11/15/2025
Chip is sound and doing well — but he lives with chronic navicular, which means chronic pain. And just like in people, chronic pain touches more than the body. It shapes mood, capacity, and how safe it feels to soften into another being’s hands.
Today our farrier showed what trauma-informed care looks like… without ever needing to name it.
It was in the small things:
• moving slowly
• giving Chip a moment to shift his weight
• noticing when he needed a pause
• using a mini hoof stand so he didn’t have to overload his front feet
This kind of attuned care makes a difference — not just for the hoof, but for the whole nervous system.
Chronic pain is easier to carry when you’re supported:
by professionals who move at your pace,
who don’t push,
who track the subtleties,
and by a herd that stays close with quiet regulation.
And Ellie noticed.
She watched him the whole time — soft, steady, curious — her way of offering, “I’m here. You’re not alone.”
The farrier’s approach today was trauma-informed in all the ways that matter: slow, responsive, built around what Chip’s body could truly manage.
He walked away more relaxed — not because the pain disappeared, but because he felt safe, understood, and held by both his team and his herd.
⸻
