Bare Foot trim

Question
I have two horses and I do their own feet and keep them bare foot. Neither have ever been shod, one is mustang 14 and the other is quarter 3. I try and keep them both trimmed and their edges rounded (mustang roll). I get conflicting info on degree for front and rear feet. I think my front are about 55 and rear is about 50. Wondering if that is good or am I messing up. I never remove sole and just clean up hanging frog matter. My specific questions are what is proper degree for front and rear feet? Should I be removing sole? Does hoof dressing help or hurt? I put some one once or twice a month. I usually file down their feet level once a week or so. If I stay on top of it, I don't have to trim with nippers, is that OK?

Answer
Hello Rick! Thanks for your questions. Let me try to answer them in order:
1) Angles of front and back feet: There are "guidelines" out there for front and back angles that are basically for the average horse and apply reasonably well to the "average horse". So unless your horses have either very steep shoulders, a clubby hoof or anything else that can go on, these recommended angles are a good guide but I would not necessarily get too worried about them. Since the wear and growth of a hoof is a dynamic process where many many things apply, HOW you get to an angle that is easy to maintain (i.e. not fighting heels or toes growing too long or too short) is the key and once your horses reasonably "self-balance", you know that you have achieved a physiological angle.
Here is a  link to a one of my favourite articles about angles and "guidelines"....http://www.horseshoes.com/advice/propangl/tprphfan.htm
2) removal of sole: many farriers routinely carve out the sole in preparation for shoes. I don't do any of that for a barefoot horse and only remove sole that is starting to exfoliate or if there are ridges around the tip of the frog and around the bars. I do work on the bars to make sure they are not laying over the sole but this is also limited. My focus in on the appropriate balance of the hoof based on the loading and wear patterns and I strive for a hoof balance where eventually there are very few deviations with normal wear by the horse.
3) Hoof dressing: definitely does not hurt unless you use it excessively. Does it help??? Hmmmm....I am not sure. Unless you try to help out the hoof in an extremely wet environment, I am not sure I have seen hoof dressings that do too much. With ONE exception that is actually not sold as a hoof dressing but rather than a hoof "disinfectant"...I have seen changes in horn moisture around the outer layers of the hoof with regular administration of this product: http://www.bwdequineservices.com/products.htm . However, I do not usually use hoof dressings on my horses or the horses whose hooves I care for. In summer when it gets really dry, I prefer to have them stand in a mud-puddle occasionally and maybe moisturize the coronet band and the heel bulbs and frog, but I usually don't put anything on the sole or outer hoof wall (except the product above, and that only when it is really wet out and the hoof gets mushy).
4) Frequency of trimming: you should not have to do trimming every week for a horse without rehab issues. My horse used to come out of balance when I transitioned her from shoes and very messed up hooves to barefoot every 2-3 weeks and I had to so some slight balancing (which is different from filing feet level!). So unless there is a reason why you would have to do more frequent gentle trims, once every 3-4 weeks should do. You will not need nippers then if your horses don't have super excessive growth. I hardly ever use nippers and most of "my horses" are trimmed every 3-6 weeks (depends on the horse). I feel I have much more control with a rasp especially for fine tuning. In my opinion it is not a good thing to let a hoof grow to the point where you do need nippers since this presents a big change for a horse, especially for older guys. So more frequent and gently adjustments to maintain or gain proper balance is my preference and has worked well for me in the past.
Please let me know if this was helpful and if you have additional questions. I'd be happy to discuss this more with you.
Take care,
Christine