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Head over to my site for a discussion on the snaffle versus the curb and how these two bits may (or may not!) pertain to collection.đ¤đ¤đ¤
When exploring the utility of the snaffle and curb bits as they pertain to collection, a brief version of the development process over some
I had a wonderful time on this segment of Inscape Quest Podcastâs âHorsepower with Heartâ series. Alongside the uplifting voices of NBC commentator, Donna Brothers, and host, Trudi Howley, we discuss women involvement in the sport, horse welfare issues, social media impacts, and more. Enjoy!
âShow Inscape Quest Podcast with Trudi Howley, Ep Horsepower with Heart Ep.8: Racing Hearts: Exploring Horse Racing - Apr 30, 2024
A little post training graze with this lovely lady. Just in time to catch a beautiful sunset together!đĽ°
Wonderfulâ¤ď¸
Saturday evening at the barn and I canât think of any place Iâd rather be!
Watch the acupuncture needle get grabbed up to its base. The treating CSU vet asked to hold on to the video to show students. An unusual enough effect that I thought I would share! Enjoy!âşď¸
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There have been endless discussions on how what we apply to a horse's foot affects its movement. How can we help the horse move more comfortably? What can help ease breakover? Are we doing the right thing when it comes to our trim or shoeing approach?
When I came across Dr. Kate Horan's study on how hoofcare affects breakover duration, I was especially interested. Her team looked at a variety of options - steel shoes, aluminum shoes, GluShus, and barefoot - across both a turf surface and an artificial surface, to determine if any of these options change how the horse moves at various speeds.
I reached out to Dr. Horan to see if she would discuss her methods and results with me for a podcast episode. You can hear the full conversation on any podcast app under "The Humble Hoof," or directly at this link: https://thehumblehoof.libsyn.com/how-hoofcare-affects-movement-with-dr-kate-horan
Looking forward to this.âşď¸đ
Boulder Valley Dressage is hosting a new dressage test clinic with S Judge Dolly Hannon on December 4th at Nighthawk Equestrian Center.
A very high rate of zinc and copper deficiency found in the forage samples mentioned below, and I have found the same high rates of deficiency in my own hay testing and mineral balancing over the years. Lots of good information shared in this post!
I know many of us horse owners and hoofcare providers have seen the conversations about iron in a horse's diet, and the potential effect on hooves. Before we get too into the nitty gritty of diet and the hoof, I want to back up and look at a horseâs needs, based on the NRC Requirements. Hooves are so often a reflection of the health of the animal, and to make sure a horse can grow the healthiest hoof possible, we need to make sure they are meeting all their nutrient and mineral requirements. Thank you to Dr. Gustafson for helping me understand this a bit better myself!
MINERALS IN FORAGE- are they sufficient?
From Dr. Gustafsonâs database of hay testing, she found that out of 250+ samples of forages tested, 97.8% were deficient in zinc, 95.2% were deficient in copper, 12% were deficient in manganese, and 0% were deficient in iron. That means that just from hay, a horse could consume the daily requirement for iron, or sometimes far exceed it. On the other hand, horses rarely if ever meet their requirements for copper and zinc from their forage. That alone is a problem - one that grains and feeds rarely correct well, since so many horses can't handle or aren't fed the recommended daily amount of grains, often due to lower calorie needs or hoof issues preventing owners from feeding grains with sugar and starch above 10% combined. So horses are often walking around with frank deficiencies of minor minerals- copper and zinc to be exact.
But, many feed companies make a ration balancer to handle the caloric issue and they have a much more concentrated nutrients at a much lower feeding rate, you say! Sounds great, right? But hereâs the catch: they often add iron, and sometimes a lot of it. We will talk about the issue with this in a second.
IRON AFFECTING COPPER AND ZINC ABSORPTION
On top of the fact that horses are walking around with copper and zinc deficiencies, the frank deficiency is worsened with a relative deficiency from iron - since we know that iron inhibits the uptake of copper and zinc. Dr. Piper Klemm has studied iron chelation extensively for her dissertation, and actually chatted with me on her podcast about why excess iron inhibits the uptake of copper and zinc in the body, and the horse has no natural way to chelate iron (other than bloodletting). Iron competes with copper and zinc absorption in the body, and copper and zinc are needed for healthy hooves.
