Kye's Equine Assistance

06/13/2023

These are awesome options for hoof protection for those who struggle with boots, want better hoof support & protection than rim metal can provide & have expectations that surpass their equines abilities while barefoot.

If you are looking for a glue-on composite shoe for your horse, the EasyShoe Versa Grip Glue and EasyShoe Versa Grip Octo are both popular options. They are extremely flexible, lightweight, shock absorbing, and durable. Trying to decide which shoe to try? Take a look at these similarities and differ...

05/22/2023

When you decide to get into horses.......

05/20/2023

Come trim some horses & a donkey with special needs with me........

Donkey, older, foundered long before I met. suspected permanent damage to both front pedal bones.
https://vimeo.com/827069086?share=copy

Mare, later teens, very toed out, possibly DSLD/ESPA, presenting in both fronts
https://vimeo.com/827060394?share=copy

Gelding, Late teens/early 20s?, Bad arthritis in Front right knee & Front left pastern (p2 to p3).
https://vimeo.com/827051146?share=copy

My own personal mare, 17 years old, have owned 13 years. Always had hoof challenges (flat thin soles, thin walls that split & flair, often tender, especially in wet weather).
https://vimeo.com/826906916?share=copy

This is "Amigo fronts trim May 2023" by Kye Holden on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

05/16/2023

2 week trim and casting of front hooves on my flat footed mare due to lots of rain.

https://vimeo.com/826906916/33f5c3f136?share=copy

04/22/2023

04/22/2023

George's owner reached out to me to help with her Big sweet TB gelding who just had some poly flex glue on shoes removed that really tore up his feet! Right now he has negative palmar angles in most hooves & has a navicular spur in his Front right. I have high hopes for his progress.
**Update ** I got to work on George about a year and a half, then he had to move barns & left my care for 6-8 months. Then he came back to my service area, but his toes had run forward again. So we are working on backing up his toes & getting his heels to stand back up again.

04/21/2023

04/05/2023

Composite horseshoes have gained increasing popularity in recent years. Studies have shown that composites can reduce the impact on the hoof and limb, potentially leading to reduced risk of injury and improved performance in some cases.

A study published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science compared the kinetics and kinematics of horses wearing composite horseshoes versus aluminum shoes. The study found that horses fitted with composite shoes had significantly reduced peak vertical forces on their hooves and limbs compared to those wearing aluminum shoes (1).

Another study published in the Journal of Equine Science evaluated the use of polyurethane composite horseshoes on horses with chronic laminitis. The study found significant improvement in hoof shape, soundness, and lameness scores in horses fitted with composite shoes (2).

Composite horseshoes come in various materials and designs, with each generation offering unique benefits. First-generation composite horseshoes, made from materials such as carbon fiber and Kevlar, were rigid and inflexible, which limited their use to certain types of horses and disciplines. Second-generation composite horseshoes, such as those made by EasyCare Inc. and EponaShoe, are made from materials that mimic the natural flexibility of a horse's hoof, such as polyurethane, thermoplastics, and thermoset materials. These shoes offer a more flexible and lightweight alternative to traditional metal shoes, potentially leading to improved performance and reduced risk of injury in some scenarios.

Recent advancements in technology have led to the development of 3D-printed horseshoes, which offer even more customization and flexibility. A study published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science evaluated the use of 3D-printed composite horseshoes on a horse with a severe hoof defect. The study found that the custom-fit horseshoes improved the horse's gait and comfort, indicating the potential benefits of using 3D-printed horseshoes for horses with unique hoof conditions (3).

Innovation in hoof care has led to the development of composite horseshoes, which offer a new alternative to traditional metal shoes. These shoes have been designed to reduce the impact on the hoof and limb, which can lead to improved performance and a reduced risk of injury. The materials used in composite shoes can be customized to meet the specific needs of individual horses, providing a tailored approach to hoof care. These horseshoes represent a significant advancement in equine farriery and highlight the importance of innovation in improving horse welfare.

As research in this area continues, it is likely that composite horseshoes will continue to evolve, leading to even greater improvements in hoof care.

