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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Vital information, flawed presentation, January 18, 2006
I think every horse owner should read this book carefully, for two reasons. First, it will challenge your management practices and possibly prevent you from ever having to deal with a foundered horse. Second, if one of your horses ever does experience founder, Jackson offers a proven recovery process, and you will need to comprehend it before you call your vet and/or farrier.
Founder causes the death of a scandalously high number of horses and condemns many more to a lifetime of suffering. It remains a mystery, and veterinary research and treatment is all over the map. Jackson developed his philosophy by observing wild mustangs, who unlike their domestic brethren, almost never suffer founder. The author's conclusion is that this difference is completely due to life-style rather than genetics. Consequently, you can prevent founder by creating an environment for your horses that mimics life in the wild, and by managing the horse's hoofs to simulate the mustang hoof.
The foot of a healthy horse suspends the coffin bone in the hoof capsule with a thick concave sole between the coffin bone and the ground. In founder, the laminae attaching the hoof wall to the coffin bone lets go, allowing the coffin bone to drop. In extreme cases the coffin bone will drop so far that it penetrates the sole of the foot. Some times the hoof will be completely sloughed off the foot. Jackson's approach to treating founder is refreshingly common sense. Horses grow new hoofs from the hairline down in about nine months anyway, so with help (proper diet, frequent trimming, and exercise) there's no reason he can't be better than new in a year or less, even in severe cases.
A former farrier, Jackson no longer believes in shoeing, and has founded a promising barefoot movement. Adherents believe that most horses will never need shoes if their hoofs are properly trimmed, and that horses that need protection would be better served by wearing hoof boots.
Negatives: First, Jackson's advice varies from the authoritative to the speculative, and he doesn't distinguish. For example, working from the wild horse model and drawing on years of trial and error in trimming, the author makes a persuasive case that your horse is better off without shoes. He loses me when he argues that the use of bute, tranquilizers, vaccinations and worming medications somehow present a founder risk.
I can see why a horse would be healthier in a large dry lot eating free-choice grass hay than either stall confinement or knee deep in alfalfa pasture. I'm less convinced that neither my hay nor my pasture grass can contain any trace of legumes or fescue, particularly when Jackson thinks it's fine to feed controlled quantities of oats, carrots, apples, and sugar treats. Even though Jackson admits that no good studies exist on wild mustang diet, he is uniformly categorical in his recommendations.
Second, in the case study presented in the book, the horse experiences significant pain following trimming. Jackson seems to regard that as normal. The most successful of Jackson's disciples, Pete Ramey, says even foundered horses should be more comfortable following a trim, not less. For that reason I would steer anyone who wants to learn to do their own trimming to start with Ramey's book, Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You. For a preview and additional information on learning to trim, type Ramey's name into google - you'll find a lot of resources on the web.
Third and last in the negative category, Jackson falls into kind of a marketing speak, which I found distracting. I have a personal loathing for the word holistic, and the author finds a need to insert on just about every other page. It's a different way of managing livestock, not a religion. (Interestingly, Jackson has no use for magnets, massage, acupuncture, herbal drenches, etc., all of which some would consider holistic.)
Negatives aside, this is an important book and part of an important movement. Ramey does trimming clinics around the country, and he admits veterinarians free. Jackson has published papers with farriers' associations. Clinician Clinton Anderson promotes Ramey's work and has converted all his horses back to running barefoot. I hope that large-scale university research is coming. We could be headed for a revolution in horse care.
Until the revolution comes, if your horse founders, you need this book. Better yet, if you read this book you probably won't have to worry about founder.
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