Hillcrest Equestrian Center

TODAY'S BOOM TOY WE WISH WE'D RECEIVED FROM SANTA is Blaze the Galloping Riding Horse from Mattel:

No Rose Parade this year but the show must go on!

The hoof is a miracle of evolutionary bio-engineering. Its multi-structural (heterogenous) composition allows it to disperse the majority of concussion before i...t reaches the fetlock! Even down to the flexibility of the hoof at the toe vs the heels (Youngs modulus), the laminal attachment and the orientation of the horn tubules, all plays a role in creating a working hydraulic suspension system that can redirect forces throughout its matrix. Using the caudal hoof structures and the blood within the foot to act as a shock absorber. It also distorts under load, just enough to disperse the shock but not too much that the internal structures get damaged. Having said all of that, is it any wonder that when we negate some of this functionality, when we create a second and different interface between it and the ground, negative morphology ensues. We stop the hoof working as a singularity, we restrict its natural distortions and inevitably increase the shock to certain structures that ultimately fail when they are asked to work alone. Seeing and understanding the miracle that is the hoof, should, with the new technologies available to us, create new ways of protecting it that look after these miraculous mechanisms. Provide wear resistance while maintaining flexibility. At the very least should we try and mitigate the compromise (of steel), which remains a fact of domestication, by creating as close to natural function as possible. Further reading on this subject at these links. . https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com//horse-shoes-back-t . https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com//the-hoof-it-is-wha . https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/post/barefoot-vs-shod . https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com//haemodynamic-mecha

we have not stopped laughing at this all day. First time off the lunge for tocyn, being only 5yrs old (no Shetlands were harmed in making of this film, only the riders ego)