MotorQueue Natural Hoof Care

04/22/2025

A stillborn Warmblood foal foot (trimmed)

Full term.
Was a huge foal and the mare had a very difficult birth. She had a caesarean but the foal could not be revived.

I was gifted him to study.

This is one of his dear little feet- sagittal section.

Note
The growth plate in the middle phalanx - the white line

The navicular bone shape is quite rudimentary in shape. The distal border (where the impar ligament attaches above) is not yet formed.

The whole foot is highly vascular ( full of blood)

The distal phalanx is quite pointy and look how low the solear canal is.

The coronary groove is quite straight.

Edit
The reason for trimming off the eponechium (foal feathers) is because i had already dissected then off to study them

Thanks my sponsors for supporting my work / please see the comments.

04/20/2025

04/17/2025

Long toes only affect the navicular right?

The leg has a series of joints. The metacarpo-phalangeal joint (fetlock), the proximal interphalangeal joint and distal interphalangeal joint (Pastern and coffin). Each one of these joints is a centre of rotation and because of how the digit is not underneath the limb, but in front off, each of these joints is profoundly affected by the distance from its centre of rotation to the point at which the ground acts through the hoof. In the form of the turning force (moment).
An increased turning force must be counteracted by whatever keeps those joints from descending under the load, the tendons AND ligaments.

Hence why long toes affect ALL of the soft tissue structures on the back of the leg. Both tendons and the suspensory!

If you would like this information clarified, explained in simpler terms and would like an introductory lesson in equine digit biomechanics then join myself and The study of the equine hoof on the 3rd Oct at 7pm BST where I will be doing just that.

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/digit-biomechanics-101

04/13/2025

Over the years, iron has become quite a controversial topic in the equine world. Why has such a small portion of the equine diet incited social media arguments and heated conversations?

Hoofcare providers around the world have seen changes in hooves based on diet and mineral supplementation, but where is this information coming from, and is there any validity to it? Dr. Eleanor Kellon, Dr. Priska Darani, and Dr. Fran Rowe chat with me about minor minerals in the equine diet - specifically dietary iron - and how it affects the horse and therefore hooves. Is there any truth to the idea of iron negatively affecting feet? Is dietary iron readily absorbed? What is iron overload - and does it even exist? What symptoms do we see in these cases, and how do we mitigate them?

You can hear the entire conversation on any podcast app under "The Humble Hoof" or directly at this link: https://thehumblehoof.com/?p=9682


For listeners of the podcast, use code "thehumblehoof" for 5% off your order at madbarn.com - Mad Barn nutritionists can help you balance your diet and address any mineral issues!

Thank you to our amazing sponsors:

Cavallo Hoof Boots is offering 15% off a pair of Trek hoof boots at cavallo-inc.com with code HRN

A special shout out to Grid as New, Mud Control Grids – they are a game changer for any mud issues, big or small! – mudcontrolgrids.com

Also be sure to check out HayBoss Feeders – haybossfeeders.com – for all your slow-feeding needs. I get my Hay Boss feeders from Mountain Lane Farm in NH!

04/05/2025

The crena!
Some horses have these, some do not.
You can often see a deviation on the solar side of the foot corresponding to it. These horses will be more prone to toe cracks, and sometimes we have limited success helping them. Horses with pedal bone loss at the toe can also present similarly with similar issues.
I have also seen prehistoric fossils in museums with crenas - quite a lot of them actually! I always look at the pedal bones present to check and see. You'd be surprised how often this natural variation took place in history, in older fossils particularly! We have an extremely extensive fossil record of the ancestry of the modern horse, so there is a ton of data to be had and examined.

04/01/2025

❤️

03/30/2025

It seems like everyone I know has a story about Bettina Drummond, and so do I. She just touched that many people.

In my past life back in Connecticut, I managed a really wonderful barn. Bettina and a few of her clients boarded there, particularly through the winter months, as is common up north. As with all the impactful women in my life, she absolutely scared me to death when I first met her, because it was obvious from the start that she expected a certain standard for her horses and people and less than this would be unacceptable. And so I did what I always have done when in the presence of powerful women - I did everything I could to step it up and be worthy. I was a flighty and wild thing, all over the place most of the time, but I did my very best. And despite me being, well... me... she saw a little something in me. Something worth nurturing.

She started showing up early to the barn, without preamble, telling me to come along and that she would show me a few things. We worked horses in hand frequently, including my Gogo of course, who was in rehab at the time. She went out of her way all the time to take time with me and to help me. She asked for nothing, never once. She just saw a kid doing her best, and in that particular way she had, she helped. She taught. She gave compliments. She saw me, and thanked me, and dropped tidbit after tidbit into my well of knowledge all year long.

She will never know how much that meant to me.

