Apple Hoof Care

09/29/2023

My Clients hear me repeatedly asking about digital pulses and most know where to find them and what they mean.

09/29/2023

09/26/2023

*** FOCUS ON RUGGING ***

Continuing our focus on rugging, this figure illustrates quite nicely what happens if we "over-rug". The image shows the air temperature in blue on a fairly typical autumn day similar to those many of us are experiencing now.

The horse has a 50g turnout rug on and the horse is clipped. The morning starts cool but it warms up to between 15°C and 20°C for much of the day. We can see that the horses's surface temperature measured under the rug follows a similar pattern BUT by 11:00 in the morning the temperature under the rug is already above the horses upper limit of its thermoneutral or "comfort" zone. And it stays above the 25°C line until later afternoon when the sun starts to get lower in the sky and the temperature starts to drop.

So once again, the message ISN'T DON'T RUG, the message IS DON'T RUG TOO EARLY, DON'T RUG ACCORDING TO HOW YOU FEEL & DON'T OVER-RUG.

Your horse covered in hair, is ~7 times larger than you but only has 2-3 times more skin surface. Most heat is lost at the skin surface. Your horse loses heat much more slowly than you. They won't feel the cold when we do.

In this example, this horse would likely benefit from a 100g rug overnight but doesn't really need one during the day if it stays dry.

For more information and resources on rugging, including rug testing and rug user surveys, please check out our website https://drdavidmarlin.com/rugging-round-up/

09/24/2023

Why we should ride young horses forward and down...

It is a commonly accepted training principle that we should encourage young horses to have a low head carriage. But why is this?

The muscles of the horses back are still immature at 3,4 and even at 5 years old. This is a combination of being developmentally (age related), and physically immature, in the sense that they lack the muscle condition which comes from years of training-induced exercise. Of course the maturity of their muscles will come naturally with time, and as we work them through groundwork and under saddle. But how can we get to this point, while protecting these fundamentally weak muscles and avoiding musculoskeletal injuries further down the line?

By utilising the passive ligament mechanism, we can allow the horse to support the back and carry the weight of the rider with very little muscular effort. This allows the epaxial muscles of the back to be free to perform their primary functions in movement, rather than acting as weight lifters.

The passive ligament system of the back is primarily composed of, well ligaments, the nuchal and supraspinous ligament to be exact.

The nuchal ligament is a strong, collagenous structure, originating at the extensor process of the occiput (the back of the skull), forming attachments to the cervical vertebrae, before inserting on the spinous process of the fourth thoracic vertebrae. Here the nuchal ligament broadens in the region of the withers, before continuing as the supraspinous ligament running along the top of the spinous processes of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae and terminating in the sacral region of the spine.

This creates an inverse relationship between the position of the head and neck and the balance between flexion and extension of the spine.

Generally speaking, lowering the head induces flexion in the thoracic region (the back is lifted) and conversely, raising the head creates extension in the thoracic region (the back hollows/drops). This is because the elongation of the strong and elastic nuchal ligament created when the head is lowered, creates a forward traction on the high spinous processes of the withers, and travels through the supraspinous ligament to lift the thoracic region of the spine. Comparatively, shortening of the ligament raises the head.

This system has provided an evolutionary advantage to the horse, as while they are grazing, the weight of the thorax and abdomen is supported passively by the ligament with very little muscular effort over long periods of time (up to the 16-19 hours per day they can spend grazing in the wild). Equally, because of the stored elastic potential energy in the liagement when it is stretched for the head to be at ground level, the horse can quickly raise its head to gallop away at the first sign of a predator.

Furthermore, lowering of the head and neck, stretching downwards and forwards, straightens out the natural S curve of the horse's spine. This lifts the bottom of the S curve, the cervico-thoracic junction and the ribcage, which creates lightness in the forequarters when the horse is moving. Further back, flexion in the thoracic region, increases the spacing between the dorsal spinous processes as the most dorsal aspect of the spine is stretched out. This posture is particularly therapeutic for horses with kissing spines.

In fact, the degree of flexion of the back is most marked between the 5th and 9th thoracic vertebrae, but is also significant between the 9th and 14th. Consequently, the arching and lifting of the back takes place directly under the saddle and therefore works to support the rider.

This is particularly useful in young horses; it allows the young horse, whose muscles are not mature enough to carry the rider, the chance to support its back and lift the weight of the rider by moving the head-neck axis rather than using active muscle contraction.

This means that the horse can use its muscles solely for movement; creating a loose, swinging back, free of tension, and suppleness in the gait.

