Animal Biomechanical Solutions

24/08/2026

Biology-Based Farriery and the Evolution of Equine Podiatry

Why is my horse’s foot changing shape?

As owners and the industry at large, we must continue to advance our understanding that neither a redesigned horseshoe nor a static mathematical trim will resolve the complex podiatric challenges horses face. The true solution lies in supporting the horse's evolutionary design through a twenty-first-century, biology-based farriery process that better enables the animal to adapt to modern environments.

When farriery (including trimming) alters the equine foot, even by a millimetre of trim or the application of a shoe, it initiates a neurological response throughout the body. That response begins with proprioceptive input from the living structures of the hoof capsule, internal soft tissue and bone alignment, including mechanoreceptors within the affected limb. The brain processes this new sensory information and recalibrates its understanding of the altered foot. This recalibration can influence the animal’s centre of mass, short-term posture, and any compensation patterns needed to maintain long-term postural stability.

Over time, these compensatory patterns can affect spinal alignment, limb balance, and the orthopaedic relationship between the body and the distal limb. Changes in posture and loading are transferred through the distal limb and distal interphalangeal joint, eventually becoming visible in the shape of the external hoof capsule of the affected limb and, in the longer term, in the compensating limbs and upper body. Prolonged postural adaptation also influences the animal’s internal awareness of its stance. As a result, the new orthopaedic balance creates neurological and mechanical loading forces within the foot that help determine the external shape and balance of the hoof capsule.

The changing shape of the horse’s foot should be understood not as an isolated hoof problem, but as visible evidence of the whole animal adapting to altered neurological, mechanical, and environmental demands. By recognising the hoof as a living, responsive structure rather than a fixed object to be shaped by routine, farriery and trimmers can move beyond static intervention and toward a more informed, biology-based approach. This shift supports soundness, improves long-term function, and respects the horse's evolutionary design in a modern world.

Our horses are the teachers, and we are their students.

12/08/2026

I am pleased to share that our page is approaching 2,500 followers.

I would like to personally thank everyone who has followed, engaged with, shared, and supported our social media pages, as well as our international professional communities and visitors to www.biomechanicalsolutions.com.au. Your continued interest, encouragement, and support are genuinely appreciated.

Your support has helped our platforms continue to grow, and I look forward to sharing more updates, insights, and meaningful educational content with you. Through our social media pages, our aim is to provide science-based information on holistic animal health, with a particular focus on equine foot-related and biomechanical issues.

Thank you for being part of this milestone and for continuing to support our commitment to providing accurate, scienced-based evidence-informed information that can be trusted and incorporated into the care and health of your animals.

If you find our content valuable, I invite you to continue following, engaging with, and sharing our posts with others who may benefit. Please also encourage fellow animal health professionals, horse owners, carers, and anyone interested in holistic animal health and biomechanics to follow our pages as this community continues to grow.

11/08/2026

Animal Biomechanical Solutions delivers leading-edge biomechanical medicine for animals, with internationally recognised expertise in equine orthopaedic balance and the relationship between hoof mechanics and upper body alignment. Our mission is simple: elevate animal health through science-driven education and hands-on clinical excellence.

We offer two flagship training pathways:
• Equine Trimming Clinics — open to all horse owners and professionals seeking to understand and apply functional, orthopaedic-based trimming.
• Animal Chiropractic Certification — an internationally recognised program for Veterinarians and Doctors of Chiropractic, delivered through The BackBone Academy Australia.

Courses run year-round at Twin Peakes Farm, a purpose-built learning environment featuring modern lecture facilities, undercover trimming stations, and safe day yards for horses.
Participants learn directly from globally respected instructors — Dr Lena Clifford (DVM, PhD) and Darrall Clifford (TAE Cert IV), founders and leaders in equine biomechanical medicine — along with Dr Ines Wecker and The BackBone Academy’s veterinary chiropractic faculty.

Whether you’re a horse owner wanting to improve your animal’s long-term soundness or a professional seeking accredited chiropractic training, Animal Biomechanical Solutions provides science-reviewed, clinically tested knowledge that transforms understanding and elevates practice. You can preview our offered courses and company profile at www.biomechanicalsolutions.com.au

02/08/2026

This one is for Science Week.
How Gravity Affects the Balance of Animals
The Role of Gravity in Animal Physiology and Motion.

Gravity plays a crucial role in determining the balance and movement of animals. By understanding how gravitational forces interact with the bodies of various creatures, we gain insight into their physical adaptations and behaviours. Let’s look at the profound impact of gravity on animal balance and physiological processes.

One of the primary ways gravity affects animals is through their musculoskeletal systems. Gravity acts on an animal's mass, exerting pressure that influences bone density and muscle strength. For instance, earth-bound animals have robust skeletal structures that support their weight and enable them to move. The spine is designed to withstand gravitational compression and provide flexibility and strength.

