Author: Thorsten Kaiser

Holistic Hoofcare Instructor at IBEM Ltd.
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Recurring Abscess with bone loss at P3

This horse developed some recurring abscesses in the right hind foot. They abscessed out, both at the bottom and directly above at the coronet. All together there were about four significant abscesses over the course of a year, that came out at the top. After that the horse stopped abscessing.

The hooves looked reasonable to begin with, but had excess concavity (sole contraction) in the hind feet. After the abscessing the sole contraction normalised and the hoof demonstrated normal concavity.

X-rays showed bone loss of the medial tip of the pedal bone.

The photos show the difference at sole level 5 years apart. Note how the damage is reflected in the sole contour. The horse now has a much healthier foot. Despite the bone loss, sole production has recovered and a bit of extra laminar horn is filling the gap.

Right Hind hoof, 5 years apart

Despite the bone loss, the focus on developing a hoof with integrity, allowed the area to heal over. Only a small amount of widened white line remains in that area. Other than that, the white line appears tight and the horse has not been lame since the last abscess burst.

More than likely, the sole contraction contributed to the tissue and bone damage in that area. The abscessation was the body’s mechanism to remove any foreign body (bone fragments in this case). Once those were out, the area could heal over.

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Hoof Boots are now allowed in NZ Dressage

A planning forum held in May 2020 voted 87% in favour of Remit 5, that is to allow the use of Hoof Boots in Dressage competition. See minutes.

There are some stipulations as to colour (black or brown only), the boots to be lower than the coronet, and not to cover the heel, as well as to be easily removable by veterinarians.

It was decided to form a sub-committee to further clarify what that means and what type of boots are going to be allowed under those rules.

It appears the boots below are acceptable for dressage competitions:

Easyboot Epic, but only with gaiter removed. This would allow you to use the boot as is for training and general hacking, then take the gaiter off for the dressage competition.
Easyboot Fury Sling. Select the boot for the width of the hoof, then adjust the heel slider for the length of the hoof. The height of the heel cage can also be individually adjusted for each hoof.
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Continuing Education and Holistic Hoofcare Seminar in the USA

I had this great opportunity to be invited to present at the ESANA CE and the Holistic Hoofcare Foundation Seminar in the USA a couple of weeks ago.

What a great bunch of people. And, as so often happens in these seminars, some great aha-moments were had by the participants. When you see a horse change from tense and tight in the muscles with a toe-first loading stride, to one that relaxes, drops the shoulder blade, and strides out better – just in the one demo trim – that is truely special.

  • some participants @ USA 2019
  • my accommodation
  • getting their TLC
  • honing those trimming skills

Even more exciting when you get feedback like this:

“… I got the most significant release indicators I’ve seen in ages….craned his neck all the way around, ears up and big licks and chews.  Moreover, he moved so much better right away and particularly in the morning when we got a blanket of light snow to usher in a new era. Words are inadequate to express my gratitude. “

“I can not recommend Thorsten Kaiser more! He gave an outstanding seminar this week. I highly recommend him to anyone remotely horsey related. “

Interested in our Seminars or Professional Training? click here.

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Easyboot Fury Heart Straps – Impressions

Just how easy/hard is it to fasten those straps?

I have to admit, when I first had the new Easyboot Fury Heart boots in my hand, naturally, I tried to fasten the straps in the front – to my surprise, it was quite tricky. My first impression was, wow, if I as a practitioner struggle with this already, how are customers going to get on with this?

But then, it all changes when the boot is actually on the hoof. The moment you have a horse stand in the boot, fastening those straps couldn’t be any easier. I couldn’t believe the difference. I got my wife to do up the boots – same result, she thought it was quite easy to do.

See the video below to get an idea of what I mean:

Fastening Easyboot Fury Straps

The boot itself is quite easy to apply and remove from the hoof.

