KH Barefoot Trimming

KH Barefoot Trimming Barefoot trimming since 2017. Intermediate student practitioner with PHCP for certification. Servicing the Denver/Boulder area.

This sweet gelding has some hoof distortion issues that are heavily influenced by his upper body. These images are befor...
05/30/2026

This sweet gelding has some hoof distortion issues that are heavily influenced by his upper body. These images are before my first trim, and after my third trim on him on six week cycle length. During his first trim with me, he had difficulty lifting his hinds back for trimming, he was much more smooth this time and didn’t need as many breaks.
The wonderful owner has been getting him bodywork, he’s been treated for ulcers, and recently started a mineral supplement.

The most notable distortion is his front left. Likely a symptom of his upper body compensation, his primary weight bearing surface of this front left hoof is the medial side- making it overly worn and forcing the whole hoof the be slanted. This distortion will take a while to totally resolve as the horse continues to get bodywork, strengths his muscles and thoracic sling, bearing weight and moving equally on his front hooves.

The hind left surprised me in how quickly it has been improving over only three appointments. As stated, he used to be very stiff and limited in lifting this hoof for trimming. At the first appointment his heels were very low and run forward. This was causing a lot of strain on the DDFT, which was tipping the coffin bone upwards and creating this “bullnose” effect to the hoof wall. Just after a few trims his heels have righted themselves up, and he has significantly more base of support in the back of his hoof.

I look forward to seeing the progress over a year.

Healthy hoof trim! These hooves cleaned up real nice!
05/11/2026

Healthy hoof trim! These hooves cleaned up real nice!

This mare has come a long way in hooves. Trying to get a more supportive heel under her has been a challenge, but with t...
04/26/2026

This mare has come a long way in hooves. Trying to get a more supportive heel under her has been a challenge, but with the use of the Easyshoe Versa Grip, we’ve been able to make progress. In fact, we need to size down the shoe because her toes aren’t so flared anymore!

Look at how the leg straightened out after removing 2” of flare
04/19/2026

Look at how the leg straightened out after removing 2” of flare

Little bit of toe can make a big difference!
03/20/2026

Little bit of toe can make a big difference!

I wish I could say that the only risk that this career comes with is the inherent risk of being around horses, but that ...
03/15/2026

I wish I could say that the only risk that this career comes with is the inherent risk of being around horses, but that isn’t reality. Reality is that harassment, stalking, sexual harassment and assault are also a risk. From clients, their spouses, their parents or friends.

When you’re used to normal business, trimming normal horses, at a normal barn, having a normal conversation… the sudden comment of insinuation or flirtation is strange or uncomfortable.

They’re married and/or twice my age, why are they speaking to me like that? Why do they keep trying to hug me? They’re touching me all the sudden? Why are they doing this? They were a normal client a minute ago?

In the moment, it’s shocking and you freeze initially- that’s what movies and books always get wrong. You don’t immediately draw a boundary, smack their hand away, or shout at them. You’re frozen for a moment or longer, your brain trying to rationalize this unthinkable scenario. Then afterwards you’re running it through your head “I should’ve done this, I should’ve said this, should I have called the police”.

It’s not your fault, you didn’t do anything wrong. THEY are the perpetrator, THEY should’ve kept their uncomfortable comments and/or hands to themselves.

A few years ago I was trimming a clients horses. Their father was present and was talking to me about trimming and the modern approaches. The client went into the house for a few minutes, the father stayed to chat. Normal conversation. He said that my hoof stand was fancy. I said “yeah, I think the horses appreciate the fabric cradle”. To which he replied “well right now I’m looking at YOUR cradle” and smacked my buttocks.

I froze for a moment. Did that REALLY just happen??? My stomach felt like a pit and I felt violated. Disgusted. Angry. The client came back outside, the father tried to resume conversation but I stayed silent the rest of the appointment. Accepted payment and left. I didn’t reply back to the client for a few texts but eventually did and asked if we could schedule a day when her father wasn’t there. When I went out there she asked me if everything was okay and if she’d done anything to offend me. I told her what happened. Her jaw dropped. We sat in silence for a minute. Eventually she said “I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe he did that. I’m shocked. I’m so sorry.”
We agreed it would be better to no longer do business, and she would only hire male farriers from then on.
I spent the next few days running it all through my head. Should I have yelled at him? Hit him? Called the police? Should I have immediately packed my tools and left?

