Ann Ramsey Equine Rehabilitation

10/01/2025

I just learned of the recent death of my college professor and Hall of Fame Farrier Gene Armstrong. He was the greatest horseman I’ve ever met, and the nicest teacher.

His Equine Science class was where I first learned about trimming. And I picked up my first rasp while he taught me and my fellow students the basics of trimming.

I met him again in more recent years at educational conferences. I learned more about him in the years after graduation. He was one of the first people to teach Farrier Science at the college level. A legend here in America but also beloved and revered by farriers in Europe and all over the world. He will be deeply missed.

The link below is an article about him from The American Farriers Journal.

https://www.americanfarriers.com/articles/14707-copy-of-hall-of-fame-farrier-gene-armstrong-passes-away?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1_Y8UumorFbjqe9RV9Y6gtWuOzNQk4uLSIe021mxbA73DH_M5pdRb_KVU_aem_q65HKSMH1vJVTxhZMZJm7w

07/01/2025

Warning ⚠️ ‼️ ⛔️ The images below were sent to me. I don’t normally comment on misinformation about Hoofcare. However when I see something that is dangerous enough to cause bodily harm to horses, as an educator I feel I must.

According to a consensus of scientific data, peer reviewed research and expert opinion, there are no true “constants”in horses hooves. There are simply too many variables which influence the position of P3 inside the capsule.

These factors include, palmar angle of the pedal bone, disease processes such as Laminitis, Navicular disease and syndrome, injury, club foot, soft tissue injuries, abscesses, fractures, moisture content of the capsule, shoeing, diet, hormone imbalances etc. Even things like age, breed and work load, can have an effect on the bone position within the capsule.

If you used this belief that all horses from drafts to mini’s have a distance of 1cm between the external tip of the frog and the tip of P3, you could cause some serious harm. If you used this as a trimming reference, one would hit blood, but also one could truly mutilate the horse by hitting bone. Something that could threaten its life.

It is best to follow the majority of practitioners who use scientific data, peer reviewed research, and who have the proper experience and credentials to be considered experts in the field of Farrier Science. If anyone would like a short list of experts I’d be happy to provide that.

08/11/2024

https://youtu.be/wUXbbDqskn4

Offered for your consideration. 16.1h 2017 gelding Perry aka “PIKCAIN” sired by 2019 and 2020 stallion of the year Pikko Del Cerro. His stallion Pikko Del Cerro was a supreme grand prix horse campaigned by Ann Wilcox.

Perry is a 2 time conformation champion at the American Hanoverian Inspections. He won his class as top foal and then was champion again as a 2 year old. With three incredible gaits, 8’s on his walk, and beautiful body he is a truly outstanding example of the Hanoverian breed.

Perry is currently training second level movements. He also enjoys trails and has a special talent for jumping. Ready to go in any direction. Perry does need an intermediate or advanced rider. X-rays a available upon request. Call 510-517-5998 additional trail videos and meet and greet video included here.

Asking 50,🥕🥕🥕 obo.

His Trail video
https://youtu.be/DeTb3tKp2sw

His meet and greet video

https://youtu.be/3NjGoPUqk18

08/11/2024

Offered for your consideration. 16.1h 2017 gelding Perry aka “PIKCAIN” sired by 2019 and 2020 stallion of the year Pikko Del Cerro. His stallion Pikko Del Cerro was a supreme grand prix horse campaigned by Ann Wilcox.

Perry is a 2 time conformation champion at the American Hanoverian Inspections. He won his class as top foal and then was champion again as a 2 year old. With three incredible gaits, 8’s on his walk, and beautiful body he is a truly outstanding example of the Hanoverian breed.

Perry is currently training second level movements. He also enjoys trails and has a special talent for jumping. Ready to go in any direction. Perry does need an intermediate or advanced rider. X-rays a available upon request. Call 510-517-5998 additional trail videos and meet and greet video included here.

Asking 50,🥕🥕🥕 obo.

His Trail video
https://youtu.be/DeTb3tKp2sw

His meet and greet video

https://youtu.be/3NjGoPUqk18

Full sale video
https://youtu.be/wUXbbDqskn4

24/10/2024

I loved teaching at the Santa Rosa JC Farrier Science class! Thank you RT Goodrich for having me as a guest lecturer. The students learned about lameness, and shoeing to resolve lameness and injury.