References:
[1] Sellnow, L., et al. "In vivo comparison of a composite horseshoe and aluminum horseshoe: Kinetics and kinematics in sound horses." Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 29.5 (2009): 385-386.
[2] Ohmura, Hajime, et al. "Use of polyurethane composite horseshoes on horses with chronic laminitis." Journal of Equine Science 24.1 (2013): 1-6.
[3] Van Heel, M., et al. "Use of a 3-dimensional printed composite horseshoe in a horse with a severe hoof defect." Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 92 (2021): 103341.

©Brenna S.
VitalityEquinellc 2023

04/01/2023

It can take a lot sometimes to get a truly healthy hoof. Some things to consider

“My horse’s feet didn’t look ANY better with a diet change [or XYZ mineral supplements] so this is all a waste of time.”

I was at a barn a few weeks ago, and someone who works there implied that hoof supplements were a giant waste of money.

While I agree that many companies might have some misleading marketing or may not fully understand what we as hoof rehabbers look for in a supplement, I still hold to the truth that diet can MAKE OR BREAK hoof rehab and for some sensitive horses, diet can mean the difference between life and death- really.

So what are some reasons why diet change might not have worked for your horse?

1. That “hoof supplement” really isn’t giving your horse what it needs.

I constantly see posts about people saying their horse’s hoof issues must just be genetic because “they’re already on a hoof supplement!”
I generally don’t recommend hoof supplements. I recommend feeding the horse AT MINIMUM the daily NRC requirement of minor minerals such as copper and zinc, and increasing if you are struggling with high iron or manganese, especially if you have a metabolic horse. Some popular supplements boast trace minerals - but might only provide, for example, 14mg of copper (yes, I’ve seen an expensive POPULAR supplement with only 14mg of copper per day,) when the NRC recommends at least 100mg per day for an 1100lb horse- and more to balance ratios as needed. While this is only one example of one minor mineral, pitifully low levels of minerals are sadly common in a lot of supplements, and without familiarizing yourself with the NRC daily recommendations, you won’t even realize these supplements are sorely lacking.

Moral of the story: you’re right - the diet change didn’t work for your horse - because it wasn’t meeting basic nutritional needs. Read labels and compare to NRC recs, and for the gold standard: PULL A HAY TEST and balance minerals to what’s actually in your hay!

2. Your horse’s diet is too high in sugar and starch.

Adding a quality supplement won’t do much if your horse is basically eating an all candy/junk food diet at meal time! Excess sugars and starches that aren’t being utilized by exercise or work can wreak havoc on the horse’s system. And this may be controversial, but most horses eating enough quality forage don’t need grain - and some sensitive or metabolic horses downright can’t have grain without having a direct effect on their hoof health and soundness/comfort. For sensitive or metabolic horses, the feed should be less than 4% starch and less than 10% ESC+ starch combined.

Moral of the story: just because a feed is marketed as “low starch” or safe for hoof issues doesn’t mean it is! Always check labels.

3. Your horse is sensitive to grass

Tagging along with #2 above comes those horses that can have a fully forage based, mineral balanced diet, but still have stretched white lines and sensitive/sore hooves … because they can’t handle the rich grass pasture they live on. Often these horses have underlying metabolic issues that simply can’t handle the sugars and starches in grass.

Moral of the story: when in doubt, if your horse is experiencing hoof pain or chronic issues, trial off pasture or with a muzzle to see if things improve.

4. Your horse isn’t getting regular hoofcare

Throwing a mineral supplement at your horse but neglecting to get their feet worked on for months on end isn’t going to help their hoof health. Mechanical wall separation from excess length is a real thing! Not to mention that excess toe length plays a huge role in the forces acting on the palmar aspect of the hoof and up the limb.

Moral of the story: a regular hoofcare schedule is important to hoof health.

5. Your horse isn’t moving enough

While diet can help grow healthier hoof wall and laminae connection, it can’t make up for lack of stimulation/movement. A horse that lives in a stall or who stands at a hay feeder 24 hours a day while barely taking a step will likely have weak feet, even with a perfect diet. You can compare it to a person who eats the cleanest, healthiest diet, but sits at a desk all day. They may be thin and “look healthy,” but they won’t have the strength and muscle that someone who exercises regularly will have! Hooves and their internal structures need movement to be strong.

Moral of the story: proper movement covers a multitude of diet or management “sins” when it comes to hooves! Get those horses moving!