No, I shouldn’t have had to do any of that, because he should’ve been a decent person and treated me like a human being and not an object, and kept his damn rotten hands to himself.

Due to the sudden surge in gas prices, all appointments will have a *temporary* $3 charge per animal.This charge is subj...
03/13/2026

Due to the sudden surge in gas prices, all appointments will have a *temporary* $3 charge per animal.

This charge is subject to increase if gas prices climb another dollar.

Fill up your tanks now 🥲

Healthy strong hooves post 😊
12/19/2025

Healthy strong hooves post 😊

Although there’s no confirmed cases of EHV-1 in Colorado at the moment , this is a friendly reminder:If your horse is ex...
11/20/2025

Although there’s no confirmed cases of EHV-1 in Colorado at the moment , this is a friendly reminder:

If your horse is experiencing any respiratory symptoms like nasal discharge or coughing, or they’ve recently been to Texas or Oklahoma- PLEASE PLEASE reschedule your farrier and bodywork appointments! It’s not worth the potential risk of spreading illness to our other clients and our own equines.

11/19/2025

When It’s Not Just the Feet

Sometimes, as we are going on our hoof rehab journey, we realize that maybe the feet aren’t the main issue.

As a hoofcare pro, it’s easy to get caught up in looking at the hooves. We see all the ways the feet need work.. we can see underrun heels, or long toes, or weak digital cushions and frogs, or even thin soles. We can notice broken back HPA or bullnosed hooves that likely have low or negative palmar/plantar angles. We see all these little clues, and we start working on ways to help the feet.

It’s easy to hyperfocus on a specific trim, or some kind of shoeing package, or even a fancy boot and pad set up. And some of us that have an extra interest in things like nutrition and biomechanics may harp on the perfect diet for healthier hooves, or the ideal turn out set up and footing considerations.

And some horses don’t seem to improve in all the ways we expected despite all these carefully modified care plans.

The truth is- there’s an entire body attached to those feet we are so obsessed with, and a horse with a history of movement patterns, old injuries, handling different riders, enduring all kinds of training approaches, dealing with various tack options, and a million other things that can affect their upper body. Their upper body often needs just as much attention as we put into their feet!

I am so fortunate to have Becca Upham-Davis of Elite Equine Massage, LLC who comes regularly and works on all the rehab cases here at the farm. A few days ago, she had her first appointment with one of our more recent rehab cases here. This sweet little gelding has fairly uncomplicated feet, but still struggles with stiff movement and topline development.

At the beginning of the appointment, Becca noticed the height imbalance of the front carpus/knees. Although this gelding was standing square and does not have high/low hooves, his right knee appeared to be sitting quite a bit higher than his left.

Becca worked on him for about an hour, assessing each part of his body. She found he had a good amount of tightness in the muscles around his right shoulder, and spent time working through it with both massage as well as stretches and targeted exercises to relax that side of his body.

Once the massage was done, not only did he walk out better, with a longer stride on his right front, but his knees were nearly instantly level.

We sometimes forget that the muscles and fascia are also holding these bodies together, and working on them can make a difference. We have spent a few months chasing our tails a bit just looking at this guy’s hooves, and our focus needs to shift a bit to making sure the upper body is getting the care it needs too! I am excited to see his progress as we continue to peel back layers of the rehab onion.

A huge thank you to Becca / Elite Equine Massage for being part of the team to get these horses more sound and comfortable!!!

Address

Northglenn, CO

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 3pm
Tuesday 7am - 3pm
Wednesday 7am - 3pm
Thursday 7am - 3pm
Friday 7am - 3pm
Saturday 7am - 3pm
Sunday 7am - 3pm

Telephone

+18018955388

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