Holistic Hoof Care

07/24/2024

I wasn’t going to post about this, but how sad to see that a rider like her used such an abusive method. There is no way that this is the only time she behaved that way.She was way too comfortable hitting the horse like this.😢😢😢
It’s really horrible to see how competition often changes people.
One thing I didn’t see in the uproar about this video.
The rider was a 19year old girl. And this behavior is what she was teaching to her student during this lesson,😢😢😢😢😢😢

10/18/2023

Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should...

Going back almost 15 years and as far as I’m aware, I didn’t have a bad reputation in the horse industry. I backed horses calmly and quietly. I would ‘bit’ them, put tack on, lunge them, long rein and lay over them, all before quietly getting onboard.

When schooling, I could get a horse in a frame and hold it together with relative ease and I could sit a bronc or a rear if needed. I was pretty fearless. I rode some horses in draw reins if they didn’t soften to my hand or were inconsistent in the mouth. My whip was for correcting behaviour and I certainly wasn’t afraid to use it if I thought it was necessary (or if I ran out of ideas or patience).

I took on problem horses and had a really good success rate at dealing with those problems.

Only I didn’t.

Looking back, I think it’s likely that I only dealt with the symptoms of the problems. For example, the horse that didn’t want to stand at the mounting block; I trained him easily by using ‘pressure and release’ with a well timed reward and he soon learned to go to the mounting block. What I probably didn’t see were the tight, sore, angry muscles. The stiff back, the poor posture. The atrophy under the saddle. The compromised gait. All of which contributed to his lack of willingness to be mounted.

The horses with poor mouths that I lunged in training aids, side reins, rode in draw reins, all learned that they couldn’t escape the persistence of my rein and began to comply. Eventually they learned to compensate elsewhere in their bodies, likely becoming shut down in the process.

Over the last 15 years, I have watched countless hours of horses moving. I have studied their gaits, I have felt their musculature. I have picked up hundreds of limbs, palpated countless tendons, lesions and effusions, and I have witnessed the damage caused by doing things the way that I amongst others used to do them. I can say with a degree of certainty that if you are having a problem with your horse - no matter what the symptoms are - your problem lies with a lack of one or more of the following:

(Ambi)dexterity/straightness
Strength/fitness
Balance
Coordination
Comfort
Confidence/trust
Communication
Resilience

Treating the symptoms without addressing the cause will usually mean that the human’s needs are met and the horse’s needs aren’t.

Like many trainers, I am aware of the signals a horse gives to express how it feels: whether it is threatened or whether it feels safe. I am able to quit right before I pass a threshold. I instinctively use approach and retreat techniques to foster anything from confidence through to suppleness. All of this gives me an ability to help a horse to overcome a problem very quickly, but it also gives me the ability to bend the horse to my will - a fact we must treat with great care and respect.

I could probably load a ‘problem loader’ in half the time I take, if I only used ‘pressure and release’. If only I wasn’t so aware of the delicate structures around the horse’s head and face and the potential psychological issues I could cause by forcing the horse to load without understanding it’s side of the story.

Nowadays I do things very differently. I can hear what the horse is saying through his actions. I can feel what his body tells me when I ride him, through my seat and down the rein. Which parts move well and which parts don’t. I constantly observe the entire picture. His breathing, gait, demeanour, muscle tone and posture. I read his actions and I learn from his reactions. I take everything on board and work in the most physically and mentally appropriate way for that moment. I condition his body whilst gently conditioning his mind. As a result I can desensitise a sensitive horse without waving objects like flags and tarpaulins around and I can prepare a horse for saddling without the need to send it broncing around an arena aimlessly.

Nowadays, despite having the ability to back your horse in days, I won’t. Because I know that in the long run I would’ve done your horse a disservice and any trust he placed in humans would likely start to falter when his body started to ache and his brain started to fry through being ill prepared.

I could train your horse to approach the mounting block, but only once I’m confident that his reasons for resisting mounting have been heard and his needs have been met.

Horses are the most fantastic animals. Sure, they do stupid stuff sometimes and they aren’t always the most logical(!). But they are unbelievably generous and forgiving. They are adaptable, malleable and trainable. Therefore, we owe it to them to make sure that their needs are met when we are ‘problem solving’.

They will give and give, which puts us in a position to take and take.

Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.

10/08/2023

10/01/2023

Great information!

08/17/2023

7 ways to lose a good Farrier/Hoof Care Professional....

This is a post I've wanted to do for awhile. Each point will be posted separately. Of course, there are caveats (good owners get ghosted, wind up with bad hoof care, etc) however after being in the industry for over a decade, there are things that are we get burnt out on and leave for a reason.

I'd love to bring light to these issues to support fellow hoof care professionals and also educate owners to do better. Your actions as an owner matter. And no- tips, cookies and excuses don't make up for any of these. In fact, we'd rather have you be cognizant of these things and correct them over giving us gifts and money ANY DAY OF THE WEEK. The best gift you can give us is follow through on the care of your horse.

So let's get right into it.

The number 1 reason farriers/hoof care professionals quit is because owners don't listen. Wanna lose one fast? Don't pay attention to anything they tell you. Keep asking the same question over and over and creating the same problems for your horse, even after you've been given the answers to fix it.

An owner might be a super nice person, be on time and have good horses, but if they keep perpetuating the same issues that we have to come back to and try to fix consistently.... 🙅‍♀️

Our job is hard enough physically on top of working on horses that are sore, lame, untrained and we keep hearing the same excuses over, and over and OVER.

We don't tell owners to do things because we like to hear ourselves talk. We don't take time to research and learn more just to have it thrown back in our face. We don't tell you how to fix things because we want to send you on a wild goose chase.

We want to help. That's the heart of a farrier/hoof care professional. We love horses and we love the owners too. We want the best for you and your horse. We want to get those texts that say "WE DID IT!!! WE WON!!! WE OVERCAME THIS ISSUE!!" We want to hear and see that those issues and frustrations are being resolved, and that is mainly on the owner to FOLLOW THROUGH.

Follow through with what we suggest. We have years and years of experience with products, solutions and advice.

If you want to keep a good Farrier/HCP.... please listen to us.

Sincerely Signed,
An HCP who cares ❤

07/14/2023

08/04/2022

Prolonged dry weather can impact pasture productivity. This infographic outlines tips for managing drought-stressed cool-season grass pastures in the Midwest and can help ensure pasture longevity and maximize growth when rainfall returns.

https://extension.umn.edu/news/10-tips-managing-drought-stressed-horse-pastures

06/28/2022

Hoof growth rate is really important. The hoof should be constantly generating new structure ie. growing. If you’re not growing new structure and you’re barefoot, your going to run out of hoof for your horse to walk around on.

If you’re not growing new structure and you’re shod, your farrier is going to run out of hoof to nail to. At that point you’re going barefoot whether you like it or not, and in my opinion, that’s the absolute worst place to start from.

Shod or barefoot, make sure your horse is producing good quality hoof horn!

‘Importance of Nutrition for Barefoot Horses’ is one of the ebooks available in the Hoof Geek Academy FREE resources that will explain what you need to know. Find out more, here https://learn.hoofgeek.com/resources-sign-up/

06/09/2022

LAMINITIS

Spring is upon us, and for some areas, that means an uptick in laminitis cases. Dr. Alicia Nolfi said in one of The Humble Hoof podcast episodes that we should assume hoof-based lameness is laminitis until proven otherwise. Why? Because treating lameness as laminitis doesn't hurt if it isn't laminitis, but if it IS, waiting and not doing anything can lead to further laminae damage, or worse or catastrophic rotation or distal descent.

So how can we identify laminitis and work to get the horse comfortable?

Laminitis in horses can have less-than-obvious symptoms:

🔴Moving more "gingerly" over harder surfaces, especially if they were previously comfortable on them. This is still concerning even if they seem to be moving perfectly fine on soft surfaces!
🔴Trotting instead of their usual canter in the paddock. Walking instead of their usual trotting. Seeming more "sluggish" than normal.
🔴Recurring abscesses
🔴Thin soles- possible symptom of weakened laminae connection causing poor suspension of P3 in the hoof capsule
🔴Heat in the hoof or increased digital pulses
🔴Moving more stiff throughout their body
🔴A "new" sensitivity or soreness after a conservative trim - damaged laminae can become suddenly more painful even with minute changes to the "status quo" the horse was using to compensate.
🔴In extreme cases, rocking back onto hind feet

I know I've said it many times before, but I never view hoof sensitivity, thin soles, abscesses etc as "normal" - to me this is a weak hoof that requires further investigation into diet and metabolic status. A horse with "chronically weak feet" may already be dealing with some chronic laminitic symptoms.

