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Southern New England Integrative Hoof Care

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Dayville, CT
Southern New England Integrative Hoof Care

Offering natural hoof care solutions and equine nutrition consulting throughout MA, CT, and RI.

12/10/2025

Two years apart, left hind for Chief. In the left picture he was growing out a gnarly subsolar abscess and you can see how much the hoof capsule distorted because he didn’t want to bear weight on the medial side. The lateral half of the foot ended up flared and the toe just kept running away on me. But despite continued struggles with DSLD, we have pretty nice balance this year even though we are always a little low in the heel due to the suspensory issue over-weighting the back of the foot. And he’s been happily sound which is the most important thing 😊

07/19/2025

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted…summer is a busy month for hoof care 🥵. But I’ve had a bit of forced down time this week which has given me the chance to sort through all of the photos on my phone.

This is a corrective set up trim on a pony gelding. He toes in and so tends to load more laterally, leaving the medial aspect of the foot to flare. Before the trim he was standing wide and bow-legged. After the trim his posture improved quite a bit. I wish I had whole horse pictures to share to show that difference but alas, hindsight is 20/20 😅

07/01/2025

Hind left of a pony gelding one year apart. This one took some time to correct because I suspect there was some tendon contracture based on the fact that lowering his heels often left them floating off the ground. At each trim I’ve ever so slowly lowered the heel to a more ideal height to encourage stretching of the tendon so that he isn’t walking on stilts. But I didn’t want to change things too much in one trim to prevent soft tissue strain. I’m much happier with the pastern angle now as well.

06/29/2025

Bye bye long toes! 👋👋👋

Just a tiny bit more to grow out. This was not a one trim deal, this took several months of encouraging a better angle to grow from the top.

06/23/2025

This is a horse who has been on my schedule about two years. To me he is just a great example demonstrating that even senior horses can make meaningful hoof progress with the correct approach.

Top is front right, left is when I first met him and right is today. He started with tall heels and long toes with a pretty broken forward HPA.

Bottom is hind left, which started with long toes and low heels.

I was really admiring his feet today and just had to snap a few pics 🥰

05/29/2025

Just some really beautiful Friesian feet. One front, one hind. Can you tell which is which based on the shape?

05/10/2025

Rehabbing hooves is often not a quick process depending on what you are trying to fix. Look how much this hind right has changed since 2022. No more event lines, no more bruising, a robust caudal hoof/heel development. But it took time and dedication to trusting the process. And now it’s paying off in dividends 🥰

04/25/2025

This one is super exciting for me. On the top are the front soles of a senior gelding one year ago, on the bottom are today. Although there are definitely improvements in the health of his sole and frogs the thing that strikes me most is how much less turned in and distorted his hoof capsule is. This is what makes me love this job, being able to help horses make changes that can help their soundness and longevity.

04/18/2025

This is a work in progress case of a senior horse who foundered in all four feet. He has rotation of the coffin bone, distal descent, and coffin bone remodeling. When I met him he was pretty uncomfortable as evidenced by an unwillingness to move around. Pictured here are his front feet before the first trim and after the fourth trim. I’ve seen him every three weeks. The goal is to lower his tall heel within his comfort level as lowering it too fast can cause more pain if the DDFT is tight and to bring the toe back incrementally at each trim. The dorsal flare is a result of the rotation and formation of laminar wedge but you can see a better aligned angle now growing in from the top.

The biggest challenge trimming these types of horses is trying to trim through their discomfort. At this last trim I was super excited because a bunch of his retained sole was exfoliating and he was able to stand comfortably for longer periods of time. And his owners reported that he ran up to them for his night time feed for the first time ever! So that is great news. I am cautiously optimistic for this one and will post updates as his feet continue to improve. It can take awhile for the flare and laminar wedge to resolve (if at all depending on the individual horse) but for now I’m happy to have a lower heel and comfortable horse. 🤞🤞🤞

04/07/2025

One of the most common indicators that a horse is dealing with metabolic disease, particularly Cushing’s (PPID), is a decline in hoof quality. These horses will often have weak walls, recurrent abscesses, a predisposition towards white line disease and thrush, and sometimes stretched white lines.

This is an older gentleman with PPID who has a history of abscessing and you can see the large area of white line infection in his medial bar in the left picture. Lately I’ve been pleased to see that finally close up and I hope we can keep it that way for him 🤞

03/24/2025

Loving the heel development on this one 🤩

03/22/2025

One thing that I would love more horse owners to become educated about is recognizing healthy vs. unhealthy hooves. A key component of a robust hoof is the digital cushion. The digital cushion sits above the frog and between the lateral cartilages and plays an important role in shock absorption, proprioception and circulation. Unhealthy digital cushions can be a major cause of heel pain.

On the left is a healthy caudal hoof and on the right is one with caudal failure, which can be caused by atrophy of the digital cushion. Note the straight hairline in the healthy hoof and the deep V shape in the unhealthy hoof. Also note the difference in distance from the hairline to the heels in the healthy vs. unhealthy hoof.

Palpation of the digital cushion should feel relatively firm (think stress ball consistency) and the lateral cartilages should not fold inward. If your horse feels more squishy (like silly putty) and/or the lateral cartilages are folded inward, you likely are seeing some degree of weakness in the digital cushion. Oftentimes these horses will also have thin and/or stretched forward frogs.

One of the best ways to ensure a healthy digital cushion is allowing foals and young horses access to lots of movement over varied terrain as development is most critical in the early years of life. Some of the worst hooves I see are from horses who spent a lot of time confined when they were young or who have been permanently in peripherally loaded shoes since the age of 2 onward when many horses are traditionally started under saddle. The digital cushion is a use it or lose it kind of deal. If the horse does not get adequate movement and caudal stimulation the digital cushion will often atrophy. And once it’s gone it can take a very long time to rebuild, if at all. Think months to years.

Next time you’re out with your horse take a quick look at their caudal hoof and palpate the digital cushion and see what you find. It’s a great way to practice improving your eye for healthy fee

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