Hooves with Heart - Kathryn O'Bree

26/01/2025

"I tried taking my horses shoes off and he was really sore so I had to put them back on"

My first question to this statement would be:

"How long were the shoes off for?"

Most people cave and put shoes back on after a few weeks of removal, because they can't bare to see their horse in pain. While I agree that a horse should not be left in pain, you MUST understand that a horse takes on average 9 MONTHS TO A YEAR to grow a new foot, and there are ways to help your horse be comfortable in the interim.

That feet he is walking on initially WILL be sore. They have been DEFORMED by the shoes and suddenly your horse can feel the ground again.

But why do shoes make the feet sore?

Shoes stop the frog from making contact with the ground which restricts blood flow. The shoe also stops the hoof from being able to expand to absorb impact and deforms the hoof by causing the heel bulbs to retract, and the toes to grow long. The nails used to hold the shoe on glide through tubules inside the hoof, severing nerve endings. All of these things make your horse much more likely to sustain injury due to the concussion during foot to floor contact not being absorbed by the hoof, but being sent straight up the leg.

They also hide the initial warning signs of laminitis, giving the false impression that 'it came on overnight'. More likely your horse has been showing signs for weeks or months, in the form of foot soreness, bruising, white line separation and event lines, but the shoes have masked them.

My second question would be:

"Have you removed sugar from your horse's diet?"

A horse continuing to live on high sugar grass (the majority of the grass nowadays) and eat high concentrated sugar filled feeds, has no hope in growing a healthy barefoot hoof.

This may be where your problem lies.

Sugar causes inflammation.

Inflammation comes out in the hooves, causing inflammation and separation of the laminae; white line disease, low heels and long toes and thrush infections: all of which will be painful for your horse.

Remove the sugar, switch to low sugar/starch hay and only use what's necessary for feeds:

If you horse is a good doer, feed a basic carrier (that's free from any nasties - we recommend thunderbrooks or Agrobs products) and a vit and min balancer from Forageplus, their winter balancer is specially designed for horses on a mainly hay diet. If you have a poor doer, feed this but add extra high kcal low sugar feed, such as micronised linseed and coolstance copra.

Use our code ABBOTTSVIEW10 for 10% off your first Forage Plus order 👌

Next,

"Who trims your horses feet?"

Having healthy barefoot hooves isn't possible unless your hoof practitioner is passionate about barefoot, and has the training to correctly balance a barefoot hoof - I have seen many traditional farriers hack the foot away or chop the toes off of laminitic horses, making them extremely sore. It's not their fault, it's what their training tells them to do and often vets recommend this too for the same reasons. Many traditional farriers have 'seen the light' and switched to barefoot only; I have never heard of it happening the other way around!

There are bad barefoot trimmers too, I have sadly experienced that a few years ago with a newly qualified trimmer who tried to fit one of my liveries horses hooves into a box on "how a foot should look", took far too much off and he was sore and in boots for months. Make sure you research who you use.

That leads me to boots, get some hoof boots to help with the transition if your horse is really sore initially, especially if you are still riding. There are plenty of styles, try The Hoof Boutique and ask them for advice on what would best fit your horse and circumstances. The initial outlay may seem expensive, but they will last you years, and when compared to a full set of shoes every 6 weeks, it's a no brainer.

And finally:

"How is your horse kept?"

To get the best out of barefoot, you horse needs AS MUCH MOVEMENT AS POSSIBLE, and ideally over surfaces to build up strength and conditioning in the hooves, and even more ideally, an envrionment that allows him free choice. If we don't address the mental health aspect of our horses, it's not possible to get the physical side right.

Turnout in a herd, with free access to food (ad-lib low sugar starch hay) and access to shelter to use as they please is the ideal.

I appreciate this is not always available in alot of livery yards, but then I would question whether you can move somewhere better, or ask your yard if you can set something up. Or is it more important for you to have facilities to ride than it is to have your horse in this kind of environment?

