Humble Hooves

25/01/2026

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Inspired by a followers comment which touched my heart ❤️

Winter is about love.

It’s the season where you see whose horses truly matter to them
not the ones who say it when it’s easy,
but the ones who show it when it’s cold, dark, muddy and inconvenient.

It’s the early mornings.
The late nights.
The quiet consistency when no one is watching.

And it’s not just about the horses.

Winter shows you the people who are kind to people too.
The text that says,
“I’ve put him out already, don’t rush up.”
The extra haynet done without a word.
The pair of hands that appear because someone can see you’re struggling .... no fuss, no audience.

No likes.
No rosettes.
No performance.

Just care.

Winter strips things back.
What’s left is who .. and what ... really matters.

So yes… to me, winter is about love.
The kind that shows up.
The kind that stays.
The kind that doesn’t need to be loud 🤍

22/01/2026

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I’m going to toss out some numbers. If numbers make you go cross-eyed, give it a chance and stay with me- it’s important.

Latest research shows that non-fasted insulin results (with access to a horse’s normal forage) that were above 21.6uIU/mL resulted in a 22% incidence of laminitis within 4 years of the bloodwork results.

That’s a lot of numbers. What that means is that almost a quarter of horses with an insulin result above 21.6 could become laminitic.

What’s even more concerning is a non-fasted insulin result of 45.2 or higher had a 69% laminitis incidence rate within 4 years.

Considering that many labs say “normal” range for insulin is under 40, and considering that many times this bloodwork is taken fasted (instead of the updated recommendation for non-fasted), many owners may see their horse’s insulin result in the 20s or 30s and think their horse is fine, or think their horse isn’t metabolic, when actually their horse may be walking a fine line of laminae issues.

I’ll tell you about a mare here. This picture is of her feet when she was really quite rotated/foundered, shortly before coming to my farm.

This mare came to my property in October 2025 after struggling with founder and rotation for a few years. The owner had been very diligent, getting tested hay, feeding a quality mineral supplement (one I feed to my rehabs here too), and building a grass-free dry lot. She had a consistent trim every few weeks, and diligent boot use.

Her insulin still would run above range, and the owner even used an SGLT2 inhibitor to help. This DID help with her pain, but even while on it she had an insulin result come back at 140 last year.

The vet recommended more movement to see if this would help with comfort and hoof health as well as body condition, and shortly after that, the mare moved here to the track.

Right before getting here, her insulin wasn’t out of control- it was around 36, while still on an SGLT2 inhibitor to help keep it in check. She was comfortable in boots, but quite cresty necked with fat pads.

After one month living on the track, her insulin went down to 24. She was comfortable at this point, and the vet recommended to stop the medication and check in again in another month or two to see how she was doing. With that, in November, she came off the SGLT2 inhibitor, and we watched and waited.

As she continued to move around the track, eating our tested hay in slow feed hay nets and minerals balanced to the hay test, she slowly lost some of her extra weight. Her feet started growing healthier, with a tighter wall connection making its way down.

Last week, her bloodwork was checked again.

With no medication, the same trim as before, and “simply” increased movement and a balanced diet, her latest insulin result came back at 7.7uIU/mL.

7.7 ! Yes, the decimal is correct. Her insulin was under 10. We have seen that with other cases here too.

Does this mean she is not metabolic?
No. It means right now, with diet and exercise, her metabolic status is controlled.

Did we change the trim? No.
Did we drastically change the diet? No.

The key for this horse was movement. The track system increased the movement, and movement lowered her insulin.

Just like with people, often the best thing we can do for our horses is good movement and a healthy balanced diet.

31/12/2025

Thats the last hooves of 2025 trimmed 🍾 It's been another full on year, trimming pretty much six days a week 😤 Mr HH as always holding the fort at home, keeping everything behind the scenes running smoothly.

This was a beautiful gift from one of my lovely clients, actually a bit earlier in the year. Wonderful bit of local history. Now whenever I have a wriggler I think of St Eligius, I do hope he's a progressive Saint and covers us trimmers too🙏

Happy new year 🎉

23/12/2025

Wishing all my clients, friends and the most wonderful extended herd, a happy Christmas 🎄

Trimming hooves is hard work, filled with so much controversy. I remember when I started this, it was the old comfortable arguments between trimmer and farrier, barefoot vs shod. That is well and truly behind us now. Replaced with more sophisticated infighting which has consumed those, with far too much time on their hands.

I've been doing this long enough to see the absurd cyclical nature of trends. One minute trimming factions are jacking the heel up and shorting the toe. Then it's the polar opposite with shorting the heel and leaving the toe. At some point the pendulum will swing as it always has done... and the truth normally sits quietly in the middle ground. Not the fringes battling for supremacy.

