are doing it. In the simulation of the stretched forward toe, I am going to show you where the true breakover is on this foot, and then I will show you how you must learn to apply the rasp with tact to W1 and the sole in order to keep the foot stabilized while removing some of the damaged wall and sole at the same 14
time. If this is not done rightly, you can cause the foot to react as if it has been assaulted or injured, and will cause inflammation in the sole corium or laminae. This presents a whole new set of problems. These are not problems you can t overcome, but it s best to avoid them, and at a later time I will explain the complex functions of a foot under assault and how it goes into overdrive biologically to try and stabilize any damage being done to it. This can retard your progress in encouraging the hoof capsule to correct itself, without triggering the responses to injury that naturally exist in the physical body of the horse and the defense and healing mechanisms of the horse's foot. Quiz 1. To properly do the TACT trim you must prepare the feet by: a. Picking the dirt out with a hoof pick. b. Washing the feet using a scrub brush and rag. c. Take 6 pre-trim pictures of the each foot you trim. d. All of the above. 15
2. The three wall types are described as follows. W, which grows from the band to the corium. W which joins to and grows with the to the ground. W which grows beyond the sole and is wall. 3. Taking pictures of the hoof is necessary for which 2 reasons. a. It revealed hidden hoof distortions which you miss with your eyes. b. You can send them to your friends and post them on hoof forums. c. They reveal areas of the hoof that you have missed in the initial trim. 3. The TACT method gives you the exact measurements and size for your horses feet. and you can just measure and cut them to that size and then be riding on the rocks the next day. a. True b. False 1. The pictures included with the chart above show how the capsule fits the internal foot. ALL HOOF DISTORTION comes from the capsule not fitting the foot and any one part growing beyond its boundaries. TACT WHOLE HOOF MAPPING PROTOCOL 16
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Hoof Mapping Protocol [It is suggested you read through these directions 7 times.] The NUMBER ONE RULE HERE IS: MEASURE 3 TIMES TRIM 1 TIME! 1. Measure the Dorsal Wall. Above is a perfect example of why you should do as I say and not as I do, which is to measure THREE TIMES and TRIM ONE TIME. I was actually about ¼ inch off. It worked out well for me, because I have been doing this for a while and so I don t 18
just read my mark and rasp down to that no matter what, even if I have marked it correctly. I read the wall and sole that I am rasping down as well, and I am constantly looking at the depth of the apex of the frog, the height and symmetry of the sole ridge, and stopping to also feel it and press it with my thumb. If I find any softness at all I stop right there. But these are things you will learn to do. So the first thing I want you to know is that these measurements are not cookie cutter. you do not just draw some marks and rasp the foot down to those exact proportions indiscriminately. Sometimes when you start out, the internal foot is very low in the capsule and the sole is very thin. This is usually because in some way or another, the sole of the foot is pushed forward and out from under where it s supposed to be, and the walls also are at the wrong angle and not retaining the sole in it s correct position. The whole point of this trim is to restore the anatomically correct position of the walls, including the angle from hairline to the ground, and to bring the sole back up under its correct position under the foot. As this takes place the walls tighten, the sole comes under the foot and thickens, and the foot itself rises in the hoof capsule. Again: This is why when rasping the hoof wall down to the dorsal wall measurement lines, I stop continually and press on the sole. if I feel any give whatsoever I will not go any lower. Usually when you have this happen, when you're dorsal wall is marked at 3 ¼ and you can t rasp it down because the sole is too think, you need to back it up more than take it down. Here is where you need to learn these two terms and what they mean. a. Choose your wall length. Use the Dorsal Wall Length Chart to find the size of your horse's foot. Then choose the LONGEST Dorsal wall measurement for that category to start out with. As you learn the foot and the anatomy you may shorten this distance. Also as the foot remodels it may call for it being shortened so you can find your horse's specific dorsal wall height. I started on my horses, who are both about the same size with the same size feet at 3 ½, went quickly within a few trims to 3 ¼ and now they easily go to 3. eventually either one of them could go to 2 ¾. And this is with actually having THICKER SOLE, than they ever did when their dorsal walls were 3 ½ or longer. 19
