03/10/2026
At our recent Auckland cadaver workshop, we worked on the foot of a pony that died with what most would describe as classic “coke-can feet” - inside P3 would be termed "rotated".
Pre-trim >> 69mm heels.
Post-trim >> 23mm heels.
We trimmed and rebalanced the hoof capsule, and once the distortion of the hoof capsule was removed, P3 returned to its neutral, ground-parallel position immediately.
In ONE TRIM.
Yes - we absolutely would have done this on a live horse. In one trim.
Because every moment that pony was forced to stand on the tip of P3, the bone was slowly starving itself of its own blood supply - beginning the agonising process of osteonecrosis - bone death.
Rehabilitation for this little pony could have started from that realignment moment forward. Just like it could for so many equines right now - if old science would just get out of the way.
Old science, with old outdated theories, that do not stand up to scrutiny on live horses, are conditioning owners to believe something that is not true.
P3 100% cannot rotate independently in a hoof capsule. They've never proved it, not in one peer-reviewed paper - yet you still believe it.
And us? We can prove on every 'de-rotation' trim that those old theories were just simply that - theories.
In the sagittal section on this hoof you can see:
>> Yellow outline - P3
>> Dotted yellow line - where the palmar processes would be (not visible because the cut is through the middle of the foot)
>> Blue line - the inner hoof wall
Between these lines you can clearly see the laminar separation.
This separation was not caused by diet. It never is. In all the 1000s and 1000s of hooves alive and dead that we have seen like this, not one has ever been consistently balanced.
That is huge. Because that means all the current theories surrounding that word "laminitis" were wrong.
In the real world, out of the manipulation of a lab, hooves do not rip apart because the horse ate too much grass, or got in the feed bin, or had a retained placenta.
The imbalance WAS ALREADY THERE. But no-one spotted it. Like a magician's slight of hand, you were all conditioned to look the other way.
Laminae tear because of hoof capsule divergence (HCD) - the hoof capsule growing on diverging planes that no longer match their internal structures.
And when the capsule is brought back into alignment, P3 comes back with it - immediately.
We prove this every time we perform a realignment trim.
But the result of imbalanced hoof care leading to HCD is always 100% predictable, repeatable, and tragic:
>> The hoof capsule diverges, the horse is forced onto the tip of P3, and laminar separation follows.
We correct feet like this every single day.
Sometimes we get to them in time. Sometimes we do not - because too much P3 osteonecrosis has already occurred.
If the current laminitis theories were correct - particularly the idea that P3 rotates independently after laminar failure (SADP theory) - this realignment would not be possible. P3 would keep 'moving'.
But on real horses, in real feet, we see the same thing again and again - once distortion is corrected, alignment returns - and P3 STAYS WHERE IT IS PUT.
You may look at the realigned section of this foot and think the toe looks long now.
It is not long. It is distorted.
The toe is actually SHORTER in length than the “coke-can” section - it simply sits on a completely different plane.
But if this was a live pony, someone would no doubt shout - "take that toe off" - and then the entire process of divergence would begin all over again. No doubt the fate of this poor pony.
And the reason why the world is stuck believing that "laminitis is a terrible disease".
Every day equines are being pts for this very problem, all over the world.
Equines are suffering - and dying - from trimming practices that chop the toe while allowing the heels to rise.
The result is then blamed on a metabolic cascade causing laminar failure and P3 rotation. That has NEVER BEEN PROVEN.
But when you look inside the foot, the story is very different.
And that is exactly what we are showing you. All you have to do, is open your eyes.
HM.
Help us stop this and learn how to truly balance a foot - join our free rehab group The Phoenix Way: Path 2 Hoof Health
