Hoof & Body Solutions

11/21/2025

The cutest itty bitty concavity 💕💕

11/17/2025

Your horse’s skeleton is built for impact — not confinement.

Three decades of equine bone research makes one thing painfully clear: Horses kept in box stalls lose bone density.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

Confinement triggers the same biological process humans call osteoporosis — and it starts fast.

Key findings from the research:

- Horses moved from pasture into stalls and worked only at slow speeds began losing bone mineral content within weeks.
- A single short sprint per week (50–80 m) dramatically strengthened bone.
- Corticosteroids mask pain and increase risk of further injury
- Good nutrition cannot override a lack of mechanical loading.
- A skeleton that doesn’t experience impact simply cannot stay strong.

All of this is drawn from:
Nielsen, B.D. (2023). A Review of Three Decades of Research Dedicated to Making Equine Bones Stronger. Animals, 13(5), 789.

So what does this mean for our modern domesticated horses?

It means bone weakness is not inevitable.

It’s a management problem.

It means many “mysterious” pathologies — stress fractures, suspensory injuries, joint degeneration, chronic compensation, recurrent lameness — are downstream consequences of bone that never had the chance to adapt to the forces nature designed it for.

Box stalls create osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis creates a whole lot of other pathology.

Your horse doesn’t need to be an athlete. But their bones require impact. Free movement. The ability to respond to their own nervous system’s cues to trot, canter, play, stretch, and even sprint.

Turnout is not enrichment.

Movement is biology.

Bone health is built — or lost — every single day.

A question I encourage every owner to sit with:

If you knew your horse’s bones were weakening in silence every day they stood still, would you keep managing them the same way?

Because in the end, it’s not confinement that keeps a horse safe.

It’s a resilient skeleton.

And only you can give them the environment their biology requires.

Change begins with us.

11/17/2025

Great morning webinar with Dr Ian Bidstrup from Australia who presented a session on “Neck pain, kissing spine and Sacroiliac disease”. Great session discussing regenerative therapy approaches in the management of horses with dysfunction. Massive thank you to Ian for sharing his work and clinical approaches - with the overarching theme, look at the whole horse, not just one area. Thank you to everyone who joined, great Q and A 🤓

Our 2025 webinar programme, brings world renowned researchers and clinicians direct to your laptop, sharing their ground breaking work and approaches.

Bringing high quality CPD direct to you, without the need to drive or travel. The overarching objective of our programme, is to share high quality, evidence based information which can be used to advance knowledge and understanding across the globe, to help improve equine health and welfare.

All webinars are recorded with an annual viewing pass, CPD certificate and interactive questions and answers session.

Details and bookings⤵️

https://www.centaurbiomechanics.co.uk/webinars-online-cpd-and-education-/

11/08/2025

11/08/2025

SUREFOOT day for my own today!

11/07/2025

🐴 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐭 — 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡.

This has been on my mind a lot ..
We keep talking about burnout in the horse world — but what if it isn’t burnout?
What if it’s just caring too deeply, for too long, without a break?

Because we don’t clock off at 5pm.
We don’t switch off our phones or our brains.
We lie awake wondering if the one that didn’t finish their feed is okay,
or if the weather’s going to turn the fields into soup again.

We say “I’m fine” while doing twelve things at once, running on coffee, hay dust and stubbornness.
We hold space for everyone else’s horses, emotions, and emergencies — but who holds space for us?

And when we finally show we’re tired, someone always says,
“Well, you chose this life.”
As if loving something means it shouldn’t exhaust you.

But it’s okay to be tired.
It’s okay to need a day off.
It’s okay to love this life and still feel like it’s breaking you sometimes.

Because the truth is, we don’t do it for money, or glory, or thanks.
We do it for the quiet moments —
the old horse resting his nose on your shoulder,
the rescue that finally trusts again,
the little wins no one else sees.

That’s what keeps us here.

So if you’re reading this and you’re running on fumes — you’re not weak.
You’re human. You just care more than most. 💛

Ps. If anyone finds a “self-cleaning stable” or a “field that never turns to mud” setting in real life, please DM me immediately. I’ll sell a kidney for it. 😂

10/31/2025

I’m just super happy with this rehab! There were definite highs, lows and uncertainty about what level of soundness he could achieve. His dedicated person asked all the questions and did all the things to give him the best possible outcome. So happy for them and so happy to be part of his team!
Feb ‘25-Oct ‘25

10/31/2025