Infinity Hoof Care

02/06/2026

🙌 Ignorance of how to use a tool is what harms horses, not the tool itself 🙌

Following on from yesterdays post, her is the same photo indicating correct placement and use a shoe if optimising welfare is the goal of the hoof care plan.

The bottom right diagram is representative of a correct use of a modern shoeing package and placement, creating a 50:50 base split, use of a small wedge to elevate the heel and support phalangeal alignment, and 3D base support using impression material.

What you cannot imagine from this view is the lack of excess leverage which is often created by inappropriate shoeing, nor the equilibrium around the coffin joint afforded by the reductive plus additive intervention.

The material is composite, so not steel, and the manner of fixation is glue, not nails.

Together with an appropriate cycle length, this set up will facilitate correct placement of the hoof and limb, facilitating healthy forces on the entire body, facilitating healthy posture and homeostasis, helping correct past inappropriate forces, initiating correct development needed for correct growth, and ideal morphology.

The shoe set up wil be adapted according to the new morphology and needs at each cycle, resulting in rapid healing and return of optimum form and function.

In other words, the welfare state of the horse will improve.

And that is what matters to the horse.

You see, it is not shoes which harm horses, but the inappropriate use of a shoe. And human ego.

Material, size, caudal support, placement, promoting static and dynamic equilibrium around the coffin joint, promoting neutral posture and gait, preparation, length of cycle, all matter.

The other common examples here will not return healthy ideals (hoof morphology, posture, development) and will negate welfare parameters (posture, physiology, behaviour) and this CAN be measured and evidenced objectively - but rarely does.

This is why so many horses are lame and broken - whether barefoot or shod - lack of understanding of what is healthy, and why it matters, and how to maintain or create the environment for healthy welfare parameters and states in equines.

What amuses and distresses me is that I am not a farrier, and started life as a pro barefooter, and now I see the truth, I understand the science of podiatry AND farriery, and I empathise with the horse. The horse only wants to feel safe and sound, and in domestication, we should use any resource available to create and maintain optimum welfare states in the horses we all love.

For high quality educational resources and related science, visit the comments.

Www.holisticequine.co.uk - supporting and promoting compassionate equestrianism for the benefit of all 💚🙏🐴

06/09/2022

Laminitis is way easier to prevent than treat. I know muzzles and dry lots are tough but it’s so much worse to see them in such intense pain.

LAMINITIS

Spring is upon us, and for some areas, that means an uptick in laminitis cases. Dr. Alicia Nolfi said in one of The Humble Hoof podcast episodes that we should assume hoof-based lameness is laminitis until proven otherwise. Why? Because treating lameness as laminitis doesn't hurt if it isn't laminitis, but if it IS, waiting and not doing anything can lead to further laminae damage, or worse or catastrophic rotation or distal descent.

So how can we identify laminitis and work to get the horse comfortable?

Laminitis in horses can have less-than-obvious symptoms:

🔴Moving more "gingerly" over harder surfaces, especially if they were previously comfortable on them. This is still concerning even if they seem to be moving perfectly fine on soft surfaces!
🔴Trotting instead of their usual canter in the paddock. Walking instead of their usual trotting. Seeming more "sluggish" than normal.
🔴Recurring abscesses
🔴Thin soles- possible symptom of weakened laminae connection causing poor suspension of P3 in the hoof capsule
🔴Heat in the hoof or increased digital pulses
🔴Moving more stiff throughout their body
🔴A "new" sensitivity or soreness after a conservative trim - damaged laminae can become suddenly more painful even with minute changes to the "status quo" the horse was using to compensate.
🔴In extreme cases, rocking back onto hind feet

I know I've said it many times before, but I never view hoof sensitivity, thin soles, abscesses etc as "normal" - to me this is a weak hoof that requires further investigation into diet and metabolic status. A horse with "chronically weak feet" may already be dealing with some chronic laminitic symptoms.

So what do you do if your horse is experiencing laminitis?
🔵Call your vet, and consider getting bloodwork for insulin and ACTH levels, as 90% of laminitis is endocrinopathic. Let your farrier know what is going on.
🔵Remove all access to grain and grass (even w**ds or "grazed down to nothing" paddocks - short grass is stressed grass and sugars can spike!)
🔵Implement the ECIR emergency diet to remove any dietary triggers to allow the horse to become more comfortable - see link below
🔵I prefer to utilize therapy boots like Easycare Cloud Boots with their therapeutic pad inside, to relieve weightbearing on the laminae and prevent distal descent. Many horses become significantly more comfortable immediately in therapy boots. Using boots for rehab allows frequent small changes to the trim to help realign the bony column and hoof capsule. Shorter trim cycles can mitigate the need for drastic trims that can be more painful for the horse.

Once the trigger is found and removed, the horse should become more comfortable. If the horse is still uncomfortable - keep investigating to find a possible trigger!

Please note, the other 10% of laminitis cases include SIRS (Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, think high fever, colitis, illness, retained placenta, ingestion of a toxic w**d, etc) and Supporting Limb Laminitis due to lack of perfusion in an overweighted limb in an acute injury case. These cases will not respond to diet change or metabolic bloodwork management. Winter laminitis is a subset of metabolic laminitis but also doesn't respond to diet change etc, as it is often due to AVA shunt damage in the hoof causing lack of proper circulation in the winter - it might be similar to the painful feeling that people with Raynaud's may experience in cold weather.

If your horse is experiencing acute laminitis, please join the ECIR forum online at ecirhorse.org - they are a volunteer non-profit group that has over 20 years of experience helping owners to troubleshoot management and recovery of laminitis, and getting horses back to soundness and even productive, happy lives.

06/04/2022

Made 9 donkeys a little happier with the donkey whisperer KT Barefoot Trimming ❤️

03/30/2022

Spring grass is here! Your horse will thank you later when they’re able to be out not on stall rest recovering from laminitis.

03/08/2022

Friendly reminder to make sure you have your muzzles ready! That spring grass is popping up quick!

01/13/2022

Mackinaw Dells 2 Whole Horse Learning Center An interactive, fun, and progressive learning experience for equine professionals and horse owners alike!

12/26/2021

Great post about diet needed for strong and healthy feet!

The very best hoof care can only go so far. We must properly feed our hooves if we want the best out of the horse and we must properly feed our horse if we want the best out of our hooves. Over the years I noticed that no shoeing or trim mechanics could grow healthy walls, laminae, soles or frogs on...

11/19/2021

11/11/2021

Watcha readin’?

09/26/2021

09/25/2021

Great week for glue. Loving this cool weather and Max was absolutely perfect for his Polyflex. ❤️