Paul Young Farrier, BSc Hons - Farriery Science, Dip HE, RSS

25/10/2025

Text books are great to learn where all the inner structures are located. But they are not as “separated” in real life.

Mess up one part and other parts will suffer.

Oh- we need to think whole horse too, not just feet. Diet is a big one. The gut biome! A huge subject.

Mess the gut mess the feet.

24/10/2025

I am posting this as a warning not to follow Hoofing Marvellous as they are extremely misleading.

20/10/2025

Read the comments as well the physio says some interesting stuff

KINEMATICS PART 2
LANDING: HEEL, TOE, OR FLAT?

The first moment of hoof–ground contact lasts only a few milliseconds, but it tells us more about a horse’s comfort than almost any other observation. In that instant, every anatomical structure in the lower limb engages or avoids load, revealing how the horse truly feels about its feet.

In healthy movement on firm, level ground, the hoof should land slightly heel-first. Not an exaggerated drop, but a soft, controlled contact where the caudal structures — the frog, digital cushion, and heel bulbs — meet the ground fractionally before the toe. This sequence is deliberate. The back of the foot is built to absorb shock and protect the rest of the limb. The digital cushion, a fibro-fatty pad containing elastic connective tissue, compresses on impact and rebounds to push blood through the venous plexuses. The lateral cartilages expand outward, dissipating force through the hoof wall and helping the capsule deform elastically. Together, these mechanisms protect the fragile laminar interface and the coffin joint from direct concussion.

A toe-first landing reverses that order. The horse loads the toe before the heel, bypassing the very tissues designed to cushion impact. This changes everything about the way the hoof and limb experience force. The line of pull of the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) shifts, increasing compression of the navicular bone and tension along the back of the limb. The dorsal wall and laminae take impact instead of the heels and frog. The horse rarely does this by choice. Toe-first landings almost always indicate that the back of the foot is painful — whether from bruised frogs, under-run or collapsed heels, a weak digital cushion, thin soles at the caudal margin, or pathology within the navicular apparatus. It is a protective mechanism, but one that slowly makes things worse. Over time, the digital cushion becomes even weaker, the heel more crushed, and the structures under the navicular bone more stressed.

Flat landings sit somewhere in between. They are often seen as neutral, but in practice, a truly neutral contact is rare. Flat usually means compromise. Horses with heel pain on both sides may flatten both feet to share discomfort equally. Some horses in rehabilitation pass through a flat phase as they redevelop caudal strength. Environmental conditions complicate interpretation too. On soft, forgiving surfaces, many horses appear to land flatter simply because the ground yields under impact. On gravel or uneven terrain, the foot may appear flatter as the horse seeks stability. Context is everything.

The key to meaningful observation is consistency. A single toe-first step on rough stones may mean nothing; a pattern repeated across surfaces signals pain. A horse that lands heel-first on grass but flat on tarmac may be telling you about thin soles or environmental sensitivity. The same horse landing toe-first everywhere is showing deeper pathology.

For the human eye, these distinctions are almost invisible at full speed. Landing happens too quickly to catch reliably. But modern technology makes it accessible. A smartphone filming at 120 frames per second can slow the sequence enough to see exactly which part of the hoof meets the ground first. Frame-by-frame playback shows whether both feet move the same, whether contact is even, and whether there is any hesitation or deflection just before impact.

For hoof-care professionals, landing patterns are one of the simplest yet most reliable functional indicators of hoof health. They require no specialised equipment, only careful observation and repetition. Watching a horse walk and trot on varied surfaces over time reveals patterns that, once seen, are unmistakable.

Landing is the hoof’s first conversation with the ground. Every step begins here. When that moment changes — when the sound, sequence, or feel of impact shifts — it is rarely random. The horse is telling you how it feels in the only language it has: movement. Learning to read that language is one of the most powerful tools in hoof care.

11/10/2025

Please read all the comments it helps to understand the why’s and wherefore’s for people with horses with Cushings, Ems etc

27/09/2025

Better Movement for Better Hooves

Having a hoof rehab facility, we see a lot of how various things affect hoof health, comfort and soundness.

Something I've seen time and again is how much movement affect hooves. Healthy hooves depend on movement. The more the horses here move, especially over various surfaces, the healthier the frogs, digital cushion, and overall hoof becomes.

Another thing we have noticed seems fairly obvious - sore horses won’t move much, or at the very least, won't move correctly. For our property, that’s where boots and pads come in for new rehab horses. We use them to bridge the gap in their hoof health, until the diet and track system movement can kick in to growing a healthier laminae connection, and healthier wall and sole. I’ve seen horses who could barely walk on hard ground suddenly step out confidently once their feet were supported, and in turn their entire body starts to become less tense, harbor less compensation, and end up more comfortable overall.

The great part is, once the horses here start moving better and more comfortable, we are able to increase their time out of boots until they are barefoot. And once barefoot and fairly comfortable, their frogs can get even more stimulation, which often leads to decontraction of the heels, bulkier digital cushion, a more balanced hairline, and so much more.

A huge thank you to Cavallo Hoof Boots for sponsoring our SOLD OUT 2025 Podiatry Clinic here at our farm at the end of October! While the in person spots are sold out, we do still have video recording options available.

27/09/2025

Read what 2 veterinarians passionate about hoof care suggest for identifying and dealing with hoof stressors they encounter most frequently.

25/09/2025

🐴 MENTAL DEFICITS IN HORSES
A topic I have not yet encountered in the equestrian world, yet I believe it is extremely important to talk about.

In human society, we have defined a wide spectrum of cognitive and intellectual disorders—reduced intelligence, attention disorders, or learning difficulties. We understand that individuals with such diagnoses face certain limitations and (ideally) we adapt to their abilities and provide support.

