Haggerty Equine Experiences

01/10/2025

I used to think I'd become some big name trainer with many horses in training at a time and lots of sales horses at a high turn over rate...

I'm much happier with my long term/repeat clients, slower training style with more attention to details, and my herd of lifelong keepers ❤️

Horse sales, expectations, an epidemic in problems getting along with animals, and why I’ll never sell the horses I have

All this has been on my mind more than usual recently as I’ve helped a few students navigate the process of finding and purchasing a suitable horse for them.

I’ve been on about every side of a horse sale there is, and find every angle distasteful personally. I used to sell a few horses here and there and found the expectations of those looking to purchase unreasonable, and the horse quickly reduced to an object sold for a price- one that should come with buttons and a manual and not change no matter what the handling or environment was like.

As I helped my students find horses, I found the sale and presentation dishonest, and uncomfortable as well. These horses carry high price tags and are presented as these types of robots that fulfill the desires of a purchaser : ten minutes of video of all the things the horse will tolerate- tarps blowing, people standing on their backs, but very little into WHO this horse is and what they need.

For clarity, it’s not that I’m opposed to purchasing or selling horses. I just have very few personal experiences of it being any fun

The focus on horses in the industry often is very much on what the person needs or wants to get out of an experience with horses. Because of this, we struggle to get along with horses. Over the years, I’ve found my heart broken time and time again to hear some of the gentlest and easiest horses I loved moved along because their owners simply could not get along with them - often because they took too much, expected too much, and gave to the horse too little of what a horse actually needs.

What a horse actually needs - that is such a nebulous concept anymore. Of course it’s fine to purchase a horse that suits your needs, and we aren’t required to get along with horses who’s temperaments don’t suit us - but any horse can quickly unravel when we don’t commit to husbandry, to rising to the occasion, to being the kind of person and having the kind of life a horse needs. They didn’t ask to come into our lives - it is not their responsibility to bend to unrealistic requirements, and it isn’t even possible for them to do so most of the time.

I’ve had reports of my horses, the most gentle ones who I can’t imagine being difficult for someone to handle, becoming unruly and unmanageable for folks - won’t stand for trims, won’t lead, aggressive or spooky. These are the horses my children ride , the quietest ones I have - what does it take for a horse to unravel? A persons lack of awareness, poor support to the horse; and unreasonable expectations.

So long as we societally don’t focus on GIVING to our animals but instead taking, we will continue to have problems getting along, and horses will continue to bounce through homes, with their stressed behavior becoming increasingly described as their personality

01/09/2025

I forgot to share this snippet of these absolute goofballs 😂
Skipper was basically sticking his tongue onto Munchie's face and just standing there 🤣🤣

This was what initiated the video of them playing

01/08/2025

Some screenshots from the video last week to breakdown moments of a rear

I am always learning and studying horse behaviors and movements, there's so much you can learn from observation! Everything from hoof placement, how they are balancing throughout the movement, muscles groups that are being activated, etc. I'm looking closely at the angles of the shoulder and hocks, the swing and arch to the neck, the flexion of the fetlocks, how they absorb pressure and spring the energy back up. Although I see all of this at the surface, I still have so much deeper info to learn about anatomy and biomechanics

Rearing is quite an athletic maneuver, but interestingly it's pretty common for several of my horses to execute during play!

01/08/2025

I first became aware of barefoot loading patterns about 20 years ago from looking at the wild horse studies done by Jamie Jackson and Gene Ovniceck that showed us how mustangs develop ground contact points. This establishes a series of points and arches that suspend the horse over 3-4 ground contact points per foot. These contact points are created from miles of daily wear over varied terrain.

I quit using steel shoes years ago and since then I’ve been working on BUILDING contact points on domestic horse hooves by simulating adequate miles of wear. This isn’t just carving the feet to preconceived contact points like the “4 Point Trim” suggested. If you just don’t let dead wall, frog, and sole accumulate, the hoof capsules eventually conform to the internal structures without deviation. This establishes a fully live undeviated hoof capsule within a couple of years, no matter how much movement the horse gets.

The pillars and arches are natural structural components in every hoof. They just collapse and disappear when the hooves get overgrown and retain dead horn. If horses can wear and build their hooves on their own, given enough acreage, then that wear can be simulated by trimming that respects the individual anatomy and stage of development of each individual hoof.

When this type of trimming is done accurately over time, the result is a fully live well developed hoof capsule with the arches and points in the right places. No movement needed. That’s the part that people get hung up on. I’m not saying that horses don’t need movement. I’m saying that their biomechanics don’t require movement to build their hooves from flat to concave, and it should never be carved.

The horse’s posture improves when you take the correct amount of dead horn off in just the right places. The improved posture sets the weight bearing more accurately over the digital cushion, which thrives from use ( weight bearing ). As the horse shifts more weight back over the heels that are now supported by the DC, the weight comes off of the sole…the sole thrives on suspension. That’s how you use the horse’s weight for them instead of against them to build soft tissue and live sole and that elevation is how you improve their PA and HPA sustainably.

