Ellen Curnow - Equine Podiatrist

28/02/2026

J goes to Bicton! 🥳🧡😍
A bit too slow for frillies today 🐌 but the boy did good producing a super smart clear round in an enormous class of 50 entries. I’ve never ridden at Bicton before, J hasn’t been there in a good few years, and he’s never as bold outside the shire anyway😉
I also realised after I got home that this is actually the first party he’s been to since his tooth extraction in September - poor kid thinks I’ve lost the plot going straight for Bicton🤪😅
All in all, a top day out with the best bog pony🧡🧡🧡

20/02/2026

Laminitis is not a primary disease; it is always the secondary outcome of some event, ranging from sepsis, supporting limb laminitis, black walnut shavings, or endocrine disorders -- the latter accounting for the majority of reported cases. The causal agent of endocrinopathic or “insulin-induced” laminitis is insulin. Dietary sugar and starch, obesity, lack of exercise are factors that play a role in insulin regulation but are not the cause. Iron overload disorder (hyperferritinemia) from excessive dietary iron can be associated with insulin resistance and diabetes in humans and many animal species including equines but does not cause insulin resistance or laminitis. *(PMID: 32042647). Genetic makeup is likely the greatest contributor to the development of EMS and PPID. *(PMID: 32534851).

Exercise is by far the best way to maintain normal glucose and insulin dynamics in all animals. In cases where insulin is abnormally high (hyperinsulinemia), controlling the amount of dietary hydrolyzable carbohydrates (simple sugars and starch) responsible for glucose and insulin secretion will help to lower insulin and reduce the risk of laminitis. Hyperinsulinemia can be transient. For example, a healthy horse with normal insulin can graze spring grass or eat a grain meal and can have high serum insulin concentrations that respond normally to the amount of simple sugars and starch in the meal. Within hours, insulin values return to normal. In contrast, an equine with EMS has an even higher insulin response to all meals, even meals with low sugar/starch, and fasting insulin is higher.

There are plenty of sedentary, overweight, grain-fed equines that don’t have EMS. Likewise, there are many older horses that don’t develop PPID. There are many horses with excessive iron in their diets that don’t develop iron overload disorder (IOD; hyperferritinemia). Yes, lack of exercise can lead to increased risk of obesity. Obesity can lead to increased risk of insulin resistance and inflammation of adipose tissue (fat) *(PMID: 36244309), but insulin-induced laminitis is not caused by adipose tissue or systemic inflammation. What is the best predictor of insulin-induced laminitis? Insulin! *(PMID: 35263471).

This is not a matter of semantics – it’s basic physiology. In order for treatments or management to be effective, we must understand the direct cause. In a recent publication, the authors stress the importance of testing for insulin resistance "...in communications about endocrinopathic laminitis, whether in scientific publications, disease awareness initiatives, or continuing education events.” *(PMID: 34958881).

Of course, we shouldn’t ignore the other factors that play important roles in the management of EMS or the treatment of PPID. If able, introduce exercise to encourage weight loss and stimulate glucose uptake, reducing the demand to secrete more insulin. Limit simple sugars and starch in the diet. Analyze forage to identify mineral deficiencies and excesses. Feed a mineral balanced diet to assure a solid nutritional foundation to work from. Keep the focus on insulin as the central cause of endocrinopathic laminitis.

* Those interested in reading the PMID references can go to https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov and enter the PMID number into the search box.

**For more information, download Dr. Kellon’s proceedings “Protein, Iron and Insulin” from the 2021 NO Laminitis! Conference here: https://www.e-junkie.com/i/11jjd. and https://www.ecirhorse.org/proceedings-2013.php

Kathleen M. Gustafson, PhD
President and Research Advisor, ECIR Group Inc,

19/02/2026

The best kind of client update - pony and jockey both having a blast (so much so that they got speeding penalties 🤣)
Apollo’s front shoes came off in September and as you can see, he’s doing great. He is a super sweet chap who absolutely loves the job. Can’t wait to see these two smashing it all summer! 🌟😍

