Gary Cooper Farrier

30/05/2026

20/05/2026

Just 5mm external hoof tissue was removed on the cadaver foot.

When you look at the bottom of a hoof from the outside, it is very easy to underestimate just how close the living structures are.

In this specimen I have removed approximately 5 mm from the entire solar surface of the foot using a bandsaw — the wall, sole, frog and bars. Before doing this, I had already taken the wall down to the level of the sole.

What this slice demonstrates beautifully is that the thickness of horn beneath the horse is not uniform.

At the toe, there is still a reasonable amount of horn material remaining. We have not yet entered sensitive tissue. The dermis is still protected.

But look further back in the foot…

At the seat of corn region we have already entered the dermis, and through the frog region we have cut directly into the digital cushion. The red areas are living vascular tissue.

This is exactly why I become concerned when inexperienced trimmers are taught to aggressively ‘pare back sole’ searching for a supposed universal ‘hard sole plane’ or ‘mother nature’s trim line.’

The problem is that many people do not actually know when they have reached that point — or if such a constant even exists in the simplistic way it is often taught.

A horse’s sole is not just dead material waiting to be removed.

Sole thickness varies enormously between horses, between regions of the same foot, and between pathological and healthy feet. Some areas can tolerate more exfoliation than others. Other areas are incredibly close to sensitive structures.

If you continue removing horn trying to chase a theoretical plane, eventually you will hit living tissue.

That is why some horses end up with redness, blood staining, tenderness, frog sensitivity, bruising and post-trim soreness.

This image is a reminder that beneath only a few millimetres of horn lies a highly specialised living organ filled with blood vessels, nerves, connective tissue and shock-absorbing structures.

23/04/2026

07/02/2026

30/01/2026

Do toe clips cause crenas?

The crena is a small notch or dip in the front edge of the coffin bone (P3), right in the centre. It’s commonly seen on X-rays, and most of the time it’s found incidentally, meaning it’s there, but it isn’t causing a problem.

A common belief is that the crena is caused by shoeing, particularly by toe clips or side clips.

I’d like to have a discussion with you to see if this makes sense.

As I understand, (please correct me if wrong), Toe clips and side clips are added to shoes to help keep the shoe in place. Because they sit against the hoof wall, some people assume they create extra pressure in those specific spots — and that this pressure causes bone loss in the coffin bone underneath.

At first glance, this sounds logical.
A toe clip sits right at the front of the foot (12 o’clock).
A crena is also seen right at the front of P3.
So it’s really easy to assume: toe clip causes the notch in the bone.

But if that were true, then side clips should cause the same effect.

Let’s look at side clips. If clips caused bone damage, I’d expect to see matching notches in P3 where side clips sit. They would be symmetrical, clearly positioned left and right of the midline. They would appear consistently in horses that wear side-clipped shoes

I’ve not seen any correlation. .

I’ve studied hundreds and hundreds of coffin bones, and:
I have not seen a consistent link between toe clips and crenas
I’ve seen horses shod with toe clips for their entire lives that do not have a crena
Ivd never seen matching divots in P3 where side clips sit

Crenas are found in horses that have never worn shoes. They are seen in completely unshod feet with no history of clips at all

And going even further back in time:
When prehistoric horses from the La Brea Tar Pits were studied, many of their coffin bones also showed crenas
These horses obviously had no shoes, no clips, and no human intervention.
I saw crenas with my own eyes.

In conclusion I feel-
Toe clips and side clips do not cause damage to the coffin bone.
They do not create the crena.
They do not “dig into” P3.

The crena appears to be a natural anatomical variation.

Folks, always apply critical thinking when you are given information that sounds real and plausible.

There is a lot of misinformation out there in internet land. Be vigilant.

Lindsey.