The force of gravity influences how animals navigate their environments. Terrestrial animals (animals on Earth), for example, must overcome gravity to move efficiently. This involves a complex coordination of muscles and joints to generate the necessary force for movement; they must move in a chain-like reaction. Aquatic animals experience reduced gravitational effects due to buoyancy, which allows them to glide and manoeuvre with minimal resistance.

Animals face varying gravitational challenges depending on their habitats. These challenges drive evolutionary adaptations that optimise balance and movement.

Earthbound Environments
On land, animals must contend with the full impact of the Earth's gravity. This necessitates a strong skeletal and muscular system to support the body and facilitate movement. For instance, quadrupeds like horses have evolved elongated spines and robust limb structures to manage gravitational compression and maintain balance during motion.

Gravitational Effects on Animal Health
Gravity has a significant impact on the health and well-being of animals. Understanding these effects is crucial, particularly in scenarios such as space travel, where gravity is altered, or here on Earth in cases of an imbalance in the animal's musculoskeletal system.
Gravitational compression can affect specific body structures, such as the spine. In horses, for instance, gravity can compress the spine, impacting posture and movement. When a specific body structure, such as the spine, experiences compression, the underside of that structure must carry the imbalance and, through compensation, will experience the opposite of compression, resulting in elongation. Through elongation of the structures, their strength and supporting capacity are reduced. Proper management of gravitational compression is essential to maintain the health, alignment and balance of animals.

Gravity is a fundamental force that shapes animals' balance, movement, joint alignment and health.
Every treatment of an animal must consider the fundamental forces of gravity that shape the animal's postural stances and, through compensation patterns, lead to an imbalance in its basic balance, movement, joint alignment, and centre of body mass acting on the ground surface it stands on.

When we look at it from the orthopaedic perspective in our horses, we will have a change in the loading of the distal interphalangeal joint. Due to this change in alignment, loading and supporting forces cause the area to alter its shape, as seen in the distal phalanx and external hoof capsule.

When the distal phalanx is imbalanced, its shape becomes compressed, causing the arch of the bone to flatten and elongate. These biological forces disrupt the periosteum on the bone, leaving a microscopic gap between the periosteum and the bone. Micro-architectural deterioration affects bone tissue, causing bone to lay down more structure through the process of osteoporosis, which adds to the stress on the distal interphalangeal joint and the attachments of the DDFT and the Impar ligament (among others).
Then we have the migrating hoof capsule and the commonly observed long-toe effect.

Therefore, gravity is a fundamental force that shapes the balance, movement, joint alignment, and health of animals. For the animal to cope, we, as treating professionals, must develop diverse strategies to ensure that we don't place additional stress on the compensating biological system by releasing or removing structures through our chiropractic or farriery process too early. Our reworking of the area can prompt the animals to develop diverse strategies to cope with the new gravitational challenges posed by their bodies. Our animals are the ones who tell us what they need through changes in pathology.

Food for thought in science week.

31/07/2026

What I Base My Techniques On — a short read about how evolution and domestication shape equine health. Discover the thinking behind our approach and why continuing research matters for better outcomes. Read more:

I am committed to keep researching and learning with an open mind to achieve better ways to improve the health of the equine.The equine we see today is a lot different from where it started its evolution 60 million years ago (Eohippus – the Dawn Horse). It has had to develop and condition itself w...

23/07/2026

Fundamentals of Equine Biomechanics

Understanding that biomechanics combines principles from anatomy, physiology, physics, engineering, and the body's neurological and energy biofield response, and the crucial bioengineering of the distal interphalangeal joint to analyse how forces interact with the horse's body.

To fully appreciate equine biomechanics, it is important to understand how these disciplines integrate to explain everyday movement and athletic performance. By exploring the relationships among external forces, internal structures, and the control of neurological and energy dispersal, we gain valuable insights into the factors that contribute to efficient and safe equine motion. This knowledge underpins evidence-based approaches to training, management, farrering procedures and rehabilitation, bridging scientific theory with hands-on practice in the field.

Integration of these foundational areas enables a holistic approach to the study of equine movement. I encourage you to connect anatomical knowledge with biomechanical principles and energy therapies to interpret how specific structures contribute to complex actions, such as jumping, turning, sudden accelerations, and even standing still. This multidisciplinary perspective forms the backbone of both clinical assessment and performance optimisation in equestrian disciplines and provides the cornerstone of equine dentistry.

Key areas of focus include:
• Locomotion: Study of gaits (walk, trot, canter, gallop and breathing) and the mechanics of limb movement and loading.
• Musculoskeletal Structure: Examination of bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments that support movement and absorb forces.
• Kinetics and Kinematics: Measurement of forces (kinetics) and motion (kinematics) during activities such as running, jumping, turning or standing still at rest.

Exploring the interplay between Biomechanics, Biofields and Health

17/07/2026

I will apologise first for this long post, but I am getting a little concerned as I see more information from influential groups and individuals discussing the external shape of the hoof capsule and their internal findings from dissections.

