Hovslager Arne Johan Berg

03/10/2026

Så galt som dette kan det altså gjøres! Dette er rent dyreplageri, gjort med de beste intensjoner, men forårsaket av mangel på kunnskap. Slikt som dette viser bare hvor viktig det er med kunnskap basert på vitenskap. I dette tilfellet handler det heller ikke om tradisjon, men mer en fiks ide.

Equine Welfare, Ethics, and Accountability: My statement of fact

I am a scientist and equine welfare advocate. Through my page, I raise awareness of equine welfare issues by sharing advances in scientific knowledge, primarily through accessible summaries of peer-reviewed research. Where appropriate, I also translate that evidence into practical guidance that owners can apply in their own horses' lives, such as the ethical weaning protocols I developed and continue to help owners implement.

My advocacy has focused on areas including training, infectious disease, breeding, weaning, and showing. In the areas of weaning and showing, I personally sponsor individuals who compete horses produced from the field and provide awards recognising ethical approaches to both showing and weaning. All of this work is voluntary, undertaken in my spare time and funded personally. I receive no sponsorship and my social media platform is not monetised.

Sadly, those of us who publicly raise welfare and ethical concerns about controversial practices are frequently labelled as "haters" or "bullies” with our pages frequently trolled by fake profiles. In reality, many welfare advocates, such as myself, possess advanced professional qualifications, decades of scientific training, and considerable practical experience relevant to equine welfare and ethics. This expertise enables us to critically evaluate claims, assess evidence, and scrutinise practices that affect horse welfare.

Most recently, my advocacy work has taken some focus on examining the practices of Hoofing Marvellous (HM) and associated track liveries, including Gawsworth Track Livery (GTL). These organisations enrol horses for rehabilitation programmes, including some of whom euthanasia has been recommended by veterinary professionals. These rehabilitation journeys are then used to promote a specific trimming philosophy and are frequently presented in ways that fiercely challenge established, peer reviewed veterinary, farriery, and scientific understanding of conditions such as laminitis. Some of these horses have been euthanised.

This raises important welfare and ethical questions. Horses suffering from acute or chronic laminitis are among the most vulnerable patients in equine practice. Acute laminitis continues to be recognised as a medical emergency in veterinary medicine. Where prolonged rehabilitation programmes are undertaken, particularly in the absence of independent evidence regarding safety, efficacy, and realistic prognosis, it is entirely appropriate to ask whether those interventions are justified, whether adequate independent oversight exists (particularly relating to ethics), and whether the horse's welfare remains the primary consideration throughout.

The fact that a horse may previously have been considered for euthanasia does not remove our responsibility to ensure that any treatment, management strategy, or rehabilitation programme is ethical, evidence-based, and genuinely in that horse's best interests. Welfare assessments should not rely solely on anecdotal success stories, personal beliefs, or marketing narratives. A horse's value should never be determined by its usefulness as a case study, educational example, money making opportunity, or social media content. The horse itself must remain at the centre of every decision.

I will continue to advocate for equine welfare and evidence-based practice. Where I identify concerns relating to welfare, professional conduct, compliance, or regulatory obligations, I will continue to report them through the appropriate channels. Accountability is not bullying, and scrutiny is not harassment. In any field involving animal welfare, transparency and oversight are essential.

To date, my activities relating to welfare, professional conduct, compliance, and regulatory accountability concerning HM and GTL include, but are not limited to:

1. Notifying Cheshire East Council Animal Health and Welfare Team and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) regarding breaches of Animal By-Products (ABP) regulations at GTL. This report resulted in site visits to GTL by Enforcement Officers from Cheshire East Council and a Vet from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). Following these visits, HM, trading as Natural Equine Management, had to take corrective action and subsequently applied for an ABP licence for that location using GTL address. Other locations used for cadaver workshops are not on the list of approved premises as of end of September 2026. Any cadaver workshops undertaken before June 2026 were in breach of ABP regulations. Any cadaver workshops undertaken after June 2026 not at GTL continue to be in breach of ABP regulations.

2. Providing detailed support to an ongoing Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) investigation concerning the professional conduct of a veterinary practice associated with a HM trim that ultimately resulted in euthanasia. Of note, this has included auditing clinical histories submitted as part of that investigation. This activity is at preliminary stage 1 investigation.