  • Basically, select the size for the width of the hoof,
  • then adjust the heel length specificly to the hoof,
  • lift the foot and tighten the screws underneath.
  • Check the heel strap height position and adjust if needed, e.g. to accommodate a club foot
  • Fasten the straps in the front.
  • Then take it for a test ride or inhand walk to see if the settings are good.
  • When happy with the settings, take the boot off and take out the bottom screws one at a time and apply some locktite, then screw it back in and tighten. Basically, this prevents the screws from accidentially coming undone and loosen the fit.
  • Depending on the length setting you end up with, there might be excess boot extending past the heel strap. Simply take a sharp hoof knife and cut off the excess to have a nice flush finish.

So, final impressions are that the boot is quite practical and simple to work with. Definitely a great tool to have.

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Equitana Auckland 2019

Thorsten will be presenting two seminars in this year’s Equitana in Auckland.

You can download the exact time table from here, once it is available.

Understanding the difference between Laminitis and Founder

Friday, 22nd November, 14:30 | Equine Mind Coach Classroom 1

When people get asked about the difference between these two conditions, often the answer is that they are the same thing. However, they aren’t. This presentation is going to explore what Laminits and Founder mean to the horse and hoof, how they can be recognised, how they can be differentiated from each other, how they interrelate, how they can be treated, and most importantly, how they can be prevented.

The presentation is going to show that Laminitis and Founder are not mysterious conditions they are often made out to be, but rather that they can be dealt with logically and systematically.

Boot Fitting Strategies – How to make Booting work for you!

Saturday, 23rd November 09:30 | Equine Mind Coach Classroom 2

In Saddle-Fitting, there are two main strategies to fit saddles: 1) fit to the existing horse’s back, and 2) fit to where the horse’s back is intended to develop towards and fit for that. In Boot-fitting, we find the same two strategies.

This presentation is going to discuss the two approaches and weigh up their pro’s and con’s with each other. After the presentation, you will be able to make a more informed decision on which approach might be more suitable for your horse.

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Looking at Bar Distortion

Here a nice little dissection video of a hoof in the way we look at hooves at our hoofcare seminar. It’s always great to see when people walk away from a seminar with enriched understanding.

A little video for you to share my excitement as I dissect a frog out to peek inside this foot!Hoof TK1www.patreon.com/hoofstudies

Posted by The study of the equine hoof on Saturday, 24 August 2019

The key thing to understand here, but not mentioned in the video, is that some internal structures, aka pedal bone, navicular bone, and deep digital flexor tendon are descending slightly on weight bearing. When you see how little space there is from the top of the collateral groove to those descending structures, then it starts to make sense, that if the horn is not “moving out of the way”, aka is not descending as well, the soft-tissue in between will get compressed. Since this is uncomfortable to the horse, the horse will choose not to load the back part of the hoof, i.e. it will not demonstrate a heel-first loading in movement or it will stand under when at rest. Unfortunately, this is easily mistaken for conformational issues, or we hear statements like “that’s just how this horse is”, but we must realise that is a compensation issue.

The purpose of trimming such a foot must be to establish the correct deflection of the hoof capsule in the compromised araes and with that establishing comfort. This will alter the way the horse chooses to load the feet in movement and rest. In order to achieve this, the trim must focus on the internal structures and hoof deformations at corium level, rather than aiming for a certain look on the outside. Illustrated here.

If you would like to improve your understanding of the hoof, come and attend one of our seminars.

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IBEM at EquiDays – 18-20 October, 2019

We are very excited about attending EquiDays this year. See us at site EM10 in the marquee.

IBEM will have people on site to provide info on holistic hoofcare and our seminars and professional’s course. We will be giving some trimming demos on site at regular intervals. Check our FB page for time announcements.

Thorsten will also be presenting some seminars in the Seminar Classroom:

  • Friday (10am) and Sunday (12pm):
    Thorsten will talk about the difference between Laminitis and Founder. How to recognise it, understand the causes, and how to treat those conditions.
  • Saturday (1pm):
    The presentation is on making hoof boots work for you. The focus is on some common fitting issues and how to use boots as a tool to develop a healthier hoof.

This link shows the full time table for EquiDays.

We also will have a section dedicated to where you can see and purchase our products like hoof boots, trimming tools, etc. In particular, we will have the new hoof boot The Fury on display.

Easyboot Fury Sling