Dr. Bowker is a research scientist but sometimes it only takes common sense to think about what is right and what is wrong.
Horses have hooves for a reason! They use their highly modified middle fingernail to gallop away from predators. The very shape of the coffin bone would tell anyone that the horse is not meant to bear weight directly on the edge of that sharp bone and certainly not if it is tipped forward with the bone column of the pastern straight up! I think on that we would all agree (except those farriers and vets who make money on that kind of pathology)
The leaf spring action of the joints of the foreleg combined with the incredible strength of the deep flexor tendon and it's attachments, is strong enough to hold a 17.3 hand horse (and his fat 200 lb rider) on one tiny foot as he lands from a jump! The integrity of the hoof capsule and it's design from the layers of horn down to the individual tubules are all responsible for absorbing shock.
But what most people don't even consider is the health of the laminar wall. It is the springs of the trampoline that hold the jumping surface to the frame. Without healthy laminar horn, the horse would HAVE to rely on a metal ring to keep the hoof tightly bound to the internal parts of the foot. And to be sure, if any blood and nerve function occurred, he would soon be unsound.
Dr. Bowker and others advise against periferal loading. The shoe is periferal loading but so also is a hoof that has over grown wall. Well .....here is where I believe we can look at the different wild horses which have adapted to various environments. The ferel horses from the wild west have very thick walls and soles, with a good amount of concavity and foot arch. The horn is worn into a functional natural hiking "shoe". The horses of the marsh lands around southern Spain have wide flat feet that help them keep from sinking into the mud. The wild asses and Zebras of Africa have very tight highly "contracted" feet to deal with harsh footing. Horses evolved AND adapted to various environments. But the hoof horn in a wild ass has a fat frog but no sole contact. That would be periferal loading as it is not loading the sole..
I do know that my horses very much like their feet when their coffin bone is well-suspended and they have an edge of horn slightly above the level of the sole. The ones of my herd that have unfortunately sustained laminitis from shoeing days and have a slightly ski-tipped coffin bone, do not have the luxury of growing a very high wall above the sole level. And the two horses I have that have very flat feet probably have flatter coffin bones as well. One was from being under-run and the other I believe occurred when he was born too early and his bones were very soft. Its a kindof a "so they're started, so they go" kind of thing. He is also genetically predisposed to having a wide foot as he is a warmblood.

Now the idea that bar grows sole. I can see how a researcher who is slicing sole samples to view under the microscope would come to that conclusion on many a horse. But the idea is like thinking that our fingernails grow the skin on our fingertips. It just doesn't make common sense. But in the case of my under-run horse, his bars do indeed mix with his sole horn. This however is a deformity, not a natural healthy condition.
And as far as those vets who believe the sole should be thick to protect the coffin bone, that is the case only if the coffin bone has already lost both it's concavity and its attachment. I know that wild horses can suffer laminitis from being trapped in a grassy area but then walk out of it if they are released. When we keep horses in pastures that are lush and have tons of acorns and are fed grain as well, we are causing the laminitis to occur. They can't walk out of it (unless the fence is down!) But think about this too. A camel walks on the thick pad of it's foot, with the toe nails in front. The pad is essentially like the horses' frog.

Oh man oh man am I tired! The program was a successful one though. I am looking forward to recieving comments other than the ooos and ahhs of the owners who's horses I trimmed on Sat. and Sun. The Fri. night program went off without a hitch thanks to Lauren Kahn and Tony, the av guy. It was in a perfect location, easily accessible right on the main road with parking and a lit sign out front which said, "Hoof Lecture". There was a big screen to show my slide show and the timing was perfect with a break where people could grab a snack and look at my hoof boot and bone collection, and dissections. The slide show ended 20 minutes before nine allowing for questions. I had several people including a recent farrier school graduate who's comment was that he hadn't learned any of this anatomy of the hoof while in his farrier course. That's no surprise.
I crammed a three day program into three hours! I'm sure it was too much for some and not enough for others but that's always true of anything.
On Sat. I was not disappointed with a variety of hoof problems. The first two horses were unfortunate victims of a trim style that advocates leaving high heels and bars. The poor horses were in a very bad state of health as a result of necrotic rotting frog and digital cushions. The bad thing is that they were probably too unhealthy to recover from a rehabilitation program. the good thing is that the owners seemed to understand and the fact that they have other horses, younger horses, that could benefit from the knowledge they gained and me trimming them if they decide to call me.
I trimmed an Arab mare that has a club foot. I think the owner was sufficiently impressed with the little mare's movement afterwards!
Then I trimmed this big beautiful draft quarter horse cross. He and his owners should do great with a rehab program (see the last Case Study I just posted) They also have a Quarter horse that has very nice feet and should also do really well with his trim. I trimmed lots more feet and horses and owners were edjumacated. I am ticked off though about learning of a comment from a veterinarian(the one I use) made to one of the particpants that she thinks the barefoot stuff is a passing fad. Really pisses me off because this same vet looked right past the obvious causes for lameness in another horse I have and resorted to using the N word while describing a "questionable spot" on an xray. She wasn't possitive enough about it so she got the vet she is in practice with to pronounce the verdict. And she got plenty of money on that deal whichthe poor potential buyer of the horse shucked out only to be told the horse did not PASS the vet exam. What a rip-off! I should have suspected the rip-off nature of the whole deal with the questionable character of the woman trying to orchestrate the sale so that she would get a ridiculous amount of money in commission for a new car. She wrecked hers while in a drug or alcohol induced state right at the property where I keep my horses! Took out two trees and tossed her big dog out of the convertable which got killed on the highway out front.. I have sympathy because of the poor dog and this but I'm not entirely sure she didn't make some money from the vet on this horse deal as they seemed to be really good friends. I don't suppose either one of them will read this blog.