Head: Wall...

Nooooo! How did that happen?!
They started as a magazine, and still have that running, both print and a facebook page. They have been HM for a long time too. TPW is new-ish. I believe it's the name of the trim method. Dont quote me though.

I follow them on everything and am part of their groups. I never comment or post but must confess..... it is my guilty pleasure. When I've had a bad day, I will often peruse the pages and giggle at the madness. Little things please little minds. 🫣
 
They started as a magazine, and still have that running, both print and a facebook page. They have been HM for a long time too. TPW is new-ish. I believe it's the name of the trim method. Dont quote me though.

I follow them on everything and am part of their groups. I never comment or post but must confess..... it is my guilty pleasure. When I've had a bad day, I will often peruse the pages and giggle at the madness. Little things please little minds. 🫣
Are you sure you're not me? Because that is my favourite game too! 🤣🤣

I think the magazine has gone though. Last time I looked, there was no way to buy it. I could be wrong though.
 
Are you sure you're not me? Because that is my favourite game too! 🤣🤣

I think the magazine has gone though. Last time I looked, there was no way to buy it. I could be wrong though.
🤣🤣 Great minds think alike!

I've not looked at the magazine page for ages, nor HM for that matter. I find far too much entertainment on TPW page.
 
As far as I know, it has always been the case. They have a website of the same name. I think it is/was possibly an attempt at a rebrand because of all the criticism that comes up when you google the business name.

Oh I might be thinking of a different thing then. There used to be a barefoot forum called Phoenix, but its going back 10yrs maybe more now!
 
Oh I might be thinking of a different thing then. There used to be a barefoot forum called Phoenix, but its going back 10yrs maybe more now!
This has a longer name with the initials WOTP. I just call it Phoenix to save getting shouted at by mods - and I'd also forgotten the longer name!
 
I had barefoot training with a non crazy company in America and their vet/academic adviser was absolutely stuck on 'only stress causes lami' - not diet or fatness or trim. He did admit that 'stress' can be caused by diet or being fat or the trim, seemed such a pointless argument.

They are probably right in saying diet doesn't cause lami since you can feed several horses the same diet and only one develops lami. It's multifactorial. But if saying only a bad trim causes lami then they are bonkers.
 
Has the barefoot 2 thread disappeared?

I just came on to post this that's just come up on my FB feed.
 
Has the barefoot 2 thread disappeared?

I just came on to post this that's just come up on my FB feed.
Sense ✨
 
Has the barefoot 2 thread disappeared?

I just came on to post this that's just come up on my FB feed.
It’s in vet & hoof care & currently looks like it exists 🙂
 
And not something which stirs up the one side vs the other mentality, which is what prompted me to post this thread in the first place.

Should it even be viewed as one side vs the other though? It's a fact that diet can and does cause laminitis, there's no 2 ways about it. To state otherwise is blatantly untrue and I'm not sure what anyone would be trying to achieve by stating such a thing.

They have intentionally isolated themselves with their aggressive behaviour towards other professionals and even casual followers, I don't think anyone can be accused of taking a 'side' when the door is slammed in their face before they can get a word in edgeways.

I would liken this to the CDJ video in that there was an obvious right vs wrong and the majority of people reacted as you'd expect. Her top fans may have called it a 'witch hunt', or her getting 'cancelled', but shouldn't there be accountability for professionals with influence over a large and impressionable audience? If no-one reacted then novice owners might believe the information is true and turn their laminitics out on lush cow grass?

What saddens me is the knock on effect this is having on other trimmers and track advocates. Just reading the comments in the article you can see how many people are tarring all trimmers and trackies with the same brush.
 
Should it even be viewed as one side vs the other though? It's a fact that diet can and does cause laminitis, there's no 2 ways about it. To state otherwise is blatantly untrue and I'm not sure what anyone would be trying to achieve by stating such a thing.

They have intentionally isolated themselves with their aggressive behaviour towards other professionals and even casual followers, I don't think anyone can be accused of taking a 'side' when the door is slammed in their face before they can get a word in edgeways.

I would liken this to the CDJ video in that there was an obvious right vs wrong and the majority of people reacted as you'd expect. Her top fans may have called it a 'witch hunt', or her getting 'cancelled', but shouldn't there be accountability for professionals with influence over a large and impressionable audience? If no-one reacted then novice owners might believe the information is true and turn their laminitics out on lush cow grass?

What saddens me is the knock on effect this is having on other trimmers and track advocates. Just reading the comments in the article you can see how many people are tarring all trimmers and trackies with the same brush.

No, it absolutely shouldn't be viewed as one side vs the other, which is what prompted me to start this thread in the first place.
 
A nice post today from Patrick Pollock, at Glasgow Vet School: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C52rsAHAU/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Thanks for posting! A very well written post.

This is it for those not on FB.

The clinical team here at Glasgow Equine Hospital and Practice are committed to the use of evidence-based practice and are constantly striving to provide the best possible care for all the animals we see through their research and further learning. There are times that some of the information shared on the internet does not align with the evidence-based care that we provide. The post shared is one of them, Patrick was keen to share his thoughts.

‘I absolutely understand that people want to protect horses from harmful trimming practices – we all share that aim.
But the information in this post isn’t consistent with what we see in veterinary practice, nor with what farriery, biomechanics, or comparative anatomy actually demonstrate.

Allowing the toe to continually grow forward is not a neutral or natural choice. A long toe/low heel configuration is pathological, not physiological.

Non-domesticated equids living in the environments in which they evolved do not develop this conformation. Their feet are short in the toe, robust in the heel, and maintain a tight, strong hoof capsule because they move continuously over abrasive terrain. The long-toe/underrun-heel pattern occurs almost exclusively in domesticated horses because of the surfaces they stand on and the workload they do – it is the result of pathology, not “Mother Nature’s blueprint.”

From a clinical standpoint, we see every week that excessive toe length leads to:

• increased strain on the DDFT and navicular apparatus
• delayed breakover and stumbling
• crushed/underrun heels and collapsed digital cushion
• chronic sole pressure and bruising
• mechanical laminitis in compromised horses

A real-world example:
We recently managed a gelding whose toe had been left unshortened for several cycles because the owner had been advised that “the hoof knows best” and toe reduction was harmful. By the time he presented, the forward-run toe had levered the heels under the foot, overloaded the laminae, and significantly increased strain on the deep digital flexor tendon.
After appropriate remedial farriery – including bringing breakover back to where the limb’s biomechanics require it – the horse became immediately more comfortable and the heels began to recover. This is not hypothetical; this is weekly reality for clinicians and farriers.

No responsible farrier or vet is “chopping toes off.” Bringing the toe back to restore normal breakover is essential to preventing lameness and supporting a healthy hoof capsule.

I’d be very happy to meet and discuss the biomechanics, look at real cases, and find common ground. We all want the same thing: horses that move comfortably and stay sound.
If you’re willing, let’s work together rather than allow misinformation to divide the people who care most about these animals.’

Professor Patrick J Pollock BVMS, PhD, MSc, CertES(Soft Tissue), FHEA, DipECVS, FRCVS.
European and RCVS Recognised Specialist in Equine Surgery
 
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