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Centered Equine Farrier Services, LLC

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Philadelphia, PA
Centered Equine Farrier Services, LLC

Centered Equine Farrier Services LLC provides comprehensive, quality hoof care.

Centered Equine Farrier Services, LLC specializes in physiologically correct barefoot trimming, hoof boot fitting, and metal and composite shoe application in the greater Delaware Valley. Centered Equine is owned and operated by Kate Simmer, Certified Barefoot Trimmer with the Equine Lameness Prevention Organization, Recognizing Hoof Distortion Practitioner (Level One Endorsement) from the Daisy H

aven Farm School of Integrative Hoofcare, and Accredited Professional Farrier with Foundation Credential from the American Association of Professional Farriers. Centered Equine provides a centered, open-minded, and balanced approach to your horse's hoof care. Coming from a strong foundation in barefoot trimming and a natural horse care philosophy, Kate is committed to creating the healthiest hooves possible. If the workload or hoof condition require hoof protection, Centered Equine can help you navigate the various options available, whether that is professionally fitted hoof boots, hoof cast application, or steel, aluminum, or composite shoes. After a lifetime working with horses in various capacities, Kate Simmer became a barefoot trimmer in 2007, and began serving client horses in 2010. In 2013 she began to learn to apply composite and metal horseshoes as part of her practice. Kate is a Certified Barefoot Trimmer with the Equine Lameness Prevention Organization, and an Accredited Professional Farrier with the American Association of Professional Farriers, an organization that underscores the necessity of continuing education in today's rapidly advancing farrier profession. In 2019 Kate completed the AAPF Foundation Credential written exam with a score of 100%, and joined the Northeast Association of Equine Practitioners, an organization that fosters mutual respect and education between veterinarians and farriers. Kate has also achieved her Level 1 Endorsement: Recognizing Hoof Distortion Practitioner from the Daisy Haven Farm School of Integrative Hoofcare in Parkesburg, PA. Finally, in addition to a full-time farrier practice, Kate is working towards an Associates in Biology in preparation for a Master’s Degree in Equine Science.

02/17/2026

I was so glad to be able to attend the International Hoof Care Summit in Kentucky last week! So many great lectures, my 4 year old had a blast, and it was lovely to connect with old friends and colleagues including Paige Poss of Anatomy of the Equine who was inducted into the Horseshoeing Hall of Fame!

The farrier industry is going through a very exciting time with new knowledge, research and products that are helping horses more and more each day. I'm so glad to be a part of it.

02/15/2026

Happy Valentine's Day! 💛

10/28/2025

Just finished up an incredible clinic hosted by The Humble Hoof in Amesbury, MA this past weekend. I can't stop thinking about everything I saw and learned from the amazing clinicians! Dr. Jenny Hagan, Celeste Lazarus, Ula Krzanowska (The Hoof Architect), and Pat Reilly were all overwhelmingly awesome and thought provoking, and it was great connecting with like minded professionals from all over the world. I can't wait for the next one!

06/15/2024

Why it's harmful to leave long toes on laminitic horses!

Here is a brief video explanation. When you lower the heel, you increase the force on the deep digital flexor tendon which is pulling the coffin bone back away from the dorsal hoof wall, and down into the sole.

If you then leave the long flared toe, you have created a lever arm where the coffin bone is being pulled away from the dorsal wall by the DDFT, while the ground is pushing up into the flared dorsal wall, pushing it away from the coffin bone as well.

If you back the toe and remove it from ground contact, you remove this opposing force, allowing the lamellar connection to grow back together more quickly from the coronary band down, without constantly being leveraged apart.

The main breakdown in a chronic laminitis foot is, surprise surprise, the laminae. Any hoof care should therefore seek to unload and preserve this weakened connection at all costs. Even, yes, if it means applying a boot or a shoe for comfort.

Leaving a laminitic horse barefoot with a long toe is clinging to ideology at the horse's expense, and leaving them vulnerable to further damage, no matter if they appear more "comfortable." Thankfully we have many tools to help them be comfortable while still helping them heal as quickly as possible from their precarious situation.

03/29/2024

Just another day at work! This is Merrilegs, boarded at Northwestern Stables, Inc. in Philadelphia.

01/15/2024

This one's for the hoof care providers!

