My daughter and I developed our awareness of this way of trimming together. My brain doesn’t usually come to my rescue in many instances, but it does recognize and file patterns. My daughter notices fine details and intuitively connects hoof shape with comfort. Things like…shapes/colors/actions/times of the day/weather/environmental changes, etc. are what catch my attention and get stored away. When horses give me feedback it all goes into the data bank. Teaming up with my daughter over the years (when she was available) helped me become more empathic.

Horses won’t commit their weight to the back of the foot if it’s not shaped correctly. I trim off the hard dead retained frog tissue and smooth it down to the outermost insensitive ( but supple ) layer to give the back of the foot optimal comfort for load bearing.