This Arabian mare came to us in the early summer of 2022 in hopes that we could improve her comfort and hoof health. She has been foundered long term and was suffering from acute and frequent bouts of laminitis when she arrived. She was very overweight and showed the classic signs of being insulin resistant. We immediately changed her diet to low sugar hay only, and we trimmed and applied the Easyshoe Versa Grip Lights with 11 Finger Tabs. I applied these with DIM and Artimud. This is my usual favorite composite shoe package. I will be using these until her new hoof wall grows in and the sole can start developing some concavity. The shoes support the frog and digital cushion while providing protection and "artificial concavity" to the sole. The DIM provides a cushion to absorb impact and also works to keep debris from getting in-between shoe and the hoof. A thick layer of Artimud between the DIM and the hoof keep the hoof clean and fungus free.

Throughout her rehab here she has been intermittently sore, but overall shows signs of improvement. We also had her tested for PPID and the results were borderline high, and inconclusive but we chose to treat with Prescend and the results have been great. Her laminitis has subsided and she is growing in connected hoof wall, which was otherwise not possible. She has also lost an incredible amount of weight and actually almost appears too skinny, though I would rather her be a tad bit underweight until her hooves grow in more connected and can better support her.
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​I had spoken on the phone to the owner of this horse prior to arriving and I was prepared to deal with a foundered horse, but I wasn't aware of the severity.

This horse has been under veterinary care and was seen by the farrier every 4 weeks for the last few months. There are also underlying PPID and IR issues.
This horse has been very lame for the last year. 

​The only radiographs I had to work with were from 6 months previous. They show significant sinking and rotation, but I suspect the damage is even worse judging by the current state of the hooves. Current radiographs would be extremely helpful, but in this case they are not available.

While this trim seems fairly drastic, I am sure I could have done more if I had current x-rays. This was a step in the right direction to restore function and set up the new growth for coming in. The owner purchased Easyboot Clouds to keep this horse comfortable moving forward and we plan to trim every 3 weeks to start.

In the pictures above you can see the huge lamellar wedge. There is so much separation in this hoof wall. I also tried not to touch the sole at all, what I did trim on the bottom was the overlaid bars and overgrown frog. I also tried to lower the heels to realign the bottom of the coffin bone. This horse has very thick bone, and will naturally have a slightly longer heel then the average 1.25 inches because of that.

From a metabolic standpoint this horse is on low sugar hay in slow feed nets placed around her paddock to increase movement, I also suggested adding biotin to her diet to help with hoof growth, and rechecking her ACTH levels to make sure her Pergolide dosage for her PPID is effective.

​I will update this case study with more picutres next time I see her.

Since the last trim the owner reports that she is moving better, though still sore. She wears the Easyboot Clouds 24/7 right now. This trim I really worked on bringing the heels down a bit more and removing some more of the large wedge from the top. Because the heels were so overgrown the frog was also overgrown, but at the first trim it was very hard and I didn’t want to remove too much. This trim the frogs were very crumbly and I trimmed them down until all the rotten material was gone. I didn’t trim any sole, but I did trim down some overlaid bar off the sole. The bar was also quite crumbly. This is still a huge work in progress and I will see her again in another three weeks and reassess.
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This 5 year old mini found her way here recently, her history is unknown. She is severely foundered and was having difficulty walking, and spent most of her time laying down. She doesn't appear to have the typical metabolic syndrome "look" to her, I suspect she has foundered from lack of trimming. Although this trim is significant, I will be trimming her again in a week or so to adjust a few more angles, lower some of the heels a bit more and double check the hoof balance. This was a big change for her and she was very sore so I had to work quickly and didn't get a chance to really make the trim complete. After the trim she is moving well, though still a little bit stiffly. She will have 24/7 turnout on the track with the herd, and I suspect the stiffness is more body related due to the angle changes and will subside quickly. 

The pics below are from Odin's initial shoe pull and trim. We applied composite shoes to his fronts to provide artificial concavity due to his flat soles. You can see the long leveraging toe, flat sole and low, crushed heels.

I opted to set the breakover far back under the composite shoe in order to reduce the leverage on the new growth just below and coronary band.

Today I pulled the composite shoes and after the trim applied Glue on Easyshoe Performance shoes.
The focus was on bringing the toes back to relieve the leverage on the hoof wall as well as to allow the heels to come in at a steeper angle in order to bring the weight bearing surface back underneath the horse.
Read through the comments on the individual pictures for a more in-depth explanation.

A bit of time has passed since Odin's last update. He recently became one of our school horses so that I can give him the routine care that I think he needs. Odin presents as quite stiff and sore and very reluctant to move forward. I think he has a few combined issues and I hopeful we can help him to improve and maybe one day use him in our Youth Program. Along with his under run heels, Odin has long stretched forward toes and thin soles. He was also diagnosed with kissing spine before he came here. 

​Today I applied EasyShoe Performance NG's with 11 finger tabs, Duplo wedges, DIM for support and Artimud to combat moisture. 

