Healthy hooves - the new barefoot film!

While we were at the RRR we had the same awesome camera as last year but - instead of hiring it for a day - we had it for a week.

We were incredibly fortunate with the weather and the sun shone every day which gave us fantastic filming opportunities. "We" in this context is me plus critical filming buddy Steve Leigh who not only is as obsessed with hoof footage as I am but generously came down to Exmoor before the RRR so that we could have a trial run with the camera - couldn't have done it without him! 

Another essential helping hand came from Matt who (on day 1 of the RRR and faced with a panic-stricken Nic and Steve) sorted out our issue with over-exposure (we had never used the camera in such bright conditions before!). Massive thank you Matt - it could have turned out very differently without your help.

Healthy hooves from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

You are more than welcome to share this wherever you like. The aim is to show how well healthy hooves can cope with hard work, tough surfaces and the demands of jumping, schooling and roadwork day in, day out.

When you view this you need to remember that ALL the horses in the video were previously shod and all but 2 have had serious long-term lameness - from DDFT, collateral ligament or navicular injuries - and were given a poor prognosis from their vets for a return to work.  

The fact that we have horses coming to the RRR year after year and getting better each time is due to the incredible dedication of the owners who, together with their horses, work so hard to ensure that they can continue grow the healthiest possible hooves day after day, week after week, year after year.