When Gogo was injured again for a final time, she called and left me a voicemail, telling me how sorry she was, and invited me to her farm to come see the foals. I had already decided by that time to bolt for Texas, and so I never took her up on it. That was a long time ago now, and I wish I had, because I never saw her again, and we only recently reconnected.

I am sure there are a million stories like this about her. So many people will grieve for her. As for me, I will always remember her for the particular impact she had on a flighty, wild kid's little life.

The riding world lost a beautiful, constant, soft and guiding light yesterday, with the passing of Bettina Drummond.

I did not know her but I knew, from afar, that it would be a dream fulfilled to learn from her. We were merely friends on Facebook but whenever she would comment kindly on one of my small proud moments with my very ordinary horses, it would light me up for days. She was like that; noticing and quietly building others.

Born in 1963, Bettina was a poet and a musician, given to the pursuit of study, from early childhood. At age seven, she was sent by her mother to ride with Nuno Oliveira of Portugal. She would learn from the Mestre for a further seventeen years, forging the path of her life.

Bettina was not a sporting rider but furthered her career by showing us that Dressage was art, as much, or more so, than competition. She was a proponent of the French classical school of riding and became a teacher of teachers, the horse’s horsewoman. Her impromptu musical freestyle rides to live classical music are so worth looking up, online!

Bettina's professional work resulted in her becoming a founding member of the Association for the Protection of the Art of Horsemanship in America, to bring talented young riders classical ideals, as well as becoming ‘Honorary Ecuyer’ with the vaunted Cadre Noir at the French National School of Equitation in Saumur, France.

She was a woman standing proudly, quietly, in a field of achieving men.

If you would like a sense of Bettina’s voice, her immense knowledge, courage, honour and humour, look up Episode # 56 of the podcast ‘Talking About Horses’ with American Classical Dressage teacher, Patrick King. Their conversation is filled with love, respect and so much depth. Thank you for sharing your time together with us, Patrick.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziZkDmzd46M

In her last years, Bettina Drummond became a teacher of what it means to be brave and to face one's fate with acceptance, yet without giving in. Her time with cancer showed us her incredible inner strength and how her love for her animals continued to sustain her. She was still teaching us, until the very end. I would like to send my deepest condolences to all her many friends and students, the world over.

Let us close with one of Bettina’s beautiful poems, ‘The Stallion in the Garden’.

“When halfmoon sets and satiated night retires,
When amongst the shadows sing unearthly choirs,
Then the owl’s beat is measured out,
Then the gleaming eyes are put to rout.

A fleeting glimpse of fire on silvered snow,
A fluid line of power in a constant flow,
From haughty neck steams measured pride,
From silent hoof streams in souls’ tide.

To catch the ember and fan its glow,
A stallion’s breath in winter’s throe,
To spend the love and rue its part,
A silent plea through a woman’s heart.”

Go, find your ‘perfect point of balance’, Bettina. Rest well. Thank you for all that you have taught us.

Photo: The Palm Beach Post (Bettina Drummond with Quemacho HI).

03/26/2025

Life without grain!

What I Feed My Horses that Don’t/Can’t Eat Grain

Most of you who follow this page know that I have a hoof rehab facility, and all the horses that come in here are on a very carefully balanced diet for hoof quality and health. And that often means NO grain.

Of course, not all the horses on my property are your typical “air ferns” or easy keepers. I think most assume that just because I don’t feed grain, I must only have super easy keepers who “don’t need the calories.” That truly isn’t the case!

I would be lying if I said it was always a cake walk to figure out every horse’s needs! Sometimes it can take some troubleshooting.

Nearly every horse that moves in here comes from a more traditional set up with a grain-based meal twice a day, varying from as little as 1lb a day of grain to 8+lbs of grain a day. Many of these horses were also stalled regularly and moved miles less a day than they do here, making their caloric needs an even bigger consideration.

But I won’t let go of the fact that I see the absolute best hooves on horses on a forage-based diet, so I start there, and adjust as needed.

MY BASE DIET for all the horses here:

HAY
⭐️EVERY horse here has 24/7 access to tested hay in slow feed hay nets. I know that most argue that not every horse can have 24/7 access to even netted hay without becoming a blimp. Fortunately, all the horses here so far over the last few years have regulated their intake once they realized the hay was never leaving. They will regularly walk the tracks, go take naps, watch whoever is in the ring, play up by the sheds (I’m looking at you, geldings), or spend hours staring at the neighbor’s “dreamy” stud muffin geldings (I’m looking at you, mares).

We DO test all our hay and look at calories, protein, sugar and starch levels, digestibility and palatability, major and minor mineral balance, and more. We feed primarily first cut hay, which is typically lower in calories and protein, but have supplemented with (TESTED) second cut hay during cold winter months in the past for some of our harder keepers with great results.

