The foot adventure begins

You may wonder why I am posting pictures of the bottom of Bliss's feet on my blog.  Well, I've discovered that all the science/anatomy behind the proper care and maintenance of a horse's feet without shoes is very interesting, and I'm going to try to learn as much as I can so that I can properly maintain his feet myself.  He has been barefoot his entire life, and nature didn't put anything on the bottom of a horse that wasn't supposed to be in contact with the ground, so if I'm successful, Bliss will never have to wear shoes, ever.

Left Front

Right Front

I've already started working on his feet a bit.  I've trimmed some flaps off the frog (the triangular shape in the middle), and I've used the gigantic nail file (called a rasp) to round the edges of his toes to prevent flaking and chipping (intentionally), and as well to put some lovely bloody gouges in my hands (unintentionally).