Natural Balance Hoof Care and Services
Where we care for our equines from the hoof up
Hi, I’m Madison Grenke.
I am a hoof care provider based out of
southern Michigan. From the Hoof Up,
L.L.C. focuses on a natural balance
approach to hoof care, where the goal
is to get your horse’s foot to function
to the best of its ability based on the
ideal hoof from the wild horse model.
I analyze the horse from the hoof up -
taking into account footfalls,
movement, resting stance, and
environment.
About
I’m Madison Grenke, and I am a Hoof Care Provider in southern Michigan. My passion lies in
helping equines feel better and function better, from the hoof up. I service horses, ponies,
minis, donkeys, half-drafts, and select drafts (can be trimmed without stocks) and mules. I
service south-central Michigan up to Lansing. Reach out for exact details to see if I service
your area if you’re further east or west!
I am a graduate of Mission Farrier School in Oregon, where I learned the natural balance
approach to trimming and shoeing horses based on Gene Ovineck’s studies on wild horse hoof
form and function. Essentially, the goal is to have the back half of the foot engage with the
ground first in order to prioritize hemodynamic return, to reduce leverage in order to reduce
tendon tension, and to promote load sharing in order to engage the back half of the foot,
support the bone column, and reduce stress on the lamina. Watching your equine’s resting
stance, movement, and footfalls gives me an idea of how your equine’s feet are functioning,
and what I can do to improve or maintain their function.
- I am a member of the Progressive Hoof Care Practitioners (PHCP) organization and of the
International Association of Professional Farriers (IAPF).
General Services and Pricing
Barefoot Trims: $50
Draft Barefoot Trim: $80
Glue-on Composite Shoes with Packing Half Set: $230+
Glue-on Composite Shoes with Packing Full Set: $410+
Fractious Equine Charge: $20+
Over Growth Charge (past set-up trim): $20+
Individualized therapeutic systems are priced at my
discretion, and will vary based on materials used.
All pricing includes thrush treatment if present.
I also offer measuring for boot sizes for clients, as well as
hoof casting.
Client Information
Barefoot hooves are ideally on a 2-6 week cycle, depending on growth rate and pathology, as a way to prevent unnecessary leverage and distortion and to simulate natural wear. Glue-on shoes are
expected to be on a 4-6 week cycle to prevent unnecessary leverage and distortion.
Very overgrown hooves due to a long cycle (outside of the first appointment) may be met with a $20+ overgrowth fee, depending on the circumstances, as overgrown hooves take more time to trim and
puts more wear and tear on my tools, as well as being detrimental to hoof and tendon health.
Please plan for the owner/trainer/person responsible for the horse to be present or nearby during sessions. This allows me to to keep you informed on the trajectory of your equine’s hooves, hear your
feedback, discuss changes, and limit liability. Payment is due by the end of the appointment.
I will watch your equine walk before I work on them, and I will watch them walk again before I leave. I may also ask you to trot your equine, walk or trot over soft and hard or rocky ground, or trot in a
circle.
A flat, dry, covered area to work is ideal, especially in inclement weather. This allows me to provide the best care and service possible.
Ideally hooves are clean for a trim and are clean and dry for glue-on shoes and casting. If your equine has wet or muddy legs or hooves, please plan accordingly to have their legs clean and/or dry by the
appointment time if possible. This allows me to be more efficient with our time. Wet and/or muddy hooves will take significantly longer to prep when applying glue-on shoes or casting. It also increases
wear on my tools.
If your equine has issues with its feet being handled, please work to get the equine used to picking up their legs and holding them up outside of appointment times. Fractious equines will be met with at
least a $20 fee, and how much it increases is up to my discretion, as fractious equines increase the likelihood of injury.
If your horse is arthritic, sore, or just needs more breaks during the appointment, please let me know ahead of time so I can allocate a more appropriate amount of time for the appointment.
- If a client cancels/reschedules their appointment with less than 24 hours notice, or does not show up for their appointment, a last minute cancellation fee of $30 may be added to their next bill, depending
on the situation and if this has occurred multiple times.
Client Resources
If natural balance barefoot trimming is new to you, or if glue-on composite shoes are new to you, I have linked some articles, websites, and podcast episodes if you are interested in learning more, but may
not know where to look. Feel free to reach out directly to me as well for more information. I’ve added some nutrition content as well, as nutrition plays a big role in healthy hooves.