Maybe some words of wisdom (that have been earned with grey hairs and scares) I can bestow before Christmas.

If barefoot was easy everyone would do it. Often the most compromised hooves are the ones that benifit most.

Boots are not barefoot, that matters not one bit. The comfort of your horse is priority.

Regardless of who trims your horse, that is once every 3-7 weeks depending on trim cycle. The rest is up to you, you are responsible for the horses diet, environment and exercise.

If you use a farrier and your horse is sound and happy with healthy hooves 👌 make sure you give them a mince pie and the kettle is on for a cuppa. No judgement here on who you chose to use, you are responsible for your team.

Listen to your hoof care provider, do not stretch out a trim unless they recommend it. It's total false economy. If there is balance, disease or pathology to address. It's far cheaper to keep ontop of it with an extra couple of visits a year.

Mud is not your friend, I would rather horse stables in the dry and clean for a few hours than 24/7 mud. Constant wet isn't healthy for hooves, it also risks injury.

Grass is not the enemy, horses did not evolve on a grass free earth with nice neat fences up, they roamed. Our improved farmland is a problem, so is set stocking one field 365 days a year. Lean to work with your grass not against it. If your horses are metabolic avoid spring growth.

Avoid paying the hidden hoof tax. When we can't do our jobs properly you still have to pay full price for the service. Mud, flies and behaviour if you can help us do our job we can do our best job 💪

Feedback is essential, if there is a problem communication is key. The more information we have the better we can support your horse.

Try one thing at a time, unless your horses is in a critical condition and you need an immediate laminitis protocol implemented. If you change lots of things at once you don't know what has worked. If your feed room is stacked full of supplements, strip it back. Always keep it simple.

Talking of supplements, save your money. Focus on good quality hay and grass, and ample supply. Better to support the main bulk of the diet than bankrupt yourself in the feed store over fancy packaging and false promise.

Horses come in a wide variety. Everything from Shetland to Shire and all the hot blooded Arabians and TBs in-between. Hooves come in equal measure of variety, we want healthy hooves for the individual animal not conformity of appearance.

If in doubt chuck it out. Never underestimate the importance of time in healing ✨️

Don't be too hard on yourself.

Talk to your horse, careful of your tone and words. They sense and know more than they let on, your vibe influences them on a level we don't fully understand.

20/12/2025

That's me down tools for Christmas. I'm not quite done completely, I have a couple of days trimming before the old year is out and we greet the new one in.

Certainly time to reflect.

I'm very much feeling it this year, as Harry will be coming up to twenty. He was home bred, in fact we were both born on the farm almost exactly twenty years apart, me in the house and him in the barn. We never did have the adventures I'd planned, laminitis at just three years old changed both our lives immeasurably. Now, here we are, not his hooves but his knees showing his age, what a cruel twist of fate.

I was responsible for bringing him into the world. At some point I'm going to have to come to terms with being responsible for him leaving it.

I can't help but feel I failed him 💔 I hope he forgives me.

Hug your horses. Even when it's wet and cold, the work is hard, the mud is never ending and the dark feels hopeless. Horses are the magic, I don't know what we have done to be worthy of them. If there is a God, they are truly a gift.

25/10/2025

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🐴Dietary and other Influences on Laminitis: A Scientific Overview 👩‍🔬

🐎Laminitis is a complex and painful condition affecting the laminae of the hoof, often triggered by systemic disturbances. One of the most significant contributors is diet - how and what a horse consumes.

🐴Starch Overload and Hindgut Dysfunction
🐎Small Intestinal Overload
Horses are physiologically adapted to digest starch primarily in the small intestine. However, when large quantities of starch are ingested—such as from grain-rich meals or lush pasture—the digestive capacity of the small intestine can be exceeded.

🐴Hindgut Fermentation and Acidosis
🐎Undigested starch passes into the hindgut (caecum and colon), where it undergoes rapid fermentation by lactic acid-producing bacteria. This leads to a sharp increase in lactic acid levels and a significant drop in pH, resulting in hindgut acidosis.

🐴Microbial Disruption and Endotoxin Release
🐎The acidic environment disrupts the normal microbial balance, killing beneficial fiber-digesting microbes. As these microbes die, they release endotoxins into the gut.

🐴Compromised Gut Barrier and Systemic Inflammation
🐎Acidosis can damage the gut lining, allowing endotoxins and vasoactive substances to enter the bloodstream. This systemic inflammatory response can impair blood flow to the hoof and damage the laminae, initiating laminitis.