Here's a quick video showing removal of the Versa Grip Glue from Easycare, applied with methyl methacrylate ("acrylic") glue. A lot of folks say it's too hard to reset them due to difficulty cleaning the glue off of the cuffs, but I peel them off leaving the glue on the hoof wall, and then shoe cleanup is minimal. Cleaning the glue off the hoof wall is the hardest part, but angle grinders and sanders make this process go faster, if the horse doesn't mind power tools.

There are a few tips that make this process easier... I will often purposely not create a glue "feather" around the cuff, so there's a ledge to grab with nippers at the end of the cycle. If I want to create a feather say on a horse who I'm worried may pull a shoe, I'll just have to rasp it away to create that ledge for the nippers to grab.

There's a technique to peeling the cuff where you fold it away from the hoof and grip the fold with the nippers, to separate the last part at the bottom. Old nippers are important here, as they have a space between the blades so you won't cut the cuff.

Finally, the shoe sits looser on the hoof for resets, so I mix the glue in a cup with a tongue depressor and apply it to the shoe, then wrap tightly in plastic before setting the foot down to cure (as opposed to setting the shoe on the foot and applying the glue through the holes in the cuff with a mixing tip, as in the standard method of application).

Hope this helps some practitioners, and isn't too boring for non practitioners! Lol

12/29/2023

Meet Ella, a new client with functional limb length disparity. First collage is the first appointment, 2nd two are a 5 week comparison of the changes.

Limb length disparity in horses causes uneven loading of the digits which over time leads to pathology. Ella was not doing well in regular steel shoes, so her owner decided to try something different! We opted to shoe the left front club with a direct glued composite shoe and cast both front feet. At her appointment today, her right front foot seemed healthy enough to remain barefoot, and we reset the left front shoe.

What's cool is that both feet have improved, showing that the package evened out her weight bearing despite being so different looking foot to foot. We try to shoe the whole horse and think about the "why" of things, instead of addressing each foot in a vacuum.

04/04/2023

Leverage reduction application of the Versa Grip Glue.

04/03/2023

Doing my horse nutrition reading (Dr. Kellon's NRC Plus) with a study buddy tonight...

03/13/2023

The new tab shoes with superglue get a lot of attention these days, but it's nice to work with some of the older models of glue on composite shoes, like these Easyshoe Performances, on a horse who needs lots of leverage reduction in the toe. So easy to set back!

03/04/2023

A not-so-pretty, but functional shoeing, with markups to show my attempt at balancing the shoe around the center of rotation of the coffin joint.

This horse has major postural issues and "goat on a rock" stance. He's an off-the-track TB and a cribber. I.e., he's got some battle scars. He is turned out in a large field with a pond in it, and he stands in the pond and plays hard with his herdmates. He interferes when booted and rips his left front boot off that way. Despite excellent diet modifications to help him grow healthier hooves, his environment has been causing near constant abscesses for the last year. So, we are trying shoes for him to see if he can break that cycle.

My regular go-to for TB types who have trouble keeping shoes on is a modified Easyboot Glove shell. It's a tight and custom fit with heat fitting, and has lots of surface area for glue. He ripped off the left front within 7 days and the right was on it's way off as well. I think being enclosed like that, even open at the back, caused too much moisture buildup inside the shoe from pond water, and that, combined with the interfering, caused the shoe to fail.

The Easycare Versa Glues are working better for him. The left front lasted 3.5 weeks. I think being open at the bottom, with no packing, allows the pond water to exit through the bottom of the shoe and conserve the glue bond. We are going to keep him on a 3 week cycle for now.

This is an example of how much modification is needed sometimes to get these composite shoeings right. Because he interferes especially on the left front, and has a very run under heel, I had to modify the bejesus out of the toe and heel of that shoe, with nippers and an angle grinder, to approach a 50-50 balance while still not leaving too much heel out the back. In an ideal world I would like to leave more heel support, and I hate the way the shoe looks underneath lol. But he ripped the shoe clear off with the cuffs still attached at 3.5 weeks. We'll see if his posture can improve with more consistent work and not having his feet hurt. If so, I may be able to shoe him more the way I want to. But for now, this is the best we can do, and it's helping him be more comfortable.

He is also in two different sizes.

Address

Philadelphia, PA
19131

Telephone

(267) 315-7355

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