17/02/2026

An ex-racer’s foot after the county’s wettest January on record (and I bet February isn’t far behind!). No cracks or holes, not falling to bits, not collapsed, not contracted, not sore, no pitted sole, no abscessing. Her frog is shedding a bit quicker than usual, and her sole might be exfoliating a touch more than I’d like ideally, but honestly that’s hardly surprising given the winter we’re having. This mare’s been barefoot for less than a year and she’s doing great. She had some pretty big cracks on both fronts on day 1 - they all grew out as quickly as you could hope for and she’s been on the up ever since 🌟 I’ll try and remember to share another photo of her in August when we’re in the middle of a long beautiful dry summer 🤞🏼😆

03/02/2026

Fast Fibre Product Recall Update

To ensure that customers do not get any affected feed we are going to include batch no 15/01/26 best before date 05/05/26 of Allen & Page Fast Fibre, for additional reassurance. This is in addition to batch no 14/01/26 with a best before date of 04/05/26.

We are recalling these batches of Fast Fibre because of an ingredient issue which has led to reports of a darker colour feed together with a sticky consistency. While we conduct further tests, we have decided to recall these batches only for the safety of your equines despite not all bags being affected.

Please be reassured that these Fast Fibre batches do not have any NOPS issues, are not a doping/clean sport issue and are not toxic in any way.

We are advising customers NOT to feed Fast Fibre from these batches, as it may be out of specification and also for your additional reassurance. Customers should dispose of their bags only from these batches:
• 14/01/26 with a best before date of 04/05/26
• 15/01/26 with a best before date of 05/05/26

If you have tipped your bag into your feed bin and have not retained the label, and your bag(s) were purchased after the 16/01/26, please ensure you check the consistency and colour of your feed when soaked and if you have any concerns please do not feed.

If you have fed your horse and suspect that the Fast Fibre was from either of the above batches, and you have any concerns please contact us directly.
No other Allen & Page products or other batches of Fast Fibre are affected. If you are unsure if you have the affected batch, if you purchased your Fast Fibre before 16/01/26 your Fast Fibre is unaffected and good to feed.

We communicated this information to all stockists and customers at the earliest possible opportunity. We recognise that this may cause inconvenience and concern for horse owners, and we appreciate the patience and cooperation of those affected.

As always for further information or advice, please contact Allen & Page:
• Phone: 01362 822902
• Email: helpline@allenandpage.co.uk
• Website: www.allenandpage.com

23/01/2026

The management system an owner uses for their horse every single day has more impact on health than any professional seeing that horse once every X number of weeks.

I’ve noticed a pattern that’s been bothering me, and I think it says something uncomfortable about our industry.

When I post about hoof balance and how it affects the horse, it gets attention.
When I post about pathology, posture, or the professional working on the horse, it gets attention.

But when I post about the rider.
Or the environment.
Or human management.
Or the fact that the horse is living in a species-inappropriate world.

Silence.

And that silence tells a story.

We are very good at engaging with problems that allow responsibility to sit somewhere else. Somewhere external. Somewhere that doesn’t require us to change how we ride, manage, house, train, or think.

But when the finger turns back toward the human system surrounding the horse, engagement drops off a cliff.

My webinar series on ethological reasons why the industry needs to change had the lowest viewing figures of any series I’ve ever run. And yet, arguably, it was the most important work I’ve done. Because the pathological relationships we like to discuss, lameness patterns, postural collapse, behavioural fallout, chronic tension, almost always trace back to the same origin.

The implications of domestication and how far modern horse management has drifted from the biological and behavioural needs of the animal.

This isn’t just an equestrian problem. It’s a human one.

Psychology has a name for this pattern. Cognitive dissonance. When evidence threatens our identity, habits, or sense of competence, the nervous system doesn’t lean in. It protects. As described by Leon Festinger, humans will often avoid, dismiss, or disengage from information that implies personal responsibility or behavioural change, even when the evidence is strong.

There’s also the well-documented bias toward external attribution. We are more comfortable blaming tools, professionals, or isolated body parts than confronting systemic causes that implicate our own choices. Especially when those choices are culturally normalised.

