-- skrape ut kalkaktig, oppsprukket,  løs,  "død såle," avslutt når du får fram solid såle.

-- bruk den solide sålen som landemerke eller guide for trimming av hovveggen. (Trimming til "ideelle" vinkler forutsetter tynning av sålen, noe som vil kunne gjøre hesten sårbeint .)

-- dersom hælene er lange, kan de kortes ned inntil de er litt lenger en såleoverflaten i drakthjørnene. Dette gir deg nok å gå på til at du får hvelvet draktene uten å fjerne solid sålemateriale. Etter den første trimmen skal overlange hæler (drakthjørner) kortes ned gradvis, men bare når sålen signaliserer dette ved å forme "dødt sålehorn").

-- trim ned for lang hovvegg, men bare til kanten av sålen. Ikke etterlat en ujevn såle tilpasset en perfekt hovvegg. Det er bedre med litt lengde på hovveggen og la sålen justere seg til kontakt med underlaget fram til neste trim. 

-- rasp av all sleng til innsiden av lamellranden, og rund av så det ikke finnes ujevnheter i hovranden eller på utsiden av hovkapselen.

The transition period is over when the sole regains concavity (due to the white line tightening up completely) and the horse walks on gravel as if it were grass.
 

The "inconvenience" of transition can be eliminated by not putting shoes on young horses in the first place.

Being realistic about transition

The "white line" is a layer of interlocking laminae. Like a sort of living Velcro (hook-and-loop tape), it connects the hoof wall securely to the coffin bone. (See photos on Hoof Shape page.) When the foot is weighted, the white line takes most of the weight of the horse, shared somewhat with the sole. It takes an enormous supply of blood (nutrients) to keep the white line strong enough to handle this awesome job. Horseshoes reduce circulation inside the hoof; the "starved" white line becomes weak and stretchy.

I don't think I've ever seen a horse that was shod for more than a year, that didn't have white line damage. Anyone who helps lots of horses return to a barefoot condition, comes to recognize that horseshoes (plus infrequent trimming due to shoeing) do damage the feet. Most feet are going to be sore for a while after you pull the shoes -- fronts much more than hinds, because they carry more of the horse's weight.

It can be very hard to admit to ourselves that we have caused this much damage to our beloved horses' feet by doing what we thought was best for them, e.g. keeping them shod. I know how hard it is from personal experience, as well as from "holding the hand" of horse owners while they go through the early part of Transition. The truth is, we made them sore; and so we get to live through the recovery time with them, including not riding for a while if necessary.

In general, it takes about a year of correct care before the de-shod hoof returns to the complete soundness it had before-shoes. The issue when you pull the shoes is not "Can I take him on a long, rocky trail ride tomorrow?" but rather "What's a good program to rehabilitate his feet?"

The "white line strategy" trim (see Flares page) dramatically shortens the early part of transition; in some cases months of unrideability can be reduced to days. Generally it will not mean the week after the "first trim" will be totally pain-free.

Hoof boots (see list below) are an important tool for the transition to barefoot; the comfort they provide will help your state-of-mind as much as they help the horse.

Another tool is your decision to be patient and trust the horse to heal. They do heal. They get better than you can imagine. I get email from people happily reporting on "my horse's rock-crunching hooves."

All the de-shod horses I know of became barefoot-rideable within a few days to about a year, given these conditions of care: -- a non-invasive, "natural" or "wild-horse" trim;

-- "white line strategy" used wherever there is white line separation (flaring); stretched white line is painful;

-- a consistent trimming schedule so that the walls never get more than "the thickness of 2 credit cards" longer than the sole;

-- hoof boots used on front feet when riding on gravel, rocks, pavement, or frozen ground;

-- the most turnout you can arrange; 24 / 7 is most effective;

-- a lot of hand-walking (if unrideable) or riding on firm footing; many miles per day is most effective.

Here are the trimming steps that allow the horse to transition without soreness (see Trim page for more detailed instructions): -- Scrape out chalky, flaky, or crackled "dead sole" until you get to solid (so-called "live") sole.

-- Use the sole itself as the landmark or guide for trimming the hoof wall. Trim excess wall and heel length to the edge of the sole, no farther. Balancing the foot side-to-side is included in this step.

-- Shorten overgrown bars down to the level of the sole, or until there is no dirt line between the bar and the sole.

