Haize contracting

19/06/2024

12/06/2024

Bad day to be a credit card 😂

04/06/2024

02/06/2024

Hoof dissection clinic with Mr Hank Chisholm afa president @ Mississippi ag and farrier supplies

30/05/2024

Crossfiring
Crossfiring only occurs at a pace so it is not the sort of thing that you will see with a western type horse.

This is a collision between the medial toe of a hind foot and the medial hoof or leg of the diagonal limb. The near hind hits the off fore or the off hind hits the near fore while all feet are in the air.

Hope this clears up some confusion for some of you clients

Text and photos credit
Gregory's textbook of farriery

29/05/2024

22/05/2024

🫵😂

13/05/2024

15 3/4 x 3/8 x 1
Plain stamp
Forge welded
Heart bar

10/05/2024

Just a reminder if you are using overreach boots for turn out make sure they fit properly. They want to be covering the heels of the shoe.
Shires Equestrian neoprene overreach boots are our go to recommendations

18/04/2024

12 weeks healing well

01/04/2024

Thrush.

My last post showed you an image of a slice through the horse’s foot at the area by the bulbs. You could see that the slice through the digital cushion had light showing through the “slit” meaning it was not dense healthy frog tissue. That part sticking up is called the frog spine or frog stay. It should be a thick strong structure that bisects the digital cushion, and looks a bit like a shark fin. It’s important because it helps to stabilise the back of the foot and helps to resist the shear forces that can occur between the heels. It also has numerous micro cartilage strands attached to it, and they attach to the collateral cartilages. They help to keep the cushion strong, resist tearing and resist it being stretched outside its allowable stretch.

Photo 1 shows the effect of thrush. It’s affect can be hidden to horse owners unless they investigate the slit in the centre of the frog, towards the back to the foot. A slit is not healthy and needs investigation. Thrush actually eats away at the frog tissue, destroying it, and making it fragile.

Photo 2 shows a foot with a nice healthy frog spine. It’s not in exactly the same plane as photo 1 but it demonstrates well what we should be seeing. The frog spine consists of dense frog tissue and it is robust and thick. Look carefully at the white strands in the digital cushion, they are the fibrocartilage strands that I mentioned above. Many of you asked me to show you a healthy foot to compare.

If you can sink your hoof pick into the frog then there is trouble. Trouble that needs your help.

Support me on patreon and enjoy a win win with 5 years of my videos and photos of my equine foot and whole horse anatomy. http://www.patreon.com/hoof-studies

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27/03/2024

This is why ringbone is such a horrible diagnosis.

We know a hoof rehabilitation farrier who began her in depth studies and apprenticeships because she lost her mare to ringbone from a lifetime of improper trim set ups in the hooves.

Ringbone is an issue that is mainly occurring because of a lack of knowledgeable (or timely) hoof care.

As the owner, it is Your job to educate yourself on what a well functioning hoof and leg alignment looks like.

While conformation, genetics, and the horse's daily use are also factors, how the horse's foot lands is super important to the long term soundness of the animal.

“Severe ringbone and side bone”
- JB Hoof Care

25/03/2024

22/03/2024

On the occasion of World Poetry Day today, let's go a little lyrical...
𝗔 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿 💙

19/03/2024

Knowledge sharing post No.1.

Digital/Phalangeal Alignment in a wet environment.
Pollitt and Hampson did a study at University of Queensland a couple of years ago.
They concluded the hoof wall has a constant moisture content. The sole however is like a sponge, soaking up all available moisture .
When hydrated to capacity, it loses it's tensile strength and the ability to support the hoof capsule as intended.
The back third of the hoof, which is also the shock absorbing section, drops or prolapses as a result. Counter rotation of the coffin bone occurs.
This is now known as negative palmer/planter angle. That is the angle the bottom of P3 makes in relation to the ground.
As a farrier, the best results to help this are to engage the back third in a load sharing package. Traditionally a heartbar shoe or wide bar was used. More recently dental impression material or pour in material is added to load share with frogs and commisures.
Plastic frog support pads are available most recently, as skills to fit a heartbar correctly are highest level. Protecting the internal structure are paramount whilst load sharing.

