SoVa Hoof Care

04/16/2026

Laboratory reference ranges are not the same thing as "normal" ranges, especially when it comes to insulin. Levels vary widely and depend on the testing conditions and the decisions made based on those results can be critical. Learn more on our website here: https://www.ecirhorse.org/FastingInsulin-LabRefRanges.php

It is widely accepted that insulin resistance can cause laminitis. Research has shown that it is high insulin levels that have this effect, even in normal horses experimentally infused with insulin. The question remaining is how does insulin do this?

Learn the details on April 23, when we launch our new webinar series with the first topic HOW DOES INSULIN CAUSE LAMINITIS?

This new webinar series is a new opportunity for live face-to-face learning from the ECIR Group, featuring Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD and ECIR President Kathleen M. Gustafson, PhD.

Additional webinar topics will include:
-NSC or HC – Why does it Matter?
-PPID and the Seasonal Rise
-Winter Laminitis

Registration is open for all four upcoming webinars for $30 for each individual webinar. Details and registration here: https://www.ecirhorse.org/webinars.php.

ECIR Group Inc. thanks our Diamond Benefactors for supporting this project.

DIAMOND
Custom Equine Nutrition, LLC (Vermont Blend)
Equine Balanced Support
California Trace
Forageplus
Soft Ride Equine Comfort Boots
Hay Chix

04/15/2026

4 weeks of growth and a drought. Someone send moral support and refreshments, please! 🤣

04/11/2026

You may have noticed over the past several years that an increasing number of horses at the pinnacle of the showjumping sport are competing barefoot, Annika Kortlang writes. This includes highly successful horses such as King Edward, United Touch S, Donatello 141, and more. At the 2024 FEI World Cup Finals, the top three finishers were all barefoot. The 2025 winner, Julien Epaillard, keeps all his horses barefoot. Riders and grooms of these elite barefoot horses have indicated in interviews that they believe their horses benefit from being barefoot.

What might these benefits be?

While I don’t show at the 5* Grand Prix level, I do compete my barefoot horses in the junior hunters and equitation divisions at A shows up and down the West Coast. My horses did not come to us barefoot, and I have been involved in transitioning all four of our horses from shod to barefoot. In the process, I have learned how to seek out science-based information about hoofcare, what transitioning horses to barefoot entails, and how transitioning to barefoot can help some horses.

The equine foot is a marvel of engineering. We usually see just the tough keratin exterior, but encapsulated in the hoof is a complex apparatus of bones, tendons, ligaments, vasculature, cartilage, and other soft tissues that are designed to absorb shock and return energy to the horse. Metal horseshoes, which have changed little in over a thousand years, provide obvious protection to the perimeter of the underside of the hoof. They do so, however, at some cost to hoof function and internal balance.

As explained by Dr Stephen O’Grady and Dr Hilary Clayton, two widely published equine veterinarians and researchers, “The equine foot has evolved as the interface between the limb and the ground. Its functions include accepting the weight of the horse, providing shock absorption, dissipating the energy of impact, and providing traction. A structurally healthy foot in its natural or barefoot state outperforms the shod foot in these functions. Furthermore, the structures of the foot have an inherent ability to change shape, strengthen and improve over time through the process of adaptation” (O’Grady, Stephen and Clayton, Hilary (2024) “Barefoot methodology as a viable farriery option.” Equine Veterinary Education Vol 36(8)). Open-heeled metal shoes concentrate load on the perimeter of the hoof, prevent the heels from expanding and flexing independently, and refer shock back up the leg.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/04/20/are-you-curious-about-barefoot/
📸 Photo © Helen ST via Flickr

04/04/2026

An important reminder as spring is here, pastures are turning green and laminitis risk is on the rise.
Did you know pasture associated laminitis is preventable? Known and suspected metabolic horses (those with fat pads or cresty necks or sensitive hooves or those dx w/PPID/cushings) should have their insulin checked straight from the field (NON-FASTING) at least once, but ideally twice per year? Talk to your vet about testing insulin values this spring when they come out for spring wellness and vaccination appts.

I would like to bring up an important topic: INSULIN TESTING.
Fasting insulin used to be the standard but it is not anymore. Why? It does not do the horse or owner any good when you’re dealing with founder and chronic laminitis to have a false negative test. Why did the horse founder? We need a diagnosis to get to the root of the issue in order to firstly resolve it and prevent it from happening again. Approx 90% of laminitis cases are due to high insulin, triggered by a diet too rich in starch and sugar than that horse can handle. Insulin is highly influenced by diet and exercise. The trouble with testing fasting insulin is this is not an accurate representation of how the horse’s insulin responds to the pasture or hay they are consuming on a daily basis. Read more here:

https://www.ecirhorse.com/FastingInsulin-LabRefRanges.php

04/03/2026

02/21/2026

3 years later, this sweet boy’s feet are still doing well. 🙂

A diet change and a few cycles of glue-on composite shoes have been a game changer for this sweet gelding with PPID.
Chronic inflammation wreaks havoc on the feet and we have to be especially mindful of the diet in these horses as laminitis is a common issue for them. After his trim he walked out of the barn barefoot over the gravel with confidence, something he wasn’t able to tolerate before. 🥰

Edit: oops I fixed the date! the bottom is Feb 2023 not 2022 😅

02/20/2026

Quality radiographs are pivotal for veterinarians and farriers when providing a horse and its owner proper therapeutic hoof care.