So what do you do if your horse is experiencing laminitis?
🔵Call your vet, and consider getting bloodwork for insulin and ACTH levels, as 90% of laminitis is endocrinopathic. Let your farrier know what is going on.
🔵Remove all access to grain and grass (even w**ds or "grazed down to nothing" paddocks - short grass is stressed grass and sugars can spike!)
🔵Implement the ECIR emergency diet to remove any dietary triggers to allow the horse to become more comfortable - see link below
🔵I prefer to utilize therapy boots like Easycare Cloud Boots with their therapeutic pad inside, to relieve weightbearing on the laminae and prevent distal descent. Many horses become significantly more comfortable immediately in therapy boots. Using boots for rehab allows frequent small changes to the trim to help realign the bony column and hoof capsule. Shorter trim cycles can mitigate the need for drastic trims that can be more painful for the horse.

Once the trigger is found and removed, the horse should become more comfortable. If the horse is still uncomfortable - keep investigating to find a possible trigger!

Please note, the other 10% of laminitis cases include SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, think high fever, colitis, illness, retained placenta, ingestion of a toxic w**d, etc) and Supporting Limb Laminitis due to lack of perfusion in an overweighted limb in an acute injury case. These cases will not respond to diet change or metabolic bloodwork management. Winter laminitis is a subset of metabolic laminitis but also doesn't respond to diet change etc, as it is often due to AVA shunt damage in the hoof causing lack of proper circulation in the winter - it might be similar to the painful feeling that people with Raynaud's may experience in cold weather.

If your horse is experiencing acute laminitis, please join the ECIR forum online at ecirhorse.org - they are a volunteer non-profit group that has over 20 years of experience helping owners to troubleshoot management and recovery of laminitis, and getting horses back to soundness and even productive, happy lives.

06/05/2022

Angling For Answers

The angles are not true or sustainable unless they’re achieved by building the soft tissue.

That’s the short answer.

Picture the hoof on the left becoming the hoof on the right. That can only happen by building the soft tissue. If you just prop the horse up on dead heel horn or wedges, you may establish favorable angles…but there is no foundation. The horse is dependent on dead heel horn height or wedge pads. The problem is still there. The problem is that the foot on the right takes years to build. You can change the angles with a wedge pad in a few minutes. A good farrier working on a horse with decent legs can use wedges to keep them going for a few years, but it’s not good if they’re depleting the soft tissue like you see in the foot on the left. By the time an aware owner realizes the problem with wedges…damage has already been done. Some people want more than a few years of usability out of their horse. It takes about 7 months of frequent proper trimming to grow out the internal damage caused by wedge pads. You may not see good change unless you’re doing this type of regenerative trimming.

That’s why shoeing and wedging advocates stand behind their techniques. They don’t see the damage growing out, and they’re not paying enough attention to the heel bulb development. They’re just looking at the angles.

I’m not only against steel shoes and wedge pads. I’ve been seeing the damage on every poorly trimmed (or shod ) horse that I’ve worked on…
for years.

It needs to change.

------

Left - 20+ year old Arab with underdeveloped soft tissue and limb deviation. Years of unbalanced flat trimming and steel shoes. Lives on in a 10 acre dirt paddock with 13 other herd mates. All the other horses have similar development.

Right - 20+ year old Arab with well developed soft tissue and slight limb deviation that matches her conformation. Years of frequent proper trimming. Lives on 1/2 acre dirt track with 9 other herd mates. All the other horses have similar development.

05/06/2022

One of Dr. Bowker's favorite comments about hoofcare is similar to 'you break it you buy it'- he says "If you touch the foot, you're responsible for it."

His main reason for saying this was the emphasis on whenever we touch a foot with a tool, we are going to affect it in some way - whether good or bad. We are either nudging the foot in a good direction, or not. Even with miniscule changes, there is no "neutral" with a living structure.

I think what is so difficult in hoofcare is figuring out what changes we can do to see positive progress. It's not always black and white, and every horse has their own opinion.