Here we have the opportunity for us to slowly develop and condition the epaxial musculature of the young horse. Which will create a foundation of strength and suppleness of the back and the core to support more advanced movements later in their career.

Comparatively, if this system is not used, and the young horse is pulled into a shortened outline, it is the Longissimus Dorsi muscle which takes up the role of supporting the weight of the rider. But theLongissimus Dorsi is not designed for weight carrying, it is primarily a movement muscle.

Muscles act in the direction through which their fibres flow; the Longissimus Dorsi works in the horizontal plane, originating in the sacral and lumbar region of the spine and inserting through the lumbar, thoracic and ending in the cervical region. The Longissimus Dorsi primarily acts to extend and stabilise the entire spine, while also acting unilaterally to induce lateral flexion of the back. You can see the Longissimus Dorsi in action when watching a horse moving from above; the large muscle contracts alternately on each side of the back in the rhythm of the gait to stabilise the movement.

Once the Longissimus Dorsi is required to lift the weight of the rider, the muscle becomes blocked and stiff. Muscles are designed to work through a process of contraction and relaxation; held too long in contraction (to carry the weight of a rider, or support a shortened outline) and the Longissimus Dorsi will fatigue. This will lead to muscle spasm and pain within the muscle. Not only will the horse lose the strength to carry the rider, but they will also lose the natural elasticity of the back which will reduce the fluidity of their gaits.

Over time with greater overuse and fatigue, the Longissimus Dorsi muscle will atrophy, requiring the recruitment of other muscles, such as the Iliocostalis, to take up the role of stabilising the back and supporting the weight of the rider. Other muscles which are equally not designed for weight lifting. And so the cycle continues and the performance of the horse suffers.

With this knowledge in mind, we can understand why it is so essential to make use of the passive ligament system, by striving for that forward and down head carriage. Furthermore, that we also allow our young horses regular breaks, working on a loose rein to allow our horse to come out of the outline, stretch out, and reduce the risk of fatigue.

I always marvel at the intricately designed systems of energy conservation to create efficiency in the horse's way of going. It is our role as a rider to have an awareness of and make use of these systems; to allow our horses to go in the most efficient and beneficial way for them possible, upholding their standard of welfare.

Image credit: Tug of War, Gerd Heuschmann

09/18/2023

Must read by all connected to equines!

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: While we tend to focus on how a horse moves to try to figure out how he feels, maybe we need to look more at how he stands. New research is exploring what a horse’s posture says about his health. Here's the first thing they've uncovered. >>>https://bit.ly/EQPostureAndHealth

06/08/2023

𝗦𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗹𝗲𝘀 - 𝗶𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁! Ill-fitting saddles cause unnecessary strain and pain for your horse.

Learn what your horse would like you to know about saddle fit: https://www.totalequinevets.com/client-center/resources/TEVApedia/equine-saddle-fitting

If you would like to watch a video, check out 𝗗𝗿. 𝗝𝗼𝘆𝗰𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻’𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 that leads you through proper saddle evaluation, as well as clue you in to some common problems that result when saddle fit is an issue: https://youtu.be/niC_qYk9YkI

𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗧𝗘𝗩𝗔 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲) 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺 𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲.
• Acupuncture - https://bit.ly/3Owf4BB
• Beyond Steroids - https://bit.ly/3RZt3TC
• Gastroscopy - https://bit.ly/3J7A6Wb
• Laser (Cold Pulsed) Therapy - https://bit.ly/3J1hd7v
• Sacroiliac (S.I.) & Neck Injections - https://bit.ly/3OzAe1Z
• Shockwave - https://bit.ly/3OMBD5v
• Tui-Na - https://bit.ly/3z3ldjb

Give us a call to evaluate your horse’s back and saddle. Call or text to 705-505-2320 or email us at [email protected]

06/08/2023

10/31/2022

A 33-horse hitch harvesting wheat. Circa 1900

10/28/2022

I have been told that this quote belongs to HaydenKristal and Critters so since it’s been shared so many times I wanted to be sure and give credit where it’s due💜

10/22/2022

TOP: Teen mare grazing on track, with free choice grass in hay nets.

BOTTOM: Teen gelding in stall with run, eating loose hay 2x/day.

If your veterinarian or equine dentist is not checking incisor length and angle, jaw mobility and occlusion, respectfully ask for their assessment.

10/22/2022

TEST FOR OCCLUSION--does the horse have good food grinding ability?

TOP: incisors do not separate with lateral jaw movement = poor chewing teeth occlusion (poor contact for grinding.)

BOTTOM: note incisor separation with lateral movement (after correcting incisor length and table angle with hand tools) = proof of chewing teeth occlusion.