Most do not understand that what they are seeing is dysfunctional; therefore, your findings should be valued in that light. They are saying they are following the changes using measurements and shapes rather than the true presenting pathology. This is because understanding the pathology requires a very complex understanding of anatomy, functional anatomy, bioengineering and including the applied forces on those living structures. Therefore, how do we answer the questions of foot balance and changes in the functional forces on the body?

We must allow nature to guide us and not apply mathematical equations or measurements to establish foot balance but rely on the animal and how it must compensate for the imbalance in its body and transfer that imbalance to the ground if we are to help them.
When there is a foot imbalance, there must be a change in the body's cellular structures.

The more you can comprehend the presenting pathology and compensation patterns of the upper body and trace your listings from the presenting posture to the distal limbs of the animal, then evaluate the biophysical properties occurring as a consequence of the loading of the feet you will have the findings needed to complete the trimming and shoeing of the hoof capsule: as it is only product of the weight it carries and that is relative to the orthopaedic loading of the distal interphalangeal joint of each limb of the equine.

Some of you might be asking What is Biophysics? The science of biophysics aims to explain the functions and properties of molecular structures throughout the body and uses findings from specific cells to understand how the body works.

In my research, I consider the biological aspect of a living animal and, therefore, I calculate the functional or dysfunctional loading characteristics of the gravitational forces acting upon the body and the ground forces reaction and the interplay of the neuromuscular and skeletal system response to such loading forces and then develop my trimming strategy and shoe placement from findings.

The horse is our true teacher, and we are their students and control their destiny. So try to make ourselves better student for their destiny. Please consider what you are hearing and seeing before taking up new trimming or shoeing strategies.

11/07/2026

Twin Peaks Farm Clinic
We had another excellent clinic at “Twin Peaks Farm” yesterday, focused on the principles of orthopaedic balance and their wider impact on the horse’s body.
Key Focus Areas
• How orthopaedic balance affects the horse’s spine and upper body
• How changes in posture and movement influence the shape of the hoof capsule
• Why ongoing observation and learning are essential for both horse owners and professionals
Every clinic is a reminder that learning never truly stops. The horses continue to be our greatest teachers.

03/07/2026

As the new financial year starts, it is a great time to plan your professional education opportunities for the coming year.

Join The BackBone Academy Comprehensive Compact Course in Australia in 2027, held in conjunction with Animal Biomechanical Solution.

Course Overview
The Academy's Animal Chiropractic Care Course is designed for veterinarians and doctors of Chiropractic who are eager to learn the art and science of chiropractic techniques for animals. This course offers a blend of theoretical knowledge and hands-on practice to ensure you gain the expertise needed to significantly impact animal well-being.

What You'll Learn
• The fundamentals of animal chiropractic care
• Anatomy and physiology of various animals
• Diagnostic techniques to identify issues
• Safe and effective chiropractic adjustments
• Rehabilitation and maintenance strategies
• The theory component is completed online for your convenience.
• The practical component is a compact two-week part in Biarra, Queensland, Australia.

Why Choose The BackBone Academy Course?
• Expert Instructors: Learn from experienced, internationally recognised professionals in animal chiropractic care.
• Course Certification: The course is certified through The BackBone Academy Australia. Upon completing the course, you will receive a certificate that enhances your credentials and international career opportunities.
• Course Recognition: The course is recognised internationally by the IVCA, AVCA and COAC
• Hands-On Training: Gain practical experience through interactive sessions and real-life case studies.
• Comprehensive Curriculum: Our course covers everything you need to know to become proficient in animal chiropractic care.

Enrol Now!
Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your skills and make a difference in the lives of animals. Enrol in our 2027 BackBone Academy Animal Chiropractic Course today and take the first step towards enhancing your business and personal careers by joining us in Australia and expanding your professional education in animal chiropractic therapy and rehabilitation.
Join us in Biarra, Queensland, where we hold two of these courses each year. This is a ground-breaking opportunity. Instead of travelling overseas to obtain international animal chiropractic certification, we offer a curriculum that fast-tracks new opportunities and your professional career right here.
Please follow this link, www.backbone-academy.com, to express your interest in this unique opportunity to advance your professional skill set and participate in this inspirational course.

30/06/2026

Why do research in the equine world? 🐴 Discover how understanding the horse’s long evolution and the role of science improves care, training and performance. Read our latest post from Biomechanical Solutions to learn how research shapes better outcomes for our horses. www.biomechanicalsolutions.com.au/post/why-do-research. If you like our monthly blogs, please consider following us so you don't miss any content we post.

In my last post I discussed The Importance of Conducting Research. So let us look at the history of research in the equine industry and where it could be used in the care of our horses.The equine we see today is a lot different from where it started its evolution 60 million years ago (Eohippus – t...