What is Applied Equine Podiatry
“The essence of Applied Equine Podiatry is the conscientious study of the equine foot, always striving to expose it to proper environmental stimuli, making every effort to promote proper structure and function, as we progress towards achieving high performance. It is accepting the facts that the horse has the innate ability to heal itself and that man’s interference has caused imbalance and broken the golden rule of
“Do No Harm”.
Applied Equine Podiatry was founded by KC La Pierre RJF MEP PhD. As a practicing farrier KC came to realise that no matter how good a trim he applied or how good a shoe he fitted he was continually seeing horses with hoof pathologies such as under-run heels, long toes, lack of inner wall, lameness etc. He was continually questioning why?
Asking 3 simple questions in relation to the horses hoof;
Asking 3 simple questions in relation to the horses hoof;
- What structures do I have?
- How does that structure function?
- How do I want it to perform?
Structure + Function = Performance
Energy management
So what was the function of each of these structures?
After many years of evidence based research and many hundreds of dissections KC developed what he believes is an accurate model of the horse’s foot: What its structures should look like when they are correct, where they belong and what each of their functions are. As a result of this research Applied Equine Podiatry is based on The Suspension Theory of Hoof Dynamics and the High Performance Trim (HPT) Method™ The Suspension Theory of Hoof Dynamics provides a detailed and in depth scientific study and explanation of the true structure and function of the hoof and of how the hoof utilized energy to provide locomotion.
- Traction
- Locomotion
- Circulation
- Shock absorbency
- Energy utilization
- Protection
After many years of evidence based research and many hundreds of dissections KC developed what he believes is an accurate model of the horse’s foot: What its structures should look like when they are correct, where they belong and what each of their functions are. As a result of this research Applied Equine Podiatry is based on The Suspension Theory of Hoof Dynamics and the High Performance Trim (HPT) Method™ The Suspension Theory of Hoof Dynamics provides a detailed and in depth scientific study and explanation of the true structure and function of the hoof and of how the hoof utilized energy to provide locomotion.
