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.

Laminitis, the breakdown of the delicate attachment that holds the pedal bone in place inside the hoof, affects more than seven in every hundred horses and ponies in the UK each year. It can strike any animal, of any breed or discipline. When it takes hold, the consequences are severe: lasting pain, loss of soundness, and in the worst cases the heartbreaking decision to put a much-loved horse to sleep. For owners it is one of the most frightening words in the equestrian vocabulary.

What is less widely understood is that the outcome of a laminitis case often turns less on the disease itself than on a single factor: how early, and how accurately, the mechanical care of the foot is decided. The wrong decision in the first hours and days — or simply a delay born of uncertainty — can allow a recoverable case to slide into a far more serious one. Laminitis is, in truth, a clinical emergency — yet because it is a complex condition that many capable professionals encounter only occasionally, it is too often misinterpreted as a lesser foot problem until valuable time has been lost. The window in which the cheapest and most effective treatment is possible is also the window in which the disease is most often missed.

Built on current, evidence-based science

The Laminitis App is emphatically not a rule of thumb dressed up as software. Its calculations are derived from a wide body of current, peer-reviewed science, brought together — for the first time in a single tool — across several disciplines: the theoretical physics and applied mechanics of how forces act on the foot; the biomechanics of the horse’s limb and the powerful tendons that pull on the pedal bone; the material science of the equine hoof and its structures; the influence of conformation and its biomechanical consequences; and the documented clinical experience of leading foot specialists in equine podiatry. The treatment strategies the tool puts into practice are themselves well documented in the veterinary and farriery literature; their efficacy is established. What the tool adds is the means to apply them precisely, consistently and to the individual horse.

Closing the knowledge gap

Managing laminitis well calls for a specialist understanding of hoof mechanics that even experienced professionals may meet only rarely, and it is precisely this knowledge and understanding gap that the tool is designed to bridge. It places the reasoning of an experienced foot specialist — the evidence, the staging, the urgency triage and the measured plan — into the hands of the less experienced veterinary surgeon or farrier at the very moment the decision must be made.

From a horse’s own measurements and radiographs, the tool produces a clear, individual plan for trimming and shoeing — expressed in precise millimetres rather than vague description — together with a shared report that the vet and farrier can both read, discuss and agree before the horse is shod. In place of guesswork and differing interpretations, the clinical team works from the same numbers and the same picture.

What it means for the horse, the owner and the team

“Every hour counts in a laminitis case, and so does every millimetre,” said Dr Mark Caldwell PhD, F.W.C.F., director of Scientific Horseshoeing Limited and co-developer of the tool. “What we have tried to build is something that gives any vet and any farrier — not just a handful of specialists — the confidence to act early, act correctly, and act together. If we can help more horses return to soundness and spare more of them unnecessary suffering, that is the whole point.”

For the horse, the aim is simpler relief of pain, a better chance of returning to a comfortable and active life, and fewer cases reaching the point of no return. For the owner, it offers clarity at a frightening time and a documented plan they can understand. For the veterinary surgeon and farrier, it provides a common language, an auditable record of the decisions made, and a structured timetable for review — so that progress is tracked and the plan adjusted as the foot recovers. Throughout, every clinical decision remains firmly in the hands of the attending professionals; the tool advises, it does not replace their judgement.

Overseen by leading specialists — and now being tested

That science spans four decades of published veterinary and farriery research, and the tool is overseen by a clinical advisory board whose members include some of the most respected names in equine foot research and practice, among them Professor Christopher Pollitt, Michael Steward and Stephen O’Grady.

The trial now beginning will follow cases managed with the tool over two years, measuring the most important outcome of all: how many horses return to their previous way of life. The results will be assessed against conventional management, with the goal of building the firm, prospective evidence that has long been missing from this field.

“Laminitis has been managed on experience and instinct for a very long time, and those instincts are often good,” added Mr Neil Madden F.W.C.F., co-developer. “But the horse deserves more than instinct alone. It deserves a decision we can measure, repeat, and learn from. That is what this trial is about.”

Subject to the results of the ongoing validation trials, HoofFlix anticipates making the Laminitis App available for general use within the next few months — putting this support into the hands of veterinary surgeons and farriers, and within reach of the horses who stand to benefit, sooner rather than later.