But horses don’t live in fragments. They live in systems.
And we are the dominant variable in that system.

If we only ever talk about what’s wrong with the horse, or the hoof, or the tack, without addressing the rider and the environment that shape them every single day, we are treating symptoms while preserving causes.

The truth is harder.
Because the truth asks something of us.

It asks for responsibility, not blame.
It asks for change, not critique.
And it asks us to sit with the discomfort of realising that many of the problems we study so closely are downstream of human inertia.

Silence doesn’t mean the message is wrong.
Often, it means it’s landed exactly where it hurts.

With that in mind, I invite anyone who’s willing to lean into this to engage with the ethology series and the upcoming webinar on rider biomechanics on Jan 28 not as a sales pitch, but because it truly matters to the horse.

👉 https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/riderbiomechanics
👉 https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/bundles/how-can-the-equine-industry-maintain-its-social-licence-to-operate

01/01/2026

Happy new year to all my lovely clients, new and old! I hope everyone has had a restful little break and been able to spend lots of time with their four legged friends 🧡

22/11/2025

08/11/2025

Heel bulb appreciation post….

Your horses heels bulbs give us a good indication of the hooves functional ability.

Which hooves do you think will be best equipped at providing comfort, absorbing concussion & protecting the internal structures?

What do your horses heels bulbs look like?

05/11/2025

Progression shots on the left hind of an elderly chronic laminitis case. I’m pleased with how much difference there is in his hind end stability. He used to be very doddery and had to pick his legs up exceptionally high because his very large, very weird shaped feed were effectively a trip hazard. Yes, there is still a bit of stiffness (he’s almost as old as I am!) but he will now choose to trot along on the end of the lead rope, which was just not something he would choose to do when he was so wonky/unstable/sore! I definitely wouldn’t have asked to see him trot when I met him. Note the angle of his cannon bone in the dorsal shots, and how much more square under the limb he is able to stand.

27/10/2025

A pretty smart pair of hinds from this morning with nice structure, near perfect proportions and good horn quality. Very little out of the ordinary except a bit of a rebalance and lateral quarter scoops. This horse lives out 24/7 so no chance of stabling on clean dry bedding, these feet are out in all weathers.

26/09/2025

The hardest, most selfless, and arguably the most important decision any of us will ever have to make for our horses 🕊️

What does it really mean to "let them go on a good day?"

It means it will be your hardest day. It won't matter if you've never done it before, or if you're gifted a dozen good days, each good day is always the hardest one.

It means they won't know what the fuss is about, why they're getting so many treats and extra belly scratches and hugs.

It means you will second guess your decision right up to the very last moment, the very last breath. You'll second guess yourself afterwards.

They'll knicker at you when you arrive, just like any other day.

The weather, perfect. They are content. They look sound today. They are breathing well, eating well, they get up easily enough from a nap in the sun....the list goes on. Whatever issue they struggle with, today they aren't.

Today you euthanize them.

This is what going on a good day means: sending them out while they are happy, while they are healthy, while they are eating well, walking well, etc. You make the choice to do it before an emergency takes the choice away from you, before your horse has to experience any more trauma or pain.

Their last memory will be filled with love.

It'll rip your heart out every time.

We can see the patterns and the increasing trends. We can predict it a little. We can obsess over the past and worry about the future.

Fortunately, horses, all animals, live in the moment. They don't worry about those things. They aren't worried about winter. They aren't worried about July, or allergies, or progressive diseases like cushings or dsld. They don't think about the close calls they've had before, and they certainly aren't thinking about the close calls that are destined to come, as their body continues to age and break down. They just are. They are happy and healthy, or fearful and in pain, on that day, in that moment.

It is the most difficult, most loving gift we are blessed to be able to give.

And that first ice storm will come, that first deep snow, that first heat wave....and you will find a little relief, no longer doubting the choice you made.

They were happy, and safe, and loved. That is all that matters.

It is never easy. ~Kelly Meister, author