If you try to improve the posture by improving the angles first, there is no digital cushion to support the horse so the joints, tendons, and ligaments have to compensate. That causes irreversible damage that shows up months or years later. This is why I’m against flat trimming for angles, steel shoes, and/or wedge pads.

After almost 20 years of restoring live internal elevation to flat dead footed horses ( all ages, breeds, and sizes ), these are the common issues that I’ve noticed:

The drawing on the left shows the damage that I’ve observed on the inside of a hoof that’s been trimmed flat, steel shod and/or wedged. Horses with better conformation resist the damage better, as do horses that aren’t subjected to these practices.

- lower position of extensor process
- bone erosion commonly seen in these 3 areas ( dotted white lines )
- jammed up frog and digital cushion from dead heel buttresses ( correlating to bone erosion at the back of the palmar processes )
- withered lateral cartilages
- jammed up bars ( not shown ) ( correlating to bone erosion on the middle of the palmar processes )
- jammed up solar corium ( correlating to bone loss along the tip of P3 and the Coronary Band / Extensor process relationship )

The drawing on the right shows how the internal structures should look when the arches and points are respected and built over time.

01/07/2025

Out of my current 11 horses, 6 of them are "the original 6" that I've had for 10+ years. My ol man Joe that I used to run barrels and do EVERYTHING with, my youngest rode in a parade last fall 🥹
Rosie is 17 now and I've had her since 5mo old as a fresh weanling from an auction! She has carried my older kid in leadline and won her first ribbon
Maybe I do have too many horses, but I can't bring myself to sell a single one because everything that was mine- is going to be theirs ❤️ it's pretty difficult to buy and replace 10 years of work in a horse!

You’re meant to pass your good horses down to your kids…

The ones you grew up with, the ones who made you who you are, the ones you poured your heart and soul into…

I wasn’t able to pass my horses down.

And if you want a good one, you either have to make them, or buy them, and the reality of recovering from my chronic illness the last few years, while easing back into training full-time, has made it difficult for me to do either.

I spent almost all of 2024 with this mare.

She cliniced with me, taught 4-H with me, led trails with me…

She’s the first horse I’ve been able to invest enough time with, that I see glimmers of the horses I used to have.

She’s about as close to passing my own horses down as I’m going to get.

And knowing her full history… started late, started right, impeccable care, is invaluable.

When she came up for sale, I knew I’d never be able to afford her; I’d have to be satisfied with finding her the best home I could.

But every time I tried to compile video for her consignment, when I’d get home and start editing, I’d see that my camera had stopped tracking, or lost focus.

And every time my kiddo would come help with chores, and run up to hug his favorite horse, who’d meet him at the fence, it was getting more and more difficult to think about her leaving.

So I guess she’s just going to have to stay.

Welcome home, Queen B.

01/02/2025

The things I was encouraged to do as a child is nothing like how my kids are being taught! My children are going to be part of the difference- building bridges of communication with animals rather than forcing it, learning to be leaders that can keep their cool and guide even when frustrated

The horse loving child doesn’t want to hurt horses.

They want to love and befriend them.

They’d be just as happy brushing the horse and snuggling them as they would be riding.

They love the horse first, with riding just being a fun bonus.

But, through conditioning by role models where riding is prioritized, they learn otherwise.

They’re told that they need to be the “boss.”

They’re told that if they let the horse get away with “naughty behaviour” that the horse could hurt someone and that they would in some way be responsible for that.

They’re told that horses have thick skin and can’t feel as much, that those kicks, whips and yanks are nothing to the horse.

And while, initially, they’re uncomfortable with this and may resist, they almost always give in.

After all, adults are always right, aren’t they?

They know best, they surely wouldn’t lead a child astray…

Then years later, long into the future, the now adult horse lover is defensive and adversarial when approached with information that calls to question the ethics of the roughness with which they were taught to handle horses…

The pain of acknowledging that they harmed the animals they love so much is all consuming.

So, they choose denial. A self protective mechanism.

But, the horse still feels the brunt of the rough handling, should it continue.

No amount of denial changes the horse’s experience.

It is a tragedy, for both horse and human.

The horse loving child, led astray so early.

The horse, whose voice was readily heard by the child and approached with empathy, only to be extinguished by the perspectives of the adult role models..

The role models, who are generally well intentioned but were once that child led astray, now teaching others as they were taught.

And, the cycle continues.

Until it reaches someone strong enough to sit through the discomfort of realization, to push through that denial and come to acceptance and change.

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas from my goofballs 🎄🎁

It's a day for high spirits and lots of play, especially for the geldings 😁

(No ponies were harmed in the making of this video)

12/25/2024

A hand written note very similar to this resides in my records from when I got Smokey and Dillon 🥹❤️

This photo was shared with me.

The rest of the notice gave the horse's name, that he was asking $500 and would include 35 bales of hay and her grain. The owner said he was parting with her due to his health issues and another surgery.
It had been posted in the local feed store.

The horse is 3 hours from us and happens to be right near Unadilla, the auction little Major was rescued from 3 weeks ago.

Alarms go off when you see this sort of ad because the horse is potentially at risk because;

It's December, winter in the Northeast.
She's 26.
There's an auction nearby.
The owner cares and could possibly be convinced to sell the horse to a dealer pretending to be a good home.

