KH Barefoot Trimming

12/19/2025

Healthy strong hooves post 😊

11/20/2025

Although there’s no confirmed cases of EHV-1 in Colorado at the moment , this is a friendly reminder:

If your horse is experiencing any respiratory symptoms like nasal discharge or coughing, or they’ve recently been to Texas or Oklahoma- PLEASE PLEASE reschedule your farrier and bodywork appointments! It’s not worth the potential risk of spreading illness to our other clients and our own equines.

11/19/2025

When It’s Not Just the Feet

Sometimes, as we are going on our hoof rehab journey, we realize that maybe the feet aren’t the main issue.

As a hoofcare pro, it’s easy to get caught up in looking at the hooves. We see all the ways the feet need work.. we can see underrun heels, or long toes, or weak digital cushions and frogs, or even thin soles. We can notice broken back HPA or bullnosed hooves that likely have low or negative palmar/plantar angles. We see all these little clues, and we start working on ways to help the feet.

It’s easy to hyperfocus on a specific trim, or some kind of shoeing package, or even a fancy boot and pad set up. And some of us that have an extra interest in things like nutrition and biomechanics may harp on the perfect diet for healthier hooves, or the ideal turn out set up and footing considerations.

And some horses don’t seem to improve in all the ways we expected despite all these carefully modified care plans.

The truth is- there’s an entire body attached to those feet we are so obsessed with, and a horse with a history of movement patterns, old injuries, handling different riders, enduring all kinds of training approaches, dealing with various tack options, and a million other things that can affect their upper body. Their upper body often needs just as much attention as we put into their feet!

I am so fortunate to have Becca Upham-Davis of Elite Equine Massage, LLC who comes regularly and works on all the rehab cases here at the farm. A few days ago, she had her first appointment with one of our more recent rehab cases here. This sweet little gelding has fairly uncomplicated feet, but still struggles with stiff movement and topline development.

At the beginning of the appointment, Becca noticed the height imbalance of the front carpus/knees. Although this gelding was standing square and does not have high/low hooves, his right knee appeared to be sitting quite a bit higher than his left.

Becca worked on him for about an hour, assessing each part of his body. She found he had a good amount of tightness in the muscles around his right shoulder, and spent time working through it with both massage as well as stretches and targeted exercises to relax that side of his body.

Once the massage was done, not only did he walk out better, with a longer stride on his right front, but his knees were nearly instantly level.

We sometimes forget that the muscles and fascia are also holding these bodies together, and working on them can make a difference. We have spent a few months chasing our tails a bit just looking at this guy’s hooves, and our focus needs to shift a bit to making sure the upper body is getting the care it needs too! I am excited to see his progress as we continue to peel back layers of the rehab onion.

A huge thank you to Becca / Elite Equine Massage for being part of the team to get these horses more sound and comfortable!!!

11/10/2025

I haven’t posted a good hoof in a bit!

11/06/2025

With the government shutdown affecting SNAP benefits, of which are facing a 61% cut, I am going to be offering driving food donations to the Denver food bank. The holidays are approaching, and food insecurity affects 1/6 Denver households.
I ask my current and former clients to consider donating either food or dollar to local food banks. $1 is 3 meals, $20 is 60 meals. The holidays are approaching, let’s keep everyone fed. 🙏 any non perishable food will be driven to the food bank at the end of my work day.

If you’d like to donate yourself to the Denver food bank their address is 10700 E 45th Ave, Denver, CO 80239. Or to donate money online:

https://give.foodbankrockies.org/page/76289/donate/1?_gl=1*ecjr0c*_gcl_au*MTQ0ODIwNTk4NS4xNzYyNDQwMDM2&_ga=2.178165349.1372719344.1762440037-569627242.1762440037

For my former Utah clients-
3150 S 900 W
Salt Lake City, UT 84119

Or online
https://www.utahfoodbank.org/give/give-money/

09/02/2025

Vivid blue Easyshoe One Glues!

09/02/2025

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8B7ocRL/

Check out KH Barefoot Trimming’s video.

08/22/2025

In the late summer and early fall, some horses seem to have hoof issues "out of nowhere." With no changes to their care, diet, or management, some seem to suddenly struggle with stone bruising and abscessing, hoof sensitivity, chronic thrush or white line disease, and even laminitic issues or founder.

Often, owners and even professionals can blame this on the season - dry weather leads to hard ground, and a breeding of flies that leads to fly stomping and sore feet. Makes sense, right?

But some horses are much more sore than your run-of-the-mill fly stomping pain. Some owners see their horses in pain and think they might even have to make a decision about letting their best friend go before winter hits.. and they just can't seem to figure out where things went wrong and why their careful management isn't working.

In this "mini episode," Alicia, host of The Humble Hoof podcast, talks about hoof issues going into fall, and one possible cause: undiagnosed or unregulated PPID (Cushing's). This episode dives into what PPID is, how to diagnosed and treat it, and how it can help your horse- especially this time of year.

You can hear the entire episode on any podcast app under "The Humble Hoof," or directly at this link: https://thehumblehoof.com/2025/08/22/late-summer-hoof-issues-ppid-mini-episode/

Edited to add: ECIR recently had a discussion about utilizing TRH stim tests year round. This study was referenced (not that it was done in Australia, hence why the results look swapped from the Northern Hemisphere). I am keeping an eye on this information for future testing!

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jvim.16017

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!

08/09/2025

TMJ injections.

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the joint that acts as the pivot point for the jaw. This unique joint is vital for equilibrium, whole body balance, and is associated with performance and the overall sense of wellbeing. TMJ pain will be observed in various ways and can originate from trauma, poor conformation/structure, or from dental problems.

I often hear of an automatic treatment of TMJ pain (or “supposed” TMJ pain) by many veterinarians is to inject it…because why not? In light of a commonly low level of dental education within the veterinary community, it makes sense why they’d want to inject the TMJ to compensate for pain of unknown origin. Sometimes you can still hit the dart board if you close your eyes before throwing the dart!

With over two decades of dental education and experience, I can attest to the occurrence of TMJ pain relief from proper dentistry. A good dental education, good equipment, and better-than-average technique should be the first step when attempting to relieve TMJ pain. Maybe injecting synthetic solutions into the TMJ should wait until after proper dental equilibration. If this is not the order of treatment, the pain will reoccur after the results from the injection wears off. However, if proper and educated dentistry comes first, injections may not be necessary and the results are long term and maintainable with regular dental work.

Of course, your vet will make recommendations and your dental practitioner will do the same. As the horse owner it is your responsibility to understand a little bit about all of the care that your horse may require. If your horse seems to be experiencing TMJ pain, maybe it’s time to look for an educated dental practitioner.

07/04/2025

My fees are increasing:
Draft horses $165
Standard horses $80
Minis will remain at $65

06/23/2025

I had a fantastic time this weekend at the advanced anatomy and reading radiograph clinics hosted and taught by PHCP mentor Philip Himanka.

Getting to dissect two wildly different hooves, meeting many fantastic trimmers and bounce ideas off of has my mind buzzing.

06/08/2025