MotorQueue Natural Hoof Care

05/28/2026

Hoofcare is very rarely about making it perfect. It's about how we can give a horse the best and healthiest foot he is able to grow despite his history and his permanent defects or damages. This horse is no miracle, and he is not perfectly sound by any means. His chronic laminitis has left him with permanent corium and pedal bone damages that cannot be undone, and as such he struggles to grow in a decent white line connection or sole depth. But he is alive and living a good happy comfortable life with his herd. That's what it is all about.

05/21/2026

This is why it's so important to thoroughly study anatomy, do dissections, and always respect the fact that the hoof is a highly complex living structure. Knowing exactly what to take - and what to leave - is critically important. We ❤️ The study of the equine hoof!

Just 5mm external hoof tissue was removed on the cadaver foot.

When you look at the bottom of a hoof from the outside, it is very easy to underestimate just how close the living structures are.

In this specimen I have removed approximately 5 mm from the entire solar surface of the foot using a bandsaw — the wall, sole, frog and bars. Before doing this, I had already taken the wall down to the level of the sole.

What this slice demonstrates beautifully is that the thickness of horn beneath the horse is not uniform.

At the toe, there is still a reasonable amount of horn material remaining. We have not yet entered sensitive tissue. The dermis is still protected.

But look further back in the foot…

At the seat of corn region we have already entered the dermis, and through the frog region we have cut directly into the digital cushion. The red areas are living vascular tissue.

This is exactly why I become concerned when inexperienced trimmers are taught to aggressively ‘pare back sole’ searching for a supposed universal ‘hard sole plane’ or ‘mother nature’s trim line.’

The problem is that many people do not actually know when they have reached that point — or if such a constant even exists in the simplistic way it is often taught.

A horse’s sole is not just dead material waiting to be removed.

Sole thickness varies enormously between horses, between regions of the same foot, and between pathological and healthy feet. Some areas can tolerate more exfoliation than others. Other areas are incredibly close to sensitive structures.

If you continue removing horn trying to chase a theoretical plane, eventually you will hit living tissue.

That is why some horses end up with redness, blood staining, tenderness, frog sensitivity, bruising and post-trim soreness.

This image is a reminder that beneath only a few millimetres of horn lies a highly specialised living organ filled with blood vessels, nerves, connective tissue and shock-absorbing structures.

05/08/2026

05/06/2026

New logo. Same great service. That’s the MotorQueue promise you can count on.

05/06/2026

New protocol alert for Hoof Armor: use baking soda instead of talc!

Send a message to learn more

04/16/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BkX62ebP8/

Are you being NICE to your horse? Or are you being KIND?

Being NICE often involves avoiding conflict and frequently leads us to apply unclear pressure, standards, and expectations in order to prevent discomfort, which just leads to confusion and anxiety for the horse. In contrast, being KIND means providing clear, consistent boundaries and fair leadership that fosters true confidence, understanding, and relaxation.

Kindness prioritizes the horse's long-term mental and physical well-being over a temporary niceness that leaves us feeling better somehow, but the horse more unsure.

Just something to think about.

04/12/2026

ANSWER:

Great guesses everyone! The answer is ataxia - this horse had a serious case of EPM! He was extremely neurologic and has been up and down in his recovery, and still has some ataxia. He's a tough old dude and still holding his own very well.

When horses are neurologic, they can be very unstable in their stance. When this happens, they tend to sway a lot at rest, shifting back and forth on their hind legs as they lose and regain their balance. This is why we seem to only ever see this very distinct pattern on hind feet, not front feet. This is a fairly uncommon thing, and many horses that are ataxic don't show these kinds of rings, but it happens often enough that it is a known phenomenon. This is the first time I have seen it in person, although I have seen plenty of discussions and photos from my fellow farriers and trimmers about it.

There are some theories about why this happens. The first theory is that these are load waves that occur when young tubules emerging from the terminal coronary papillae are still lacking in structural stability, and as the horse sways back and forth they form this way into a wave pattern. The second theory has to do with perfusion. We just discussed in another post about the fact that liquids cannot be compressed, just displaced, so how a hoof is loaded will greatly impact where and how the fluid will perfuse the blood vessels. The swaying of the horse creates variations in load and subsequently in blood perfusion, which in turn creates variations in the growth of the hoof and odd, very specific looking growth rings.

Whatever the cause, it sure is unique!

https://thehorsesback.com/hind-hoof-rings-ataxia/

GUESS THE PROBLEM:

This is a very elderly (over 30) gelding. He has had good feet his whole life up until this point. He had significant medical issues this past year that have changed his feet. Here are the main clues:

1) A serious medical issue that he has been dealing with for the better part of the past year
2) Major, distinct event lines on his HIND feet ONLY, with normal front feet. ONLY the hind feet!
3) An unusual wavy appearance to his hoof horn, including his periople

Can you guess what is going on?

04/09/2026

It's not every day you root for Darth Vader, but today you will be!

Darth Vader the pony came from the Humane Society with four completely different feet. His worst was his right hind, which was twisted and overgrown. All his weight was on his lateral heel, which was overworn, and all his growth was in toe, particularly medially. The limb is very crooked, something which in his 20s we can't correct, and he has some significant ringbone. Whether any of this is from injury, from neglect, from his natural conformation, or from a little of two or three of those things combined, we can only guess at. But what we can do to help him in his older age is to give him a much more balanced platform to land and load upon! While this kind of damage can't be reversed, it can be greatly improved upon with good trimming and good care, and Darth Vader has gotten a great upgrade from his old life. Maybe he will even turn away from the Dark Side!

02/04/2026

Learn more about the symptoms of EMS/IR and how to manage them here: https://bit.ly/2OspeWl.

01/31/2026

We can't believe it - the end of 2025 marked 15 years of us serving the wonderful people and horses of North Texas! What an amazing time this has been! I am convinced that no one else in the world has better, more devoted, and more caring owners than I do on my books. You are all the very best, and I am honored to have been a part of all your lives for so very long!

Exciting things are coming up for us this year and I can't wait!!