Bare and Balanced Hoofcare

08/18/2026

Preach!!! 🙌🏼

There’s something to be said for taking your ego out of hoof care and the horse world in general.

At the end of the day, the horse gets the final say. Not our ego, not our reputation, not how long we’ve been in the trade, and not whether we want to prove that our way is the “right” way.

Every horse is different. Every foot is different. Every situation can teach you something. You can do everything “right” and a particular horse will still make you scratch your head as to what you’re missing.

And honestly, you can learn from just about anyone in this trade if you’re willing to listen. Someone who has been trimming for 30 years can teach you something. Someone who has been doing it for 3 can teach you something. A different method, a different perspective, a little trick to save your body, or even something that makes you question what you thought you knew.

That doesn’t mean you have to agree with everyone. It means you can respect the fact that none of us have it all figured out and if someone says they do they probably stopped learning long ago.

The moment our ego becomes more important than the horse in front of us, we’ve lost sight of what this work is really about.

📸 ⬇️just needed trim without the attached ego and and back to basics.

08/12/2026

This is a great explanation of what we see in South Texas every summer (even with all the rain we had a few weeks ago).

08/04/2026

Help your hoof care professional out! Despite all the rain we just had, we are back to struggling with rockhard feet!!!

Lumps and hard dry feet

It is quite natural for horses in domestication to develop a lumpy sole, often these lumps will build as a result of a lack of movement where normal exfoliation isn’t present, they will occur in areas of high stress especially either side of the insertion of the DDFT where on weak feet especially there is a lot of targeted force being created down through the sole

When we come to trim we disturb the equilibrium, the extent these lumps have grown in synergy with the rest of the foot and so have the potential to become uncomfortable (stone in your shoe) when the height of the outer wall is changed forcing even more load onto them

While I don’t dig them out respecting structure the horse has created , I do like to smooth them off as part of the trim process, leaving the horse with the structure but lessening the immediate pressure, knowing it can quickly rebuild what it needs but in unison with the rest of its sole

The problem is, right now in the U.K. where many of our horses have insufficient sole depth, the problem becomes magnified, trimming these lumps is like trimming iron they are so hard, so either condition your horse to a grinder which smooths them out beautifully or give the feet a good soak

Mostly a hoof knife won’t touch them so it’s nippers where no other option is available, as an owner the more you can do to prep for trimming in these demanding conditions the better

07/30/2026

07/29/2026

“I asked for a plan for my HORSE’S movement, not mine. It’s the horse that needs rehab, not me.”

A student said this to me after receiving feedback on her riding.

Her horse was hollow, crooked, and struggling to carry himself well. She had expected a list of exercises for the horse—a rehabilitation program to strengthen his body and improve his way of going. Instead, much of our conversation revolved around her: her balance, her posture, her awareness, and the way she organized her own body in the saddle.

She was surprised.

Like many riders, she viewed herself as the instructor and the horse as the student. From her perspective, the horse was the one with the physical deficits, so surely the horse was the one who needed the exercises.

The problem is that a horse cannot separate their movement from the person sitting on their back.

Our bodies become part of their biomechanics.

Every shift in our pelvis changes how the horse uses their back. Every collapse through one side of our torso influences how they load a limb. Every moment we brace, grip, lean, or become asymmetrical changes the information the horse receives about balance, direction, and weight.

In other words, rider and horse become a single athletic system. One cannot move independently of the other.

This is why any rehabilitation or gymnastic program is only as effective as the rider’s ability to perform it.

Shoulder-in, for example, is a brilliant exercise for improving lateral suppleness, engagement, and straightness—but only when it is ridden correctly. If the rider overbends the neck, collapses a hip, drives with the seat, or blocks the horse’s back with tension, the exercise no longer develops the horse as intended. It simply rehearses poor movement under a different name.

The exercise itself is not therapeutic.

The quality with which it is ridden is.

This is why the conscientious rider learns to balance themselves, control themselves, and understand themselves before asking the horse to do the same.

They understand that horses cannot separate our influence from their own movement. Every aid, every posture, every habit becomes part of the environment in which the horse learns to carry themselves.

The goal, then, is not simply to find better exercises. It is to become a better influence.

Because a horse can only move as well as the conversation we create with them allows.

In the end, horsemanship is not simply the education of the horse. It is the continual education of the rider.

07/26/2026

I can’t believe I have to make this post, but after some “drama” on a recent post, here goes.

I do not follow a specific trim method.

In fact, I don’t believe there is any one trim method.

I believe in constant continuing education for the good of the horse - even if it challenges our ideas.

I believe in NOT sticking to an “ideal” - as this is often to the detriment of the horse.

I think forcing a specific trim based on our ideals or even “our training” oftentimes does a disservice to the horse.

I do not believe in any one “hoofcare guru” or a certain “Way” in hoofcare.

I am absolutely not against learning from an organization or going through a hoofcare school, of course! I am a member of, and mentor for, an international hoofcare organization (PHCP), and one of the most amazing things about it is there is no one trim style or method in the organization - which allows all of us to discuss and collaborate on difficult cases across the world, to find solutions for our clients that we may not have originally thought of. That’s why I decided on that program.

I see every single horse as an individual, and decide what I’m going to do in a trim based on many factors:

-How the horse walks up for the trim
-How the horse chooses to stand/their posture
-How the horse shifts its weight when I ask for a hoof to be lifted
-How a horse rests their legs or feet after a hoof is placed down
-The depth of the collateral grooves
-The health of the frog
-The appearance of the sole (waxy? Chalky? Almost translucent? “Orange” colored? Flexible?)
-The health and appearance of the white line
-The horse’s ability to stretch each limb - whether just holding up a foot, or when asked to maneuver it away from the body to assess the soft tissue mobility
-The thickness and health of the hoof wall
-The horse’s diet
-The horse’s metabolic status
-The horse’s living environment
-The horse’s job and workload
-The owner’s ability to implement changes in management if needed

Any and all of these can affect what I remove, what I leave, and overall my plan and goal for the horse.

And even with all this information, we can be wrong. The HORSE is the ultimate judge - not a textbook, not the radiographs, not the heel height, not some instructor who has an idea of how the trim should be.

The horse tells us if the trim is right…. by their movement, comfort, posture, and soundness.

Are there landmarks in the hoof we can look to? Sure. Are they never-changing constants that should always be trimmed to? Absolutely not.

The internal structures, pathology, and distortion/inflammation can affect the external structures and landmarks, and even where they exist on the hoof.

I will never tell you what you MUST do in a trim. I will never say there is only one correct way.

And yes, I admit, I will get grumpy if you try to tell me there is only one way to do things and it works for all horses. And it may come out as defensive, or annoyed, or angry.

Because if I leave this hoofcare industry having left behind one bullet point, it would be this:

Horses don’t read your textbooks, blog posts, webinars, or courses - and they are living creatures in front of you at the mercy of whatever you decide to put them through.

Please make dang sure that what you put them through has their interests at heart.

❤️Your Grumpy FB Page Admin

07/18/2026