This might seem harsh, but horses owe us nothing. They deserve to have species appropriate living and forage and if they all did, all of these behavioural and medical issues that we see day to day would be eradicated (wind sucking, cribbing, weaving, laminitis, EMS, obesity etc.). We can only do the best with what we have available, so if you have your own land, set up a track! And if you are on a livery, see what you can do to enable you horses to have as much safe turnout as possible or consider a track livery.

With all these boxes ticked your horse CAN go barefoot. Whether it's a Thoroughbred or a Shetland pony, it is possible.

Remember that shoes are a plaster and not a fix. They may give off the impression that your horse is sound, but if you remove them and he's not, then he's just not sound!

Yes this way of keeping horses is hard work, and time consuming. But the money I save on vet bills because all my horses a healthy, free from laminitis, or any behavioural issues caused by stabling, is far worth it. That and the relationship I have with them; and I have a much more willing partner when I do want to ride. There's no 'lunging before you ride' nonsense.

And if you read this and think "I can't be bothered with all that, I just want to ride my horse and chuck it in a field/stable the rest of the time" then I wish you all the best. But more often than not, this will come back to bite you in the ass.

It's the people that realise these changes need to be made, and make the changes as best as they can for their horses, who are my people.

I dream of a day where horses are not confined in stables and are rid of metal shoes, and I won't ever stop until I drop!

21/01/2024

FUN FACT FRIDAY! Are you familiar with the many adaptations that help your horse stay warm during the cold winter months?

🌾 Hindgut digestion of hay produces the most heat, acting as a small furnace inside of the horse. This is why free choice, good quality hay is so important in the winter.

💪 Horses have a huge muscle mass and muscle activity produces heat. This includes running and playing and even shivering if their body temperature starts to drop. It is important to remember that these activities also will result in a bigger caloric demand so free choice hay and in some cases, grain, is often needed.

🧥 To blanket or not to blanket is a constant debate but either way, as it starts to get cold your horse will grow a thicker coat. If you decide to leave your horse unblanketed you may notice that they look “fluffy”. This is due to a phenomenon called piloerection where the hair stands up to better trap air within. Two layers of the coat also help with warmth. The inner layer is softer and has air pockets to create an insulating layer. The outer layer is coarse and has oils that keep moisture from penetrating the insulating layer and keep the horse warm.

⚖️ Wild horses go into the winter heavier than ideal and the fat serves as an extra layer of insulation. However, if a horse is going to be kept heavily blanketed and in a barn during the cold weather months this is unnecessary and can lead to obesity related issues.

🦵Their distal limbs (below the knees and hocks) are made of mostly bones and tendons, tissues that are resistant to the cold temperatures.

🦶The hooves have an alternative route of blood circulation through larger vessels that can be used in low temperatures. This is why horses can stand in snow without detrimental effects.

👃A horse’s nose has a robust blood supply and is rounded so that it is less susceptible to frostbite than a human’s nose.
•
Courtesy of the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

24/07/2023

Please be aware when you are asking a nutritionist for help, that they do make it clear that if you don't have a pasture or hay test for your forage, the recommendations will have to be very, very general and non specific. Using estimates for any type of forage, pasture in particular is of no help to know what the actual nutrient profile is. There is simply too much variation. I have been shocked seeing the claims well meaning people are making about how many mg copper, how much zinc and the rest of the nutrient profile on very flimsy assumptions, and thinking that it must be true seeing the numbers printed on a page.

If you are feeding a small amount of hay, say around 1-2 kg then it's no big deal as it isn't the bulk of the intake. Especially lucerne as it tests reliably high in protein and calcium, relatively low in phosphorus.

Only way to know what the nutrient levels are in the intake, and then to know what needs to be fed to correct deficiencies and correct imbalances (mineral ratios), is to have your forage tested in a lab. Without that data, it's all a blind guess. Plenty will say they can tell you what to feed or if a product will provide what a horse needs but it's simply marketing.