3. Confirming that the "longitudinal case studies" currently being compiled by HM at GTL for (in HM words) future formal write-up and scrutiny do not have RCVS ethical approval. The absence of ethical review may be significant where case study data are being collected with the secondary intention of generating new knowledge. When undertaken by a MRCVS the RCVS describes such activities as Clinical Veterinary Research which require ethical approval. Given the Veterinary Practice is not directly posting this material, but is allowing this activity to continue despite knowing how their owned material is being used, it will be interesting to see the RCVS verdict on this given that this activity is bringing the profession into disrepute. Evidence relating to this matter has been provided to the RCVS. This activity is at preliminary stage 1 investigation.

4. Providing evidence relevant to matters currently being investigated by the RSPCA. Status of investigation ongoing.

5. Contributing financially towards veterinary treatment for a horse previously promoted as a HM "success story" that subsequently developed laminitis after leaving GTL while continuing to receive trimming from a HM Pro. This horse is now under appropriate veterinary care and a qualified hoof care provider and has recovered. Metabolic drugs were provided as part of its recovery program.

6. Purchasing scientific publications relevant to laminitis and claims made by HM and GTL, then providing free public access to evidence-based summaries so owners can make informed decisions for their horses.

7. Reinforcing the message that acute laminitis is a medical emergency by sharing the BEVA Laminitis Emergency Protocol to support owners in conversations with their veterinary surgeons and hoof-care providers.

8. Developing draft methodology capable of testing HM's hypothesis through a properly designed scientific study involving suitably qualified professionals, ethical approval, robust methodology, and independent oversight.

9. Demonstrating that the practical barriers cited against conducting an independent scientific study are capable of being overcome.

Many of the activities above have been characterised by HM and GTL as part of a "hate campaign." In reality, they represent efforts to raise and address concerns relating to welfare, evidence, professional accountability, and regulatory compliance.

Much of this work may have been unnecessary had HM and its associated track liveries engaged constructively with veterinarians, farriers, scientists, councils and other relevant professionals at an earlier stage. Instead, concerns have required escalation through formal regulatory and enforcement channels in order to obtain appropriate scrutiny and oversight.

This is what a welfare campaign looks like.

My objective is, and always will be, to ensure that horses receive care that is ethical, evidence-based, compliant with applicable regulations, and consistent with the highest standards of welfare. Where concerns arise, it is entirely appropriate that they be examined, questioned, and, where necessary, independently investigated.

I will continue to prioritise equine welfare, scientific evidence, transparency, and accountability and I will continue to use the appropriate reporting and regulatory mechanisms available whenever welfare, compliance, or professional concerns arise.

To those who support me, thank you. Your encouragement helps sustain the considerable time, effort, and personal resources required to pursue these matters in the interests of horses.

To those who describe me as a bully or a hater, I respectfully disagree. If one day you need assistance with your horse or wish to raise welfare concerns of your own, I will still help where I can. My commitment is to equine welfare, scientific integrity, and accountability, regardless of what others may choose to call me.

Please note investigations are still ongoing, so no outcomes have been drawn yet, except with regards to ABPs breaches.

I am doing this to honour the horses lost in this devastating disaster such as the one in this photo, to seek justice for them, and to help ensure that no other horse is ever subjected to such a practice again.

30/09/2026

Er vi virkelig blitt så vant med å se høver med lave drakter og brutt tåakse at vi har glemt hvordan en hov bør se ut? Hvilke vinkler den bør ha og hvordan det bør balanseres? Finne COR og kunne benytte det når man vurderer høver?

Jeg blir litt skremt når både hovslagere og veterinærer sier at en hov som dette er OK, sier «den er bare sånn», eller «den er født sånn, så slik skal den være».

Jeg tenker det er essensielt å vite hvordan en hov ideelt set burde se ut, slik at man i det minste kan gjenkjenne et avvik. Så derfor det retoriske spørsmålet øverst. For slikt som dette er dessverre alt for vanlig og det medfører svært stor belastning for hestene, det gir skader på muskler, sener, ligamenter og ledd.

REDIGERT. Jeg har nå skiftet bilde nr 2 med et der jeg har lagt på mer riktig kronrandsvinkel og drakthøyde. I utgangspunktet endret jeg bare vinkelen på kronranden like mye som jeg endret vinkelen i tåveggen, det blir fort feil for kronranden endrer seg i forhold til stresset i hovveggen. Man ser tydelig på bilde at den er buet og ikke rett.