These are always a work in progress--striving to improve chewing teeth table angles and keeping incisors balanced is challenging...and very rewarding for everyone!

**www.insighttoequus.com** under construction 🤠

10/11/2022

Little Darlings
The man approached me, saying, “You need an Olympic-level horse, but you don’t have the money to buy one.” I agreed. The man was an Olympic jumper rider, and we had friendly professional relations. The man added, “I have an Olympic-level horse, but he is crazy. We are so scared that we always drug him with Ace before we ride him. In fact, we lunge him during the week and ride him only in the show ring with a dose of acepromazine. You might be the guy who could deal with the horse. If you are interested, I will sell it for a low price. He is a world-class athlete if you can deal with his violence and madness.” This is how I became Atoll 2 owner.
The horse became an International Three Day Event horse. He was a phenomenal athlete, but he was incredibly difficult. I often received unsolicited advice. The man who sold me Atoll was often at the Fontainebleau Olympic Center, where I worked. He heard “experts” giving me advice and commented with a big smile, “These little darlings have no idea what they are talking about. They have no clue of how difficult and unconventional this horse is.“ It was no computers at this time. These “Little Darlings” were the earliest version of the “Keyboard Riders.”
Horses adapt to what we do, even if the adaptation leads to suffering, injury, and death. Atoll was so difficult to in the jumping course that I tried to ride him with draw reins. I gained some control, but I noticed that he started to flex the upper neck at the level of the third cervical vertebrae. I knew the expression “broken at the third vertebrae,” but I did not know what caused the problem. Intuition warned me of a problem. I removed the draw reins, and Atoll returned to a proper neck flexion. It took longer for Atoll to return to a proper cervical alignment than to develop the defect. I was amazed at how fast the problem developed. It was a matter of one week or two.
Decades later, in 2002, Karen Gellman and J. E. A. Bertram posted a very comprehensive study about the nuchal ligament, talking about the line of function. “Therefore, the line of function of the nuchal ligament is from the wither to C2, not from the wither to the skull.” Karen Gellman explained earlier in her study that the most cranial portions of the funicular and the caudal portion of the lamellar ligament have little tissue volume and consequently underwent limited strain. For this reason, Karen Gellman and J.A.E. Bertram neglected these portions of the nuchal ligament in their analysis because “It is doubtful that they store a useful quantity of elastic energy.” In a previous study, I quoted Gellman and Bertrand explaining that the vertebral nuchal ligament “is an elastic structure on the dorsal midline between the occiput, the cervical vertebrae, and the cranial thoracic processes.” (The equine nuchal ligament: structural and material properties) and of course, a “Keyboard Little Darling Rider” posted a nasty statement affirming that the nuchal ligament was attached on C2 and not the occiput. “Little Darling” was wrong. The nuchal ligament is attached on the occiput, but the line of function is between C2 and the cranial thoracic processes.
Reading Gellman and Bertrand’s study, I wondered if Atoll’s reaction to the draw reins was related to the line of function of the nuchal ligament. Later. As I was in the necropsy room with Elizabeth Uhl, DVM, Ph.D., Dip, ACVP. A specimen came with an upright orientation of the cervical vertebrae, as was Atoll. Elizabeth Uhl pulled the upper cervical vertebrae down to show the tension of the nuchal ligament, and as Elizabeth increased the pressure, the cervical vertebrae showed a broken angle at the level of the third cervical vertebrae. Elizabeth Uhl had to exert intense pressure to create the broken angle at the level of the third cervical vertebrae.
Even if it was four decades earlier and I never used draw reins after the Atoll experience, I felt guilty about having overstressed my horse because I wanted control instead of learning how to become a better rider and taking the time to coordinate my horse efficiently for the athletic demand of the performance.
Jean Luc

10/11/2022

Did you know....

In medieval England people consumed two to three pounds of bread every day. But their appetite for bread was likely nothing compared to that of medieval horses who, after a day spent lugging cargo at high speeds across the British Isles, would often devour coarse loaves of horse bread.

Today, feeding bread to a horse might seem like the whimsy of a sentimental pet owner. But in pre-industrial England, it was the best technology available for powering the horses on which English society relied.

Horse bread, typically a flat, brown bread baked alongside human bread, fueled England’s equine transport system from the Middle Ages up until the early 1800s. It was so logistically important that it was more highly regulated than its human counterpart, with commercial bakers adhering to laws dictating who could bake horse bread, as well as the bread’s price, size, and occasionally even its composition. The ubiquitous bread was made from a dough of bran, bean flour, or a combination of the two, and typically was flat, coarse, and brown.

