04/08/2025
Well worth a read. It's a long post but lots of food for thought
Sensitive Sole Dysregulation Disorder (SSDD):
Why Your Horse Isn’t a Jerk—He Just Has Sore Feet 🐴🔥
⚠️ This is long. Possibly the most important thing you’ll read this year about your “frustrating” horse. So dig deep and let me transplant some good ideas into your head....
People come to me for all sorts of reasons.
Some are curious about my nerdy, no-nonsense take on horse training.
Some want help building a better relationship with their horse.
And some arrive clinging to the last threads of hope, unsure whether their horse is traumatised, dangerous… or they are just not good enough to own a horse 😔.
Most of the time, the horse is just confused.
Once we clear up the misunderstanding, lay out a process, and build some real skills, the change is phenomenal.
✅ Communication improves.
✅ Confidence blooms.
✅ Partnerships are born.
It’s effective.
It’s beautiful.
It works—until it doesn’t.
Because there’s a subset of horses—genuinely lovely horses, with well-meaning, capable humans—who still struggle.
Not from lack of effort.
Not from uselessness.
Not because the horse is a waste of time.
It’s because the horse isn’t physically in a state to learn.
And the top culprit?
Sore. Bloody. Feet. 🦶💥
Which is why I’m proud (and mildly exasperated) to introduce a term that I believe deserves a permanent spot in the equine lexicon aka lingo:
Sensitive Sole Dysregulation Disorder (SSDD)
A multifactorial, stress-induced hoof spiral that masquerades as a behavioural problem—but is actually your horse’s way of saying, “Human, I cannot cope. And what you're asking me to do is bloody uncomfortable and I feel threatened.”
Why We Need a Term Like SSDD
If you’ve read my blog on New Home Syndrome, you’ll know how powerful naming things can be.
That post gave thousands of horse owners a lightbulb moment:
💡 “Ah—it’s not that my new horse was drugged and sold by an unscrupulous lying horse seller. He’s just completely unravelling from the stress of relocation.”
Naming gives us a grip on the slippery stuff.
It stops us chasing trauma narratives, mystical contracts, and fantasy horsemanship rabbit holes wasting our time, money, and enjoyment of horses.
It invites clarity.
It invites action.
So let’s do it again.
Because SSDD is real.
It’s widespread.
And it’s quietly ruining training, relationships, and confidence—for both horse and human.
The Official Definition (Because I’m Nerdy Like That 😎)
Sensitive Sole Dysregulation Disorder (SSDD):
A stress-induced, multifactorial syndrome in horses, characterised by systemic dysregulation and poor hoof integrity. It results in chronic sensitivity from inflammation, poor structural balance. It causes altered posture and movement, and unpredictable or defensive behaviour—especially when the horse is asked to move, load, or engage physically.
Commonly misdiagnosed as poor training, bad temperament, or “being crazy, dangerous, or… a bit of a dick.”
How It Starts
(And Why It’s So Sneaky 🕵️♀️)
Stress—whether from relocation, dietary change, social disruption, intense work, poor training, or all of the above and more—disrupts the gut.
We talk about ulcers and hindgut issues, but gut disruption reaches much further. It impacts:
- Nervous system regulation
- Nutrient absorption
- Muscle and fascia development
- Sensory processing
- Postural support
- Biomechanics
➡️And yes… hoof quality
Systemic inflammation gets triggered, and it ripples to the hooves.
Thin soles.
Inflamed hoof structures.
Suddenly, every step hurts.
And when all four feet hurt at once?
There’s no limp.
No giveaway unless you know what to look for.
Just a horse who suddenly doesn’t want to:
🚫 Go forward
🚫 Bend
🚫 Load
🚫 Be caught
🚫 Be mounted
🚫 Leave its friends
🚫 “Trust you”
🚫 “Connect”
From the outside, it looks like resistance and unpredictability.
But inside?
It’s one long, silent “Ouch.”
And just because they run, buck and gallop in the paddock does not mean it isn’t festering away.
Case Study: The Off-The-Track Time Bomb 🧨
Meet the OTTB.