-- Rasp off flares with a vertical cut (see Photo Gallery #13b and #18a); be sure to round-in in so that there are no bulges or corners in the outline of the footprint.

-- Where the white line (yellowish) is tight, bevel or "mustang roll" the bottom of the wall as far as the water line (white layer of wall). Where the white line is stretched or separated (looks dirty, or there is a groove between wall and sole), extend the roll all the way to the edge of the sole.

When we have a stretched white line -- due to the lack of nutrition in a shod hoof, or due to the mechanical forces of a flare -- the coffin bone sinks away from the hoof wall and presses down onto the sole corium. The corium gets inflamed by the constant pressure of the bone. When the horse walks on gravel or rocks, it hurts. It's like when you have an inflamed finger; you'd rather not bump into sharp corners with it.
 

Here is a cross-section diagram through a hoof with a tight white line (left), and a hoof with a stretched white line (right). Notice that the coffin bone actually hangs lower inside the hoof capsule; it sits down onto the sole corium and inflames it; and the sole is flatter.

The horse will not go sound-on-gravel (or other hard, uneven terrain) until the white line has healed and tightened up, and the coffin bone is held firmly up inside the hoof wall. This should generally happen within a year, with a consistently renewed mustang roll.

Do not expect to ride your horse on gravel, rough pavement, frozen ground, or rocky trails without front hoof boots, during the first year after pulling the shoes.

Winter is a hard time for transition horses. Expect that your horse will be sore when the ground freezes, through the first and sometimes the second winter after pulling the shoes, even though he is sound on soft ground. You may need to provide boots for turnout on frozen ground.

Some transitioning horses go sore on deep sand or very soft arena footing. This is because the soft landing doesn't provide enough concussion to flex the hoof, so that there is reduced circulation and the feet become uncomfortably congested. The best solution I can suggest is to ride at least 10 minutes on firm ground, before and after the arena work, to get lots of circulation inside the hooves.

There are types if arena footing that are quite firm without being slippery. One kind used in my area is quarry screenings left over from making gravel. I would like to see us replace soft arenas with firm footing that gives the feet enough concussion. After all, for many of our horses, the arena is where their hooves get most of their work.

Several structures in addition to the white line are damaged by shoes: -- The unpigmented, inner layer of hoof wall ("water line") is a tough, shock-absorbing structure. Horseshoes weaken it, reducing shock absorption in the entire hoof wall. In the barefoot hoof, the water line gets more concussion and gradually becomes denser and stronger.

-- The digital cushion is a shock-absorbing structure just above the frog. Made of fatty tissue with a "hammock" of fibrous webbing, it supports the descending pastern. It loses condition in shod and confined horses. Increased use of the digital cushion rebuilds its fibrous toughness.

-- The typical "long-heel, toe-pulled-forward" trim makes the front feet land toe-first and leads to "navicular" pain at the impar ligament. A wild-horse trim with a rockered toe changes the stride so that the foot can land heel-first (see Trim page).

-- Where shoes have pressed the heel together, resulting in a crease between the bulbs, a fungus infection can become chronic in horses living in rainy areas. Fungus shows up as heel lameness, and prevents widening of the frog and heels. (See More Topics page.)

Abscessing should be unusual after pulling the shoes. Most often it is the result of thinning the sole, or invasive trimming of other hoof parts. To avoid abscessing, do not thin the sole in any area, other than scraping off chalky/crackled material.

Pete Ramey reports that only one in ten foundered horses that he sees, ever abscess as part of their healing process (see Founder page).

When hoof boots are called for: -- During transition or with any flared foot, when you ride on gravel roads, rocky trails, or frozen ground; protects the inflamed sole corium.

-- If the old hoof walls are thin or brittle; prevents the wall from wearing too fast.

-- For a horse working on a very abrasive surface that wears the feet faster than they are growing. May only be needed part of the time (such as alternate days).

-- For foundered horses that are too sore to move around much on their own; protects the sole corium and the tip of the rotated coffin bone.

Usually boots are only needed on the front feet; a horse working on abrasive pavement might need boots on all four.

In rainy areas, there seems to be a lot of fungus (different from thrush; see More Topics page), which thrives in "warm and wet" places such as the deep crease in the frog between contracted heels. Daily foot soaking doesn't give the hoof a chance to really dry out and throw off a fungus infection. I have not soaked my horse's feet for several years now.