6. Your horse’s environment isn’t clean

A good diet won’t make up for a horse that’s standing in its own urine or manure all day long. While mineral balancing helps immensely with stronger frogs, the caustic nature of their own waste can eat away at even the healthiest of tissue.

Moral of the story: provide your horse with a clean area to live to minimize exposure to nasty microbes.

7. Your horse has undiagnosed metabolic issues

If your horse has chronic hoof issues despite good movement, a clean environment, consistent hoofcare, and a perfect diet, bloodwork can rule out an undiagnosed/uncontrolled metabolic problem. Testing to check for PPID (which isn’t controlled by diet) and IR (where some refractory cases can have high insulin despite a good diet) can help identify another cause of poor hoof health in order to properly treat it.

Moral of the story: a metabolic panel can rule out endocrinopathic causes of hoof issues, or at least tell you where your horse is at baseline.

8. Your horse isn’t actually eating what you think it is

Sometimes even with our best intentions a horse can leave supplements behind or refuse to eat the “bland” forage based feed we try to give it, and if you’re boarding, the barn staff may clean the leftover feed out of the tubs and unknowingly throw all the good stuff in the trash. Double checking to make sure your horse is actually eating what you’re trying to feed it can be important!

Moral of the story: make sure your horse isn’t wasting your hard-earned money by avoiding those expensive feeds/supplements!

Overall, there are many reasons for hoof issues- but before writing off a diet change as “not working,” make sure that there isn’t something above that is sabotaging your efforts.

03/28/2023

EMS in horses can be tough, but not hopeless.

03/28/2023

George's owner reached out to me to help with her Big sweet TB gelding who just had some poly flex glue on shoes removed that really tore up his feet! Right now he has negative palmar angles in most hooves & has a navicular spur in his Front right. I have high hopes for his progress.

I trimmed George for not quite 2 years & his feet were doing great.

Due to circumstance, George left my care for 7+ months and we lost a good bit of the progress we had made, but I've started working on him again.

by his 2nd trim back in my care & we are making great progress again.

02/26/2023

great video on boots for horses

Hoof Boots - are they the future for protecting our horses’ hooves? Will shoes eventually become completely redundant - thrown on the scrap heap where they b...

02/25/2023

Well written 👏

**Edit: just to be clear, I love composite shoes and when I shoe horses I use them exclusively. I have been shoeing in composites for 10 years. I am not in any way bashing composite shoes and I think that 99 times out of 100 they are the best choice for semi-permanant hoof protection, when applied thoughtfully and correctly.**

Uncomfortable truths of the DIY Plastic Horseshoe Revolution... (A.k.a: a message for owner-trimmers-turned-composite-shoers)

I just had to rehab my horse out of composite shoes.

I, a professional farrier for over a decade, who has been applying glue on composites shoes to horses for almost that long, had to give my horse a three month "barefoot break" because his feet got so distorted in 7 months of composite shoes. His old boots didn't fit anymore, and I honestly didn't take any photos because I was so mortified.

Fortunately, his bare feet bounced back and his boots now fit again. But this, as well as some social media posts I've seen lately, got me to thinking.

We are in the midst of no less than a profound paradigm shift in the horse world. The barefoot movement was the start, around 20 years ago. Research in anatomy and biomechanics, information on equine nutrition, species-appropriate management, and new understanding of hoof health have spread like wildfire on the internet.

With this speed-of-light information explosion, came a new breed of hoof care professional, often an owner who for whatever reason, took over their horse's hoof care. I was one, and I know so many others. When I started, there were a few websites, books, and maybe one magazine devoted to barefoot horses. I piecemealed together an education based on an obsession, via scattered workshops, apprenticeships, and a whole lot of trial and error. I've always been a proud do-it-yourselfer, and am proud I started out as an owner-trimmer.

The second, rather concurrent, revolution happened in the "temporary hoof protection" realm. This, of course, is hoof boots. It is impossible to overstate the importance of hoof boots to help horses have bare feet most of the time, but protection when needed. Without hoof boots, barefoot would have remained a fringe movement.