Det kunne misforstås dit hen at jeg synes en kronrandsvinkel på 15 grader er slik det burde være, noe flere har påpekt og jeg skal gi dem rett i at det er misvisende. Så derfor byttet jeg bilde slik at ikke misforståelser så lett skal oppstå

07/09/2026

Denne dukket opp i feeden min og jeg vet helt ærlig ikke hva jeg skal si til slikt. Faglig er dette langt under forsvarlig og så fult av feil at det er åpenbart at de som har lagget dette ikke kan noe om emnet. Jeg kan ikke annet enn å anbefale alle å være kritiske, særlig når det som her kun framsettes påstander som ikke underbygges med kilder eller forklaringer.

30/08/2026

Dette er minst like viktig hos oss, kunnskapsnivået til den som tar seg av høvene på hestene har stor betydning for velferden til hestene. Det at den som utfører hovstell kan identifisere avvik og rette opp/gjøre korrigerende tiltak, kan kommunisere hvilke avvik man ser og forklare vitenskapen bak de korrigerende tiltakene. Alt for mange hester sliter med lave drakter, lang tå, skjevheter uten at problematikken tas tak i. Faktisk kunnskap er mer verd enn papirer!

⚠️ QUALIFIED? REGULATED? GOOD. BUT WHAT DOES THE HORSE SAY?

There is growing pressure within hoof care to believe that the safest choice must always be the person with the “right” title, qualification or regulated status.

We think that needs more careful thought.

Qualifications, regulation, professional standards and veterinary involvement can all be extremely valuable.

But they are not, on their own, proof of suitability for every horse.

Our own experience has included horses whose significant hoof dysfunction was not recognised despite involvement from conventionally qualified professionals.

One example is negative plantar P3 angles in the hind feet.

When these are missed, the consequences may extend far beyond the hoof — affecting posture, loading, movement, soft tissues, comfort and wider musculoskeletal function.

This can contribute to chronic pain, compensatory movement, lameness, loss of performance and, in severe unresolved cases, deterioration in welfare serious enough to influence retirement or euthanasia decisions.

That is why we become concerned when conversations turn into:

“Only use this type of professional.”

“Only regulated practitioners are safe.”

“Only this qualification can be trusted.”

Because the horse does not understand professional politics.

The horse experiences the outcome.

A person can be qualified, regulated and experienced — and still miss something important.

Equally, someone outside a traditionally regulated profession may have extensive education, CPD, specialist knowledge and excellent welfare outcomes.

So instead of relying purely on labels, learn to assess the individual horse.

Look at comfort, movement, posture, behaviour, hoof morphology, loading patterns and changes over time.

Ask questions.

Ask what your professional sees, what they are trying to change, why, and how success will be measured.

Most importantly, keep looking at the evidence the horse gives you.

At Holistic Equine, we value honesty, transparency, continuous learning and open conversations from a place of curiosity.

We do not value unfair judgement based on assumptions, professional titles, isolated photographs or incomplete context.

If something we share challenges your beliefs, pause and understand the full context first.

And if you disagree with us, tell us why.

We may ask questions about your opinion too — not because we want to “win”, but because we are genuinely curious about the reasoning, experience and evidence behind different viewpoints.

That is how we learn, improve and make better decisions for horses.

For anyone questioning Beccy’s qualifications, education, CPD, experience or scope of practice, please read more here:

👉 https://www.holisticequine.co.uk/beccy-smith

Qualifications matter. Regulation matters. Experience matters. Evidence matters.

But none should ever become more important than the welfare of the horse standing in front of us.

