Longacre Stables & School of Horsemanship

08/16/2025

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08/03/2025

🙌 FFS, please people, Think (objectively) before you trim!!!!! 🙌

This post summarises visually why I DO NOT advocate for trimming methods which do not consider welfare parameters and use distorted structures as guidelines in order to trim a hoof.

There is a growing body of evidence associating pathology in the digit, limbs and body of the horse to lack of phalangeal (bony column) alignment.

Here is an oblique sole view where I have highlighted the white line and sole, and you can clearly see the plane of the hoof is around 6 degrees difference to the CURRENT plane of the sole.

You can see more evidence here demonstrating improved welfare parameters in this horse as a result of the successful hoof care intervention: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1MFgCp58gJ/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The reason I have not used the white line or sole as a guide for trimming is that the sole depth does not provide a RELIABLE guide to trimming IF the aim of hoof care is proper balance, equilibrium of the coffin joint, appropriate blood flow, load, wear or grow of the hoof, neutral posture, bony column alignment, health neuro-muscular development, homeostasis, and happy, safe, and sound horses!

Sole depth is determined by the position and orientation of the digit bones, blood flow, load and growth of the hoof. Most horses have thin soles everywhere in the hoof, and especially in the caudal (back) of the hoof, along with a low palmar or plantar P3 angle (the angle at which the underside of P3 sits in relation ot the level ground). P3 is is another name for the coffin or pedal bone. the sole on most horses is uneven in depth too.

You do not achieve thicker sole and more balanced hoof and horse by arbitrarily reducing wall height back down at every trim cycle, if there is already a distorted hoof with inadequate sole deopth and lack of equibrium or neutrality in the bondy column.

You DO achieve it by assessing welfare parameters and trimming to oprimise these.

Here is an appropriately trimmed hoof, to achieve a straight hoof pastern angle. This is only the second trim and rehab only started 4 weeks ago. There is a straiught hoof pastern axis, but the sole has yet to fill in, which takes time as the dermis which nourishes and grows the sole needs to heal first.

If I were to trim the wall DOWN to the current sole, I would alter the entire plane of the hoof, thus losing phalangeal alignment, and causing a negative plantar P3 angle, excess load on the caudal hoof, reducing blood flow not only to the sole but P3 too, leadong to reduced horn growth in the caudal hoof plus excess wear to the caudal hoof - thus perpetuating this imbalance and pathological (disease causing) hoof morphology.

The image on the bottom right is a slide from my webinars illustrating the link between NPA/NPLA and pathology. Published studies and evidence is in the comments.

Please, DO NOT be fooled by the current rhetoric and propaganda deliberately designed to make you feel a certain way, often fearful, angry, and defensive of anothers method and belief system. DO think for yourself and DO NOT let another think on your behalf. DO NOT be fooled for there is NO objective evidence and studies to support this propaganda.

To learn more and train your eye with me, visit: Www.holisticequine.co.uk/events

Www.holisticequine.co.uk - supporting and promoting compassionate equestrianism for the benefit of all 💚🙏🐴

08/03/2025

08/03/2025

I don’t put nose bands on the horses … they go “naked” 😇.
Old horsemen’s saying is that a mouth problem is a “symptom” of a problem elsewhere(further back).
My own cliche’ …
“manipulating the gauge on the car doesn’t fix the engine”

New research shows cranking the noseband hurts your horse's gait.

There are always many opinions about nosebands. Too loose, and a trainer might call it sloppy. Too tight, and it becomes a welfare concern. There are studded and crank and chain and traditional, and all kinds of gadgets and gizmos designed to keep our horse’s mouth shut, but what is best for the horse? Is cranking that extra hole doing more harm than good?

A 2025 study published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science examined the impact of noseband tightness on pressure and performance. The results are eye-opening if you believe that a tighter noseband means better performance in the ring.

Most riders are familiar with the standard: leave two fingers’ space beneath the noseband. It’s even outlined in guidelines from the FEI. And according to the study, 85% of riders say they know this recommendation. But when researchers actually measured the fit using a standardized taper gauge, only 15% had their nosebands adjusted to the proper tension.

The vast majority were too tight. Sometimes dramatically too tight.

The Hidden Pressure on a Horse’s Face
In the study, eight horses were fitted with a simple cavesson noseband and tested at three settings: a standard two-finger fit, a snug one-finger fit, and a cranked-tight zero-finger fit. Under each setting, researchers measured facial pressure and evaluated gait.

- The one-finger setting increased pressure on the nasal bone by 54% over the two-finger baseline.
- The zero-finger setting? A staggering 338% increase in pressure.

Imagine trying to do your day job with a belt cinched tight around your nose and jaw. Now add that your success relies on body movement, and you have no way to say, “This hurts.” That’s similar to what the horse might feel like being asked to perform in a fully tightened noseband that more than triples the force exerted on its face.

Unfortunately, changes to tack and equipment don’t typically come solely from the perspective of the horse’s comfort. So let’s look at performance as well.

In addition to pressure data, the researchers measured each horse’s trot stride. As the noseband got tighter, the stride got shorter—by a lot. On average:

- Horses at the one-finger tightness lost 6.2% of their stride length.
- With a fully tightened noseband, stride loss jumped to 11.1%.

In real-world terms, that’s about 24 centimeters, roughly the length of a hoof, disappearing from every stride. While that may not sound dramatic at first, consider how it compounds across a full course. Shorter strides can mean rushed distances, flat movement, and a horse that never quite gets to “flow.” In the hunter ring, 24 centimeters could be the difference between pinning in a highly competitive under saddle class.

And this wasn’t just about stiffness or resistance. The study found a statistically significant negative correlation between noseband pressure and stride length. In short, the tighter the fit, the shorter the step.

Sure, a longer stride is helpful in the show ring. But this research highlights deeper concerns about what that level of pressure does to the horse’s face and nerves. The noseband sits directly over sensitive structures, including branches of the trigeminal nerve, which help regulate posture and proprioception. Excessive pressure here doesn’t just hurt. It may also interfere with the horse’s balance and coordination.

Previous studies have shown that pressures as low as 32 kPa can damage tissue. In this study, the tightest noseband setting reached an average of 115.8 kPa. That’s far above what’s been associated with pain or injury in other species. That number isn’t just theoretical. It’s happening under tack, often unnoticed, every day. And unlike overt lameness, this kind of pressure flies under the radar, making it easy to miss, but just as impactful.

🔗 Read the full article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/07/30/new-research-shows-cranking-your-noseband-hurts-your-horses-gait/

🔗 Read the full study here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080625003120?via%3Dihub