According to some estimates, medieval horses consumed about 20 pounds of food per day. These huge animals were responsible for hauling people and cargo across England at high speeds. After a long haul, exhausted horses had to rebound quickly for another trip, so they needed carbohydrates and protein, fast.

Bread solved this problem in two ways. First, it saved time and energy because it was “pre-digested,” says William Rubel, author of English Horse-bread, 1590-1800 and a leading historian—and baker—of this functional bread. “Bread, where you’ve ground the food and baked it, pre-digests it, so you get more calories released more quickly.”

Second, horse bread concentrated, in a travel-friendly object, nutrients that owners would otherwise have to gather from vast quantities of grain and grass. “I am convinced that horse bread is a very reasonable solution for the ongoing problem of how do you feed your horses. They require a massive amount of feed and in a medieval economy, it must have been a logistical nightmare, especially while traveling,” writes Madonna Contessa Ilaria Veltri degli Ansari, a medieval reenactor who baked horse bread for her own modern-day horse based on ancient English recipes, in a paper on the topic. “I consider that horse bread is the period analogue for the pellets we use today.”

09/17/2022

09/11/2022

During dissections I have done you can feel a healthy DDFT, navicular bursa vs unhealthy and can see scarring from the needle punctures from joint injections.

09/11/2022

We have been saying this for a long time, glad to see some reserch that bears it out!

This is what the barefoot world has been saying for about 15 to 20 years….. but glad it is finally becoming mainstream……..

August 30, 2022
New Research on why Barefoot Horses remain Sounder than Shod Horses
The barefoot movement is growing amongst top professional riders worldwide, and finally a comprehensive Swedish research project is to determine exactly why there are so many benefits from ditching your horse’s iron shoes and going barefoot instead.



By Helle Maigaard Erhardsen



Since the Olympic Gold medallist and World number one in Showjumping Peder Fredricson pulled the shoes of his horses and went barefoot, he has had far fewer issues with lameness, far less injuries to the hooves and lower limbs and not a single hoof abscess. And perhaps needless to say, his horses keep bringing home the gold like never before.



But why is that? For decades hoof rehabilitators and horse owners have experienced extraordinary results with taking previously shod horses barefoot, but there has been very little research done to support these results scientifically.



So far, fragments of larger studies and smaller case studies have proved how iron shoes increase concussion when the horse lands, how iron shoes interrupt the blood supply to the hooves and inhibits the hooves’ ability to contract and expand. And the renowned podiatry researcher Dr. Robert Bowker VMD has even described how shoeing can be the direct cause of caudal heel pain, also referred to as navicular disease.



However, with next to no specific research comparing the performance of a barefoot hoof to a shod hoof, the debate between pro-shoe horse people and anti-shoe horse people have relied mostly on belief, tradition and personal experience. Now, a new comprehensive research project by The Swedish Agricultural University (SLU) and Agria Animal Insurance is well on the way to scientifically determine the difference between the barefoot hoof and the shod horse hoof.

Swedish barefoot study 2022SLU Professor Lars Roepstorff and his team conducting research for the new comprehensive barefoot study with Peder Fredricson performing an empirical riding test in the background.



A Shod Hoof can’t Expand or Contract as much as a Barefoot Hoof



The Swedish research project is led by Professor Lars Roepstorff, who has been collecting data from empirical riding tests and in-depth interviews throughout the past year. The preliminary results from the first phase of data analysis confirms what smaller studies previously have found: Traditional horseshoes do affect the function of the horse’s hooves.

“The iron shoe locks the so-called hoof mechanism especially when landing after obstacles. The shod hoof can’t expand or contract as much as the barefoot hoof because the shoe inhibits lateral movement. It could mean that the blood flow in the shod hooves is inhibited, and this blood flow is important for the hooves to be healthy,” Roepstorff explained to Agria Djurförsäkring.

In this first stage of the study, the researchers have been focussing on measuring the internal movements of the hoof with and without horseshoes. Professor Lars Roepstorff found it particularly interesting to be able to describe the difference in how much the hoof was allowed to contract during the rollover phase:

“When the mechanism of the hoof is described, it’s often said that the hoof expands when it lands on the ground, which is correct. But we also see that the hoof contracts during the rollover phase and that movement is inhibited by horseshoes. That has not been described very well in literature before now,” Lars Roepstorff said.

Further analysis is to be made to draw conclusions on the actual consequences of the hooves moving less with shoes, like how this affects blood circulation, load and shock absorption.

