Posts filed under “Lameness”
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! […]
The Land of Enchantment
Last weekend’s trip to Santa Fe proved to be an interesting one. I met some very nice people and some very nice horses. I also worked on some rather unusual horses with respect to conformation and movement, which I may comment about in the future. Most of the horses I saw, like many I see […]
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 […]
A Closer Look at Breakover
If you’re around the horse world long enough, you’re bound to hear people talking about breakover. What, you may ask, is breakover? Well, there are two definitions. The first, as defined by Dr. Hilary Clayton in The Dynamic Horse, is – Terminal part of stance phase during which the heels of the hoof rotate around […]
Chipping Away
I’m always trying to better understand, and therefore help clients understand, the horse and hoof issues that cause them (the horse owners) any sort of stress. So when I received a call from a client the other day who was concerned about a chip in her horse’s hoof, I decided I’d take the opportunity to […]
Natural Hoof Care Revisited (or “Promises, Promises”)
Some further reflection on my last Post, coupled with conversations and comments from several readers and clients, has made me want to add a few other thoughts regarding what constitutes genuine natural hoof care. In this case, I think it’s important (and, given the plethora of folks pretending to provide natural hoof care, becoming increasingly […]
What Makes it “Natural Hoof Care?”
It’s not unusual these days to hear horse owners, farriers, and even veterinarians talk about so-called “natural” approaches to a wide variety of equine health and management topics, including vaccinations, deworming, feeding, and hoof care. Since (as I explained in my first post) my equine expertise lies primarily in the area of hoof care, that’s […]
Hoof Chipping Revisited
Last week was an interesting week in the “chips” department, beginning with the client, whose horse I’d trimmed only twice before, who called to cancel her appointment because her horse had chips in his hooves, and, therefore, needed to get him shod. “We tried,” she said, “but it’s just not working out.” A day or […]
Laminitis Risk Calculator
This is an especially exciting and important post for me. Last April, while in Warrenton, MO to do my Special Topics/Advanced Trimming workshop for Liberated Horsemanship, we all had the privilege of hearing Dr. Don Walsh of the Animal Health Foundation give a presentation on a very real and very serious threat to our horses […]
The Emperor’s New Shoes
I happened across an article entitled Polymers replace metal in horseshoes for added benefit in one of my many engineering trade magazines the other day (Design fax, Volume 7, Issue 26). I suppose I shouldn’t have been shocked by its contents, but I continually hold out hope for more legitimate science in this field, and […]