He’s fresh off the track with the emotional resilience of a sleep-deprived uni student living off Red Bull and vending machine snacks.
His microbiome is wrecked.
His feet are full of nail holes.
His hooves are thin and genetically fragile.
Hoof balance and form has been considered for the next race—not the next 20 years.
And someone’s just pulled his shoes in the name of “letting down naturally.” 🙃
Cue: SSDD.
Now he’s bolting, spinning, rearing, planting, or shutting down.
The forums recommend groundwork, magnesium, a different noseband, an animal communicator, or an MRI for a brain tumour.
The horsemanship world says “move his feet.”
The trauma-informed crowd say “get his consent.”
Kevin at the feed store says “get his respect.”
But nothing changes.
Because it’s not a behaviour issue.
It’s a hoof–gut–nervous system–biomechanical spiral.
And until you break the cycle, no amount of connection, compassion, or carrot sticks will touch it.
What SSDD Looks Like:
🔹 Short, choppy strides
🔹 Hesitation on gravel
🔹 Tension through the back and neck
🔹 Braced posture, dropped belly, collapsed topline
🔹 Popping hamstrings
🔹 Loss of bend, swing, or rhythm
🔹 Explosions without warning
🔹 Refusal to leave the paddock
🔹 Sudden regression in training
🔹 Being labelled a “dick,” “bitch,” “jerk,” or “nutcase”
Imagine removing your shoes.
Now walk barefoot over gravel, or Lego hidden in shag-pile carpet 🧱
Add a backpack.
Now have someone control where you have to move and how fast.
Now smile, be polite, and do what you’re told.
Sound like trust and connection to you?
That’s SSDD.
Let’s Be Clear 💡
This isn’t an anti-barefoot rant.
And it’s not a pro-shoes crusade.
It’s about recognising that stress undermines hoof quality…
And compromised hooves undermine everything else.
Hoof pain is a master dysregulator.
It breaks posture.
Fractures movement.
Feeds stress.
Causes breakdown.
Blocks learning.
And it’s hard to see—especially when you think your horse is acting like an idiot.
What To Do (Especially for OTTBs, STBs, and New Arrivals)
✅ Be strategic.
✅ Be clinical.
✅ Be kind.
- Replace shoes or hoof protection, don’t rip off shoes on Day One.
- Support the gut from the start.
- Prioritise routine, rest, and recovery.
- Make sure they’re sleeping—properly.
- Work with a hoof care pro who understands stress transitions.
- Wait before reassessing shoeing choices.
- Stop mistaking pain for personality.
- Choose insight over ideology.
- Choose systems thinking over magic silver bullets.
Why It Matters
When we name SSDD, we stop blaming horses for not coping.
We stop shaming owners.
We stop spiralling into horsemanship cults where stillness is the only sign of success.
We start looking at the actual horse.
In the actual body.
With actual problems.
Because sometimes, it’s not temperament.
It’s not training.
It’s just a hoof—
Tender, tired, inflamed—
Whispering softly:
“I can’t cope.”
A hoof that needs support and protection.
📸 IMAGE TO BURN INTO YOUR MEMORY BANKS
Study it.
See the posture searching for comfort?
The tension lines?
The zoned out face that says “pain”?
The weird stance?
That’s SSDD at a standstill.
Even if you can’t see it yet—please consider it.
I might’ve made up the name…
But the thing itself is very, very real.
Just like New Home Syndrome, SSDD deserves its own hashtag.
Okay fine— is a bit long.
Let’s go with:
If This Blog Made You Think—Please Share It 🙏
But please don’t copy and paste chunks and pretend you wrote them.
There’s a share button. Use it.
Be cool. Give credit. Spread the word.
Because if this made you stop and wonder whether your horse isn’t being difficult—but is actually sore, stressed, and stuck in a spiral—
That moment of reflection could be the turning point that changes everything.
We’ve just released our Racehorse to Riding Horse – Off the Track Reboot course, plus other clear, practical resources to help you understand OTTBs & OTTSTBs and support these incredible horses, as they are more prone to this than most.
Because with the right information, what feels impossible…
Can become totally achievable. 🐎✨
I’ll pop some references in the comments.
