scientifichorseshoeing.co.uk

27/08/2026

04/08/2026

The Route to the AWCF and FWCF Starts Here

HoofFlix opens applications for two Level 6 preparatory programmes authored by Dr Mark Caldwell PhD FWCF and Neil Madden FWCF: the knowledge, the written paper technique and the examiner standard practice for the Associateship, and the research journey for the Fellowship.

Both cohorts start this September. This article covers what the courses teach, and how they were made.

By Sam Fowler DipWCF, with Dr Mark Caldwell PhD FWCF and Neil Madden FWCF…...

HoofFlix opens applications for two Level 6 preparatory programmes authored by Dr Mark Caldwell PhD FWCF and Neil Madden FWCF: the knowledge, the written paper technique and the examiner standard …

17/07/2026

For fifty years, farriery has been the one hoof-care trade protected by its own law.

The Government's new veterinary White Paper proposes changing that: repealing the Farriers (Registration) Act 1975, abolishing the Farriers Registration Council, and regulating farriers under a reformed veterinary framework instead. That framework is built around a licence to practise, a fitness to practise scheme judged on current competence, and CPD you evidence to renew and revalidate that licence.

It is a proposal, not law, and much of the detail is still to be worked through. But the shift is clear: professional standing will increasingly be measured by whether your knowledge is current, not by how long ago you qualified.

We have gone through the White Paper and set out the possible implications for farriery in full:
https://hoofflix.com/veterinary-white-paper-what-it-means-for-farriery/

The future won't ask how long you've been qualified. It may ask how you've stayed current.

06/06/2026

Proprioception: You’re Looking at the Wrong End of the Foot

Authored by Sam Fowler DipWCF & The Hoofflix Team The proprioceptive receptors in the equine foot are concentrated in the frog and palmar heel. The toe does not contain them. The online conversation has been arguing about the wrong structure, and it is not the first time. Before we start: what proprioception actually is The word "proprioception" gets used loosely online, often as a synonym for "feeling" or "sensation." It is not....

Authored by Sam Fowler DipWCF & The Hoofflix Team The proprioceptive receptors in the equine foot are concentrated in the frog and palmar heel. The toe does not contain them. The online conver…

02/06/2026

Has "natural" become the most overused word in hoof care?
Few concepts are invoked more often in modern hoof care than the idea of the natural horse.

Natural trimming.

Natural movement.

Natural rehabilitation.

Natural balance.

But what if we're asking the wrong question?
The scientific literature on feral horses does not reveal a single ideal hoof. Instead, it reveals adaptation to different environments, terrains and ecological pressures.

More importantly, the horse standing in front of us today is not the horse that evolved under those conditions.
It is a domesticated animal shaped by centuries of selective breeding, altered nutrition, modern management and performance expectations.

And nowhere is that divergence more obvious than in diseases such as endocrinopathic laminitis, where the pathology itself is closely linked to the consequences of domestication.

So when we describe something as "natural", what are we really comparing it to?
A feral horse?
An ancestral horse?

Or an idealised version of nature that never truly existed?
In our latest HoofFlix editorial, we explore what feral horse research actually tells us, why survival is not the same as optimisation, and whether nature should be viewed as a source of data rather than a source of doctrine.

The existence of a trait in nature is not evidence that it is optimal. It is simply evidence that it survived.

Read the full article below.

Authored by Sam Fowler DipWCF, and the Hoofflix Team . Introduction: When a Description Becomes a Conclusion Few words carry as much influence in modern hoof care as natural. It appears in discuss…

31/05/2026

Clinical trial begins for The Laminitis App — a new tool to help vets and farriers turn one of the horse’s most feared diseases into a measured, manageable decision

First-of-its-kind decision-support tool puts the reasoning of an experienced foot specialist into the hands of every clinical team — with the welfare of the horse at its heart. A clinical trial has begun of The Laminitis App, a new digital tool designed to help veterinary surgeons and farriers make faster, clearer and more consistent decisions in the treatment of equine laminitis — one of the most painful, costly and life-threatening conditions a horse can face....

First-of-its-kind decision-support tool puts the reasoning of an experienced foot specialist into the hands of every clinical team — with the welfare of the horse at its heart.   A clinical t…

27/05/2026

Morphometric Measurements of the Equine Hoof and Conformational Traits of the Sound and Unsound Foot and Limb

Oliver J. Mitchell BSc (Hons)., DWCF, Mark Aikens BSc (Hons)., DipWCF, Robert Rigby BSc (Hons)., DipWCF, Lee Edwards BSc (Hons)., CJF DipWCF, Mark Caldwell PhD., FWCF School of Veterinary Nursing and Farriery Science, Myerscough College, Bilsborrow, Preston, PR3 0RY, United Kingdom Corresponding author: Mark Caldwell | Email: [email protected] Keywords: Circumference; Conformation; Hoof morphometrics; Lameness; Pathology; Predicted hoof volume displacement; ABSTRACT…...

Oliver J. Mitchell BSc (Hons)., DWCF, Mark Aikens BSc (Hons)., DipWCF, Robert Rigby BSc (Hons)., DipWCF, Lee Edwards BSc (Hons)., CJF DipWCF, Mark Caldwell PhD., FWCF School of Veterinary Nursing …

20/05/2026

Why the Hoof Wall Lies

Capsule Divergence, the Persian Slipper, and What It Means for Your Horse Caldwell & Madden · Scientific Horseshoeing Limited · hoofflix.com Based on the biomechanical framework set out in The Equine Foot (Caldwell & Madden, 2025) and the F9 therapeutic farriery protocol of O'Grady & Steward (AAEP 2007/2009). Trimming protocol and illustrations: Dr Stephen E. O'Grady DVM MRCVS · Virginia Therapeutic Farriery · equipodiatry.com…...

https://hoofflix.com/why-the-hoof-wall-lies/

Capsule Divergence, the Persian Slipper, and What It Means for Your Horse Caldwell & Madden · Scientific Horseshoeing Limited · hoofflix.com Based on the biomechanical framework set out in…

19/05/2026

What Is the Centre of Pressure, How Is It Calculated, and Why Does It Move?

The HoofFlix Team Questions from readers about the CoP data in our previous articles deserve a proper answer. This one goes into the methodology, the literature, the dataset, the verification, and what the research actually shows about how centre of pressure varies across the stance phase. If you have ever wondered what Duckett's Dot really represents — or whether it does what people claim — this is the article....

The HoofFlix Team Questions from readers about the CoP data in our previous articles deserve a proper answer. This one goes into the methodology, the literature, the dataset, the verification, and…

17/05/2026

“There is no connection between the DDFT and P3”

From the HoofFlix Team. Mark Caldwell PhD., FWCF; This post forms a robust reply to a comment on our previous article on variations of trimming techniques around heel height in the treatment of laminitis. Thank you for taking the time to engage with this in detail, and for sharing your clinical case — a recumbent 750 kg Friesian walking within 48 hours is a meaningful outcome and worth discussing seriously....

From the HoofFlix Team. Mark Caldwell PhD., FWCF; This post forms a robust reply to a comment on our previous article on variations of trimming techniques around heel height in the treatment of la…