BUT IS IRON REALLY ABSORBED?
Now, there are some groups that tend to say that iron isn't absorbed well or isn't bioavailable in various forms. While this would be wonderful- it just doesn't seem to work out well in practice. Aside from the fact that many hoofcare providers can show bloodwork on personal or client horses with high serum iron, TIBC, and ferritin, and have horses with diagnosed iron overload, article after article online shows how horses rarely if ever have an iron deficiency (in fact, iron deficiency anemia is almost unheard of in horses). So they are clearly getting their dietary iron from somewhere. One study linked below shows 22 equines on a property with high iron in the water, and each horse was found to have excessive iron stores and liver issues.
BUT ISN'T IRON REGULATED IN THE BODY?
Yes, hepcidin does regulate iron in the body, but unfortunately this can go awry if it is overwhelmed with excessive iron supply (Equine Applied and Clinical Nutrition, 2013). Couple that with the fact that horses with metabolic issues may also have problems with hepcidin and iron regulation, we can assume that not all horses are regulating iron properly.
DOES IRON CAUSE METABOLIC ISSUES?
In short- we can't claim that. And no one is trying to claim that. Let me explain.
Dr. Kellon and Dr. Gustafson published a study last year of hyperinsulinemia and hyperferritinemia in horses. They found that every single horse in their study, all hyperinsulemic horses, had serum ferritin that exceeded the reference range. They did NOT say that iron causes metabolic issues, or laminitis, though.
There is a CORRELATION between high iron and hyperinsulemic horses. I want to be clear that correlation does not mean causation so Iâm not saying that high iron CAUSES metabolic issues, but it seems that metabolic horses may sequester iron, which can lead to a host of issues.
Another study in 2012 using horses (actually hoping to compare to rhinos) found the same correlation - high ferritin levels at peak insulin concentrations after dextrose administration. They even mention captive rhino diets are higher in iron, that the captive rhinos have more fat stores, and they are moving less. Iâd say that is similar in domesticated horses compared to feral/wild. The issue here is hay is often high in iron, or at least not deficient in iron as Dr. Gustafsonâs database mentioned, and some places also have high iron water, and then people will sometimes feed iron supplements or grain that has iron added. There is no "shortage" of iron in the equine diet. And we know that iron inhibits the uptake of copper and zinc, which is needed for healthy hooves.
SO WHAT CAN DO ABOUT THIS?
So what do we do for horses to ensure that they are getting all the minerals they need for a healthy hoof? Well, we know that feeding at least the NRC amounts of minerals is important for whole horse health and therefore hoof health, and often it can be a minefield, since feeding an excess of one mineral can affect absorption of another mineral. Dr. Kellon has a running field study (over 2 decades now) cataloguing owners practicing tight mineral balancing on metabolic horses, tracked on the ECIR online database of case histories. From there, we have seen that this mineral balancing over time, for example keeping an iron:copper:zinc:manganese ratio of 4:1:3:3, helps to balance for possible dietary iron excesses or at least meet mineral deficiencies, observed through hoof changes, bloodwork, and comfort over time. Many of us have seen a direct result of healthier feet, tighter white line, increased comfort, when doing this. Iâm sure many of us could talk for hours about the improvements we have seen in feet when mineral balancing- anecdotally of course! And interestingly enough, there was a study in 1999 that even suggested that supplementing copper and zinc can help with the susceptibility to white line disease (Pollitt quoted this study in 2005).
