The Misunderstanding of the Calloused Layer
“The frog is a cushion for the horse and should not be touched” was a statement that was made a couple of decades ago that somehow became a rule for most barefooters and was even adopted by many farriers. Makes sense, right? The bigger the frog, the better the cushion. The problem is, it didn’t solve very many lameness issues and the practice seems to cause more distortion that leads to more lameness. “Leaving a protective layer on the frog” is also a very general phrase. Horses won’t commit their weight to the back of the foot if it’s not shaped correctly. I trim off the hard dead retained frog tissue and smooth it down to the outermost insensitive ( but supple ) layer to give the back of the foot optimal comfort for load bearing. When the horse is comfortably applying the correct amount of weight to the back of their foot they move better and build soft tissue. This creates a beneficial cycle of development and performance
I’m always trying to trim for maximum comfort without compromising continual development. I get some criticism from the barefoot community for the way I trim frogs. I’ve been accused of trimming the frog “like a farrier”. This makes sense because I started out shoeing horses. I was taught to “clean up the frog”, whether I was going to apply shoes or do a “pasture trim.” At that time I was just doing what I was taught without questioning it. After a few significant and life altering events, I gave up on steel shoes and went strictly barefoot. I realized right away that there was a big difference between an unshod horse and a high performance bare foot horse. I studied a lot of theories and started applying these concepts to my trimming. Through trial and error I came up with a protocol that I was comfortable enough with that I felt like I was helping horses. It wasn’t until I had the chance to study free range hooves up close at a couple of different Arizona ranches that I understood what a sustainable high performance hoof should actually look like. The ceiling was dramatically lifted for me...I saw that horses feet were meant to be beautiful and sustainable. It gave me hope for the many horses I had seen that had damaged feet.
One of the main take-aways for me was the seamless transition from the heel bulbs through the frog and low profile heels. Another was the depth of the collateral grooves and solar dome. Another detail that gave me a lot to consider was the amount of clearance between the frog and the ground. It was the difference between making a frog print on firm footing with 3 or 4 mm of soft dirt at the surface and not making a frog print on less forgiving footing.
These horses were born and lived on hundreds of acres of rocky and gravelly terrain. If these horses could gallop on this footing with these feet, they would surely do well in sandy arenas and grass pastures.
From that experience I started to picture a different hoof form. One that could be encouraged, through trimming, that would simulate miles of wear and set the horse up for continual development.
I start this process by relieving the frog of any uncomfortable dead tissue that’s accumulated in the central sulcus, along the collateral grooves, and at the border between the frog and heel bulbs, trapping bacteria between the dead and live layers.
It was many years later that I realized the secret to finding every horse’s true heel height is keeping the frog trued up to the shape of it’s corium. This doesn’t mean trimming into sensitive tissue. That would be harmful. It means knowing the shape of the frog’s corium at every stage of development and the difference between sensitive live tissue, insensitive live tissue, and insensitive dead tissue. If the trim schedule is frequent enough to be making progress...it’s not the same trim every time. The feet should be gaining live tissue depth. Frog clearance should eventually come from sole and soft tissue depth. You should not be merely cutting the frog out of the picture or leaving the heels just long enough so that you don’t have to touch the frog to get clearance. I should say here that the trimmer’s perception of frog function and their ability to continually question that without being paralyzed in doubt will strongly influence their trim decisions. The ability to remain flexible and open to new trimming ideas without appearing flaky is a difficult task. You have to pay attention to what kind of a result you are getting and find your own way. It’s much easier to just follow someone blindly and then blame them when you fail. It’s taken me years of paying attention to the horse’s response to every aspect of my trim to find the shape that the frog needs to be at any given time for optimal comfort and use. I feel that the frog plays many roles in hoof function. It’s not as simple as a pump or a stop, and the horse’s success depends on the trimmer’s ability to visualize and feel what it would be like to be in the horse’s feet.
It is possible to hold that thought/feeling, asking the horse how they feel about it, while mindfully trimming each structure and bringing each foot and the rest of the horse together. If this sounds too “mystical” then I believe you’re missing out...and so is the horse.
When the frog is trimmed at just the right layer it re-callouses within minutes and maintains a dynamic but favorable position above the ground for the duration of the trim cycle. In order to hold myself accountable for making improvements, I don’t train horses to stand, I don’t tie them, and I’ve never had to sedate a horse for a trim.
They can always have their foot back...and they can walk away if they want to. When they like what I’m doing they come right back. This creates a horse that free and able to express themselves through movement.