The Humble Hoof Podcast Episode with Dr. Bowker: Long Toe Woes: Perspectives on Navicular with Dr. Robert Bowker
This episode covers the impacts of long toes in developing pathology and damaging vasculature. He also goes into some different aspects of anatomy and history. The Humble Hoof Podcast, description is
as follows: “Dr. Robert Bowker talks about his research into the caudal hoof through decades of microscopic study and dissection. He delves into his ideas on trimming to improve the caudal hoof, and how
long toes affect the internal anatomy.”
Pete Ramey Articles:
These articles, especially the second one, shows more of what I try to achieve with natural balance trimming.
Pete Ramey’s Trip to See Wild Horses and Observe Their Feet - provides context to the below article that goes more in depth on his observations
Up Close Pictures of Wild Horse Feet, Hoof Dissection Pictures, and Wild Horse Feet on Soft Terrain
Feeding the Hoof - Mineral and vitamin balancing advice for the horse owner
Articles from EasyCare Inc.:
How Are EasyShoes Different From Traditional Shoes?
Compare and Contrast: Versa Grip Line
Compare and Contrast: EasyShoe Versa Grip vs Speed
Nutrition:
Feeding the Hoof - Mineral and vitamin balancing advice for the horse owner
Nutrition and the Hoof: Sally Hugg of California Trace - The Humble Hoof Podcast, description is as follows: “This episode includes an interview with Sally Hugg, "nutrition guru" and creator of California
Trace minerals. In it, we explore how nutrition can help the health of hooves, and address various issues such as poor hoof quality, shelly walls, thin soles, laminitis, stretched white line, sore feet, etc.”
Mad About Hooves: A Peek at Equine Nutrition with Scott Cieslar - The Humble Hoof Podcast, description is as follows: “In this episode, Scott Cieslar of Mad Barn talks about various aspects of equine
nutrition and how it can affect the hoof. Topics include iron overload, hay testing, supplement stability, trace mineral balancing, and more.” Part 1
Mad About Forage: Feeding the Equine Athlete and more - The Humble Hoof Podcast, description is as follows: “In a continuation from last episode, Scott Cieslar of Mad Barn, Inc. talks about feeding the
equine athlete, alfalfa and the hoof, and gut health and the hoof. How do we safely increase calories for hardworking horses? Do they need concentrates/grain? Is alfalfa safe for the metabolic horse? What
does gut distress do to the feet? These questions are explored in part two with Scott!” Part 2
- Set-up trim on an older broodmare who came to me
with long toes, overgrown walls, and some white-
line separation. With balanced trimming, load
sharing, and slowly bringing the toe back where
needed, she should make excellent improvements.
- Maintenance trim on an arabian mare with
gorgeous hooves. Just trying to build a touch more
heel height.
- Set-up trim for a severely overgrown older mare that
either had a bad lamintic episode and/or has dealt
with lower-grade laminitic inflammation for an
extended period of time. The good news was that the
new growth of the hoof wall just below the coronary
band was growing in nicely. Provided this mare’s
circulatory system within her hooves is not too
damaged, and she does not experience another
laminitic episode, balanced trimming and slowly
bringing her toe back will help her move more
comfortably, help her new hoof growth continue to
grow healthily with a tight lamellar connection, and
bring her hoof capsule back under her bone column.
- Before and after of a maintenance trim for a middle-aged
arabian gelding. Overall, he has quite a nice foot, though his frog
is pretty thin and weak, due to thrush.
- Front and hind balancing maintenance trim of a middle-aged
mini gelding. His frogs were trimmed in order to match the
re-balanced and trimmed heel height to avoid overloading
the frogs and creating a pressure point.
- Barefoot trim on a very overgrown donkey whose toes were starting
to curl up. The goal was to bring the heels back even to the frog
plane for frog engagement and load sharing, bring the hoof wall to
the sole plane for load sharing, and rasp in steep break over (in front
of his toe in this case since his toe had gotten extremely long) to
reduce tendon tension and allow for a heel first landing (therefore
engaging the frog, etc). Eventually, the toe will come back to the
proper breakover point with regular trim cycles.