You may need to feed more, for example, calcium, or phosphorus, or have too much of one or both. No way of knowing without nutrient data for the whole intake.

My mineral mix formulations are based on thousands of pasture and hay tests so that we can have an educated guess at what is most likely needing to be boosted.

Another question often asked is what are the best feeds for horses. It's really simple - high fibre feeds which is what the digestive system of horses evolved on. If you want gut health, think about the quality of what you are feeding. This is not saying that all the recommendations from reports based on dodgy estimates can't be helpful. Of course not but we can't say the intake is balanced if there is no actual data.

When I am asked, I am very happy to provide this advice for free.

What to feed?
Fibre and the products of fermentation are a vital source of energy, protein and vitamins. Fibre plays a huge role in immune system responses, fertility, gut health, preventing colic, and well being. There are many horses on gut supplements who wouldn't need them if they were on high fibre intakes. High fibre feeding suits all horses, all categories from performance horses to breeding horses to actively growing young horses to horses in no work. We do know that copper and zinc, and often iodine are too low in forage, testing is the only way to know what other nutrients are in excess and what are deficient. More information here: https://balancedequine.com.au/mineral-interactions/

Premix commercial bagged feeds can help but their feeding recommendations never take into account mineral interactions, and when a concentrate (high in grain and/or high in starch with brans) is fed, the high energy value can 'cheat' the horse of nutrients from fibre sources.

Ideally, what we feed a horse should be high in soluble fermentable fibre, what a horse's digestive system evolved on. When hay and grass are not enough to support a horse the next choice is either beet pulp, soybean hulls or lupin hulls or a combination. For a horse in work that can experience fatigue, any of these feeds can be combined 1:1 with whole oats to produce a steady release of energy (safer than barley).

However, the only way to know if any one feed is the best for your horse's situation is to base it on data, either the pasture and/or hay, whichever is applicable. Programs that offer 'estimates' for hay or pasture nutrient levels are not reliable, way too much variation. If you are unable to test, and I sympathise, then do the next best thing, choose a high fibre feed rather than low fibre, high starch junk feed. You can use a program to guide your choices but always see it as a guess.

The following feeds are ideal; Speedi-beet, Hygain Micrbeet, Energreen Maxisoy, Hyfeed HyFibre, Benchmark Perfect Mash, Super Fibre Mash, QPD Relax Super Fibre Plus, KISS Horsecare Simple Fibre in WA, Hygain Fibressential, T&R Lupin Fibre Cubes, CEN Grain Free, CEN Lupin+ (the T&R and CEN feeds are mainly lupin hulls, not lupins). Other choices are Prydes EasiFibre, Prydes EasiKeeper or Prydes EasiSport.

If the horse is insulin resistant (IR)/equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) then the safest low sugar + starch choices are Speedi-beet, Hygain Micrbeet (both beet pulp), Energreen Maxisoy, Benchmark Super Fibre Mash, Benchmark Perfect Mash, Hyfeed HyFibre (soybean hulls) and Thompson and Redwood Lupin Fibre Cubes, QPD Produce Relax Super Fibre Plus, CEN Grain Free (lupin hulls).

If needing more protein for low protein hay, the following higher protein lupin hull feeds are suitable if fed in small amounts,

16/03/2023

06/03/2023

18/02/2023

Brilliant interview regarding track systems 🙌🏻

Check it out, your horse will thank you! 🐴

It was such an honour to be interview by ! WATCH NOW - link in bio

28/01/2023

28/08/2022

You see what we do to ourselves and accept as being normal and then view it as healthy enough.
The difference is that there is a choice.
Horses have no choice but to try and cope with what the equestrian world views as normal and healthy enough.
Things need to drastically change, so we are not just having to treat throughout a lifetime in order to maintain a substandard status quo.

