The Bare Hoof

The Bare Hoof Hi! My name is Bekka, owner of The Bare Hoof. I'm passionate about creating healthier bodies & minds with a kind, holistic, healthy barefoot approach.

Wish I'd taken before photos, but this guy was not on my trim list & I was just helping out a friend. Finding his seat o...
12/16/2025

Wish I'd taken before photos, but this guy was not on my trim list & I was just helping out a friend. Finding his seat of corn was so satisfying!
She's sold, he walked out sound after I took about an inch off in the quarters & I have myself another student, lol!
Today was a good day.

It is hard doing new, scary things. Especially, if they effect your 4 legged friends. So proud of my apprentice Elena, f...
09/16/2025

It is hard doing new, scary things. Especially, if they effect your 4 legged friends. So proud of my apprentice Elena, for all of her hard work. 1 year down, many more to go!

My guy who had huge 'holes' in his heels along with a limp. It was really just tall heels & retained dead sole. He was a...
09/10/2025

My guy who had huge 'holes' in his heels along with a limp. It was really just tall heels & retained dead sole. He was also able to forgo surgery on this leg (there is a bone chip in there) because we took pressure off the painful spots. No more limp! It's so cool when the layers of the knowledge onion peel off & the ability to understand a concept gets just a little bit clearer.

Navicular is like an equine cuss word. I freaking hate it as much a founder, strangles, or colic. Every day isn't always...
09/04/2025

Navicular is like an equine cuss word. I freaking hate it as much a founder, strangles, or colic.
Every day isn't always ease. I used to have my shoulders almost ripped out of their socket trimming her. Sweetest mare with a really crappy lot in life. She won the owner jackpot when she changed hands & landed in a home that focused on her hooves. This foot has been a pain to change. But today, we had huge changes in the best way. False soul came off, bar slag gone, huge amount of wall gone & her heels came back on both fronts. Today made me smile!

7 months. That's how long it takes to grow out a hoof. Times that by 2. That's how long it takes to restore the outside ...
09/01/2025

7 months. That's how long it takes to grow out a hoof. Times that by 2. That's how long it takes to restore the outside hoof capsule. Times that by 2. That is how long it takes to regenerate a fully live, fully functional digital cushion. Look at those heel bulbs! We are getting there!

I'm Spirit's trimmer, but I'm also his trainer. It's been so cool to feel him carry himself BETTER than he did when we started with his shoes on. I can't wait to see what the next 21 months brings us.

I've been really quiet in the posting department lately. The winds of change have swept through my life & I'm in a time ...
08/22/2025

I've been really quiet in the posting department lately. The winds of change have swept through my life & I'm in a time of shifting. It's not a bad thing, but it does take all my energy to shift through the change & some things go by the wayside.

Today I had to post. I get hard on myself. I want so badly for horses to be happy & sound, pain free. I never want to cause it, but sometimes I have expectations on myself that I have to be perfect. That better isn't enough, I need to be the best. My mentor reminded me yesterday that better is always better for the horses, even if it takes time. I can't magically fix really messed up horses in 1 trim. I can't undo all the years of damage in 4 months. But, I can quietly make changes that brings about big changes over time.

I wish I had taken pictures of Lucky before the first trim. I was nervous of taking too long & being an inconvenience. So this is after her 1st trim, 2nd trim & today, about her 13th trim. Could it have happened faster? Definitely. If I was perfect, it would have gone faster. But, she is where she is today & we, along with her owner, are all happier because of it. Today, I'm going to be at peace with my trims knowing I am making a difference. One trim at a time.

Huge shout out to Farrah, her owner. She has trusted me through this process, even when it looked ugly. I appreciate those that are willing to run the marathon with me & not get put out after the initial sprint.

Imagine walking around in a pair of 3 inch heels all day, every day. Then, imagine walking around in those same 3 inch h...
05/24/2025

Imagine walking around in a pair of 3 inch heels all day, every day. Then, imagine walking around in those same 3 inch heels, where the inside has an extra ΒΌ inch & the outside is worn down. At first, it wouldn't seem so bad, but after an hour or two, or the day, week, month...you'd definitely notice the discrepancy. Next, imagine not being able to take them off. Think of the pain that would start in your feet, travel to your ankles, knees, hips & eventually up into your back. Let's take it even further. Picture standing all day like that with maybe an hour off of your feet. Envision someone asking you to run in them. Finally, they ask you to run in them while you carry them on your back.
Sounds painful doesn't it?
This is essentially what we do, unknowingly or not, when our horses aren't laterally balanced.

Some of my pictures aren't perfect (it was very bright out yesterday afternoon & hard to see my camera) but check out this sweet mares heel bulb photos - 2nd image on each hoof. This is my 3rd trim, after I have substantial taken the medial heel down for the 3rd time. When I started, she had over 1 inch of imbalance between the medial & lateral heel, causing her lateral heel to fold in on itself & her medial heel to run forward.