Changing palmar angle in either direction can affect ligaments and tendons and even joints up the limb. Adding to breakover can cause increased tension in the deep digital flexor tendon, but reducing breakover can ask the suspensory ligaments to do more work. Trying to "correct" a horse's conformation can wreak havoc, but simply ignoring it altogether can also cause issues.

Every choice we make is going to have an effect. One of the most difficult jobs as hoofcare providers is deciding if what we are doing to the hoof is going to have the most positive effect while minimizing any potential consequences. That can be something we need to parse out for each horse.

Remembering that there is no "neutral" when it comes to touching the hoof keeps us accountable to considering the WHY of what we are doing when we work on a foot. It is also why having a good hoofcare community is so great!

Do you track your horse's hoof progress? If you are a hoofcare pro, are you able to "compare notes" with other pros to see the effects of what is done to the foot?

05/01/2022

In 2019, I attended the NAEP Symposium for the first time. (Side note - it was amazing, everyone should consider going in the future!).

One presenter was Curtis Burns, creator of Polyflex shoes and just a fantastic world-renowned farrier. He was giving various seminars on glue-on applications, and one presentation he gave talked a bit about our own hoofcare businesses and how to grow the business we want.

Something that really stuck with me from that presentation was his emphasis on how the entire team has to be on board when trying something new for the horse, and open to the idea that it might involve troubleshooting or a redirection. He was focusing mainly on glue ons, but I think this is true for any area we are working in.

If the hoofcare provider or owner wants to try something new, and the trainer/vet/barn manager/etc is skeptical, if/when there is any kind of setback - even if it ends up being unrelated to what we did to the feet - the "new thing" will be the first to be blamed and be deemed as a "failure." Curtis mentioned that this could end up sn*******ng to something like "oh those [glue ons/X/Y/Z] don't work" when really there were many other compounding factors, but a member of the team was just waiting to pin-the-tail-on-the-hoofcare-failure.

It can be incredibly hard to try something new, and as mentioned the other day with my "it's okay to be different" post, we won't always be surrounded with support. This makes it that much more important to find a team that can openly communicate with each other about the route being taken, expectations of what they are hoping to see, and yes- communicating the possibility of setbacks or issues. Because chances are, there will be bumps in the road, and hitting them doesn't mean the approach is a total failure.

I always get nervous when I walk into a situation where it seems all eyes are watching to see if it fails. Because knowing horses, that one case we were absolutely sure would do great throws us a curveball. Communication is key so all cards are on the table before the feet are even touched. Sometimes that means after a discussion, we don't end up working on the case. And that's okay. It's hard, but part of the business is knowing when to walk away.

I think our lives are always a little bit easier when communication is a priority.

03/22/2022

03/13/2022

02/26/2022

There often seems to be a bit of a harsh dynamic between the barefoot and shod community in hoofcare. Either side can vilify the work of the other, and it can get nasty. I tend to float somewhere in finding the common ground - what can we agree on, especially since both sides are so passionate about helping horses in their care. No one sets out to harm horses. Of course, both sides have their convictions and conclusions based on their experiences.

Most people that follow this page know that my practice focuses on barefoot, and utilizes booting and composite shoeing packages as needed. I've become friends with some wonderful practitioners who share similar values all over the world, including Mark Johnson in the UK. Mark started as a fully qualified farrier and shifted his focus to trimming and composite shoeing in the last few years. I wanted to chat with him about this change, and the catalyst that got him there. When I reached out to him, he connected me with Matthew Jackson and Robbie Richardson as well - two fully qualified farriers who made the shift to alternative approaches over their hoofcare career.

This conversation explores their journey into the farrier world, their decision to change their business, and some of their convictions that led them there. The conversation is very candid, and brings up some big topics of discussion.
You can hear the conversation on any podcast app under "The Humble Hoof," or directly at this link: https://thehumblehoof.libsyn.com/leaving-steel-behind-uk-farriers-gone-alternative

12/10/2021

Dr. Stephen O'Grady discusses hoof changes seen when transitioning horses to barefoot. He discusses his approach to trimming, casting, and barefoot transition. Also discussed are performances horses currently showing successfully barefoot.  For more information on the clinic mentioned in the be...

12/05/2021

It’s all connected.

Foot shape internal and external is a direct reflection of the function or dysfunction of the structures above it.