17/08/2022

The full story matters… And so does comfort and function 💁🏻‍♀️

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.

08/07/2022

I see a lot of posts on social media of horse owners worried about hoof cracks, and often wondering if they can do something to help.

So what are some causes of hoof cracks?:

✴️A diet issue or imbalance - poor wall quality due to low levels of (or imbalanced levels of) minor minerals, poor amino acid profile or low protein in diet, high sugar/starch, etc can lead to poor wall quality that breaks or cracks easily.

✴️Hoof balance issues - excess pressure and load on a certain area or a hoof imbalance can overextend an already weak area of the wall and perpetuate wall cracks.

✴️Laminae issues - a weak laminae connection lends more susceptibility to flaring and excess leverage that can lead to cracking.

✴️Metabolic issues- on a similar vein to the last comment, metabolic issues, especially if undiagnosed or unregulated, can lead to a weakened wall and weak laminae connection. That includes PPID or EMS/IR.

✴️Toe crena/P3 bone loss or remodeling - if the coffin bone (P3) has an area of bone damage, whether congenital or due to pathology over time, the corium around that area can be damaged, making healthy wall production difficult and cause that area to be susceptible to a crack (see The Horse article with Paige Poss on wall cracks and what's underneath them!).

✴️Trim cycle - a cycle that is too long for the individual horse, especially one with weaker walls due to the problems above, can lead to wall cracking issues that are hard to get on top of if the cycle isn't shortened.

✴️Bacteria/microbial issue - sometimes, microbes can invade a weaker area of wall and eat away at the tissue underneath, perpetuating wall quality issues. This can often take topical treatment, sometimes exposing these areas to air to make anaerobic bacteria less willing to "stick around," and a better mineral balanced diet can really help build quality wall that can better withstand these pathogens.

✴️An old injury - some wall cracks stem from a scar from an injury just above the hairline that involved the coronary band. These will usually grow out to a superficial line if properly addressed.

Some horses with hoof wall cracking might need a diet adjustment, some might need a different cycle length, and some might need even need a different approach to their trim. Talk to your hoofcare provider if you're concerned, and see if there's anything you can do to work on growing them out!

05/06/2022

❄️🌱 What to feed your horse over winter 🌱❄️

Over the past week I’ve talked about how to determine if your horse need additional feed or rugging over winter.

If you've determined that your horse actually needs extra feed over winter, let’s talk about what some good options for hard feed are.

I don’t like feeding grains such as corn/maize, wheat/bran/pollard/millmix and barley to horses as they are more difficult for horses to digest. Keep in mind that the large majority of bagged, pelleted and muesli type feeds contain quite a lot of wheat and barley. I urge you all to turn over the bag and read the ingredients so you understand what may be being fed to your horse.

Large amounts of these grains can lead to undigested starch reaching the hind gut. Feeding large amounts of processed/grain-based feeds may lead to issues such as:

* Decreased appetite
* Inability to maintain weight
* Ulcers
* Diarrhoea
* Colic
* Hind gut acidosis

🌿 Excellent feed choices for your thin/hard-keeper over winter are:

🌱 Hay - I know I mentioned it already, but I’m mentioning it again because it’s so important! Grass hay, a biscuit of lucerne, Teff hay, Rhodes hay, a variety of hays is even better! The fibre in hay is what will keeps your horse warm. Not a warm bran mash or similar, this is a myth!
🍠 Beet pulp - Beet pulp is the fibrous material left over after the sugar is extracted from sugar beets. I cannot stress enough how wonderful beet pulp is as an equine feed. The two major beet pulp brands available in Australia are Micrbeet and Speedibeet.

