Barefoot hoof care clinic-Part one

I am hosting a Barefoot Hoofcare Clinic this weekend with instructor Tara Wilson. Friday afternoon and evening was a classroom session, where we learned about the anatomy of the hoof and the function of the different parts.Now that may sound a little boring, but it was actually quite interesting, and it was presented in a way that was easy to understand and relate to our own horses. We were also shown things to look for when we headed out the next morning to start our hands on. From mapping the hoof to handling tools properly and making those first nips, parings and rasping, we all got to have a go at it, working in pairs with a horse.
I used Coyote Belle, and there was a Gypsy Vanner, a bay mare that Coyote Belle wanted to buddy up to, and another mare. I got to practice how to properly trim bars, and realize that I hadn't been doing it properly at all.

Here my partner was working on the bars; this is Coyote Belle's bad leg and you can see how far under her body we had to work. We only managed to get 2 feet done, and Tara had to help us finish the second one to get it done before dark.

I'll do another post tomorrow- I'm pretty tired!