I spend a lot of time thinking about what makes a hoof capable of handling the job we ask of it. It’s easy to assume that horses competing at a high level must need more intervention, more protection, or some completely different approach to hoofcare than the average horse. But what happens when a horse is traveling the world, competing at an incredibly high level, tackling different footing and terrain – and doing it barefoot? And how much of that success actually comes down to the hoof itself, versus everything we do to build a sound horse around it? That’s why I reached out to Matt French to chat with me about his experiences competing with his mustang, Navarro.
Matt and Navarro compete in working equitation, and our conversation went in so many interesting directions, from traveling to Europe for international competition, to the differences Matt has noticed keeping horses on the West Coast versus the East Coast. We talked about turnout, conditioning, training horses for soundness, different surfaces and environments, and the idea that hoof health isn’t something we can completely separate from how a horse lives and moves the other 23 hours of the day.
You can hear the entire conversation on any podcast app under “The Humble Hoof,” or directly at this link.