A few reasons I love beet pulp include:
😍 Beet pulp is considered a ‘super fibre’ because its energy content is much higher than typical hays and only slightly less than those found in grains.
😍 Beet pulp is very high in fermentable fibre and is extremely easy for horses to digest. It’s significantly more digestible than most hays. For example, grass hay is 40-60% digestible (depending on its quality) whereas beet pulp is around 80% digestible.
😍 Due to its high energy/calorie content, beet pulp is ideal for horses that have difficulty maintaining weight.
😍 It’s great for performance horses as it’s slow-release energy. It’s a ‘cool energy’ feed meaning the energy from digesting beet pulp is generated slowly and does not cause a rapid rise in blood glucose like cereal grains do. Therefore it’s also an ideal energy source for horses that can get ‘hot’ on grain
😍 It’s fed soaked and therefore promotes hydration as the horse ingests extra water. Additionally the consumption of fibre can also increase water intake.
😍 It’s perfect for horses with metabolic issues such as Cushing’s and EMS and can be safely fed to thin horses with laminitis as it’s low in sugar and starch.
😍 It’s easy for old horses with dental issues to eat as it turns to mush once soaked.
😍 It’s low in protein and can therefore be fed as a perfect complement to lucerne hay, lupins or copra.
😍 Please note that as good as it is, it's still not going to keep your horse as warm as plain grass hay will!

🌾 Lupins - Considered a legume, lupins are similar to peas or beans. A few reasons I love lupins include:
- They’re grown in Australia!
- They’ve very affordable.
- Lupins are a decent source of protein and also contain fat and fibre.
- They’re highly palatable to most horses
- Because of their low starch and high fibre content, lupins are digested efficiently in the hindgut of the horse through fermentation. They are suitable for many (but not all) horses with metabolic issues or laminitis.

🥥 Copra - Copra is the dried meat or kernel of the coconut, which is the fruit of the coconut palm and is another good feed for weight gain and has some excellent qualities.
- Like lupins, copra is affordable, low in sugar and starch and relatively palatable.
- Copra is high in fat and calories and has a low risk of rancidity.
- Copra is low in sugar and starch so is often suitable for horses with metabolic issues that have trouble handling starch and sugar, but it’s important to keep in mind that the high fat content means more energy so it’s only for horses that need to gain weight!
- Copra is high in fibre, estimations for actual digestible energy content of copra put it in the same energy range as beet pulp or soy hulls.
- Because copra is typically a powder, it is however, quite difficult to get horses to consume large amounts of it.
- Copra does have a lot of crude protein, but the protein isn’t of a particularly high quality. Copra does not contain a balanced complement of essential amino acids, as it is relatively poor in lysine, the amino acid essential for growth and for support of the immune system.
- Copra tends to be high in phosphorus and low in calcium, and this imbalance can be a problem when fed in large amounts however if you’re feeding copra with lucerne hay this will balance quite well.

🥛Soybean hulls (Brands include Maxisoy and Benchmark) - Soybean hulls are similar to beet pulp in that they need to be soaked prior to feeding and swell to become and mash.
- Soybean hulls are also a ‘super fibre’, low in sugar and starch, are relatively palatable, affordable and higher in crude protein than beet pulp so not as good a compliment for horses that are also getting lupins, ‘premium’ grass hay that is likely to be higher in protein or lucerne hay which is relatively high in protein. They are excellent however for horses who are not getting fed anything else that’s high in protein. Many horses will have a preference for either soy hulls or beet pulp when it comes to taste.

So as you can see there are lots of good options for feeding horses over winter that are low in sugar and starch, easy on the wallet and great for maintaining or putting on weight.

Please remember that your horse also needs a good mineral supplement (such as Performance Plus, Essentials or Lucerne Lovers) to balance these feeds, salt for hydration, to maintain fluid balance and to keep him drinking over winter when the water is cold and if you’re feeding a predominantly hay-based diet some flaxseeds or chia seeds will help your horse to get its omega 3 fatty acid requirements.

And remember, if your horse is overweight going into winter this is your opportunity to help them lose some weight in a natural way. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity as it won't come around for another year!