05/09/2024

This is the key 🔑. The bell curve. All of life, biology exists and can be described in a bell curve.

02/09/2024

Recently a barefoot group labeled as a “cult”. But is this true? It’s a question that needs answering, as some people feel they are a legitimate source of information. While many others feel their beliefs are deviant from the scientific consensus on the treatment of Laminitis.

First let’s define a cult and then compare. Does the term “cult “actually describe the group?

A cult is defined as a group of people devoted to a set of beliefs and practices which are considered unusual or deviant from society. They are characterized by the following traits:

1. A Charismatic Leader

Cults are often characterized by a charismatic leader, who is followed without question. The leader controls the beliefs, behaviors and customs of the other members. The Leader has absolute authority without meaningful accountability.

2. Isolation

Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving the group is common. They often create an “us vs the rest of the world”mentality which is problematic and isolating to the members.

3. Unquestioning Faith

Members must have complete faith in the group and the leader. Anyone suspected of harboring doubts or questions is shunned or ostracized.

4. Manipulation

Cults can become dangerous and often hurt and manipulate their members. The use of highly emotional language, shaming, bullying and abuse are part of the process. They can also exploit members for money, labor etc.

5. Indoctrination

Cults have indoctrination programs in which members must go through a transformative process. They must become educated in the cults beliefs and practices.

6. Absolute Authority

There is no tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.

Above is a short list. However to me it appears there are similarities.

In the Barefoot group there is a Leader whose authority is not truly questioned.

Critical thinking and meaningful accountability is not tolerated by people considered outsiders. In this case it’s the entirety of “the equine world”. I have numerous sources who say asking a question, or persisting in a debate resulted in them being kicked out of the group.

Often people who challenge the beliefs of the Barefoot group are labeled as part of the “equine world” that hasn’t “woken up”. Creating an “us vs the equine industry” mentality.

The group’s beliefs are considered deviant from the countless studies and decades of veterinary research into laminitis. “Stop the chop “is the slogan. And the group recommends leaving long toes for the entirety of the laminitis rehabilitation process.

The Leader espouses beliefs and practices. Such as “laminitis is caused by trimming only!” or “there is no such thing as rotation of the coffin bone!” or that the length of the horse’s toe has no effect on the tension of the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon……

These false proclamations help no one. And sadly only reveal an inability on the part of the leader to understand or define the regional anatomy and function of the hoof capsule.

The emotional pleas, punitive threats towards “ Vets, Farriers, and Trimmers” and attention grabbing posts are emotionally manipulative.

Sadly, this kind of communication is highly persuasive. Especially to horse owners looking for real help with their laminitic horses.

To be described as a cult is a serious claim. However, when critically assessed, this Barefoot group does indeed have some of the essential traits.

The intention of this post is not to create more divisiveness. My goal is to help horses and horse owners. If practitioners like vets and farriers were to adopt some of these anti-scientific practices, it would cause harm to laminitic horses. The horses must come first. Hopefully this is food for thought.

References:

1. Wikipedia

2. Dictionary.com

11/08/2024

https://www.facebook.com/100075782037773/posts/463783009491096/?mibextid=WaXdOe

Brilliant explanation of how conformation affects the shape of the hoof capsule. Great read!!!

08/08/2024

https://www.instagram.com/stories/killacat08/3429531602502531448?utm_source=ig_story_item_share&igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==

26/07/2024

Great read.

22/07/2024

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to my weekly engagement list! 🎉

Zahoor Ahmad, Travis David Mahoney, Fitz Equine Bodywork, Christian Egeler, Lagniappe Equine, Rebecca Sutton, Pavel Javier Lara Corrales, Lynn McEnespy, Edison Wladimir Chipugsi Velasquez, Chelsea Lauren

22/07/2024

Hi Horse Lovers! 🌟 You can support me by sending Stars - they help me earn a bit to keep making Horse related content you love! Thank you to everyone who has supported me. 🙏

Whenever you see the Stars icon, you can send me Stars!