15/05/2026

Det er en del hester som har avvikende benstilling, eller med andre ord, knoklene i benet står ikke på en rett linje sett forfra/bakfra. Det medfører at hestene blir inn eller ut tået, at hoven får en steil og en vid side der det er større trykk i hoven på den steile siden enn den vide. Både hoven og benet er ute av balanse, noe vi ikke kan gjøre noe med, men som må tas hensyn til ved skoing.
Avvikende benstilling har noen negative konsekvenser for hestene og det er vårt ansvar å gjøre tiltak som gir hestene en bedre tilværelse, ikke gjøre det verre for hestene.
Når trykket er større på den steile siden av hoven enn den vide, så fører det til at den steile siden synker dypere ned i underlaget enn på den vide. Det gir stress på ligamentene på den stile siden og leddene knipes sammen på den vide siden. Ser man benet rett forfra og trekker en rett linje gjennom benet, ser man at det er mer masse/vekt på den vide siden av benet. Det er i ubalanse. Denne ubalansen fører til at det oppstår sideveis rotasjonsbevegelser i benet, noe som igjen stresser ligamentene på den steile siden og igjen så blir belastningen i leddet ujevn. Dette er akkurat det samme som skjer dersom bildekk mister balanselodd eller man får felgen full av snø. Nei, jeg sammenligner ikke hest og bil, men de fysiske kreftene som er i sving her er de samme. Slik gjentatt feilbelastning vil på sikt gi negative konsekvenser i form av inflammasjoner i ledd og ligamenter. Noe som igjen i verste fall vil medføre forkalkninger. Og så er det en rekke variabler som bestemmer hvor store problemene blir som følge av ubalansen.
Ved å tilføre vekt når vi legger på sko, så kan man om dette ikke gjøres riktig, forsterke forannevnte effekter. Former man skoen lik hoven, altså smir den lik hoven slik at den ene siden av skoen er smalere enn den andre, forsterkes disse skadelige momentene fordi økt vekt (vekten av skoen) gir økt belastning. Så hvordan skor man en hov som er usymmetrisk? Det første man gjør er å ta bort så mye hov som mulig på den vide siden slik at man på den måten bedrer balansen. Og når skoene legges på så skal de være symmetrisk formet slik at skoen blir liggende utsiden av hoven på den steile siden. På den måten vil skoen fungere som en motvekt og sørge for bedre balanse og redusere skadelige bevegelser. En annen uheldig ting ved å gjøre skoen smalere på den ene siden, er at draktarmen på den smale siden kommer lenger bakover, da vil hoven lande tidligere på den smale siden som da bremses og igjen så blir det rotasjon i hoven med sine negative konsekvenser.
Det er selvfølgelig større risiko for å miste sko når skoen blir liggende mer utenfor hovveggen på hovens smale side. Å miste sko er irriterende for oss, men uproblematisk for hestene. Det går også an å bygge på med støp for å unngå å miste sko. Støp vil jo også tilføre vekt på den siden det er for lite vekt og på den måten bidra til bedret balanse.

Kilder:
Undervisning i faget fysikk på St. Svithun videregående skole
Forelesninger på Norsk Hovslagersenter
Hans Henrik Smedegard, Moderne Hovpleje
Charlotte Frigast & Verner kristoffersen, Beslaglære, Hoven i fokus
Jay Tovey, Mark Trusler, Simon Curtis, Farriery Skills and Knowledge

15/04/2026

Fin dag på jobb 😊

Og til de av dere som savner faglige innlegg, jeg har en del som kommer, det blir litt annerledes innlegg med mer fokus på fagteori. Men på et nivå som passer for hesteeiere

30/03/2026

Det er litt kult at sålene mine har samme produsent som også Kaptein Sabeltann benytter. Om noen av dere sitter med en tanke om et smart produkt, besøk gjerne siden deres. Utrolig flinke folk som viser like stort engasjement uansett ide og tanke. Gode på å finne gode og kreative løsninger både på enkle og komplekse produkter. Produksjon i Norge tar bort mye risiko med store kvanta og lange leveringstider 😉 Jeg har svært god erfaring med dem og de får terningkast 7 av meg på en skala opp til 6 😅

Design, utvikling og produksjon under ett tak i Porsgrunn.

30/03/2026

Det er hyggelig å få tilbakemeldinger fra kunder som benytter sålene mine, her er den lagt inn i en limsko, noe som fungerer veldig bra. Siden sålen er støpt i et plastmateriale og ikke 3D printet, er det enkelt å tilpasse sålen til å passe i en limsko. Man må selvfølgelig også fjerne strålestøtten og da sitter man igjen med rommet som gir plass til strålen i de verste tilfellene der draktene er så lave/ødelagt at strålen er høyere enn hovveggen.

I dette tilfellet sto hovslageren med en hest som hadde 5 grader negativ vinkel, som ble endret til hele 2 grader positiv vinkel, 2 grader som følge av verking og 4 grader som følge av sålen. Noe som reduserer feilbelastningen hesten utsettes for som følge av feil vinkler, i svært stor grad og man kan få snudd en svært uheldig og skadelig situasjon til noe det går an å jobbe videre med og forhåpentligvis få tilbake en sunn noenlunde frisk hov.

Fra minus 5 til puss 2 er 7 grader endring, det er mye! Men hesten er fasiten og i dette tilfellet responderte den veldig godt på endringen. Og selv om det er mye, så gjør man ikke annet enn å ta av feilbelastning og flytte belastningen mot slik den naturlig skal være. Har nok gjort like store endringer selv også, men uten dokumentasjonsgrunnlag, men de eneste gangene jeg har fått en negativ reaksjon er når jeg ikke har klart å frilegge sålen 100% fra strålen.
Den minste lille kontakt mellom stråle og såle gir smerter for hesten.