​Below are the modified composites I applied. I favor the EasyShoe Performance NG's and Easyshoe Versa Grip Lights. You can use plastic wedges as well, or even build up a wedge with glue but I prefer the simplicity of the Duplo Wedges. I love how versatile these composite shoes are with the 11 finger tabs. This pics below show the shoes before I welded more tabs on. These shoes have been used a few times and you can see they still have a lot of life left to be used again. This is one of my favorite things about the 11 finger tabs, they can be ground off and new one welded on once they get too thin or lose their shape.

This hoof belonged to Ruby, one of our rescue ponies. She was chronically foundered and suffered from untreated PPID before we got her. We tried for three years to help her but ultimately when the bad days started to outnumber the good ones we had to end her suffering.

When Ruby first arrived she was emaciated and had very long overgrown, foundered hooves. But she was the kind of pony who always looked at you with appreciation in her eyes. We had her examined by our Vet right away and he floated her teeth, ran bloodwork and got her started on medication for the PPID. During the next three years she was off an on again sound, and had frequent bouts of laminitis. 

Montana is a paint mare that presented with a disconnected hoof wall, and both rotation and sinking of the coffin bone. She has an extremely flared hoof capsule and a very flat sole with zero concavity. Her owner repots that she is tender when ridden barefoot and "requires shoes or boots" when ridden to keep her sound.

​I opted for a conservative trim, steeply beveling the toe to reduce leverage, but leaving excess heel and quarters in order to provide some "false concavity".

On the bottom view you can see the bruising on the sole directly under the coffin bone from the lack of concavity and too much solar pressure. She has boots and pads to keep her comfortable for now and we will likely move to composite shoes for riding season in order to give her some long term comfort and “false concavity” to relieve that solar pressure.
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You can see the huge abscess she blew along the heel bulbs and frog as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if that starts to separate as it grows out.

Her owner reports that she has been moving really well and only required boots for a few days after the last trim and when riding. 

This trim was similar to the previous one in that I steeply beveled the toe to reduce leverage, though this time I did not leave excess heel and quarter height. The heels were starting to fold over and quarter was breaking away. 

You can see the connected hoof wall growth coming down farther from the coronary band as well. Overall I am very pleased with her progress thus far.

I am happy with the progress so far, the hoof wall connection is coming in and Montana has been moving well. The key here is keeping the leverage back so that it doesn't undermine the connection up higher. 

This trim was a couple of weeks early but because I was in her area with my students during the 6 day course I thought we would touch up her trim and use her as a case study to teach the students. Montana is still very comfortable and the connection is coming down the hoof wall. Her owner is still using boots for riding and is very pleased with her progress.

I got a call from Montana's owner that about 3 weeks post trim she came up lame that morning. We suspected abscessing and the owner soaked daily for about a week. Nothing presented but Montana came in and out of soundness during that time. When I arrived I could not see any sign of an abscess, and noticed that she was very tender in all 4 feet and having trouble walking on the gravel driveway. We concluded that possibly due to the recent rainfall (it had been a previously very dry period) and the wet ground perhaps the moisture had softened Montana's thin soles and we opted to apply Easyshoe Versa composite shoes to her fronts. The owner reported about three days later that Montana was very sound and she was able to ride her. 

My goal will still be to grow in healthy wall connection and allow the sole to thicken. We will likely keep using the composite shoes for the summer riding season with the hope that in the fall she will be able to transition back to barefoot and then hopefully next spring not require the use of composite shoes.

The photo above shows Ruby when she arrived in late March, the video below was shot July 15, 2018.

Published in Saddle Up Magazine August 2015


In last month’s article I discussed the difference between Laminitis and Founder. I explained that laminitis by definition is inflammation of the lamina in the hoof. The lamina affected are the sensitive lamina (surrounding the front and sides of the coffin bone) as well as the solar corium (the underside of the coffin bone). I also discussed that low grade laminitis left untreated, or during acute laminitis, the coffin bone can rotate within the hoof capsule becoming foundered. Founder is simply the rotation of the coffin bone. There is no almost or partly foundered. Either the bone is rotated or it is not. However, the severity of the rotation can vary. This is dependent of the overall health of the hoof prior to the laminitis, the length and severity of the laminitic episode as well as the current trimming/shoeing protocol. In this issue I want to show you what a foundered hoof looks like both inside and out.

In order to demonstrate a foundered hoof, I will first show you a healthy one. The hoof wall is well connected all the way from the coronary band to the ground, it is not flared, pulled forward, or separated.

Published in Saddle Up Magazine July 2015

            The terms Laminitis and Founder are often used interchangeably by vets, farriers, trimmers and horse owners alike, however in my opinion they have two very different meanings. Laminitis is the inflammation of the sensitive lamina surrounding the coffin bone. This includes the sensitive lamina, found along the front and sides of the coffin bone, as well as the solar corium which is found on the bottom of the coffin bone. The sensitive lamina is the vasculature covering the coffin bone and it has nerves and a blood supply. The insensitive lamina is located on the inside of the hoof wall and has no blood supply or nerves and is semi-rigid in structure. The sensitive and insensitive lamina interlock like Velcro. This connection of the lamina supports the coffin bone’s position within the hoof.