Function dictates form …. And form dictates function. It's important to keep this in mind when looking or talking about feet!

As a bodyworker I often have to talk to clients about their horses feet. If the feet are trapped in a dysfunctional pattern it can be hard to make the body changes last as with every step the horse takes it negates the changes I offered the body.
This is particularly true of shod horses.

Bodywork is effective at changing the body, but by the time I see most horses their feet have deformed because of long standing compensation patterns. They need local support as well as body support.

It is important to know that the hoof capsule can deform and what you see on the outside can be different then what is happening on the inside.
Please get good X-rays of your horse's feet prior to making drastic changes to the feet.

In order to restore balance and correct motion small changes need to happen over time to allow structures and the body to adapt. Big changes done too fast will often result in other issues or breakdowns happening throughout the body.

Thinking of the tensegrity model and keeping in mind that tissue needs time to adapt we can start to understand how fast drastic changes may have a negative impact on the horse.

The reality is that what starts as body compensation creates structural imbalance so sensory miss information.

This imbalance left unattended over time becomes structural deformation affecting sensory information.

A body existing in this pattern of dysfunction has sensory misinformation and a loss of communication around the body, that leads to loss of motion and proprioception producing poor posture as a result of sensory misinformation.

This is the cycle most horses are trapped in !!
Do we really think all this can be changed in one shoeing ?

Do we think sheoing alone can reset the nervous system and change the sensory communication around the body?

Work in a team !
Don’t hang your dreams on a quick fix or the latest fad !
Tissue has its own time frame !
If you force change you are working against the body not with the body!

11/27/2021

Shoes add structure to a hoof. They’re an external artificial support. I’m not debating whether or not you need that support here. What I’m saying is that a lameness is within the horse. Shoes are inert and external. Applying them to the hoof, might make a lame horse useable, but it doesn’t make him sound. It makes him a lame horse with shoes on.

Artificial support structures are amazing things. Have you ever broken a bone? The pain levels drop considerably once you have a cast put on. Not to mention how well you can use a broken limb when it’s inside a cast. The limb inside is still broken though. Healing – for sure, but broken and useable.

Now it takes 6 weeks to heal a broken bone (maybe a little longer for very complicated fractures). By sheer coincidence 6 weeks is also about the time a set of shoes lasts for. Has your horse’s lameness healed in the 6 weeks between shoeings or not? If not, you still have a lame horse with a shoe nailed to the bottom of it, and you still need a plan to fix that lameness.

If you’d like help knowing what to look for and how to monitor your horse more effectively, The Hoof Geek Health Checks are available in the Hoof Geek Academy FREE resources. Find out more, here https://learn.hoofgeek.com/hc-enroll/

11/21/2021

🤔 Shoes don’t harm horses? Let’s talk digital cushions…

So it’s common knowledge by now (or at least it should be) that nailing a metal shoe to a dynamic and organic hoof is going to go against the natural hoof mechanism.

That’s a given right?

But what does that really mean for the health of the hoof?

Well let’s focus down on a part of the hoof that rarely gets any limelight - the digital cushion.

‘Let’s celebrate you baby’ 🎶 🥳

Many people have heard of it, but not many people really give it much attention.

And that is SUCH A SHAME!

Perhaps people know it is important to the hoof, and that maybe it helps ‘cushion’? - after all that IS part of its name.

Well a hoof without a healthy digital cushion is seriously compromised - and so is the leg, joints, soft tissues and body above it.

But let’s just find out how important it really is to the horse first.

The digital cushion sits between the frog and the bones of the foot, protecting and cushioning.

When horses are young, the digital cushion is present, but it’s structure is more fatty - it’s called a fibro-fatty tissue.

Useful, but not fully developed.

As the horse grows in size and gets heavier, the digital cushion really starts to develop into a strong, incredibly important structure.

And becomes… a bit more than useful.

It goes from that fibro-fatty tissue when the horse is young, to a fibro-cartilaginous tissue towards adulthood.

Stronger. Tougher.

This change in the structure of the digital cushion is important because as the horse grows it needs to be tough enough to withstand a larger horse’s continuous compression by the pastern bones on one side, and the frog beneath.

It has to MAN UP! 💪

It is able to dissipate energy from compressional forces… and is essential for perfect shock absorption.

