Post Trim Soundness
We never want horses to be sore after a trim, and when you get the trimming down to a fine art, it’s a rare occurrence.
Post trim soreness is bound to happen occasionally, especially with newer trimmers, but if it is happening consistently something is going wrong. We tend more to being empathetic and gentle when people are struggling to get their horses sound after their trims, but that does not mean we are comfortable with it or encourage it in any way.
Consistent post trim soreness means there is something in the trim that can be improved upon. This is not always able to be seen in 2D photos, and relies heavily on developing a feel with floating the pattern and getting feedback from the horse both during and after the trim. We do our best to help give feedback and provide all the resources we can, but we’re not holding the tools or standing next to the horse. Everyone has their own learning curve.
Consistent tenderness throughout the cycle means the trimming is too tight/invasive for the current stage of development, and/or the horse is being used beyond their current capabilities. Hoof building is like physical therapy, and the condition of the hooves to start with will dictate the rate at which improvements can be made and strength is built.
This does not mean it takes years to produce a sound horse. Comfort and movement should improve from the very first trim. David generally says to give the horse two years without placing any expectations on how they can perform. That doesn’t mean they are unsound during that two years. It just means that you don’t overload them or force any movement above what they are comfortable offering. Then after two years, once you have grown out the distortion and you are starting to build the feet up, you can build the workload up and it will be beneficial to their hooves and their body instead of degenerative.
Movement on depleted or distorted feet transfers the wear and tear into the joints and the body. They can be functionally sound while incrementally destroying themselves. That’s why so many horses are retired in their teens, and stiff and sore in their 20s. If you build the feet, they can have a longer ridden career and a sound and flexible old age. You’ll also start to see the difference in movement and the vast spectrum of what horse people accept as sound. Once you’ve seen horses move that are able to take their feet for granted and every step is light and springy, the horses that have flat dead feet and are constantly stiff and compensating just don’t look appealing any more.
The exceptions to the timeline of building and soundness are severe founder cases or hooves with a lot of existing coffin bone loss and soft tissue depletion. Horses like that (e.g. Sera, Bruno) are a different kettle of fish and it can take the trimmer much longer to find consistent soundness, but there really is no sustainable or comfortable alternative for those horses.
We are not here to convince anyone to trim in a certain way. That would be exhausting and futile. We can only share what we know and what we have experienced. I am saying ‘we’ here but David obviously has inexplicably more knowledge and experience than me. I have however spent the last six years learning everything I can from him about how this trimming works, how the internal anatomy responds, the stages of development, the process of building a hoof to fully live and well developed status, and everything that goes along with that journey. I have also witnessed many people (quietly or loudly) go in a different direction. Trimming this way doesn’t just require physical skills. It requires a lot of personal reflection and emotional energy. Not everyone is up for that, and that is ok.
Ultimately you have to decide whether you want the short term functional soundness, with horses whose feet are structurally unsound but less sensitive and able to be ridden immediately, or take the time upfront to build feet that will carry them throughout the rest of their lives (assuming you maintain them). Taking on the responsibility of building hooves is a huge commitment. Building hooves takes a long time, but learning to build hooves takes even longer. Not everyone is up for that, and again that’s ok. It is a personal decision for each person. For those that want to take the building road, we will always be here.
