Ohio Barefoot Hoof Trimming

11/12/2024

In the last 4 years composite horse shoes and hoof protection in general have come along ways.

Indirect glueing can be a lot easier on horses that are in pain due to laminitis, navicular syndrome and thin soled horses as well. Indirect glueing allows for the hoof to sit on the ground while applying the adhesive and while it cures.

Composite shoes also allow for hoof care providers to find even more creative ways to help horses that are in pain and need hoof protection.

In the photo all of the shoes were originally designed for direct glueing. The first on the left are Steward clogs made out of urethane the middle shoe is easycare performance nail on shoes and last if easycare performance glue on shoe. I plastic welded easycare stealth cuffs to all tree shoes. The shoes will be applied with super glue.

Each shoe will be used for different horses for specific pathologies.

Specializing in rehabilitation of the equine hoof. Laminitis, navicular and distortions.

11/06/2024

Easycare performance nail on shoes with easycare stealth tabs plastic welded on. I will add 12 millimeter thick pads.

These will be used for a horse in my practice that has distal descent.

10/14/2024

Balanced hoof makes for a healthy and sound horse.

10/10/2024

This poor guy was down to skin and bones. With the knowledge I learned from the NRC plus nutrition course I was able to advise my client on how to adjust his diet. He is slowly putting the weight back on.

Senior horses often need to have their diets adjusted based on their age. It's not just filling them full of senior feed.

10/08/2024

This is some really great information for horse owners and hoof care providers.

10/06/2024

This poor girl has had a difficult time. She and several horses were found abandoned due to the owner passing away. They were shipped to a rescue in Michigan.

Fortunately for her she found the perfect person for her.

I was asking to trim her hooves however she has had very little human interaction. It took me a couple hours but I got it done.

Having been a horse trainer before hoof care provider allows kind of a back door pass on horses like this. I really enjoy helping horses like this. A little patience and understanding goes along ways.

09/29/2024

Horse feeds bags are very misleading. Some claim they are safe for I/R horses but after you read the label and see the level of starch it ends being not true.

https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2024/09/28/how-to-read-labels/?fbclid=IwY2xjawFmDjFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRhFjTvUBvqWWqd2R_44GutULlIxAWhnw6j6_4t89QmU7jziQITIhAKpww_aem_V-4dDeHqtMY2QMNQv6Yl9Q

Whether it’s a bag of feed or a supplement,  a complaint that comes up over and over again is how difficult it is to read label information.  What exactly do those numbers mean? Fro…

09/27/2024

I see this so often in new clients horses.

08/31/2024

PPID originates from loss of dopaminergic neurons in the hypothalamus. Some functions of the hypothalamus are also affected and cause the increased thirst/urination, altered shedding and poor temperature control. In winter, horses may show abnormal sweating or unusual sensitivity to cold. Watch your horse carefully and clip or blanket as needed.

08/28/2024

Good info!

Ok y’all we have to discuss diet! This is going to be a long post albeit an important one. At the end of the day I am an advocate for the horse. So I will try to help them be happy and comfortable to the best of my ability. But I also try to walk a fine line between between “bossy know it all Hoof Care provider” and said advocate lol. Diet is extremely important! For horses to grow strong healthy feet they need movement, a good diet, and quality hoof care in that order of importance. So a good diet makes up at least 1/3 of that recipe for helping a horse have the best hooves possible. They say for humans abs are made in the kitchen. Well for horses hooves are made in the feed room lol.

Here are some things I have discovered through continuing education, personal research, and personal experimentation. I read recently the only short cuts to entrepreneurial success is to learn from other people’s failures and choose not to repeat them. So basically do what they succeeded with last instead of what they failed with first. I have failed a lot over the years so please take advantage of my experiences, take that short cut and jump ahead!

Throw stones at me now because I used to feed SafeChoice, sweet feed, calf manna, and even red cell 😱. But at the time before the age of the Internet and Google, I did what my friends and mentors recommended. I trusted their opinions and followed them. As a byproduct I ended up with a horse that needed 4 corrective steel shoes, was a hard keeper, and was so crazy I could barely handle or ride her. That horse was really the one that began my horsemanship journey. I failed her in almost every way possible. So from then on I started researching and learning a better way to do things. I researched training, hoof care, and all things related to diet. And now I feel the need to share some of the things I have learned.