Horse's hooves are not designed to be constantly wet. Best results are to remove the cause.
A dry bedding of pine sawdust draws moisture and helps kill bacterial invasion of the whiteline and/frog's.
Overloading of the over hydrated hoof is exacerbated by the weight of the horse. To many horse's are overweight for the tensile strength of the hoof capsule.
If your horse gets to the situation where it needs this specific shoeing package, it's your responsibility as an owner to change the management or husbandry process.
Horse's shod with a load sharing package should be in a confined environment where they can't gallop about with the possibility of overreaching causing premature shoe loss. They should not be in a herd environment where other horse's can stand on the shoe's at play causing premature shoe loss.
Your farrier sees your horse at a cyclic time to reshoe, trimming the hoof to keep in balance perimeters.
The management between visits falls squarely on the owner.
Unfortunately to often expectations of correct digital alignment are overshadowed by owner mismanagement. I'm older and get grumpy when "buck passing " ends up in my lap.
At the end of the day as a professional tradesperson, it's me who decides if I continue to be trying my best for your horse's welfare 🙏

15/03/2024

UNDERSTANDING HOOF ABSCESSES
Sooner or later (and especially at this time of year), nearly all horse owners will deal with a hoof abscess. But what does "hoof abscess" actually mean? The diagram below shows a simplified view of the equine hoof to help you visualize the structures involved in this process.

Although most commonly seen during the wet winter and spring months, hoof abscesses can plague horses year-round and usually occur when debris and bacteria enter the foot through hoof cracks and wounds, even horseshoeing holes. The bacteria then get trapped between the sensitive laminae (the tissue layer that bonds the hoof capsule to the coffin bone) and the hoof wall or sole and create pus; the pus builds up over the course of time and puts pressure behind the hoof wall or sole, until it causes the sudden onset of acute lameness when the pain finally becomes too great.

Hoof abscesses can mimic other more serious diseases or injuries, so involving your veterinarian early on in the diagnosis and prompt treatment of this condition is always a good idea. Some abscesses will be uncomplicated and rupture on their own like a large pimple at the coronary band or heel bulbs; other abscesses, however, could require radiographs and will need to be surgically drained.

As always, consult your horse doctor for more information and advice!

13/03/2024

Back in the fire
Hand built practise
Along way from perfect
1" x 3/8" ally
3/4" x 3/8" steel

06/03/2024

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/laminitis-3-webinar-with-professor-chris-pollitt-dr-simon-curtis-tickets-845799147017?fbclid=IwAR3Qu_TgpzlAOKuCLeparYwVtzPwb0bqQk-4DmJvBm_-zoISu0cjpPXlEvI

Dr Simon Curtis & Prof Christopher Pollitt will explore the causes/effects of laminitis and therapeutic techniques to treat laminitics.

04/03/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/cZLLpNrqL7d194xg/?mibextid=xfxF2i

27/02/2024

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bFFjtZv8rHY&si=LTGVKsooWrVHT5mh

PPID & EMS
Worth watching

20/02/2024

https://youtu.be/9_1SjDGyPTU?si=P85QJJ9sTxgy6Tzo

See Prt 1 for HoofCast Application. This VideoCast with Derek Poupard discusses the benefits of training racehorses barefoot. The system he created enables t...

20/02/2024

Did you know that superficial digital flexor tendon injury is one of the most common injuries affecting the modern sport horse?

SDFT injures account for 75-95% of tendon injures in the front limb.
Importantly most of these are not caused by direct trauma but by being cyclically overloaded.

This cyclic effect overload can be a result of hoof balance and surface.
Very commonly tendons wraps are used to try and prevent injury, but in reality these can bring the tendon temperature to a point detrimental to tenocytes and actually exacerbate the cyclic damage.

Want to know more?
Join Dr Neidhart and myself as we delve into the world of the modern sport horse and the issues facing them…

Thursday 15th Feb 7pm London time

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/modern-sport-horse

19/02/2024

Does a genetic link to kissing spine mean a cop out for riding and management!?

Patterson Rosa et al. 2022 showed that certain individuals had an increased genetic risk for more severe KS grade. Due to a A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) which is a variation in a single nucleotide that occurs at a specific position in the genome. SNPs are the most common type of genetic variation among individuals and can occur throughout the genome. They can be used as markers to identify genetic differences between individuals and are often associated with differences in traits or susceptibility to diseases. SNPs can be inherited or arise spontaneously and can have a wide range of effects on gene function and protein production.

BUT!!

Importantly they also discuss how kissing spine aetiology is likely multifactorial and requires further studies to elucidate common components in risk and severity.

So basically, yes certain genetics leads to an increased risk of kissing spine, but that means we need to be more aware of the compounding factors in those individuals and take preventative measures, not blame it on genetics!

This reminds me very strongly of the whole "Thoroughbreds have sh*t feet" argument that is used as a cop out for the prevalence of long toe low heel on the breed!!!

Join Dr Neidhart and myself tonight at 7pm London time where we will delve into all of those compounding factors!!

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/kissing-spines

02/05/2023

Let the fun begin