Best Foot Forward
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| Kennedy with Bounty and Pikka |
At Loisaba, the ridden horses have worn shoes for many years, some of them coming from the racetrack or polo fields, their hooves already altered by the effect of wearing a shoe. These horses are often Thoroughbreds or Thoroughbred-types, a breed that is notorious for having poor quality hooves. As the Coronavirus pandemic pressed upon Loisaba, and good farriers were harder to find in Kenya than ever, Jo decided to take the plunge and transition all of the shod horses to being barefoot all in one go. At least the pandemic – and the lack of visiting tourists who might want to ride – gave her the time to begin any remedial work on the horses’ hooves which also needed to harden up. From a welfare point of view she knew that it was the best decision that she could make, especially as there was so much more information and support available in what has become a growing trend across the world.
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| Jo riding Gemma |
Jo says: “Finding reliable farriers who could come regularly was starting to become a real problem. This resulted in shoddy emergency work done by people who were not well qualified. This led to shoes falling off within a month of the horse being shod, and a multitude of other problems including collapsed heels and flaring of the hoof. Not only that, but it was hard to come by good quality shoes, and the farriers would try to fit the hoof to the shoe rather than the shoe to the hoof; we even had one farrier who put back shoes on the horse’s front feet! I always have the welfare of Loisaba’s horses at heart and decided this was the time to make the leap.”
The horses went from being shod every six to eight weeks to being reviewed and trimmed every three, enabling the slightest incremental changes to be made.
“At first the horses struggled without shoes, showing tenderness on stony ground, and their hooves became chipped and cracked because of the poor quality of the hoof wall. However, with attention to diet as well as exercise, they have all hardened up, and we’re seeing great improvement in the quality and shape of their hooves.”
Critically, Jo needed to educate the grooms on how to trim the horses’ hooves correctly in order to maintain their balance and ability to work over different terrain.
“It was difficult at first to impress upon the staff the importance of a good quality trim and the need to balance the foot. They all received some training, but at one stage I even resorted to asking them to run and walk with their own shoes not fitted correctly so that they could experience what it was like to be so uncomfortable. Fortunately, one of the grooms, Kennedy began to take a forensic interest in the art of trimming and proved to have an instinct for getting it right.”
Trimming a horses’ hoof is a huge responsibility. Lying just beneath the sole and behind the hoof walls there is a complicated structure of bones and what are known as laminae, hundreds of vertical folds of extremely sensitive tissue which are filled with nerves and blood vessels which support the structure of the hoof and lower leg. Jo soon recognised that Kennedy, despite having no formal education, had a talent which needed to be nurtured.
“Although he was born into a Maa-speaking family, Kennedy also reads and speaks Swahili and English. He has intelligence and ambition and has spotted a career path in the industry that he loves."
“I obtained a lot of information from the US where horses are kept in similar conditions and luckily, Kennedy was put in direct touch with a qualified Equine Podiatrist in the UK who offered to help us for free and has supported Kennedy ever since. She was very impressed with his work each time, and that meant that I could be confident about what he was doing; there are times when the approach needed is counter-intuitive, the horse’s toe being left long and the heel rasped low in order to stimulate the frog and promote its growth, for example.”
With over twenty horses to work with, some of which had never been shod, Kennedy has an array of horses of different ages, breeds, temperament and conformation to work with.
“I wish I had six hundred horses to trim,” Kennedy says although he needs to be careful what he wishes for; handling horses’ hooves is hard on the back.
Loisaba Conservancy has recently received a parcel of samples – including Hoof Stuff and Field Paste which are useful for disinfecting and filling in cracks - from renowned British hoof care company, Red Horse, whose boss, Sam Austin, took a keen interest in the transition that was taking place at Loisaba. However, the pot of Honeyheal has been promised to the camels! Incidentally, for Kenyan horse owners, these products can be purchased from The Tack Shack in Nairobi.
Hopefully the new regime of hoof management at Loisaba will be of interest to many horse owners and the feedback from the horses’ hooves will help to inform people about the best approach.
“Since the horses went barefoot,” says Jo, “the horses seem more balanced, confident and sure-footed; barefoot seems to make far more sense in our environment.”
The horses went from being shod every six to eight weeks to being reviewed and trimmed every three, enabling the slightest incremental changes to be made.
“At first the horses struggled without shoes, showing tenderness on stony ground, and their hooves became chipped and cracked because of the poor quality of the hoof wall. However, with attention to diet as well as exercise, they have all hardened up, and we’re seeing great improvement in the quality and shape of their hooves.”
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| Gemma's hoof after a trim. |
“It was difficult at first to impress upon the staff the importance of a good quality trim and the need to balance the foot. They all received some training, but at one stage I even resorted to asking them to run and walk with their own shoes not fitted correctly so that they could experience what it was like to be so uncomfortable. Fortunately, one of the grooms, Kennedy began to take a forensic interest in the art of trimming and proved to have an instinct for getting it right.”
Trimming a horses’ hoof is a huge responsibility. Lying just beneath the sole and behind the hoof walls there is a complicated structure of bones and what are known as laminae, hundreds of vertical folds of extremely sensitive tissue which are filled with nerves and blood vessels which support the structure of the hoof and lower leg. Jo soon recognised that Kennedy, despite having no formal education, had a talent which needed to be nurtured.
 |
“Although he was born into a Maa-speaking family, Kennedy also reads and speaks Swahili and English. He has intelligence and ambition and has spotted a career path in the industry that he loves."
“I obtained a lot of information from the US where horses are kept in similar conditions and luckily, Kennedy was put in direct touch with a qualified Equine Podiatrist in the UK who offered to help us for free and has supported Kennedy ever since. She was very impressed with his work each time, and that meant that I could be confident about what he was doing; there are times when the approach needed is counter-intuitive, the horse’s toe being left long and the heel rasped low in order to stimulate the frog and promote its growth, for example.”
With over twenty horses to work with, some of which had never been shod, Kennedy has an array of horses of different ages, breeds, temperament and conformation to work with.
“I wish I had six hundred horses to trim,” Kennedy says although he needs to be careful what he wishes for; handling horses’ hooves is hard on the back.
Loisaba Conservancy has recently received a parcel of samples – including Hoof Stuff and Field Paste which are useful for disinfecting and filling in cracks - from renowned British hoof care company, Red Horse, whose boss, Sam Austin, took a keen interest in the transition that was taking place at Loisaba. However, the pot of Honeyheal has been promised to the camels! Incidentally, for Kenyan horse owners, these products can be purchased from The Tack Shack in Nairobi.
Hopefully the new regime of hoof management at Loisaba will be of interest to many horse owners and the feedback from the horses’ hooves will help to inform people about the best approach.
“Since the horses went barefoot,” says Jo, “the horses seem more balanced, confident and sure-footed; barefoot seems to make far more sense in our environment.”
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