Posts tagged “founder”
Problem/Solution
It’s a constant struggle. The other night I gave a 2-year-old mustang born in a BLM holding facility his first real trim. I say “real” because he surely must’ve been trimmed at least once or twice in the holding facility, but almost certainly either in a squeeze chute, tranquilized, or both. As you can see, […]
It’s Here!
Last December I told you I had some big news to share with you, and the time has finally arrived. But first, a little background information… As you may have read elsewhere on this site, I have a particular interest in helping horse owners understand, and hopefully prevent, equine laminitis. The most common form of […]
Liberated Horsemanship
I’ve mentioned Liberated Horsemanship in passing before, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to discuss our upcoming clinics at the end of next month (9/28 – 10/2). From my perspective, what’s offered a couple of times a year in Warrenton, MO (an hour west of St. Louis) is of immense potential benefit to every […]
Pasture Time and Laminitis
I’m taking a quick break from the Hoof Angles series to comment on a very serious problem with the way we manage our horses: excessive caloric intake. Because of the unusually warm weather we’ve been experiencing here in Ohio, the pastures are especially lush right now. And with that lush grass comes a greatly-increased risk […]
Hoof Angles – Part 3
“I cannot end the story of the horse without writing with regret that the health of this useful and precious animal has been up to now surrendered to the care and practice, often blind, of people without knowledge and without qualification.” – Georges-Louis Leclerc (1707-1778) Leclerc De Buffon was a French naturalist known for his […]
Hoof Angles – Part 1
NOTE: This particular subject is of great interest to me because its exploration leads the logical person to question the very foundations of modern farriery. Foolishly, I began the writing process thinking I could say what needed to be said in a single post. But after I started putting my thoughts down, it quickly became […]
Off His Rocker(s)
When the owner led the horse out of the stall, my heart sank. This poor gelding was wearing a type of shoe known as a rocker, banana, or convex shoe, and although I’d read about them before, I’d never actually seen them “in action.” I wish I could have maintained that ignorance, because what a mess! […]
Mistaken Identity
Over the past several years, I’ve seen a considerable number of lame horses that have been diagnosed as having one problem or another but in reality have a very different one. And a visit a few weeks ago was no exception. I went out to trim a horse who’d been diagnosed with sidebone – the […]
The Shape of Things to Come
One of the many benefits of proper natural hoof care, as I’ve touched on in the past, is the way the hooves tend to retain their shape as they grow. The majority of my clients comment that before beginning natural hoof care, they knew when their horse was due for a trim by the presence […]
Laminitis and Pumpkin
The title of this post may seem as if I’m about to reveal some connection between the laminitic horse and a common vegetable, and, in a weird sort of way, that’s correct. But it’s not what you think… Some months back, one of my clients took on the care of a very sweet donkey who […]