Since the safe upper tolerable limits of copper and zinc are much higher than we would ever supplement, and since some hays almost hit the safe upper limits for iron, I'd say it's fairly cheap, easy, and safe to avoid added dietary iron and try testing hay (I use EquiAnalytical), and balancing copper and zinc in the diet. You just might be surprised at the results you see in the body, coat, and feet đ
A few things to explore:
Iron issues in metabolic horses: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32042647/
The rhino study, using an equine model: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23156707/
Iron overload in horses: https://forageplustalk.co.uk/iron-overload-in-horses-by-dr-kellon/
Iron issues in water and liver issues:
https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/evj.13029
Balancing copper and zinc to iron: https://www.hoofrehab.com/Diet.html
Podcast episode where Piper Klemm and I discuss iron and copper and zinc here: https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2021/10/22/plaidcast-252-michael-tokaruk-alicia-harlov-by-taylor-harris-insurance-services/
Podcast episode with nutritionist Scott Cieslar discussing iron and mineral balancing here: https://madbarn.com/videos/mad-about-hooves-scott-cieslar-on-nutrition-for-hoof-health-the-humble-hoof/
Podcast episode with Sally Hugg here, for more basic information: https://thehumblehoof.libsyn.com/nutrition-and-the-hoof-sally-hugg-of-california-trace
I also have a webinar which spends 40 min on nutrition and the hoof here: https://youtu.be/RUKjGgoKnyw
This webinar includes case studies/pictures.
Really valid points made in this article by Dr Yamka, and with takeaways that are easy to carry over to the related livestock industries. 45% of veterinary submissions to the FDA were misdiagnosed, flawed studies, and more.
A new, flawed study has DCM and grain-free pet foods in the news again, yet it proves no diet-related causes for DCM, nor does it eliminate any.
Iâm fascinated to learn about this Dunning Kruger effect and curious to see results with a larger participant pool to see further insights gleaned.
âThis preliminary study found all equestrians had an inflated confidence in their equine-related knowledge indicating that equine-related individuals have only moderate insight into their abilities,â the authors said.
âThis over-confidence can have serious consequences on the welfare of horses, could affect the mental health of riders, and raises important safety issues to the rider and horse.â
âThis over-confidence can have serious consequences on the welfare of horses, and could affect the mental health of ridersâ
UKCC level three coach and Olympic eventer Sharon Hunt told H&H often riders are heavily influenced by whoever is training them at the time, and she believes there is a âtime and a placeâ for training aids, if they are used in the correct way.
âRiders need to be trained correctly so they are only using training aids when necessary. This is really about the horseâs welfare â there is no point using something if the horse is unhappy, itâs not going to work,â she said. âYou need to have a flexible approach because every horse is different and some take longer to understand things.â
A study has aimed to investigate the knowledge of horse riders when using training aids such as side reins and drawn reins
Another success case in . đđđ
Periodically I find myself on the other end of a call with a client seeking a nonexistent 'tool' in my bag of tricks. It can be awkward to expose one's own ignorance on a topic, not to mention uncomfortable. In these instances, I suspect most farriers don't make it a habit of turning away 'good'
Really interesting read!
âThe negative side of nailing a shoe to a hoof is that you automatically lift the hoof from the ground and therefore take away support from the underside of the frog and sole. Since modern arena materials are very firm, with a nailed-on steel or aluminium shoe, we also take away the hoof's ability to flex medio/laterally.
This is a problem because I think we therefore put excessive stress on the hoof, especially on the coffin joint, since the fiber-sand surfaces donât allow one side to sink while turning.â
The Swedish Olympic Show Jumping Team farrier, Peter Glimberg, shares how the Gold Medal Team's hooves are managed for elite competition--barefoot.
With two of the three horses on the Swedish team barefoot, Fredricson and Eckermann show us what is possible in terms of hoof health and rigorous competition even at the highest levels. The US dressage team that took team Silver with two of their three horses in composite shoes is another fantastic example of human fluidity in order to correct and/or avoid many of our common hoof compromises that eventually lead to our horses getting sidelined or otherwise held back in their careers. Congrats to this Swedish Olympic show jumping team!
Meet Peder Fredricson's charismatic double Olympic silver medal-winning partner All In - AKA Alan - who competes without shoes
Do you suspect hindgut issues with your horse? Here's some great food for thought in this article. Start with the easy stuff and make sure you're giving 1) plenty of hay/forage, 2) add a high quality and high potency probiotic to kick-start gut bug populations, 3) and add a prebiotic/soluble fiber to help support that new colonization.