I called Colleen who had seen the note originally and lives nearby. Her organization is Equine Rescue Resource and she has Major.

The next 3 hours were spent trying to arrive at a solution. I don't have room here and am shorthanded because Summer is expecting twins very soon, but I offered to help with the cost/transport/vet if Colleen could take her.

I called the owner who genuinely cared about his horse. He'd had her 12 years and the feed store said he was in regularly buying grain and that he knew him. I commited to the horse and asked that he please hold on to her until Colleen could come for her in a few days. I said I had been worried she could end up at auction, to which he replied a firm no. He didn't want that to happen to her.

The feed store owner took it further yet and called him himself. He offered to forward the cash immediately for the horse and told Colleen she could pay him back (who does that these days?!) when she's back in town at the end of the week.

There were lots of discussions amongst some wonderful people in an effort to do right by a senior horse.

The conclusion was that the owner dropped the price and included not just her hay and grain but saddle/bridle and everything else he had for her. Colleen will pick her up, get her vetted and already has a spot for her to go with a personal friend as a companion to another elderly horse.
The woman taking her in said she'd cover the expenses "because she could" and that would leave resources within the rescues.

The horse will be protected for the rest of her life.

It took several hours to come up with a workable plan to provide this horse with a safe landing. This is how it could have/should have happened for Major. He never should have been dumped at an auction.

12/25/2024

Christmas present from my mom, a hoof stand is something I've needed for quite awhile!! Now I've got all I need for hoof care ❤️❤️

I trimmed a horse using it and OMG does it make a difference! I'll have to adapt a bit to maneuvering around it, but it was significantly easier to trim Litzer's chonky butt! He's a stout QH that stands really great for trimming EXCEPT he leans his weight onto me, so now he can just lean onto my stand!

12/24/2024

It's amazing how those "landmarks" and angles fall into place with a correct trim rather than chasing them specifically

Super Foot

One of the major differences between a steel shoe and a rubber shoe is that you can build a bare foot to an optimal state and then improve on that with a properly set and shaped rubber shoe. Optimal development relies on optimal flexion within the hoof capsule. Structural soundness relies on the foot’s natural ability to resist flexion. Steel only resists. The coffin joint offers the most articulation in the lower leg but relies on a fully live, thick, flexible hoof capsule with a well developed digital cushion and lateral cartilages for support. When the hoof capsule is stabilized by the steel shoe, the other more stable joints are forced to articulate. This is where “boney changes” come from. “Just trimming” a foot doesn’t save horses from these problems. With modern materials and innovation, it is possible to go beyond a good foot and give a horse a super foot.

One of my client’s neighbors was at her barn the other day when I was trimming. He said he had been shoeing horses for 30 years. He asked me why I stopped using steel so I invited him to watch me work on my client’s horse that I’ve been trimming for 7 years ( top photo ). He asked if I went by the hairline angle. I said, “No. Just the sole.” He waited until I finished the last foot and then said, “Those are beautiful feet with perfect hairlines.”
Then he said, “I’m sending a horse to my brother’s for the weekend to gather cows all day in rocky hills. What do you do for that?” I said, “Rubber.” He just looked at me without responding.

I invited him to come watch me put EasyShoes on one of my horses the following morning. We agreed on 8 am. Expecting to have a relaxing Saturday morning, I sat down with a cup of coffee and my phone rang. It was the shoer and he was a 1/2 hour early. I told him to meet me down at the horses and I took my coffee to go. When I got down there with my tools, he was glancing around at our little herd of eight. He commented on the track system being a great set up. I caught Santo and told him a little of his history ( being diagnosed with late stages of navicular and Cushings at 7 years old ). Then I said, “Santo is 21 now.” After I finished his last shoe ( bottom photo ), he watched him walk off and said, “That’s pretty cool.” Then he said, “You said you don’t go by the hairline but I’m looking at all your horses with perfect hairlines. That’s what convinced me. I just want to do the best thing for my horse.” He paused and then said, “ huh...just when you think you know everything.”

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(David Landreville, 2019)

12/23/2024

12/20/2024

Why are dirty little ponies so cute though 🥹🥹

12/17/2024

Are you missing the snow we had just a few days ago? ❄️❄️
Or are you missing the heat of summer? 🌞🌞

12/13/2024

Found a really cool treeless saddle for Munchie but it was HARD finding a short enough girth! This little man is lucky with all the custom sized stuff he has just for him 🥰

12/09/2024

Sales slogans ALWAYS require deeper critical thinking! Or some research into how the theories actually apply to reality

I've never been drawn to "anatomical" cinches/girths or even bridles, I don't own a single one. The price has always chased me away, but also an inkling of skepticism. I haven't always had the understanding or the words to explain it like this, but I didn't fully believe the advertisements either.

Just be open to evaluating what does and doesn't work for your horse! No matter how cheap or expensive, be mindful of how your tack is fitting at a standstill AND in motion. Sometimes a tack item is better than expected, sometimes it's a complete flop despite high hopes 🤷🏼‍♀️