Horseshoe nailsThe new Swedish research has shown that it’s not only the rigid iron shoe itself that inhibits normal, healthy hoof function, but also the way it is fixed to the hoof with nails.



Barefoot Horses are more Cautious where they put their Feet than Shod Horses



One of the advantages that Peder Fredricson has discovered since going barefoot with his top-level showjumping horses, is that the horses now can feel the ground much better and are far more careful with how and where they put their feet. He links this improved ground sensitivity, also known as proprioception, to the less injuries and lameness issues he has had in his horses since he took their shoes off.



“I think that adaptation to the ground conditions is part of keeping the horse’s hooves healthy and strong. Horses don’t see where they put their hooves, they only sense the ground conditions when they have put their hooves in the ground. With shoes, we remove the feeling from the hoof, so they can move unhindered regardless of the ground. Even in those situations where they really should have been a little cautious,” Peder said according to Agria Djurförsäkring.



Moreover, it is Peder’s experience that metal horseshoes can disguise an incipient injury, which makes it difficult to discover a problem before it turns into actual lameness. Differently, a barefoot horse will instantly display any discomfort:



“You can compare it to when we humans walk barefoot across a gravel field. It may look painful before the feet have hardened and adjusted, but when we get to the grass we can walk normally again. You need to learn and understand the difference between what temporary sensitivity is and what is an injury. Horses with shoes can go for a long time with an injury before it is noticed that it is lame,” Peder said.

09/10/2022

People call me all the time saying that they can’t find a farrier or they only show up once and they never come back. Usually there is a reason for this.

In person consultations are not free. Gas is not free and time is valuable. If you just want an assessment, there is a fee.

Just because your horse stands well for you to brush him and feed him treats does not necessarily mean he’s well behaved. If you have not trained him to have his feet handled it’s not the farriers job to do it. If he’s going to pull my back out and put me out of work and behind schedule for two weeks then I’m not going to wrestle with him, I’m going to dope him. Dope is $20 extra.

If you are not going to keep your horse on a schedule and are going to only call a farrier once they go lame or after they’ve gotten so long you are worried your neighbors are going to turn you in, it will cost extra if I can find a place in my schedule to work you in. I will not drop everything and shuffle regularly scheduled customers just because someone neglected their horses and now “need a farrier right now today “.

If I get your foundered horse on its feet again and then you proceed to neglect to have him regularly maintained or put him right back on grass to re-founder, I’m not going to waste my time.

Lots of people seem to think that farriers should be available at the spur of the moment, that our prices are negotiable. This is not true. It’s a highly skilled job. If you want to treat your farrier like a lawn boy, maybe you should see if your lawn boy wants to trim your horse.

09/06/2022

Haha, your cribber can earn some income selling the boards that are chewed up!!

09/06/2022

Proactive and timely insulin testing for horses with equine metabolic syndrome helps prevent laminitis, thanks to Wellness Ready stallside test kits.

08/18/2022

It is extremely rare but highly appreciated and treasured when I am given the opportunity to study cadaver limbs. It's very eye opening to have a history to connect to what is seen.

08/18/2022

“I’m teaching my horse to accept contact”

If I had a dollar for every time I heard this! Typically it is accompanied by a horse throwing their head up, diving behind the vertical, gaping at the mouth- essentially attempting to be anywhere BUT the contact.

Here is something I often say to people in my clinics.

Imagine you’re on a date. Your date grabs your hand and doesn’t let go. You squirm to get away, but he holds tighter. He says, some day you will have to hold my hand so you need to get used to it. I won’t release until you accept this contact. Maybe he’s brought up in the school of thought that your display of evasion should be countered with a strap of some kind to prevent you from moving away- a flash nose band of sorts for you.

It doesn’t matter how light or heavy he touches- it is contact that isn’t right for the moment. It’s greedy, and inappropriate.

Now imagine you’re on a date and the conversation has lead you to realize you really enjoy his company. Your relationship is developing, he brushes your hand, you reach out and hold it.

Those are two very different feelings, and they come from two very different places.

When the conditions are there, the contact is taken by the horse. Not the other way around.

Contact has meaning. It is not meaningless pressure on the horses mouth, it is a holding of hands while you dance- it is a connection between your body and the horse’s hind legs. It is the display of everything you believe and who you are- manifested through your hand and into the horse- and the horse’s response is a direct representation of their preparation and feelings about your body and hands.

07/28/2022

I learn a TON every time I am blessed with cadaver limbs. I treasure every one I am gifted with or acquire and use to further not only my anatomy education but others. It is a most difficult decision for an owner to gift me their horses' limbs at euthanasia. I am most grateful to both the owner and the horse when they do.