Itâs difficult to go anywhere online (and probably off) where people are talking about horses without having something come up about hind gut ulcers, symptoms and treatments. There are âŚ
Take a listen! This just might be my favorite episode from The Humble Hoof podcast! â¤ď¸đđđ
In this episode, I speak with Shannon Peters, a dressage trainer who has taken horses through Grand Prix and PSG barefoot. Shannon talks about her motivation to take her upper level dressage horses barefoot and how she maintains sound, healthy performance feet. Also in this episode is her hoof...
Two of the three US Dressage team silver winning horses competed in synthetic shoes - an increasingly sought after alternative to metal shoes due to their many long term and rehabilitative benefits. These 2021 Olympic superstars join a growing number of international level horses across disciplines now training and/or competing either barefoot or in composite options! Congrats to team USA!
USA's Olympic dressage team won a silver medal with Curtis Burns' plastic therapeutic "Easy Shoe Flex" horseshoes on two of the horses. ...
Julian Epaillard joins the growing list of international level show jumpers moving to barefoot and synthetic hoofcare options for better blood flow, better articulation and better overall health. (Fast forward to min 4:40 for discussion.)
Interview with Julien Epaillard from France.He won 3 classes at CHI Al Shaqab in Doha (Qatar).Epaillard tells about his secret: riding horses without shoes (...
âIt is during stages of growth â when bone cell production and blood supply are maximized â that we want to trigger the horseâs bone creation resources to model denser, more uniform, and stronger bones.â
Wondering when to start your young horse? This post is for you!
If you are questioning the timing of when to start your young horse, read on! Working with young horses can be one of the most wonderful and
We are so excited to be trying out some of the latest advances in both performance hoofcare and therapeutic hoofcare options this week, thanks to Philip Himanka over at Not Only Barefoot Llc. and EasyCare Inc.đđĽđĽđĽ
The rubber ball and the tranquilizer! What lovely stories he sharesâŚand great insights of many years experience.â¤ď¸
Because I adored him, Tyukod made me his fool and made my tutoring him about jumping nearly impossible. He let me know on every jumping lesson that he knew more about it than I would ever know; he was broadcasting his conceit with his entire body, âLet me do it! Let me do it alone!â And most of the time I had no other option.
The spectatorsâ gallery loved him. Approaching all fences with his spectacular leaps, he usually got a standing ovation. I did not, however, get much respect for it from my coaches. They secretly thought that I provoked Tyukodâs behavior because I enjoyed the thrill of it, and out of vanity, I did not want to âtone him down.â My grooms referred to him as the ârubber ball.â The coachesâ nickname for me was âthe tranquilizer.â I was respected for my successes in calming down the most nervous and high-strung horses. I rendered uncontrollable young stallions docile.
- Charles de Kunffy
Learn more about Tyukod in A Riderâs Survival from Tyranny and in the HORSES video Tyukod. Shop here: www.charlesdekunffy.com/shop
Required reading, for it is the quality of the aid that gives us great insight into the quality of a horseâs training and thus areas which we can work to improve.
This Olympian urges riders to refine their aids and have high expectations to increase the horseâs mental understanding.
A great read to share forward. You will often gain more insight from a no than a yes, and sometimes, when youâre mistake is big enough, youâll find yourself very lucky to have gotten a no.
BY ANN DEMICHELE Iâve learned more from horses whoâve said no than those that have said yes. Iâm a professional out of Northern Virginia. I grew up on a farm, and my mother is also a professional. I have three brothers who also competed in Showjumping. We all did pony club, steeple chased, fox...
With praziquantel and ivermectin becoming increasingly ineffective against strongyles, there were interesting results on flaxseed in this study (the study is linked in the article, but the article provides a good overview).
