Hoof Balance and Trim

09/09/2026

Interesting.

DSLD, what an awful disease!

Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis is a progressive disease.

Why the Suspensory ligaments show the first break down, The core biochemical defect is an abnormal accumulation of proteoglycans (carbohydrate-protein molecules) within the extracellular matrix of connective tissue.

Because the suspensory is under extreme continuous tension during weight-bearing, the proteoglycan accumulation causes it to lose elasticity and fail structurally here first. This results in the dropped fetlock appearance first.

DSLD has recently been renamed to ESPA, Equine Systemic Proteoglycan Accumulation which affects all the soft tissues in the body. However still more research is needed because I see older horses who seem to just have stand alone DSLD and do not look to have ESPA. The way these problems appear to break down structures in the horses body is different in each horse. I note that in the ESPA horses they seem to be hypermobile generally in their body. Reading about Ehlors danlos syndrome in humans I can’t help but see the similarities to ESPA in horses.

I suspect we are dealing with these problems on a spectrum of severity and this is why it shows up slightly differently in every horse. These photos below are from a 24 year old unridden carriage horse who’s suspensory branch’s in all four legs where a mess. But the rest of his soft tissues in his body including the nuchal ligaments were in tact. The SDFT and DDFT showed aged related changes but not replacement with scar tissue like the suspensory.

So much more research is needed and genetic testing so we can test for these diseases.

To see cases of DSLD including movement assessments and palpations head to patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/Becks_nairn/posts/america-update-155906247

https://www.patreon.com/Becks_nairn/posts/hypermobility-in-150520409

Thank you to Shibumi Equestrian Centre for graciously sharing these horses stories and always hosting professional clinics.

09/09/2026

What do you notice? Hooves can improve. This horse was transitioned out of shoes and the heel bulbs have widened and the easiest way to tell is to outline the heel and bars like I did in blue and compare to the purple bulb. The yellow central sulcus is becoming a thumbprint. At first glance the frog appears to be relatively the same but looks can be deceiving, the frog was necrotic and weak. The overall shape of the hoof structure is more round and less spade shaped. Sometimes it's all they have. The hoof is still not at optimal health but it's coming. It's a snapshot not a complete rundown.

09/09/2026

I remember my stepdad telling me complicated concepts when I was 11, my Mum says "she won't understand that it's too complex", I remember him responding, "if she gets 10 percent of what I'm saying she's got 10 percent more than what she had". I never forgot that. I rinse and repeat concepts to my clients and that's why I started this page. Unfortunately most professionals fail to explain what is going on with the human who is the advocate for the horse who can't. Are my posts complete? No they are not.....on purpose. I learn by breaking down into small concepts. And sometimes complex articles. Apparently not everyone agrees that learning can occur.

09/08/2026

The power of slo motion video. What your naked eye may not catch.

09/08/2026

Some people verbalize what's in your brain so much better than how I could articulate it.

09/08/2026

This is me. Raw unfiltered. I post for anyone who wants to learn something. I remember an old cowboy telling me the day you stop learning is the day you're ready to kark it (slang for dying). So my goal is simple, share what I can to anyone who wants to become a better advocate for their horse. I didn't get paid I didn't care about the clicks and trust me there's plenty of $hit I get for it which is kind of wild to me. I'm only sharing small snapshots to get you to just see better. See an unhealthy hoof and that change is possible even if it's small.

09/08/2026

For the haters. 👌Jim Apple you know the feeling. Lol

09/07/2026

This is worth revisiting. Many focus on the toe and I don't want to lose sight of the importance of the toe but quite honestly it's all about the heel. How can you expect a weak structure to start with to support this structure? IMO and in my experience it's more effective to keep existing toe structure and work on the caudal. The bottom picture you can see the tubules which literally show what the hoof is doing, the heel is migrating forward and collapsing. Fast forward and the tubules are starting to stand up and the heel is doing it's job. The dorsal toe was also rasped back in the shoe and you can see it when you zoom in. Pulling the toe back doesn't work on its own without the hoof being healthy.