Each trim, I take the medial heel down, push the seat of corn back & gently push the lateral heel back out.
It was so nice to have her sleeping through the second half of the trim, she was so relaxed.

Millimeters matter!




I'm a firm believer in helping a horse feel comfortable during work. For a horse, having their hooves trimmed can be wor...
11/13/2024

I'm a firm believer in helping a horse feel comfortable during work. For a horse, having their hooves trimmed can be work. It takes mental work to resist dancing around after standing for any amount of time for a lot of horses. It takes mental work for some horses to leave the 3 Fs (freedom, friends, forage) & come hang out with their trimmer. It takes mental work to trust someone to take away one of their legs, especially when they are a flight animal. It might not be a physically hard job, but it can still take work.
During Chado's trim, he started showing some signs of unease. He was dancing around & had a general air of annoyance while I trimmed his front left hoof. We tried to work through it, but as his agitation grew, we decided to let him out for a bit & work on one of the other horses. After he went out, he immediately relieved himself, got a roll in & came back a new, happier, less wiggly man. We were able to finish his trim without a hitch.
Try not to take it personal when a horse struggles with things you see as easy. Try not to label them as bad, difficult, or any of the other negative things we so easily jump to. A little bit of empathy can go a long way down the road to partnership...and a better trim.

Between trimming 40 horses a month, training 13-15 & doing photography on the side, I've had a crazy summer & haven't po...
09/25/2024

Between trimming 40 horses a month, training 13-15 & doing photography on the side, I've had a crazy summer & haven't posted much. Harley's owner sent me some photos today & I had to share this one.

When people tell me navicular has to be managed with shoes, I tell them it can be reversed with proper trim, diet, footing, & movement.
I started trimming Harley at the end of April 2024. You can see the state of her hoof a year ago (long before I touched them) was pretty sad. Pinched in/run forward heel, long toe, tons of retained sole (not pictured), & major distortortion all around. She was extremely lame, in boots 24/7.

It's been a long time coming, but every correction we've done set her up for our trim yesterday. Tons of false sole finally separated from the true sole, reviling wall that was ready to come off. Her heel bulb is filling out, letting us know we have a healthier digital cushion underneath. She is now walking soundly without her boots. I can't wait for the day her owner can lope her.

I don't usually post a before & after of all 4 hooves, but I thought since I was documenting them, I might as well put t...
07/02/2024

I don't usually post a before & after of all 4 hooves, but I thought since I was documenting them, I might as well put them all up here.
We can make big changes quickly on a very distorted hoof but the fine changes, especially the internal ones, take time.

I'm not always the best at posting the same horse over and over again. Especially the ones that aren't much to write hom...
06/05/2024

I'm not always the best at posting the same horse over and over again. Especially the ones that aren't much to write home about.
I want people to know how important good hoof care is for their horses. I personally can't imagine walking around in shoes that are worn unevenly & never being able to take them off. Then, walking on them more until I start having damage in my joints. Then, having someone make me run around on those crooked, painful joints. That is what we do every day to our horses when we don't get them trimmed regularly, or leave them with 1 shoe on, or don't get them balanced, or we feed them until they are obsessed & their feet pay for it. It is our job as caregivers to keep their schedule/diet for them. Dare I say, it is our job to educate ourselves so we may better advocate for them & know what we are looking at when we pick up their hooves.
New guy, 1 year since last trim. I'm missing 1 foot because I didn't take photos on the first hoof. It was wonderful to hear from his owner that he was moving out nicely in his paddock the following day.
My biggest focus on this trim was to try to take the pressure off of the tip of P3 (coffin bone), address the drastic flairs, the crazy overgrown bars & open up the seat of the corn while getting his heels to be better at weight bearing.

1st & 2nd trim. Short cycle with heavy focus on removing necrotic tissue from the frog & balancing the collateral groove...
05/17/2024

1st & 2nd trim.
Short cycle with heavy focus on removing necrotic tissue from the frog & balancing the collateral grooves makes for a happier hoof.

During Sequoia's first trim, I focused on removing decayed layers of her frog, especially in the central sulcus & finding the true apex. Her frog detached in multiple places after that. It pealed off with my hand on the second trim, reviling a beautiful, balanced frog underneath. I am happy to see the apex pulling back as the heel opens up. I also made sure she had clean openings in the collateral grooves & rounded out her heels, smoothing out any rough spots in the entire backside of the hoof.
The side by sides show the widest part of the hoof moving further back & the toe & heel angles being closer in alignment.

Address

Riverton, UT
84065

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm

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+18016730831

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