🐴Impact of Sudden Dietary Changes
🐎Abrupt transitions from a high-fibre to a high-starch diet can destabilise the gut microbiome. The rapid microbial turnover results in the release of microbial toxins into the bloodstream, mimicking the cascade seen in starch overload and potentially triggering laminitis.

🐴Toxin-Induced Laminitis
🐎Internal Toxins (Endotoxemia/Sepsis)
Laminitis may develop secondary to systemic illness where inflammatory mediators or toxins enter circulation. Common triggers include:
Colitis (intestinal inflammation and diarrhea)
Retained placenta post-foaling
Severe infections such as pleuropneumonia

🐴External Toxins
🐎Exposure to certain toxic substances or plants can also induce laminitis. A notable example is black walnut shavings, which can cause laminitis through skin contact alone. Ingested plant toxins may directly disrupt vascular or inflammatory pathways, depending on the specific compound involved.

🐴Post-Colic Laminitis
🐎Colic, which involves gastrointestinal inflammation and dysfunction, can predispose horses to laminitis due to the systemic inflammatory response and potential endotoxin release.

🐴Corticosteroid-Induced Laminitis
🐎The prevailing hypothesis is that corticosteroids exacerbate pre-existing metabolic dysfunctions:
• They impair insulin sensitivity, increasing insulin resistance.
• In horses with Insulin Dysregulation (ID) or Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS), corticosteroids can provoke a temporary spike in insulin levels (hyperinsulinemia), which is believed to be a direct trigger for laminitis.

🐴Endocrinopathic Laminitis
🐎This is the most prevalent form of laminitis, resulting from hormonal imbalances that lead to Insulin Dysregulation (ID). It is distinct from sepsis-associated laminitis.
Key underlying conditions include:
• Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS)
Characterized by obesity, regional adiposity (e.g. cresty neck), and insulin resistance.
• Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (PPID)
A progressive disorder of the pituitary gland, which coexists with or contributes to insulin dysregulation by disrupting normal hormonal function, including cortisol.

Finer Forage was founded with a clear purpose: to offer feeding solutions that align with the natural dietary patterns horses have evolved to follow.
Our products are grounded in scientific, evidence-based nutrition, formulated to deliver species-appropriate feeds and supplements for optimum health.
🌱🌸🌼🌹🌻🌺🏵🌿

www.finerforage.co.uk

23/10/2025

She wasn't comfortable in shoes and they told her she could never go barefoot.

Even when the journey is hard and long, and the road is bumpy. When you take two steps forward and one back. They still surprise you, they give you strength to keep going, just enough of a hint, a whisper even 'that's it, you're going in the right direction!' You know, I think these horses know better than we do....

"She believed she could, so she did"

Well done to this beauty officially rock-crunching 👏

09/10/2025

Normally we just do retirement livery but this one is actually a rescue. Found amongst piles of scrap metal awaiting his tragic fate. Mr HH spotted this little forgotten soul and couldn't stop thinking about him. He made a deal with a man as he couldnt leave him behind. I have to admit I thought it was too far gone, but Mr HH can see something beyond scrap its a gift he has.

Mr HH loaded up Tiny Tractor and stabled him close to the house. He'd dissappear off to the garage, kneeling mat down, bits of tractor and parts of engine around him. He looked like a surgeon in an operation theatre, no knives or blood, just oil and spanner in hand. I didn't ask too many questions, just incase the news was sad and he didn't pull though.

Some time passed and it wasnt long before there was almighty racket, life! With a few new bits and some fresh tires Tiny Tractor tentatively crept out of the garage. A bit shaky and choked up which was understandable but feeling much better for some fresh fuel.

They have been working together, getting out and doing a few laps around the garden, then seeing what he could pull. The little tractor was becoming stronger and more confident 💪 testing his strength and proving us all, he was worth saving.

A few weeks ago our quad bike wouldn't start, we couldn't top the paddocks or fill up the horses water. It was time to put the little tractor to the test, and sure enough he fired straight up, ready for the challenge to be put to work. He didn't miss a beat, two paddocks topped and pulled the bowser up the track, like a dream.

You dont throw a whole life away just because he's banged up a little. Tiny Tractor might be 58 years old, may have been forgotten and lost and seen as worthless junk. He still had a spark he just needed the right person to see that. Well done Mr HH 👏

26/09/2025

Thank goodness for the rain, the days are shorter the nights have a chill in the air. Still enough sun and warmth to keep the grass growing. Which is much needed as we are now going back over the pre grazed and rested paddocks.

The horses are enjoying the last summer freedom as it won't be long now until the herd come in for the winter.

09/09/2025

The last paddock started. The year has has flown by, there is a nip in the air and the leaves are changing. 🍁

14/08/2025

Last years humbly hoofs

13/08/2025

From terrified to licked to death. So proud of this big man 🥰