10/03/2026

Ikke det fineste vårværet i dag, kald og våt tåke, men mer og mer fuglesang og vårblomstene begynner å komme 😊

01/03/2026

Denne er verd å lese og legge seg på minnet, virkelig. Ja det er et langt innlegg og på engelsk, men enkelt og fullt forståelig. Innholdet er virkelig vel verd å reflektere over!

Farriery’s Decline Is Not an Attack From Outside. It Is a Set of Named Failures From Within.

I recently read an article on the decline of UK farriery that strongly echoed my own experience and thinking. Not because it was dramatic, but because it accurately described the consequences of a profession that stopped adapting while the world around it changed.

What the article didn’t fully name, but what needs to be named clearly, is that farriery is not suffering from a single problem. It is suffering from a cluster of predictable, well-documented professional failure modes. These patterns are not unique to farriery. They appear in many protected professions shortly before relevance declines.

The first is terminal credential thinking.

Terminal credential thinking occurs when a qualification is unconsciously treated as the end of learning rather than the beginning of it. In the UK, the protected farriery exam has become exactly that. Once passed, many farriers psychologically “arrive”. CPD is completed reluctantly. Further education is optional. Growth becomes episodic rather than continuous.

This does not happen because farriers are lazy. It happens because the system implies that competence is final once certified. The qualification becomes an identity rather than a baseline. When learning becomes terminal, excellence plateaus.

That mindset then spills directly into the market as price competition instead of value competition.

When a profession standardises credentials but fails to encourage differentiation through deeper education, communication, and specialisation, the market has no way to distinguish one practitioner from another. Horse owners see identical letters after names and logically assume the service is standardised. When value is invisible, price becomes the only variable. Undercutting replaces outperforming. Marketing replaces explanation. The profession races itself to the bottom while wondering why margins disappear.

The next failure sits higher up the hierarchy and is more damaging long term. This is institutional echo-chambering, driven by what sociologists call an elite self-referencing system.

An elite self-referencing system is one where authority is granted primarily by internal recognition rather than external contribution or demonstrable impact. In practice, this means excellence is acknowledged only if it comes from inside the approved circle. Educators, researchers, and practitioners who advance understanding but sit outside the formal titles or historic structures are quietly excluded.

The result is an incestuous feedback loop. The institution hears only itself. The average farrier only sees what the institution validates. Innovation happens elsewhere, but the profession never integrates it. Over time, the governing body becomes increasingly disconnected from the real frontier of practice while still believing it represents it.

Training reflects this disconnection. The modern farriery textbook is a clear example. Its focus remains heavily weighted toward static anatomy, shoemaking craft, and isolated pathologies. Meanwhile, the actual demands placed on farriers today require understanding of biomechanics, surface interaction, functional anatomy, morphology, adaptation, and the bi-directional relationship between hoof and horse.

This mismatch creates technically competent tradespeople who are not equipped to explain, predict, or integrate outcomes at a systems level. Craft skills are necessary, but they are no longer sufficient. Shiny shoes do not guarantee sound horses. And repeating old models does not prepare a profession for modern scrutiny.

Overlaying all of this is a structural economic problem that accelerates disengagement. UK farriery is governed by outdated legislation that suppresses professional scaling. The inability to delegate even basic tasks prevents experienced farriers from building teams, transitioning into quality control or mentorship roles, or compounding their expertise economically. In other countries, excellence is rewarded with leverage. Here, excellence is often rewarded with exhaustion.

Newly qualified farriers then enter the system with a distorted understanding of readiness and value. Protected by certification but inexperienced in business risk, responsibility, and long-term accountability, they often overestimate their market position. Employers absorb the cost. Seniors disengage. Standards quietly erode.

All of these forces feed into what can only be described as a professional entropy spiral.

Standardisation creates complacency.
Complacency removes differentiation.
Loss of differentiation forces price competition.
Price competition suppresses income.
Suppressed income drives burnout and disengagement.
Disengagement lowers standards.
Lower standards confirm public doubt.

And the cycle repeats.

This is not an attack on farriery. It is a diagnosis. And diagnoses matter because unnamed problems cannot be corrected.

If farriery is to survive as a profession rather than decay into a protected trade, it must break this spiral deliberately. That means redefining qualification as a baseline, not a destination. Rewarding education, not entitlement. Valuing evidence over tradition. Opening institutions rather than closing ranks. And allowing excellence to scale rather than be trapped on the tools.

Professions do not die when they are challenged.
They die when they refuse to examine themselves.

Farriery is now at that point.