Bare Remedy Equine Podiatry

27/04/2026

Spent the day with my amazing colleagues dissecting a lovely horse's feet spotting issues such as a large blackthorn through the frog into live tissue and laminae damage leading to persistent seedy toes.
A colleague also brought this amazing skeleton of a young Dartmoor pony that everyone puzzled to put back together
The pony looked to be 6-8 months old approximately, but appeared to already have some kissing spines, perhaps due to it's ginormous head for it's size

25/02/2026

A brief video to show how retracted soles are formed via solar thinning
You can watch the full length video on Halcyon Equine Patreon now and grab your week free trial- https://www.patreon.com/posts/retracted-soles-151319738?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

18/02/2026

A perfect little hoof print from Apollo 🤩 and a poorly sole
With all the change over the last few weeks, warm and wet, sharp frosts after the drought all summer it can wreak havoc on some horses. December and January saw an increase in abscesses, and February seems to be bringing an increase in retracted soles (where growth is less than wear so the sole surface thins under the rim of the pedal bone) which is making some horses uncomfortable.
I have also seen a couple of cases of laminitis in the last two weeks, cause unknown at the moment but I think all the change is likely a strong factor.
Watch for your horse's comfort, send pictures to me for advice if needed

You can get more information and advice on my Patreon for just £3 a month, get your first month free here- https://www.patreon.com/HalcyonEquine

25/01/2026

Are you a horse owner wishing you knew more about your horse's feet? Join me on my new Patreon for your free trial, breaking down horse movement, hoof issues and care.
Halcyon Equine-
https://www.patreon.com/posts/learning-hoof-1-149090644?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

04/01/2026

Support - it's a word I hate, not for its meaning but for it's over-use.
I'm always told a multitude of things are needed to support the hoof, but often without any clear explanation of how that is actually supposed to benefit the issue, often the reason given wouldn't be the definition of support.

Here is an example of human 'support'. I wear barefoot shoes predominantly, the qualities being flexible, foot shaped and flat. I recently bought a new pair of work boots that are barefoot friendly, but was warned I'd need to remove their insole.
I tried them on before I did this and felt very confused why there was a rock in my shoe. I realised on taking the insoles out that they had 'support' for the arch of the foot.
Now, as I've been wearing barefoot shoes for a couple years now, I've built my own support, the muscles in my foot I am supposed to have. Better function actually made the 'support' from these insoles not just unnecessary but uncomfortable.
For my comfort I quickly slid in a perfectly flat Vivobarefoot insole as pictured.
Perhaps we can think that 'support' can be used short term when there is dysfunction, but long term we should be building what the support was there to replace.

25/12/2025

Merry Christmas to all my lovely clients and their humans!

07/12/2025

05/12/2025

Can you hear which leg is slightly lame?

Visually he's pretty sound, and riding it can be hard to notice the subtle changes, so use your ears more!

29/11/2025

The first time I had Ares on a weigh bridge he was 473kg, I knew he was very overweight but that was the real wake up call I needed. That was July 2023, by March 2024 he was 351kg.
His weight fluctuates, he tends to gain weight in winter as it's easier for me to restrict grass consumption when the ground is dry.

Today he weighed in at 344kg which is the lightest he's been so far. It means in two years he's lost 129kg, nearly a third of his body weight, that's two of me!

It's been hard work for both of us, he eats mostly straw, a touch of hay with minimal grass access on the track most of the year. He has free access to hedge and trees for some diet variation.

The thing is, even losing that much, he still body condition scores as a 4, he's still overweight! I'm not sure I'll get him lighter without being able to massively increase exercise or discussing medication with my vet, but for now I'm happy.

Your horse being overweight isn't something to be ashamed of, but it's also not something to ignore. A whole host of issues are correlated with fat build up, horses do not cope well with it.

You're always welcome to discuss your horses weight and diet with me, and we can see what you can get started on to head in the right direction
If you're interested in the weigh bridge, I use and highly recommend.

19/10/2025

Hoof boots can play a vital part in some horses being barefoot, and getting the right one for each horse can be a bit of a process. Hoof boot fittings, which I offer multiple brands to try, are great to find what boots fit and narrow down what might work in the long run.
With Mac I have used Flex Boots on his fronts which fit lovely and are soft for his arthritic joints, but I always felt he wanted something firmer (he was shod for over ten years so his soles are always going to remain a little sensitive) so I thought I'd try Renegade Vipers, and what a difference for him!
His Flex will still work great for road work as slightly reduced concussion than the Renegades.