After that, came alternative "semi-permanent" hoof protection. Driven by greater understanding of hoof anatomy and biomechanics, the market has become flooded with alternatives to metal shoes. I.e "composite" plastic shoes. For horses that need 24-7 protection for whatever reason, these new products have been a huge benefit. Now, we can mimic barefoot mechanics with a shoe.

Which brings us to the current hoof care revolution. Recently, in the US anyway, it has become more and more common for owners to learn to trim their own horses. But, the realm of semi permanent hoof protection, i.e. "shoeing" of whatever type, had remained mostly the realm of either traditional metal farriers or the newer hybrid of trimmer-turned-composite-shoer. This was due to the considerable economic and time investment of applying any sort of shoe. The materials and expertise needed, the special tools, etc. made it more or less prohibitive for the owner-trimmer.

Until recently, with the sudden flooding of the market with a new breed of composite shoe that needs minimal material investment. Often applied weight bearing, with nothing more than superglue.

I have no doubt that this new revolution will help a great many horses. However, as someone who has been doing this for awhile, I feel the need to say a few things to owners-turned-farriers. Some cautions, or words of warning, if you will.

1. A good shoe on a bad trim is worse than no shoe at all. When you put something on the bottom of the horse's foot semi-permanently, you remove the horse's ability to trim his own feet to correct any mistakes that you made. If you left too much leverage in a certain area, well you just added more. So MAKE SURE that your trim is spot on, preferably with radiographs and the help of a professional mentor, before afixing anything to that foot. Mistakes that you could get away with barefoot, will be amplified with any type of shoe you put on that foot, and now you have a problem.

2. A good shoe put on a good trim in the wrong spot, is worse than no shoe at all. I see this issue particularly with the newer tab shoes being set too far forward. Composite shoes in particular are thick. Adding anything, thick or thin, to the bottom of the foot is adding leverage. Any leverage added to the front of the foot, is increasing strain on the soft tissues and all the other structures at the back of the leg/foot. Sometimes, this might be the right decision, but you sure better be doing it on purpose. 99% of the time, you either want to be reducing leverage, or at least keeping it the same as barefoot. So, if you think you can apply composites without investing in a grinder, think again.

3. Trimming for a shoe is NOT THE SAME as trimming for barefoot. Yes, composites allow more wiggle room here because you don't have to worry as much about pressure points (though ironically, with the new weight bearing tab shoes, you do need to get the foot flatter than a direct glue application like an Epona, since there isn't any glue to fill in the gaps and even the load). This partly applies to #2 as well. Any little flare or imbalance you leave will be amplified with the shoe on. You need to trim MORE off the foot than you would barefoot. You need to get rid of all flares. Which means you need to have good rasp control and a hoof stand to do a proper job. More $$ and time investment building those skills. This is compounded by the tendency for horses to grow a lot of foot in composites. This is part of what happened with my horse. He grew so much foot, it went in the wrong direction. I've pulled horses out of composites because they grew too fast, so that the foot was getting away from us. So you better do a tight, short trim!

4. Making the horse more comfortable is not always the right thing to do. This one might get me some flak. But think about this from a perspective which we have become accustomed to, in the barefoot world. A critique of traditional shoeing practices has been that they can be a "band-aid" that perpetuates an unhealthy foot and long term damage, by the horse being "sound" but moving incorrectly on damaged structures.

Yes, your horse might be more comfortable in any kind of shoe, including composites. But if the trim is unbalanced, the shoe is in the wrong spot, and the foot is too long, then today's comfort will allow your horse to use himself improperly and can lead to injury and damage down the line.

And finally, 5. No one type of shoe will work for every horse. The more hoof issues your horse has, the more fancy a shoeing he may need. It would be nice if every horse simply needed a plastic covering over the bottom of his foot. But some horses simply need more, and so will need a considerable investment of time and materials to become comfortable. This could be you, the owner, doing it yourself and learning as you go, but it could probably more appropriately, and quickly, and kindly, be done by a professional who already has the skill and tools available.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. We all make mistakes, and this is me trying to help you learn from mine, because I've done all of this and more over the years, including, apparently, 2022, on my own poor horse. 🐎

02/25/2023

George's owner reached out to me to help with her Big sweet TB gelding who just had some poly flex glue on shoes removed that really tore up his feet! Right now he has negative palmar angles in most hooves & has a navicular spur in his Front right. I have high hopes for his progress.

