Posts filed under “Laminitis & founder”
Spring is Here?!
I know just how my horse felt when I took this photo many years ago. Following some surgery, he’d been stuck inside for a couple of weeks, so I carried a camera with me (pre-digital days, I might add!) as I turned him loose again for the first time. He was ecstatic! The weather here […]
The “Expert Syndrome” Revisited
I hope Mr. Adams doesn’t mind me sharing “Dilbert” with you, but recent events prompted a return to the topic of experts in the horse world, and these particular cartoons seemed especially appropriate! I’ve commented about this problem before in my article entitled The “Expert Syndrome”, and decided to revisit it after a couple of […]
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 […]
It’s Clinic Time (Again)!
First and foremost, I want to remind everyone, particularly my European readers, that the registration deadline for the Insights from World Leaders in Hoof and Horse Care conference and natural hoof care training workshop is upon us. I would encourage every horse owner to consider joining us next month in Barcelona, Spain for this important […]
An Interview with The Vet
While in Tennessee recently, I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Dr. Neal Valk, a board-certified veterinary surgeon, friend, and fellow clinician in Liberated Horsemaship’s hoof trimming training program. I’ve known Neal for six years now, and continue to respect and appreciate his contributions to my knowledge base when it comes to […]
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 2
In Hoof Angles – Part 1 we touched on the basic parameters of movement that veterinarians and farriers attempt to alter through trimming and shoeing. In this installment, we’ll examine a fundamental misconception about cause and effect as it relates to equine anatomy: the notion that the shape of the hoof causes the horse to […]
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 […]