First of all some great resources about how to safely feed your horse are the ECIR Group, Dr. Kellons Nutrition courses, the safergrass.org website, the Facebook group Hoof Care and Rehabilitation, the Facebook group Equine Nutrition. Loads of mind blowing information in all of those sources that will help you learn to understand what horses should eat, how they properly process those feeds, their daily dietary requirements, and what ingredients safely fulfill those needs.

The next few items of discussion may or may not be specific to where I live and trim in Northwest Arkansas. When in doubt research the things I have shared in this post:

In general we have high iron and manganese in this area. Both minerals compete for absorption with copper and zinc. Copper and zinc are minerals that are needed in high quantities for horses to grow healthy hooves. Throw out those red mineral blocks and Himalayan salt lick’s. Both are high in iron and will do more harm than good to your horses bodies and hooves.

Salt blocks need to be replaced with loose salt or used in addition to them. Any type of mineral or salt block was originally created for cattle because they have rough tongues and can usually lick enough off of a block to meet their daily dietary requirements. Horses have smooth tongues and cannot. When it’s hot and they are sweating all day they may need to consume up to 4-6 tablespoons of salt a day! There is no way they can get that much salt off of a block. So either add some loose salt to their feed or provide free access to it in their shelter or stall.

Commercial horse feeds were originally created to find a way to package and sell by-product ingredients that would normally just be thrown away. Instead they decided to package it as horse feed and make some money off of it. Since horses are not a species that are raised for human consumption in the US this industry is not heavily regulated. While things have improved over the years most commercial feeds are still sub par and some are just plain harmful. There are very few labeling regulations in place and many companies still find their way around those regulations. Do you know how protein is measured in horse feeds? They take a sample of the feed, burn it, then measure the amount of nitrogen in that sample. So when a feed label says 16% protein that doesn’t mean anything more than when they measured it contained 16% nitrogen. It does not mean that the feed contains a quality protein source that is an absorbable form for horses. It does not mean that the protein contains the 3 limiting amino acids, lysine, methionine, and threonine which are essential in the right ratios to build strong healthy hooves.

Horses have a very interesting and different digestive tract. They can’t throw up because the don’t have reverse peristaltic contractions. They are an herbivore with a digestive tract designed halfway between an omnivore like pigs and a ruminator like cows with the design flaws of both lol. If they eat something harmful they can not throw it up. It must pass all the way through their digestive tract before exiting their body. Since forage goes into their true stomach first they are more susceptible to stomach upset and ulcers. Their stomach is very small therefore they are designed to be constant grazers. If a horse goes longer than 4 hours without consuming forage they may start to have gut issues. They ferment their food at the very end of their digestive tract in the large intestine. Cows, sheep and goats do this first. Actually the micro biome in the hind gut is what breaks down the cellulose in forage into a form that is absorbable for the horse. If the microbes in that biome are killed off by inflammatory feeds the horses no longer has the ability to process forage properly greatly reducing the calories and nutrients they should get from their hay.

Forage should always be a horses 1st and main source of calories and nutrients with supplements a very far off 2nd. The majority of horses can actually live happy healthy lives on just quality forage and salt!

Like most commercial feeds sold at feed stores, Safe choice is not safe. They were all tested by the ECIR group and starch and sugar were on average around 20%. Horses without metabolic issues should consume feeds that are no higher than 15%. Metabolic horses no higher than 10%.

Sweet feed is absolute crap for horses. I don’t know of a more PC way to say it. It is highly inflammatory and contains very little nutritional value. It would be comparable to us eating cake and candy all day.

The only commercial complete feed I feel I can safely recommend for most horses is Triple Crown lite. Not the complete or the senior feed. The lite tested around 10% for starch and sugar and has an ok mineral profile.

A much better option is to order a quality vitamin/mineral supplement. The ones I am personally using and currently recommend for our area are KIS Trace low selenium or Vermont Blend no selenium. I recommend soaked timothy pellets as a carrier for the vitamins and minerals. In the winter I recommending adding 2,000 I U’s of natural vitamin E as well. I am not a nutritionist, I’m just sharing information about products I have seen improve my personal horses and my clients horses hooves.

The best vitamin/mineral supplement to feed your horses is one created by a nutritionist that is balanced to the hay you feed. You can test your forage through a company called equianalytical. I know this is not a feasible option for many horse owners but it’s still the best option regardless.