02/25/2023

After taking maternity leave from trimming him over a year, my first visit back he had Horrid thrush in all 4 frogs, some white line separation & even maggots in his frogs!

Owner had the help treat with copper tox but the help doesn't know much about horses (or speak much english) and ended up giving the horse chemical burns on his pasterns.

After little progress with the thrush in the central sulcus i tried a white line treatment called "B-Gone Whiteline" in his frogs & after 2 treatments, no more thrush!!! He is on a 6 week trim schedule & due to arthritis & conformation flaws he gets pretty wonky hooves, but i feel like we are making good progress

02/14/2023

Okay, I guess I'll go on a soapbox roll.

Unpopular opinion: if your horse's current living situation isn't able to control laminitic issues, you might have to move the horse in order to save their life.

Up to 90% percent of laminitis is endocrinopathic - which means it is metabolic in nature, highly affected by hormones, diet and exercise (or lack thereof). This means that nearly every laminitic case needs strict guidelines in regards to diet and turn out environment. It can mean the difference between lame and sound, or even life or death.

The management for a metabolic laminitis case should look something like this, especially if there is any sign of pain:

✳️Remove all grain from the diet
✳️Remove access to grass pasture/fresh grass or even weeds
✳️Remove alfalfa - unless the horse is sound and deemed to be not affected by it
✳️Ensure hay is safe - either by testing it or soaking it
✳️Add in safe calories as needed (unmolassed beet pulp, forage cubes like Triple Crown Timothy Balance Cubes, flaxseed, etc)
✳️Feed essential vitamins and minerals in a metabolically safe carrier
✳️ Involve the vet to pull bloodwork and prescribe medication as needed to control ACTH levels or refractory high insulin

I can't tell you how many times I hear from owners of laminitic horses, whether in person or online, that they "just can't" restrict their grass access, or "but the grain says it's low sugar and starch" (spoiler alert: it probably isn't), or "but it's only a little bit of (XYZ)."...

Side note - when it comes to the barns that say "but there's really no grass out there!" my response now is, "If there weren't any horses in the paddock, would there be any grass? If the answer is yes, then the grass is being eaten... Imagine what the grass would look like without horses on it, and that's roughly how much they are eating."

I get it. It's hard to deny your horse something they love. But we are our horses' advocates, and just like a parent to a child, we have to decide what is best for their health and long term quality of life.

I am not writing this post to make anyone feel bad. I just see so many stuck in a cycle of laminitic setbacks, and sometimes a little push is needed.

Metabolic horses take extra special attention and care, and finding the right situation for them can mean the difference between watching them in pain, and watching them thrive for years to come.

02/05/2023

Learning to read the hoof to judge internal structures is critical in hoof care. X-rays are best, but not always available.

01/26/2023

🤣🤣🤣

But totally worth it ❤️🐴❤️

12/10/2022

These are so nice & easy to put on. NO NAILS, just super glue! Support & protect the whole hoof.
Most people know I am Pro Barefoot & boots when needed for horses, but when boots aren't practical, These would be my 1st choice!

11/20/2022

A good read. Many times our expectations exceed our equines physical limitations. If a horse doesn't spend enough "free time" on hard gravel/rocks, we can't really expect them to comfortably carry us over it. Their hooves need to be conditioned just like muscle needs to be conditioned to work.

I’ll keep this brief, but having been asked today, thought it would be helpful to share a professional’s take on the differences.

A lame horse shows discomfort that might be caused by an issue in the foot, or anywhere in the body that causes any kind of limp. It might or might not be be obvious, and in just one limb or multiple limbs. It might not even be visible to an untrained eye. You might just feel something isn’t quite right when riding. You might have no idea! If you think your horse is lame, have them checked by a vet.

A “footy” horse is a horse whose gait is affected by any surface (including tarmac), because the sole is thin, the laminae are inflamed, and as a result of one or both, the horse is sensitive to hard surfaces. This is, basically, a lameness that originates in the soles/solar corium. For example, you walk your horse out on the road, but that little bit of grit by the kerb is not comfortable, and your horse only strides out when you move onto the verge or away from the kerb. Or your horse’s movement is short and careful, because he’s doing his best to avoid discomfort. If you think your horse is footy, it is important to figure out why and address the cause. Even more so if the footiness is a new thing. Talk to your hoofcare practitioner (not your confidence coach/Sally from Iowa), and always keep them informed of changes in comfort.