METABOLIC SAFE CARRIER FEEDS
⭐️Yes, I did say metabolic safe. No, I don’t have any “refractory” high insulin or difficult metabolic cases here. YES, I do have a handful of VERY easy keepers. But most of my horses here are not metabolic- and yet I feed them feeds that fall under the “safe” guidelines.. and their feet improve because of it. These include base feeds such as Timothy pellets, SpeediBeet, Timothy Balance Cubes, and small amounts of sanfoin pellets or StableFeed Seasons Biome blend for forage diversity. I am careful with these as they are legumes, but I haven’t noticed any hoof sensitivity (knock on wood).
-For my easy keepers, I feed as little carrier feed as possible to get them to eat their minerals. For my harder keepers, they get several pounds of carrier feed a day, and typically higher amounts of SpeediBeet beet pulp, which is good for their hind gut and more caloric while still being low sugar/starch.

MINERAL BALANCING
⭐️As I mentioned above, I test all my hay and look at the balance of ratios between the major minerals and minor minerals. I supplement based on deficiencies in the hay as well as for proper mineral ratios.
-Fortunately, right now Custom Equine Nutrition, LLC’s Vermont Blend matches my hay test VERY well, with occasionally adding extra copper and zinc from Custom Equine as well as a little added manganese from Mad Barn.

OTHER NECESSITIES
⭐️Every horse on the property also gets vitamin E in the form of Emcelle, also from Custom Equine Nutrition, as vitamin E is not available in hay and typically the horses here do not graze fresh grass. Emcelle was our choice as it’s a highly bioavailable option and very cost effective.
⭐️As horses not on pasture also need omega 3 to replace what they would normally get from grazing fresh grass, the horses here are also on either flaxseed, chia seeds, flax oil, camelina oil, or a mixture of these. We adjust this for weight as well - for example, we feed anywhere from 2oz of flax to 8 ounces of flax a day, depending on the horse’s caloric needs, and our harder keepers not sensitive to fats get 1/3c flax oil per meal, etc.

EXTRAS
⭐️Of course, every horse is an individual and some need extra help. We currently have 2 horses here that need some extra protein for muscling etc, and they get pea protein isolate (100g a day), as well as extra amino acids and BCAAs (from My Best Horse). We also have horses on a variety of herbs based on individual needs, such as raspberry leaves (hormonal), jiaogulan (soft tissue health and hoof capsule perfusion), spirulina (metabolic health and allergies), plant bioflavonoids (arthritis help) and more.

TASTE TEMPTING
⭐️Just like every barn, we have some horses who are picky eaters. For some, we may give a handful of a low sugar/starch forage-based grain to tempt them to finish every bite of their meals. And I truly mean a handful! Right now, only one rehab case here even needs any to finish her meals, and sometimes doesn’t need any added. We typically choose either Triple Crown Senior or Senior Gold, as the average starch typically falls below 4% (which is a threshold for metabolic horses), and sugar and starch tends to average below 10%, another threshold for hoof comfort. It DOES contain alfalfa, which can bother some, so we watch for that.

It is always a bit of an adjustment through the seasons and for individual horses, but overall the change in hoof health and comfort is very much worth it!

And as I always tell my rehab owners… I would absolutely prefer to see a hint of rib in movement on a rehab case, over fat pads and risk of laminitis. That being said, we do strive for a body score of 5 and properly built topline (not fat!).

If you find your horse “needs grain” or is struggling to maintain weight, I would rule out other reasons first, such as:
-not enough access to forage
-eating low protein/low calorie forage
-ulcers/gut issues
-dental issues
-undiagnosed PPID and other health concerns
-chronic pain or stress that may cause weight loss
Any and all of these can lead to a horse being a “harder keeper.”

(Side note - a huge thank you to Custom Equine Nutrition for always helping us troubleshoot diet for some of our tough cases, and for sponsoring our SOLD OUT podiatry clinic this fall!! Livestream/Video recording option still available here: https://thehumblehoof.com/product/october-25-26-2025-livestream/ )

03/15/2025

Just a moment of appreciation for the best farrier dog in the whole world. Can you believe she's 13 years old now? We love you Moo!

03/05/2025

Diet is the biggest foundation of the foot that you can change!

02/26/2025

Check out this amazing video of Przewalski horses being trimmed voluntarily and at liberty!

02/26/2025

Always good to have a refresher!

Do you regularly check your horse's vital signs? If you don't, now is a great time to learn and start practicing! Knowing what's normal is important to keeping your horse healthy and being aware of when your horse might not be feeling well. Check out this great infographic for normal vitals for adult horses.

02/11/2025

02/09/2025