The safest forage with the healthiest nutrition profile in our area is usually Bermuda hay. In some cases, it may contain too much starch and sugar for horses with metabolic issues and will need to be soaked before feeding. The only way to know the starch and sugar content of the hay is to have it tested.

Prairie grass hay is also usually a safe healthy option.

I don’t know anything about brome hay yet.

Mixed grass hay is one of the least reliable types of hay for horses. If it contains large amounts of Rye grass or fescue it can easily become a dangerous recipe for laminitis.

Alfalfa is trickier. Some horses can do fine when a percentage of their diet consists of Alfalfa. On paper this hay looks relatively safe, but when it is further digested in the large intestine the microbes can convert it into much higher levels of starch and sugar. This can make it very unsafe for metabolic horses. But some horses, especially those in heavy work can do just fine on it. Also if Alfalfa does make up a significant percentage of a horses diet the offset ca:p ratio needs to be considered and balanced. Over time it can also be the underlying cause of enterolithes - gastro-intestinal stones that if large enough can be life threatening.

Old hay is not good hay. It will not help your horse lose weight. It just deprives them of nutrients they need to fulfill their daily dietary requirements. Over time the nutrients in hay degrade. Most hay over a year old is sub par And over supplementing to compensate for poor quality hay is not good for the overall health of your horse.

Managing horses that live on pasture can be tricky. Hoof care professional and mentor Ida Hammer says that when it comes to hooves nothing happens all of a sudden except for trauma. 90% of horses with laminitis are caused by metabolic issues, mechanical founder (supporting limb) and toxemia induced founder are much rarer comprising a mere 10% of laminitis cases. Metabolic horses usually start showing small signs of inflammation mostly in the spring and fall. Small signs of inflammation can include prominent growth rings on the hoof wall, bruising, stretched and discolored lamina, sore hooves on hard ground, and abscesses. If you horse is showing any of those physical symptoms they may need to have their grazing pasture time limited or removed all together. If limited horses should be turned out early morning and put up in a dry lot in the afternoon. The longer the sun is on the grass the more sugar it makes. The Sugar in the grass is at its highest levels right before the Sun goes down. So the worst time to turn out a horse that has suspected or known metabolic issues is at night.

Once again I am not an equine nutritionist. I am an avid learner and an advocate for the horse. I notice patterns. One pattern that I notice is the horses on better Nutrition have much better hooves. Laminitis is diet related, white line is diet related, abscesses are diet related, thrush is diet related, scratches/mud fever is diet related. Diet is very important!

Thanks for reading my book and happy horsing peeps 🤟.

(Photo shows new growth coming in on a clients horse after dietary changes were made.)

08/24/2024

Find out how the Seasonal Rise (which is happening now for equines in the northern hemisphere) affects diagnosis of PPID: https://bit.ly/2zXFwkE

08/24/2024

This so true!

Dropping The Knives

We are going to talk about this meme a bit, because I’ve seen it pop up a lot and it makes me a bit sad.

I’ve been spending a lot of time talking to hoofcare friends around the world lately, and we have all come to a similar conclusion:

This job can be really dang hard, my friends.

For those of us in hoofcare, summer starts “burn out season”- not only does it often feel like 800 degrees in our bodies as we are working to hold up a couple hundred pounds of horse limbs while they try to use us for balance while simultaneously stomping at a fly, but it’s also the season when owners are often riding more, doing more, and wanting more from their horses- and expecting that we will make all their riding dreams come true with our rasp and nippers.

We want that, too. We want to make your horses comfortable and sound. We want to do our best to advocate for your horses and set them up for success.

And I feel like every year, I still have to do a post about how it’s also not all up to us as the hoofcare provider to make that happen.

When it comes to soundness, yes- the trim and whatever we do to the foot as professionals is incredibly important. We can cripple the horse in a second, we can also bring relief. Of course, that’s not the only thing responsible for a horses’ soundness. Their diet, environment, turn out schedule, stress levels, gut health, biomechanics, saddle fit, dental status, metabolic status, and so much more all play a role in how comfortable they are before and after a hoofcare appointment.

I was chatting with some friends today and all of us had stories about how we often are expected to be “Mr. Fix It”- with the silver bullet, magic wand answer to get your horse back out showing tomorrow - and it can be an immense amount of pressure.

Add in the fact that often, if anything goes sideways soundness wise, we are the first to get the blame.. even if the owner hasn’t called us in 3 months, or the horse is fed a straight corn cob diet and kept on lush grass fields during the day with enough fat pads to become a literal couch. It can be hard to not just feel like everyone is throwing the hoofcare pro under the bus (hence the meme).