An unconditioned foot is one which simply isn’t used to a surface. For example, you wouldn’t do man vs horse on something that came out of shoes yesterday, regardless of how healthy the feet look. Or your horse might be fine on most surfaces, but that lump of stone in the middle of the yard car park could well be enough to make the most stoic of horses’ eyes water. If he is gradually exposed to coarser surfaces which condition the feet, chances are he’d stomp over that stone like a wild mustang. But when he lives in a grass paddock and all his exercise is on a rubber ménage, should you really expect anything less without regular, gradual exposure?

11/18/2022

Sometimes, what owners worry about when it comes to their horses' feet and what farriers worry about when it comes to the horses' feet are not the same.
I will sometimes receive texts from a concerned owner with a picture of a small chip at the end of a cycle, but another cycle they will somehow neglect to tell me that their horse was footsore over stones recently when it hadn't been before..

Some of the most common "owner concerns" I see online or in person are:

✴️Wall chipping: although chipping isn't ideal, usually it won't cause much issue for stronger walls. Often this tells me that the horse either needs a shorter trim cycle, or a change to their hoof balance.

✴️Frog shedding: In wet seasons, sometimes I see an entire frog come off in one piece. Often owners worry this means something is wrong with the frog - don't worry, this is often completely normal!

✴️"A weird growth on the top of the hoof" (aka periople): I can't tell you how many times someone has asked me what the "stuff" is underneath the hairline. Think of the periople like your nail cuticle - it protects new growth as it comes in. Sometimes, especially in dry seasons, it can grow a bit farther down the wall than we are used to. Sometimes when the weather changes between wet and dry, we can see some weird periople changes, or even "flaps." It is usually completely fine!

✴️Waterlogged heel bulbs: Heel bulbs that seem to suddenly become white are often soggy heel bulbs that have had contact with a boot of some sort. Let them dry out a bit and they will be okay!

✴️Thinking a horse "just doesn't look due": Usually when an owner thinks a horse hasn't grown, really it just means they haven't chipped.. which is a good thing! We don't want them to chip or look grossly overgrown when it's time for a trim. Our goal is to keep them in balance, not chase after distortion. Sure - there ARE cases where a horse doesn't grow much foot, but 9 times out of 10 the hoof actually IS due for a balance adjustment.

These situations usually aren't a cause for concern for me. Of course, it depends on the horse and the circumstances, but overall these "issues" are simply cosmetic or a misunderstanding of how the hoof grows and naturally adjusts through seasons.

So what DO I worry about?

🚩Hoof sensitivity or changes in comfort: I don't want to see any of my client horses sore over ANY terrain - especially if it is a sudden change! This is a big red flag to me that the diet, trim, or metabolic management might need adjustment. I never want my horse owners to just accept hoof sensitivity as "normal."

🚩Abscesses: Abscesses are often a huge symptom of something unhealthy going on. A strong foot shouldn't get stone bruises or abscessing - see my last point. If the horse is throwing abscesses, especially if it seems to happen a few times a year, I want to know if the diet needs adjustment or if the vet should step in for some metabolic testing.

🚩Chronic event lines: the wall of the hoof should be smooth overall. Diet changes, fevers/illness, metabolic issues, etc can cause something called an "event line" to show up on the wall as it grows out. This can reveal to us a period of inflammation, although by the time we see it it's often in the past. When I see a series of event lines showing up on the wall, I know something is continually affecting the health of the foot. With that, I worry about something more sinister down the line, such as the risk of laminitis or founder, if the source of the event lines isn't found. Don't ignore them!

🚩Sudden changes in sole appearance, white line health, etc: If the horse's sole is typically concave and suddenly seems to flatten out "out of nowhere," or if we suddenly can see a stretched white line or fit a hoof pick between the wall and the sole, I know something is going on. OR, if a flat foot suddenly has a "sucked up" in a drastic ridge of concavity, I assume the soles have revealed that they are extremely thin. These all warrant further investigation.

Educating ourselves on what might be a red flag and what might not be can help catch early warning signs before a real issue starts.