Working together with the frog, fetlock, lateral cartilages and bars… being compressed and squeezed on every stride, it is ‘elastic’ in its nature - bouncing back after each compression.

Pretty VITAL.👊

Pretty AWESOME.👊

BUT… and here it comes…

If the digital cushion doesn’t develop as it should, stays more fatty than cartilaginous… then it impedes the horse’s ability to EFFICIENTLY shock absorb.

OBVIOUS RIGHT? 👀

The back of the foot just isn’t up to the job anymore.

Even though the horse has now grown much bigger - the digital cushion stays underdeveloped.

And WHY would the digital cushion not develop?

Because like a muscle in your body, if you don’t use it, you lose it.😬

Many, many people may not want to hear this, but when a horse is shod, it prevents the digital cushion from developing as it should.

Drastic for the horse.

Never thought about by the human.🙈🙉

In fact, in that good old cognitive dissonance way that people have about them, what we are saying here is often generally thought of as propaganda.

“Rubbish - the digital cushion does develop with a shoe on…”

Well we’re sad to be the bearer of bad news…

but…

… the digital cushion in shoes stays immature, rudimentary, weak, feeble - COMPARED to what it should have been if the horse had been allowed to remain barefoot.

How do we know? 🧐

Because apart from the fact that when you palpate the digital cushion at the back of a long standing shod foot, you can feel the weakness…
. you can SEE it with your own eyes in this post, and we see it, and so do our students, every time we dissect a hoof.

EVERY TIME.

Not just on the odd occasion.

EVERY TIME.

WAIT ✋ And one more thing to know about the digital cushion.

It can become SCARRED.

And that scarring also impedes its ability to efficiently shock absorb too.

How? Through persistent infection in the central sulcus of the frog, that ‘eats’ its way deep into the digital cushion.

Nasty. And permanent.☹️

And one of the biggest culprits for deep central sulcus infections in the frog - is contraction and atrophy at the back of the foot.

Caused by… yep you guessed it - SHOES.

SHOES are the biggest culprit for pain, disease, contraction and atrophy, at the back of the foot.

So, in answer to the ‘shoes don’t harm horses’ at the top of this post - they irrefutably do.

It’s a fact. No nonsense. No propaganda.

A FACT.

But can a weak digital cushion ever become stronger again?

Yes - it seems all is not totally lost for that amazing digital cushion.

Because take your horse barefoot, and it can begin to develop once more.

“To how it should have been if your horse had never been shod?”

No probably not - but it WILL BE ‘good enough’.

**********

Find out more about keeping your horse barefoot by joining the BHM Fam! 🤩

Barefoot Magazine. Barefoot Live Members Group. Horse & Hoof Care Workshops. Active social media presence.

AND COMING SOON… Video courses and books.

Stay with us, stay tuned, and stay barefoot!

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The BHM Team ❤️

10/23/2021

09/03/2021

Overlooked issue by many vets and farriers.

08/07/2021

This is such a common problem these days.

I get a lot of inquiries from people looking for a new hoof care provider, but their horses do not stand well for the farrier, so unfortunately I am not able to help them. I have too many of my own aches and pains to struggle with horses that pull legs away repeatedly, dance around, or kick.

Seriously. This is basic ground manners. All horses should be trained to stand still for at least 15-20 minutes and hold legs up for at least 3-5 minutes at a time without fuss. (I do make exceptions for painful horses - as much as my body can handle!)

It is not the farrier's job to train your new/young/rescue horse. If you are unable to train the horse yourself, hire a trainer.

I think this is one of the greatest gifts we can give horses to ensure they remain wanted and cared for -- good ground manners, and that includes farrier manners. Make it your goal for your horse to be your farrier's and vet's favorite client. If you take the time to train your horse this skill, it will generalize into all other areas and your horse will be better behaved and more enjoyable to be around in every way.

If you are constantly having a hard time finding a good hoof care provider, or repeatedly "they just stopped returning calls", or wonder why the farriers with the best reputation "aren't taking new clients" when you call........ ask yourself if this could be part of the reason.

Additionally, I cannot possibly do my best work on a moving target. If you horse isn't standing well, he's not getting the best trim.

PLEASE. TRAIN YOUR HORSE. It isn't just for us, it is for them.