Adept Equine

06/12/2023

Silkie chicks 1-6 weeks old available: Partridge, blue partridge, black and white. 1 white showgirl. 1 partridge frizzle.. Just moved outside this week - still with heat plate.

One blue partridge cockerel and pullet pair available. 6 months old.

Can meet at tractor supply Tomball/Magnolia/Navasota. NPIP flock. Current on worming/elctorPSP and from clean environment.

Photos of parent roosters that are NFS

02/12/2023

Neo first chicken show. 1 BV - first best variety under both judges ❤️

19/10/2023

Silkie chicks are coming. 10 days and 20 days out. I’ll be selling these. Partridge , white and black ❤️

12/06/2023

NPIP testing done! I’m now able to sell chickens and hatching eggs. Woo-hoo! Breeding paints and will have several black silkies and black showgirl silkies available soon. They are all black split to lavender or paint.

Chick in photo not for sale 🐣❤️

07/06/2023

Silkie chick explosion at the farm! Some will be available at a later date.

26/08/2022

The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield - He says “The realized person almost never criticizes others. If they speak at all it’s to provide encouragement”.

Warwicks podcast are so much more than about horses. The man is on a spiritual journey and his podcasts are enlightening. I love listening to them and wanted to share

I often get asked to take a public stand about certain issues, such a bits versus “bitless” (such a silly term to describe sonething, it doesn’t tell you what you are riding in, it only says what you aren’t riding in), or the recent National Reining Horse Horse Association to allow the use of Sedivet in competition horses, or whether a certain training practice is ethical.

I usually decline.

I’m in South Carolina today driving to Warwick Schiller North Carolina Clinic and I’m listening to a book recommended by recent podcast guest Christine Dickson. Her episode comes out today, it’s one of the most profound conversations I’ve had on the podcast, so that’s saying something. The book is called The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield.

In one section he’s talking about criticizing others.

He says “The realized person almost never criticizes others. If they speak at all it’s to provide encouragement”. I’m not exactly sure what realised means in this context, but if we’ve learned anything from the past few years it’s that criticizing someone’s political beliefs, religious beliefs, or horse husbandry practices is a good way to alienate them to the possibility of what you are saying .

I saw I sign in a western west store one time that said the best sermons are lived, not preached. I think it’s a good way to live life.

25/08/2022

16/08/2022

Long Toes

I can't tell you how many times I see someone post a picture of their horse's feet and a barrage of comments say "your farrier needs to bring those toes back."

Now, let's ignore all the times it happens when the toes aren't actually too long - they're actually well balanced around the center of rotation based on the hoof pictures provided, and that doesn't seem to be the issue. In those cases, I just assume the person commenting isn't quite sure how to interpret what they're looking at.

Of course, sometimes the toes really are long. Long toes are getting more awareness lately as we know how much they can affect the distal limb.

But that being said, we need to be really careful about giving trim advice without having the entire story, for a lot of reasons.

For example, low or crushed heels can give the appearance of long toes when there actually isn't much room to bring them back. The lack of heel makes the toe look like it has shot forward, when really we are just missing a part of the picture.

Then there are other cases when just "lopping off toes" might actually cause a problem..
Bringing toes back shifts the horse's weightbearing further back in the hoof capsule. Horses with an atrophied frog or heel might not appreciate that; forcing the excess pressure on a weak caudal hoof can actually cause immediate discomfort or soreness. Along the same vein, horses with thin soles can become more sensitive or footsore when taking back even radiographically-confirmed long toes.
In those cases, it can be incredibly helpful to work on bringing the toes back slowly and consider the horse's comfort level as you work towards the goal of a healthier toe length.

Overall, seeing trim advice given based on pictures tends to make me cringe a bit. There's a real horse behind those photos, and a real owner who has to deal with the consequences if the advice makes a horse sore.

Next time you have the itch to write "Long toes!!!!" on a post, take an extra second to consider the whole horse and whole picture.

05/08/2022

31/07/2022

It’s not a long toe, its a low heel 😀.

20/07/2022

Are those chickens? Why yes, yes they are my boujie ass chickens. 😂❤️🐓🤩🐣

02/07/2022

07/04/2022

Melanoma tumors can be found internally throughout the horses body.

Equine Melanoma
Black, tar like, hard and staining.

This was found under the shoulder blade of a grey Welsh Mountain pony. Size 3 x 3 cm.

http://www.patreon.com/hoofstudies

Grateful thanks to my Small Business Supporters. ❤️. Please help support them as they help to support me!

Melissa LaFlamme
Equine podiatrist and teacher
Quebec

Tiffani Radake
Owner at Hug Your Horse
US Hidalgo, Consultant
Illinois, US

04/04/2022

Have you considered that your horse isn’t giving you a hard time? It’s having a hard time!?

This statement holds true not just for handling and riding, but when being shod too!!
A case today reminded me of this!

Horses are on the whole genuine in their behaviour, behaviours can be learnt from previous experiences but on the whole if a behaviour is pain induced they will tend to desist on relief of that pain, and studies have shown this. Cook (2003) for example found an immediate change in behaviour after the removal of a painful bit, and Dyson found a reduction in behaviours with the abolishment of pain in her studies.

