Specialist in Natural Hoof Care and Soundness Management

Today the performance horse industry has become quite physically demanding of our equine athletes. Therefore it is vital that our horses receive the best of hoof care throughout their careers. As the old adage goes....

These photos are from a 22 year old breeding stallion that had succumbed to the improper hoof care and nutritional program that he had been receiving and therefore was physically unable to service mares. Notice the ripples in his hooves in the comparison photo due to laminitis. Also notice the trimmed portion begins at the lateral toe quarter and ends with the medial heel. This is a good example of improper peripheral loading as well as significant collateral laminitis. Following proper hoof care and changes to his nutritional program this stallion regained his ability to service mares.

We specialize in Natural Hoof Care and Equine Soundness management and apply our proven knowledge to every horse that is within our care, ensuring they have the greatest opportunity to succeed no matter the equine discipline. Our goal is to optimize each horse's level of soundness thereby increasing performance and consistency in the arena, on the ranch or down the trail. We strive for hoof symmetry and perhaps most importantly to achieve and maintain the true biomechanical relationship between the hooves and their respective leg bones.

Our basic philosophy is that a distressed body will distress the hoof or a distressed hoof will distress the body. We would like to emphasize that hoof conformation and soundness are affected by many variables. Some of the primary factors affecting the hooves and soundness of horses are proper nutrition, proper hoof care, musculoskeletal soundness, adequate exercise, genetics and the environment in which the horse lives.

Perhaps the most prevalent detrimental condition that we most often see (in ALL ages of horses) which affects hoof conformation and soundness would be collateral laminitis which is normally caused by improper nutrition and/or unsoundness in the musculoskeletal system. Unfortunately, many horses continue to suffer from this unnecessary, debilitating and perhaps the most misdiagnosed condition of the equine hoof.

Let me explain...........The natural equine hoof (healthy barefoot) houses the coffin bone, navicular bone and the distal end of the short pastern bone along with all of the many cartilages, ligaments and vasculature (blood flow). The coffin bone and navicular bone should uniformly exist in a transverse plane mediolaterally and perpendicularly balanced to the sagittal or median plane of the pastern bones. In other words, their mechanical relationship should mirror the perfect "T". The cap of the T is the transverse plane and the leg of the T is the median plane. The primary cause of collateral laminitis in horses is having excessive amounts of NSC's (Non Structural Carbohydrates, more specifically starches and sugars) and protein in the daily diet. This would include many forages, as well as complete feeds and supplements. The excessive NSC's in the daily diet causes pathology in the hoof as well as the musculoskeletal system which in turn causes the transverse plane of the hoof to become uniformly deviated perpendicularly from the median plane of the pastern, thereby causing collateral laminitis. Simply, this would be comparable to supination or pronation or perhaps adduction or abduction. To elaborate a little more we must also consider the invisible forces at work on each individual more specifically earth's gravity and magnetism. These same invisible forces that cause the water in the water closet to spin clockwise in North America are the same forces that afflict the hooves of horses. The combined negative affects of excessive NSC's and earth's gravity and magnetism are unequivocally exacerbated and cause malalignment of the hoof and pastern and are most often perpetuated by improper hoof care and the continuation of improper nutrition.

It has been estimated that over 80% of all equine joint lameness originates or stems from the coffin joint also known as the Distal Interphalangeal Joint (DIPJ) which includes the Coffin bone (P3), Navicular bone (distal sesamoid) and the distal surface of the short pastern bone (P2). Importantly the coffin bone and navicular bone share an articulating surface with the distal surface of the short pastern bone. Although the coffin and navicular bones are indeed two separate and distinct bones they form a proficient synergistic "socket" for the distal surface of the short pastern bone. This unique synergy of the coffin joint, coupled with the lateral cartilages of the hoof capsule, provides the natural hoof (healthy barefoot) with more than sufficient flex and torque capabilities during locomotion..............an independent suspension of sorts. The elasticity of the natural hoof, when three dimensionally balanced to the coffin joint and pastern, advocates for enhanced hoof hemodynamics, stored potential energy (PE) and minimizes concussive forces by more than half, all of which maximize and facilitate musculoskeletal efficiency.

"...whatever tends to defeat the purpose of nature in organizing the locomotory apparatus, by interfering with or misdirecting its normal movement, will ultimately result in that loss of harmony and lack of balance by disabled functions and testified by lameness."

However, if this synergy between the hoof and pastern is compromised due to mediolateral and perpendicular imbalances then some musculoskeletal insults will precipitate such as navicular disease and/or syndrome, bone spurs, fractured splints, OCD's, joint effusion, bone chips, strained or torn tendons and ligaments, loss or damage of joint cartilage/meniscus, chronic chiropractic problems, chronic hock, stifle, knee and ankle pain, chronic muscle pain, and the list goes on and on. The continuation of improper hoof care leads to the overuse of cortisone (steroid) injections which causes further damage to the musculoskeletal system. Applying proper hoof care and nutrition, with good soundness management practices, will normally restore or maintain a sound hoof that maximizes soundness in the musculoskeletal system.

Some hoof symptoms of collateral laminitis which you might recognize would be hoof asymmetry (high/low syndrome), chronic bruising (both in the walls and soles), flared walls, straight walls, ripples in the walls, thin soles, thin walls, hoof imbalances (medial/lateral, dorsal/palmar, proximal/distal), club hooves, underrun heels, contracted heels, stress fractures (such as quarter cracks and toe cracks) and white line disease.

It is our utmost desire to help horses and their owners through education and by being of service through natural hoof care and soundness management, and hope that you will contact us if we can help you and your horse in any way. Please remember that we also provide seminars and clinics, and would be happy to provide this service at your next equine event. Please contact us by phone or email:
      Home Phone: 903-726-3319
      Cell Phone: 903-721-4539
      Email: rfairchild@earthlink.net

This photo of a 17 year old stallion shows the egg bar shoe that came off of him a year and a half earlier. This photo actually should have been taken holding the shoe further down his hoof, because that would give you a better picture of how this horse was actually wearing the shoeing apparatus before we removed it. After a year and a half of proper hoof care management and being barefoot which promotes natural hoof mechanics and soundness, this horse's heel quarters spread out nearly two inches, thus completely eliminating navicular pain and lameness. This stallion continued to travel honestly sound..... barefoot in the limestone country of Central Texas.

Natural Hoof Care Specialist