18/07/2024

Edit: a barefoot group, has claimed that there is no connection between a long toe and increased DDFT tension. They have released a series of photos and X-rays in an attempt to prove this point. However many of the X-rays, actually depict very clearly the phenomenon they claim doesn’t exist.
I have marked up one such X-ray, to illustrate a scientific point. Just as many other professionals have done with their materials.

Building on my previous post about the connection between the toe length and the tension on the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon (DDFT), this image shows what happens when there is no longer a stable attachment from the dorsal hoof wall to the pedal bone.
When the wall attachment breaks down due to laminitis, the DDFT is unopposed. Thus, the tension of the DDFT can pull the pedal bone out of alignment with the rest of the boney column and into a rotation of P3.

This imbalance of forces is what causes rotation, not over trimming as some have suggested. As you can see in this x-ray the toe is quite long. What fills the gap is a laminar wedge made up of porous scar tissue. Laminar wedges can actually continue the rotation, because without reducing the toe length, the tension on the DDFT will continue to increase as the toe length stretches further out.

Just lowering the heels alone, will also only increase pull of the DDFT, causing the P3 bone to drop onto the sole, crushing the vascular bed required to produce more sole. This is frequently the cause of sole perforation in horses.

The Center of Rotation is represented as a red circle. The DDFT is shown in Green.

The moment arm of the toe length, is measured from the center of rotation to the tip of the toe. This line is represented in blue and marked Lt.

The length from the Center of Rotation of the coffin joint through the navicular bone to the tendon, is marked Ln.

The force at the toe from the ground is marked by an orange line and marked Fg.

The 3 red lines mark the direction of pull away from the Dorsal Hoof Wall. This is how the bone is pulled away by the DDFT which is unopposed in a foot with Laminitis until some attachments can be repaired by the body.

keeping the moment arm (toe length) reduced to a balanced length, is critical in the treatment of laminitis.

17/07/2024

Hey 👋 If you are interested in Asymmetry and Lameness, the topic of my 5 hour lecture series and accredited online class, check out one of my Webinars with Wendy!

Ann Ramsey is a lifelong horsewoman. She graduated from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo in 2006, with a bachelor's degree in Anima...

15/07/2024

I’d like to weigh-in on the notion currently being discussed which states that there is no relationship between the length of the toe and the force on the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon (DDFT). In the figure below a widely accepted model of the coffin joint mechanics is presented. The image below is shows the lever and pulley relationship between the length of toe moment arm, and the force on the DDFT.

The red circle represents the Center of Rotation of the Coffin joint, located at the distal end of P2.

The smaller blue circle depicts the Center of Rotation of the navicular bone. The DDFT rides over the navicular bone, which acts like a pulley.

The length of the Lever arm of the Toe, is depicted as a blue line marked Lt.

This relationship of lever to pulley, becomes critical for the foot to achieve breakover. Breakover is described as the moment when the stance phase has ended, and the heel just lifts off the ground. To achieve this, the DDFT muscle must contract, which creates torque around the Center of Rotation of the Coffin Joint. The longer the Length of the Toe arm (blue line marked Lt), the harder the muscle of the DDFT must work, to flex the coffin joint forward, and achieve breakover.

Neglecting to trim the toe appropriately, creates extra work for the DDFT and its muscle. A shorter toed horse will have less tension on the DDFT than a long-toed horse.

Something worth noting is that this is the model for a normal horse with healthy wall attachment. The failure to remove the excess toe on a horse with laminitis, has serious repercussions for the recovery of wall attachment during the healing phase. More on this in another post to follow.

References:
1. Evaluating Radiographs for Equine Foot Management, by Pete Healey, APFI
2. Rooney J.R., Functional Anatomy of the Foot. In: Floy A., Mansmann R.A., ed. Equine Podiatry
3. A Modern Look At the Hoof by M. Craig

14/07/2024

www.Equine-Rehab.com.

Here is the link to my new website! I hope you enjoy it. All of my online lectures, classes, and articles are available here! Thank you to my followers and supporters I’m always trying to bring you the best info regarding the health of the horse.

Rehabilitation, Hoof Care & BodyworkEast Bay and Sacramento Valley, CA Now offering online consultations! RECOGNIZING & PREVENTING LAMENESS ONLINE CLASS Recognizing & Preventing Lameness Online ClassLearn to Spot lameness from subtle to overt, and take action to prevent injury.Accredited by the IAPF...