02/20/2026

Body lameness….
There are times I am absolutely kicking myself for not getting a “before” photo to refer back to at a later date for documenting progress. Unfortunately, this is one of those times, so you’re going have to use your imagination a bit. 🙂
This is the sweetest QH gelding who had been acquired by an existing client on a trade. He had quite a dysfunctional looking body with no topline, a ewe neck that was very overdeveloped on the underside, and he absolutely could not stand square.
His hoof morphology reflected such, not only was he significantly “high-low” in the front, he was significantly high-low in the hinds as well.
He was so uncomfortable that I was unable to trim him behind as he needed his foot back on the ground promptly and would slam it down. This sweet horse was in pain! His body said it, his behavior said it and his feet absolutely showed the significant compensation patterns he was using to cope with this pain. Interestingly when watching the horse trot and canter in the round pen, he looked pretty good! But body lameness can be like that, especially when you have multiple problems going at once, they may not present so obvious in the ways you’d imagine.
His owner took him to a vet with a special interest in body lameness and they ended up treating his shoulders with therapeudic ultrasound, low back and stifles with injections, and the owner was given an exercise rehab plan to follow.
Up until this point I had been chasing my tail trying to make corrective work actually work and hold, but the body’s compensation patterns were nothing but a perpetual vicious cycle. Now that the cause(s) have been addressed, the corrective work has actually held and we made hoof progress remarkably quick!

This picture is from today, and not only is he standing square, his “high-low” syndrome has mostly resolved. 🙂

01/31/2026

Did you know that Prascend (and all forms of pergolide) tablets are unstable once taken out of their special nitrogen-filled foil compartment?

Some horse owners mistakenly take them out of the packaging ahead of time for convenience, which can lead to rapid degradation. Another dilemma is when horses are supposed to get a partial tablet. What's the best practice?

The very best option for storing partial pergolide tablets is to keep them in their original nitrogen-flushed blister packs until the moment of administration to prevent rapid degradation from light and other factors.

If a tablet must be split, store the unused portion in a small, sealed, dark container with a silica gel packet.

Store in Dark/Cool Location: Keep the container away from direct sunlight and in a cool, dry place (at or below 77°F/25°C).

Time Limit: Use the partial tablet within 24 hours to ensure effectiveness.

Alternative - Foil: Some owners tightly wrap the unused, halved tablet in aluminum foil and store it in a small, sealed container.

Do not pre-cut tablets for more than one or two days in advance.

01/29/2026

Important information for anyone with metabolic horses or anyone using steroid joint injections.

Our expertise is showing. 🐎 Dr. Lauren Schnabel, professor of equine orthopedic surgery, offered her insights on rethinking joint-disease treatment strategies for horses with metabolic issues during the 2025 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention last month. Schnabel has been at the forefront of studying the effect of steroids on a horse's metabolic system and on the risks for developing laminitis.

Check out this story in The Horse magazine about her presentation with Dr. Kyla Ortved, associate professor of large animal surgery at the University of Pennsylvania, here: https://thehorse.com/1142111/joint-therapies-for-the-endocrine-horse/

01/23/2026

❄️Winter Lamintis❄️
With the upcoming winter storm and below freezing temps all next week, let’s talk about winter lamintis and who’s at risk.

Winter laminitis is cold induced hoof pain caused by poor circulation. Horses with a history of metabolic issues such as high insulin, PPID (Cushings) and previous laminitic events are at risk due to compromised circulation and nerve damage already present in their hooves. Furthermore, the seemingly dead species grasses are particularly unsafe this time of year, as the grass is storing high amounts of starch and sugar that it can’t utilize to grow in these low temps.

Affected horses may display classic laminitis stance or appear “just” footsore because the ground is hard and frozen.

If you have an at risk equine, you can help prevent this by keeping the distal limb warm with leg wraps, shipping boots and hoof boots.

Read more here:

Veterinarians working with many laminitic horses are well acquainted with the problem but others may be unfamiliar with it. It’s a laminitis-like syndrome triggered by cold weather. Horses n…

01/08/2026

Yes. This is my observation in client horses as well as my own. This is why I have delved into nutrition along side my hoof care profession because what we feed the horse is what “feeds” the feet, and I can’t trim a good diet into a horse.

Hoof wall is formed at the coronary groove and takes approximately 9–12 months to reach the ground. This raises an important question:

If the horse’s nutrition was suboptimal when that horn was being laid down, could that result in weaker horn months later — creating the conditions for separation and fungal invasion despite good trimming and management?