Evergreen Barefoot Hoof Care

04/18/2025

What a beautiful take on this subject 💕 I've always had similar thoughts on the "difficult ones", and aside from injuries or ailments, those "difficult" ones have always been so good for me ❤️ if you remain open to hearing what they have to say- they will tell you.

04/06/2025

It's been a loooong while since I've posted, so I thought I'd share one of my favorite glow ups of 2025 so far 💕

In just 1 cycle, this sweet old man made more progress than I could have hoped for ✨️ this horse had layers upon layers of dead, retained sole; causing his heels to run forward, digital cushions to atrophy and contract, toe loading, and lameness.

This is a shining example of the importance of addressing the caudal hoof when making trim decisions. I am not in the camp of "never touch the heels, never trim the frog, never exfoliate the sole". I am a firm believer that there is no single correct way, and that every hoof has its own story and should be addressed for where it's at in its current stage of development. The horse has the final say, and I am constantly having a conversation with them while I'm working 🫱🏻‍🫲🏼

Unfortunately due to distance, I had to refer this sweet guy on to a friend. But I am so thankful I had the pleasure of getting him more sound and way more comfortable in a couple trims and glue on applications 💕 Lucky for him, he's in the best hands!

Read the captions under each photo for a detailed description-

03/13/2025

✨️👏🏼 rehab *is* possible when you set them up for success

Navicular Rehab and Hoof Adaptability

Looking at these photos, which are of the SAME FOOT by the way, you think I’d be ecstatic with the change in the back half of the foot (and corresponding progress to soundness for this horse).

But to be honest, I almost get a little angry.

I get angry that so many navicular cases like this case are given up on or told to be euthanized just because they have such a weak foot, without attempting to strengthen it or take the time to grow in a healthier hoof.

I get angry that the navicular bone damage or DDFT/collateral ligament/other soft tissue damage is blamed for lameness, without the health of the frog or hoof capsule taken into account.

I get angry that people constantly blame genetics or conformation for things like low heels, long toes, thin soles.

I get angry that people say that the digital cushion and back half of the foot “can’t improve” once it has atrophied.

I look at these photos and see this beautiful gelding trotting by soundly, rehabbed back to ridden work last year walk/trot/canter after so many gave up on him, and want to scream it from the rooftops: diet and movement can mean the difference between crummy feet and rockcrunching feet, proper hoof rehab can mean the difference between, quite literally, life and death.

That’s my drama post for the day.

Photos both show the same untrimmed foot mid-cycle (first was after shoe pull, before hoof rehab), which was the previously lame foot on a navicular case with bone damage and corresponding soft tissue damage, as well as other body-wide compensations. Apologies for the dirty mud season foot 🙃

(If you want to learn more about how we rehab navicular cases, I have an entire ebook on it here - print copy is sold out and on backorder currently) - https://thehumblehoof.com/product/navigating-navicular-disease-an-optimistic-guide-for-a-pessimistic-diagnosis-ebook/

08/17/2024

Hi friends!

I wanted to make a PSA: if you've reached out to me via my business or personal page about getting on my schedule- I promise I will be getting back to folks over the next week or so. I was on vacation for a week and then came home and have been sick as a dog 😷😫 I am starting to feel human again, thankfully! That being said, due to all the rescheduling and shuffling I've done for my existing clients, new client prospects will have to sit in my inbox for juuuust a bit longer while I sort things out.

Thank you for your interest and your patience ✨️💕

05/04/2024

"Haha! You're so funny (horse), he shakes his hind legs when you pick them up" - no, your horse has advanced arthritis you've chosen to stay blind to.

"She's just a bitchy mare, she doesn't like her belly touched" - no, living in a 10x10 stall, little to no turnout, no equine friends, and going hours and hours between feedings has given her ulcers (at the least)

"My horse has become unpredictable and explosive out of nowhere" -no, they've been telling me at every appointment that something is wrong in their body. I've expressed my concerns, and you are too selfish/lazy/scared to acknowledge that something needs addressed because of your own ego.

I'm tired, so tired, of owners dismissing pain faces, stiffness, crankiness, etc as behavioral traits. Thank you Skorstad Farrier Service for this perfectly articulated post 💕

This topic rolls around my head all the time. The more horses I get under, the more I understand equine behavior and their body, the more I am convinced I don’t need to be stronger. Hear me out.

I am 5’6” and 125 lbs. I am a strong and fit person, with limits. Like most people, we all have limits to what our bodies can handle. Working with a 1000 lbs animal, has understandable limits. I have heard more than once, that the horse just needs “a strong man” to get under them and not have it be awful. That a man can “just hang on”. Just because that man can bear down and hold on, doesn’t mean it was any better for the horse than me being slung around. It just makes the human at the end of the lead feel better not seeing me slung around or struggle.

But here is the thing I know. Besides a handful of horses, very very few intentionally want to make it hard to hold a leg up. If they are struggling to stand well for the farrier, it almost always comes down to a few things. The following is said assuming that the farrier is truly a horse person and knows how to help your horse have a positive experience and adjust their approach when necessary.

1. Pain or fear of pain or altered sensation or awareness
2. A reduction in stability and appropriate loading patterns
3. Lack of understanding
4. Lack of emotional agility

As I primarily work with performance horses, I most commonly see 1 and 2. Yet, no performance problems are noted and an obvious head nodding lameness isn’t always present.

It’s tough because I know about how the body and nervous system works and equine behavior more than most farriers, more than a lot of horse people. I understand gait patterns and muscle development. I can feel your horse’s body every time I pick up a hoof. I have picked up 100s of 1000s of hooves (no joke, I did the math, it’s well over 150,000 hooves). Every single one of them is attached to a leg, attached to a horse. I have felt the bodies of so so many horses in every stage of life, from pasture puffs to Olympic level dressage horses and in many different compensation patterns, with all sorts of aches and pains from arthritis and other diseases. I know what a healthy body has the potential to feel like when I pick up a leg. I know what is possible for hoof care when the body is functioning well. I also know the possibilities of what a body will feel like that is struggling with nerve compression in the shoulders, hock arthritis, kissing spine, DSLD, Etc.

If a horse can’t relax, shift its weight, engage it’s core, lift a leg and keep it there, there is work to do to help the horse. Inherently, horses want to stay vertical and eyes level with the horizon to protect their spine, it is imperative to their survival. If they aren’t doing this, there is work to do to help the horse.

I know it can be an uncomfortable topic, especially when nothing seems wrong otherwise with the horse. It’s easier to blame the other human than take a look at the horse in front of us and truly listen.

I can also acknowledge that my approach isn’t right for every horse. I am not saying every visit with every horse needs to be perfect. But I know horses. I know what they feel like and I understand what they are telling us. If I don’t know, I will be the first to say it. I know the potential that exists in every interaction when we listen.

I don’t need to be stronger. I don’t need to hang on. I don’t need to be a man. We need to listen to what the horse is telling us. They don’t tend to be disingenuous with what they are saying. I will always seek to find a way to make hoof care easier and more relaxing for the horse and if I can’t find a way, we really need to look deeper at the horse and see what answers we can find.

Can we stop misinterpreting their behavior and take a deeper look?
Can we stop trying to out muscle and strong arm?
Can we collaborate more for the horse?
Can we start to recognize the subtle changes?
Can we get softer and listen?