If we can learn to recognise the signs and compensations we can firstly recognise something as physiologically wrong and then make steps to address it. Further reading at these links..

https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/post/the-unacceptable-norms-of-equine-management-and-the-inevitable-paradigm-shifts

https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/post/recognising-pain-in-the-horse

In an upcoming webinar Dr Clifford will outline compensations, recognising them and understanding what we can change.. get your tickets on the hub now..

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/Conformation

20/03/2022

Did you know I work with dogs as well? I got to meet a lovely this weekend ❤️❤️❤️ They’re so sweet and playful

19/03/2022

Good luck Cooper and Mindy at tomorrows Ranch Riding show in Brenham!

16/03/2022

You know you’re a hoof nerd when you think this is just plain sexy!

Boney Column Alignment

05/03/2022

15/02/2022

What is better, frog support padding or heart bar shoes?
Can we get the same results from both?

Often I hear farriers say they don't need to use padding they just use a heart bar instead. Yesterday one asked me if this was a correct statement.

The answer is likely no, studies have emerged showing that bar shoes actually increase peak load on the heels over and above frog support padding and therefore are contraindicated for the treatment of low heels.

If you look at the hoofs design, it has an open back of a lower elastic modulus that facilitates increased flexibility. Closing it up reduces this ability, less movement means less shock dispersion means increased peak load.

Read full article at this link...

https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/post/frog-pressure-is-the-heart-bar-obsolete

30/01/2022

👏this👏 if I hear this one more time someone may hear my internal screaming 😂🤣

28/01/2022

Funny Friday 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣😂
Have a great weekend!🐎

27/01/2022

Trying feed bags here at the ranch. The boys both acted like they had done it before with zero effort on my part. It was a nice way to make sure they got their individual feed without having to separate them.

17/01/2022

This! Both are important to get right. When corrected both improve your horses soundness and long term health!

Alignment versus Palmar/Plantar Angle

There has been a lot of recent awareness into negative palmar and plantar angles, as well as broken back HPA and phalangeal alignment. I think owner education into this is great, and more knowledge can help in identifying possible issues with our horses. That being said, some owners are getting the concepts a bit mixed up, so I wanted to clarify a few things.

I have had a handful of people (not clients) reach out to me and say their horse "is NPA," but once they send the rads along, I notice that the horse actually doesn't have negative palmar or plantar angles at all, but instead simply has a broken back phalangeal alignment.

So what is NPA?
A negative palmar (front feet) or plantar (hind feet) angle refers to the angle between the ground and the coffin bone. When drawing a horizontal line parallel to the ground plane, and another line parallel to the bottom of the coffin bone, these two lines will create an angle. If the back half of the coffin bone is closer to the ground than the front half, that angle is labeled negative. If the front half is closer to the ground, that angle is labeled positive. With a negative angle, a vet can diagnose NPA.

When it comes to phalangeal alignment, we name it based on the comparison to a straight alignment (although truly straight alignment is rarely found on radiographs). If you draw a line through the middle of the long pastern bone, or P1, parallel to the bone, a straight alignment would be if this line also was parallel through the short pastern bone (P2), and parallel to the dorsal aspect of the coffin bone (P3). A horse would have 'broken back phalangeal alignment' if P1/P2/P3 are not aligned within the limb/capsule, and to put it as simply as possible, the joints between them look as though someone has stood in front of the limb and pushed the joint back toward the tail. In more anatomical terms, P1 might have a more acute/upright angle than P2, and P2 would have a more acute/upright angle than P3.

I have attached 2 radiographs here to show these two issues.

In the radiograph on the left of a hind foot, this horse's coffin bone is tipped backwards in comparison to the ground plane, resulting in a -.21° angle, which can be diagnosed as NPA. You can see the back half of the coffin bone is closer to the ground then the front half. Note that this horse also has broken back alignment.

In the radiograph on the right of a front foot (different horse), we can see the palmar angle is 9.12°, showing a very clear positive palmar angle. That being said, P1/P2/P3 are out of alignment- if we started at the top crosshair and followed the green line to the ground, the bones do not continue parallel with that line and end up ahead of that line, at a shallower angle. This horse has a broken back alignment.

While some often address these two issues similarly, they aren't the same, and we should be careful with our comments and 'diagnoses' online and elsewhere- not all horses with broken back HPA or phalangeal alignment have NPA.

Radiograph mark ups are thanks to MetronHoof from EponaMind- Epona has done many studies with their radiograph database, and John Craig has some very interesting findings - you can hear more in the archives of talks on their website!

30/12/2021

Check the angles of front AND hind feet. Yogi has some great diagrams and posts on the matter. Follow him to learn more about how it’s all connected ❤️❤️❤️

27/12/2021

Horses can only bear 20% more strain than intended before ‘breaking’. Read this and make sure your hoof angles are staying in the correct alignment both front and hind to prevent unnecessary injury