Meet Piloni, owner Nikki Kagan in Israel

Here Nikki gives us a brief introduction:

I bought Piloni when he was 11 years old. He had been ridden hard as a reining champion but in the few years prior to him becoming part of my life he spent a good deal of time stalled, except for the hour or so on some days when he was ridden English.

He had been wearing shoes for all of his life, although born in the Golan Heights of Israel, he, like others from that part of the world, likely had sturdy little feet and strong legs due to the rocky, hilly and rough terrain.

After some gentle encouragement from Heike and my sister, despite not having even a single soul educated or willing to help with this seemingly outrageous idea of pulling shoes (including my farrier), and despite being told he had retracted heels and could never go barefoot, I removed his shoes. I remember the day. I was both scared and exhilarated…

Guided by Heike through pictures, email and phone conversations, I pulled the rears first in February of 2008. The fronts followed just 3 short months later—in late May of that same year. I was determined to do whatever it took to make this work—by now I had done a lot of reading and was convinced that going barefoot would improve his health and overall quality of life. This all happened to coincide when he was in the midst of a recovery process which included heavy doses of anti-inflammatory drugs because he was battling a severe eye injury that in the end, left him single-sighted. From my perspective, that was one more reason to pull his shoes—to help get his blood moving and pumping in the way nature intended.

I knew that it might mean temporary changes in how I would ride, the terrain we could comfortably cover, as well as dietary enhancements—all of which were necessary, and some of which still are.

Even in the first few weeks, I saw steady and significant positive changes in the quality of his frog, wall and sole. Knowing virtually nothing, the learning curve was fast and steep because Piloni’s feet depended upon it. He was patient and tolerant of my clumsiness and of the time it took me to care for his feet each day. He wore boots outside, wondered at the strange tastes of the weird things I had begun adding to his feed to support healthy hoof growth, and stood for long periods as I learned to poke, prod and rasp…(with rewards of “carrot coins” in between for being so patient!)

Here we are, nearly two years later, with healthy, strong feet. His frogs are full and healthy, his walls, nearly nonexistent before, have thickened considerably (with more to go) and he no longer wears boots on any terrain. He still can be “ouchy” on rocky roads, but he chooses to walk on the sides and of course I let him walk where he’s most comfortable. He no longer is afraid of asphalt roads (where shoes are slippery) and thrush is a rare (and mild) occurrence. AND…I’ve gotten better and faster at trimming!

Hind feet the day of shoe removal at age 14. FEB. 26, 2009