“Wild horse” shape vs. typical long-heeled style

Barefoot works best when the horse’s foot is trimmed to a fairly short-heeled shape. The drawings below of a short- and long-heeled shape (not accurate in details) show what happens to the coffin bone when the heels are long.

Click here to go to an excellent article in Professional Farrier Magazine, that explains the problems with the “box foot trim.”

“Triangle foot” as worn by wild horses

— short heels (comfortable)

— coffin bone is “ground-parallel” (level)

— pastern is sloped for good shock absorption

“Box foot” trim used by many farriers

— long heels (painful)

— coffin bone is not “ground-parallel”

— pastern is upright, loss of shock absorption

Bottom view of a “triangle foot”

— frog and heels are wide

— bulbs are wide apart 

— heels meet the corners of the frog

— bars are straight, making a strong heel structure

 

Bottom view of a “box foot”

— frog and heels are contracted

— bulbs and frog are creased together

— heels are forward from the corners of the frog

— bars are squeezed into a curve