TACT MAPPING INSTRUCTIONS This strategy is in the development stages, if it does not work for you, either the horse s feet are too big or too small for this specific measurement or you applied it in error not reading the foot correctly as to depth of sole, length of toe, position of inner foot. Or I have failed to communicate details of it to you. This is NOT meant to be cookie cutter, or one size fits all. This set of general measurements is only meant to get you in range, for the most common foot sizes in horses which are 00, 0, 1, and 2. I am believing that if you are using this, you have some knowledge already and will not just discriminately carve into the sensitive sole or live sole corium of the foot. And I feel that the measurements give you enough room to stay longer or go smaller TO A DEGREE. The vertical measurements of the dorsal wall are given according to the sizes of wild horse feet, and for now for hoof sizes of domestic feet that are no longer than 6 long. HOWEVER your horse s foot could be longer than 6 inches not because it s really that long, but because you have a distorted stretched forward toe. The measurements are meant to get the capsule within contained perimeters surrounding the inner foot, so as to facilitate correct growth. Only knowledge will help you get to the specific foot size of your horse. So here are the general measurements according to the factors I have mentioned above. 1. Dorsal wall MEASURE THREE TIMES. Start with measuring the center of the toe, from the hairline down at 3 ½ or 9 cm and make a mark. This is or may not be the exact size or length of the specific horse you are working on, but is a general anatomical measurement based on a the general anatomical measurements of the inner foot. This measurement is meant to get you within range of the size and the framework the hoof capsule should be, and creates a boundary for you to stay with in. All hoof distortion is caused by the various parts leaving their designated anatomical boundary to the inner foot and encroaching upon its neighboring anatomical part. So really this mapping strategy is all about setting up boundaries, and then fine tuning them according to your growing knowledge and understanding of the specifics. And finally being able to keep a CONSISTENT trim on each individual 20
horse. These things will lead to his being able to grow a wild or better than wild quality foot. 2. Sides of the toe. MEASURE THREE TIMES. From the center of the dorsal wall where you have just marked the length, now starting at the hairline measure over 2 or 5cm and make a mark. Then measure 3 ¼ or 8.3cm on each side and make a mark. This is where the sides of the toe of your dorsal wall will end when you have trimmed the bottom of the foot. However when you trim you do not just indiscriminately trim to that measurement, you also must pay attention to the sole as you go. Then you must find the horse's specific size from there by understanding the anatomy of the sole. Again, these measurements get you within the range of your horse s true foot size. 3. True Apex of the Frog to end of toe. MEASURE 3 TIMES. Trim down to find the true apex of the frog. this is where the tip of the frog will round off and be merged with the sole. The frog on this size horse should not be over 3 ¼ to ½ or your apex is stretched forward with the sole. Therefore measure from the base of the frog forward 3 ⅓ or 8.5cm, and use this as your true apex for now. From the true apex mark, measure forward 2 or 5 to 5.2cm. 21
Now measure 2 from the true apex of the frog forward and make a mark. You may land before or after the wall length you already have. 4. The Heel Buttress Wall. MEASURE 3 TIMES From the bottom of the base of the collateral groove, which lies between the frog and the base wall of the heel buttress measure 1 and make a mark. Follow the periple skin around the side of the foot for about an inch, where it changes and draw a line following the horn tubule to the end of the wall. Now from the periople skin (not at the hairline, but that which merges with hoof wall( measure 1 ½ and make a mark. Now draw a line between the two marks. MEASURE 3 TIMES, TRIM 1 TIME. Here is an example of what happens when you don t follow this rule. I do not know how I managed to mark the side to the right lower. I think I was looking at it from the side and drew the line. Regardless I was in a hurry doing a video and went ahead and rasped it down to that. This was a cadaver foot, but still. As it 22
is in this preliminary trim it s fine but later I just rasped it down to that line. I think now studying the picture that the reason I drew the line that way was on that side I followed the growth line and on the other side I just eyeballed it to kind of taper up. Both sides of the toe were jammed up, and the walls was buckled and compressed and being forced out away from its anatomically correct position. However put the horse on soft ground or bedding, moisturize the feet, by soaking and most likely those sides of the toe are going to relax, come in and drop down. Never do a trim expecting to go and ride a horse the same day. The feet should be allowed a time to readjust and settle. I suppose it s okay if people have boots but I myself would just never do that to a horse. 23