In addition to its more well-known benefits in coat and skin health, flaxseed oil is also very high in omega 3 and with a much better balance of omega 3/omega 6 ratio for horses than sunflower oil, chia and other commonly used âomegaâ products. These omegas are essential fatty acids (horses require it but in correct ratios, and they cannot make it on their own). Omega 3 in particular, aids in decreasing inflammation (conversely, omega 6 is pro-inflammatory).
Lots of benefits to adding flax to the diet!
Vegetable oils are often added to equine diets to supplement fat and energy, but adding flaxseed oil (also called linseed oil) now has an additional equine health benefit: a recent study found it can significantly reduce strongyle load in horses. This finding is especially important as strongyles ha...
USEF now allows competition in glue on shoes, and a handful of highly successful international level race horse trainers have been training barefoot for years (look up Godolphinâs trainer Charlie Appleby for starters, though none are competing barefoot yet due to the rules). And top level horses in dressage and show jumping are now also finding success. Itâs not just a trend - thereâs lots of science behind barefoot and why it has worked so well for so many horses. Want to give this a try? If your horse has been in shoes for a long time, find a Progressive Hoof Care Practitioners to help you with the transition.
Iâm a little taken aback by the interest that has been taken in competing barefoot horses at the highest level of showjumping in recent months!! It all started with French international showjumper Julien Epaillard taking his horseâs shoes off and after an incredible string of successes at 4 and 5* level some of his fellow riders started to take serious interest in why his horses were performing so well. Simon Delestre, Christian Ahlmann, Peder Fredricson, Henrik Von Eckermann and Roger Yves Bost have now followed suit with some of their horses and are posting equally incredible results at 5* level!! The conversation has been started amongst the worlds elite and I am SO excited for where this is all going to go and what it might mean for the stigma that has been associated with competing without shoes, for so many years. I know how much work goes into developing strong healthy barefoot hooves and how vital a clean diet, low stress environment and access to free movement and different surfaces is, so I am very interested to see how these top level athletes will cope long term with being barefoot and living in such a fast paced and unnatural environment whilst travelling the world competing at the highest levelâŚwatch this space I suppose! Photo đˇ of my own barefoot superstar competing â¤ď¸
âIn dressage, that efficiency â a subtlety that results in the preservation of energy â may give you greater impulsion in a movement. In racing it will preserve for you a last kick of speed at the finish line. In jumping, that efficiency may be the difference in clearing a top rail cleanly when everyone else in your class has knocked it. â
My latest blog post to share here, with a focus on the hand. Some things to think about in terms of history, theory, and practice!
Though this post is dedicated mostly to the hand, I often pull this photo of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith aboard 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify when teaching.
Great photos for the toolbox. Despite no visible exterior scarring (per OP), this horse has built up its own padding in the form of scar tissue which you might be able to improve but cannot fully rehab (at this point) to a pre-damage state. Despite no white hairs or rub marks, you might see slight, chronic fluid accumulation to the area that will give you a hint there is a problem. Need more sign-posts? Other symptoms will display as mostly behavioral to start with: difficulty lifting the back a/o difficulty stretching into the hand when under saddle, reluctance to jump, or other similar behaviors such as bucking when landing, lack of muscular development, blocked shoulders despite gymnastic work, pain on palpation (from chronic bracing) of the longissimus dorsi (note best response will be towards lumbar as this long, deep muscle is protected by shorter/stronger trapezius muscle and latissimus fascia closer to the wither).
I stumbled on this today, and personally, I think the outline in both photos is beautiful! But regardless of which you prefer, it is a great example of just how much control we have over the development process. This is the same horse in both photos (not an Iberian as you might assume on the left, but a French thoroughbred named Talar in both photos - a former race horse turned dressage star under Portuguese master, Nuno Oliveira).
Do you drive forward or strike off into canter? Learn the differences and when to use which.
Canter Aids: Driving Forward or Striking-off? It is possible to achieve an organic canter strike off (left-lead exampled below) with either the weight to
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Watch the acupuncture needle get grabbed up to its base. The treating CSU vet asked to hold on to the video to show students. An unusual enough effect that I thought I would share! Enjoy!âşď¸
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