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68 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 12, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 15, 2004 Cheryl Henderson, left, gives Linda Boehland, Teri Arrasmith and Joy Downs some pointers on trimming hooves during a workshop for horse owners at her ranch Saturday. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli No luck with horseshoes? Then maybe what your steed needs is to go barefoot, a trend that’s starting to gain a toehold By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune When Cajun came to Cheryl Henderson, he was lame with heel pain. "This horse’s fate was the tallow works," said Henderson, who lives on a ranch outside Jacksonville. Cajun, a retired racing thoroughbred with a bloodline tracing back to Man O’War, faced being put down at age 10 because of navicular syndrome, changes in the navicular bone that cause pain. Then Henderson, who was given the horse, took off his shoes. "In three months that horse is riding all the mountain trails now," she said. "Cajun was a navicular horse that natural hoof trim saved. He’ll live another 20 years." Advertisement Henderson, 55, who’s had horses for 40 years, is so sold on the idea of bare horse hooves that she studied anatomy and hoof trimming so she could teach others. Horse owners from the Applegate to Portland come to sit in a hot barn to scrape and cut smelly horse hooves. The hooves are from Southern Oregon Tallow Co. Inc. in Eagle Point. Kat Woodring of Mount Shasta, Calif., was among the group attending Saturday’s workshop. Woodring studied advanced horseshoeing and blacksmithing in Oklahoma for her career. "I came back and started shoeing and trimming," said the former Rogue River resident. Then she attended a lecture on natural hoof care in January. One week later, she removed her animals’ horseshoes and they’ve been off ever since. She said the problem with horseshoes is they invite bacteria, and feet can actually be rotting beneath them. But some say bare hooves are risky. Terry Jackson of Eagle Point, who has been a farrier for almost 40 years, said not all horses do well barefoot. "It kinda depends on the use of the horse," he said in a telephone interview. "Probably more horses have been harmed by that method than helped, I think," he said. A horse running free through a meadow is different from a horse being ridden over rough terrain. "They’ll get foot sores like you and I do walking barefoot on rocks," he said. "They can get cracks and bruises." The key is for the horse to be properly shod, he said. Carol Smith, who has attended several barefoot horse clinics, said she has talked with skeptical farriers who say that barefoot is best as long as you’re not riding a horse. But she said once the hoof toughens up a bit, both horse and rider can benefit. "In riding the horses they’re much more sure-footed ... they can feel the ground," said Smith, of Edgewood, Calif. And she said as a rider she prefers it as well. "The ride is not as jarring," she said. She said while the issue is controversial, it’s not merely the latest passing fad. "I meet a lot of old-timers who never shod their horses," she said. Candy Kahn, who also lives outside Jacksonville, competes in endurance riding. She said her horses have been barefoot for a year. She said horseshoes can affect blood circulation in the foot, thereby the whole body, and that shoes can make a horse’s foot numb. She predicts more and more people will change to natural hoof care. "This is definitely a movement that’s being paid attention to," she said. If you go WHAT : Free monthly workshop on hoof care, including trimming instruction with cadaver horse feet, sponsored by United Horsemanship. Tools and cadaver hoof will be provided for $5. WHEN : 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. the second Saturday of the month. WHERE : 6975 Sterling Creek Road, Jacksonville. CONTACT : Cheryl Henderson, 899-1535. For more information, go to www.marthaolivo.com/grooms.shtml on the Web. 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