For some mysterious reason, however, we tend to assume that every horse is born fully functional and ready to perform for humans. In my therapeutic practice, I have worked with horses who showed signs of various mental or cognitive deficits. I have met horses I would certainly place somewhere on the autistic spectrum, as well as horses that displayed clear signs of intellectual disability.

These horses are not to blame for their condition. They are not capable of performing at the same level as their healthy peers. They may struggle with focus, attention, and learning, have difficulties forming social bonds with horses or humans, or be emotionally unstable and unpredictable. This does not mean they are “bad.” They are simply different.

Owners of such horses are often under extreme pressure from their surroundings. They are criticized for not training or disciplining their horse properly, they move from trainer to trainer, trying every possible approach and level of pressure to make the horse behave “normally.” But such a horse will never be “normal.” The only way forward is to accept this reality and offer support.

💡 Not every horse with unusual behavior necessarily suffers from a congenital mental deficit. Cognitive function can also be influenced by:

👉 Aging – degenerative changes in the brain or nervous system
👉 Chronic pain / physical discomfort – pain can take up attention and reduce focus
👉 Neurological disorders – infections or degenerative diseases of the central nervous system
👉 Metabolic disorders – diabetes, Cushing’s syndrome, or hormonal changes affecting the brain
👉 Lack of stimulation – horses kept long-term without proper enrichment
👉 Stress / anxiety / depression – psychological factors that slow reactions and reduce concentration

❓What can we do? Let’s talk about it! Let’s explore and study it. Let’s support such horses and their owners instead of blaming or shaming them. Every horse has its place in this world—though it might not be the one we imagined for ourselves.

K.

21/09/2025

20/09/2025

The Body's Connection to the Hoof

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in hoof rehab is that the hooves never exist in isolation. We can trim, balance, and protect the feet all we want, but if the horse’s body isn’t healthy, the feet will always tell us.

Sometimes, improving the hooves truly does improve the whole horse. Better movement leads to stronger muscles, improved circulation, and reduced strain. But the opposite is also true: if we don’t address systemic health, with considering things like nutrition, metabolic balance, inflammation, or even pain elsewhere in the body, the feet will never fully heal, no matter how skilled the trim.

The truth is simple: fix the body, and the feet will typically follow. Ignore the body, and the feet won’t hold.

Hoof care is never just about the trim. It’s about seeing the whole horse.

A huge shout out and thank you to SURE FOOT Equine for sponsoring our SOLD OUT Humble Hoof Podiatry Clinic happening at the end of October! Sure Foot Balance pads help us so much here at our rehab facility to get horses to feel better in their body and improve their hoof health, and it fits in perfectly with our podiatry clinic topics of how the body affects the feet and vice versa. While our in-person attendance is sold out, we do have video recording options available to still see the lectures and sessions by our amazing clinicians.

17/09/2025

DO HORSES NOTICE HOW WE TREAT EACH OTHER?

What if horses are paying attention not just to what we ask of them, but to how we treat each other? A recent study suggests they do — and that what they observe could change how they behave.

Researchers from Germany and Scotland tested whether horses, after watching people interacting, would change their feeding choices.

Study details:

• The experiment involved 17 horses, ranging from 4 to 28 years old, across 5 private yards

• Horses observed a human demonstration: a person taking carrot pieces from one bucket while another human gave clear approval (body language + voice), and doing the same from another bucket but receiving disapproval

• After watching this six times, horses were allowed to choose between the buckets — though previously they had no preference and had eaten from both.

What the researchers found:

• 12 out of 17 horses changed their preference after observing the human-to-human approval interaction. They were more likely to pick from the bucket associated with approval

• Horses kept in social housing (open stabling or paddocks with others) showed this adaptation more strongly than those in more isolated housing.

Why it matters:

• Horses aren’t just responding to their direct training—they notice how we interact with others and use those cues, even if the humans involved aren’t interacting with them. What humans do matters.

Take-home messages:

• Pay attention to how people behave around your horse—not just how they behave with the horse. The horse is learning from what people do

• Horses kept socially do better at these sorts of observational tasks. Isolation doesn’t just affect their mood — it seems to limit what they can learn

• When training or managing horses, think about the environment: who’s around, what behaviour the horse is witnessing, and how interactions outside of training may still contribute to the horse’s learning experiences.

Do you think your horse picks up on how you interact with others — not just with them?

Study: Krueger et al (2025). Learning from eavesdropping on human-human encounters changes feeding location choice in horses (Equus Caballus).

10/09/2025

As we approach the start of fall and the temperatures start to drop, here is some important information to know regarding fall laminitis.

Fall laminitis refers to cases of laminitis or founder that occur in the autumnal months. Although laminitis can happen in any season, anecdotally there seems to be an uptick in the number of cases in the fall.

Why could this be?

• As the days get shorter and colder, grasses have been shown to respond to this stress with higher sugar concentrations. Diets with higher simple sugar concentrations may increase the risk of laminitis.

• Decreases in exercise may cause increases in body condition. Fat or obese horses are at risk of developing laminitis.

• Horses naturally have increased levels of certain hormones in the fall. If you have a horse with PPID (previously referred to as equine Cushing’s), the increase in their cortisol levels could put them at risk for laminitis.

If you have questions concerning fall laminitis or are concerned that your equine companion may be at an increased risk, contact your equine veterinarian so that they can properly evaluate your unique situation.

Thank you to the Horse Owner Education Committee for providing this information.

10/09/2025

Two experts explain how you can improve your horse’s joint health through nutrition and how to choose high-quality joint supplements.