If we read the foot and do the same trim that kept them sound and comfortable 3+ years in a row, and that horse isn’t happy after we see them, my first thought is “what has changed in their diet? Their environment? Their health or stress or whatever else to cause inflammation in the hoof that hasn’t been there in the past?” But it can be easy to just blame the farrier.

Most of us spend a huge amount of our “free” time reading, talking to others, going to clinics and conferences, sitting in on webinars, documenting and learning to “read” the foot, talking to vets/bodyworkers/trainers/other farriers, and working hard to learn to do the best we can. This job takes a huge amount of critical thinking, decision making that we know can go either way in many cases, and none of us are right all of the time. None of us - hoofcare pro, owner, vet, bodyworker, … no one.

Are there times when our hoofcare decisions aren’t right for the horses? 10000%, absolutely you bet. And as many times as that is true, there are times when something else is causing an issue and we are only able to work with the feet we are presented with- we can’t work miracles.

To the clients who view us as team members collaborating to keep your horse in top shape- you’re the real MVPs. Thank you for trusting us, for working with us, for looking for ways you can improve your horse’s hoof health and soundness and make our job easier. If all of our books were filled with clients like you, our jobs would be a breeze.

I am so thankful to have so many amazing owners and professionals I work with, and working on horses with them makes the hard days worth it.

For others who have had difficult times with your horse and are working to get them sound, remember we are on your team. We want to see your horse comfortable. And we love when we are able to be a part of the collaboration to get that done ❤️

08/19/2024

For more information on appropriate diet for equines with PPID and/or EMS, go here: https://bit.ly/3Cmh50L. For an in-depth review, download the Proceedings from Dr. Kathleen Gustafson’s lectures from the 2021 ECIR Group – NO Laminitis! Conference: https://www.e-junkie.com/i/11b2s. Downloads are free.

08/14/2024

We all have seen those horses that seem to be uncomfortable over various surfaces no matter how much we "do everything right”: tweaking their diet, removing excess sugars and starches, balancing their minerals to grow a healthier hoof, and giving them all the building blocks to actually grow sole. It's easy for us to get discouraged or beat ourselves up that the foot isn't responding to all our ingredients for health. So what is going on internally?

Philip Himanka, a mentor and clinician for Progressive Hoof Care Practitioners, chats with me about what is important when it comes to healthy sole tissue, how he works on some of these cases to get them more comfortable and grow healthier structure, and what we are looking for on radiographs to know if the internal structures are struggling due to damage.

You can hear the entire conversation on any podcast app under "The Humble Hoof," or directly at this link: https://thehumblehoof.com/2024/08/09/sole-depth-and-hoof-comfort/

And for those who want to geek out on topics like this, register for this year's Progressive Hoof Care Practitioners Conference in Chicago, IL, October 3-6, 2024! Visit progressivehoofcare.org/conference to sign up and I will see you there!

Thank you to our amazing sponsors:

Equithrive offers supplements for everything from metabolic health to joint support – get 20% off your first order at equithrive.com with code HUMBLEHOOF

Cavallo Hoof Boots is offering 20% 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!

08/14/2024

If your equine lives in acorn county, now is the time to figure out a way to keep your horse. pony, donkey, or mule away from oak trees. Acorns can be toxic for horses, and present the additional risk of laminitis for horses with EMS. Read more in Dr. Kellon's blog here: https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2021/10/27/acorn-toxicity-in-horses/

08/05/2024

After reading a post and the comments in the glue on shoe group. It gave me an idea for a case I will be worked on yesterday. Since I need the materials by yesterday ordering a set of easycare speeds with metal was not an option.

I used a set of easycare performance nail shoes. Cut the tabs and grind them to size. I keep templates on all the horses I do glue on shoes. I wanted to eliminate the flexation in the back part of the shoe. So I stopped by a local hardware store and bought a straight piece of metal to fit into the grooves for the spacers. I melted the metal in the groove made for spacers plus I added super glue as well. I then welded on stealth cuffs.

After installing the shoes the horse was immediately more comfortable. Today i saw her so I could check on her. She moved better today than in the last couple months.

In the future I plan on switching to Easycare race with metal shoes.

Sometimes you have to think outside the box and beyond the limitations by others.