What should a properly trimmed barefoot hoof look like?

I'm trying to learn more about hooves

There are a number of websites that you can look at (google barefoot horse trim), and one that is often referenced is Barefoot for Soundness

Keep in mind, though, that every horse's feet look different and there are many trimming philosophies, so don't expect that a good trim needs to look like the pictures. This may be too simplistic for many, but in my experience, if the horse is comfortable, the trim is fine. If the horse is sore or lame, then I would question the trim.

Something like this.

Horse shoes image by crashley_j on Photobucket

Hi,

Good for you! I think it is just so important that horse owners educate themselves well on this topic. Being a HCP specialising in rehab, IMO most 'acute' problems come about because the more minor(but often chronic) problems are unrecognised or ignorred.

IMO 'what should a properly trimmed hoof look like' is the real question - shouldn't be fundamentally different to a shod one. But as others have mentioned, the specifics are individual & it depends. Altho the *principles* that govern what/how you do it are pretty well uniform, so that's the most important thing to understand IMO. It also depends what a hoof is like before the trim as to what it 'should' look like after. Eg. A well trimmed, healthy, high performance bare foot will look vastly different from a well trimmed foundered foot.

Hoofrehab.com & barehoofcare.com are another 2 great & well researched sites with heaps of info & links to other good sites & references.

Thanks guys this is really helpful :)