In this episode, I’m joined by Tom Broadbridge, founder of Pioneer Hoof Protection.

Tom originally trained and worked as a farrier, with a particular interest in remedial shoeing and lameness. But an experience with a horse he had been unable to get sound challenged the way he thought about hoof care and ultimately led him towards barefoot horses and hoof boots.

We talk about how the hoof functions, barefoot versus shoeing, trimming, track systems and why some horses may still need hoof protection.

We then get into the story behind Pioneer Hoof Protection and Tom’s nine-year journey to develop a hoof boot designed to adapt to the individual horse. We talk about everything from his early experiments with 3D scanning and printing to prototyping, manufacturing, patents, funding and the realities of bringing a physical product to market.

Tom also gives some visual demonstrations during the conversation. If you’d like to see these, the full video version of the episode will be available on YouTube.

• Tom’s background in farriery and remedial shoeing
• The horse that changed the way he thought about hoof care
• Barefoot versus traditional shoeing
• How the hoof functions during movement
• Navicular syndrome and hoof function
• Track systems, diet and transitioning horses to barefoot
• Why some horses still need hoof protection
• Barefoot trimming and maintaining the hoof between trims
• The advantages and limitations of hoof boots
• Why conventional hoof boots can be difficult to fit
• How hoof shape changes throughout the trim cycle
• The idea behind Pioneer Hoof Protection
• 3D scanning, 3D printing and the early prototypes
• Nine years of product development and testing
• Designing a boot that can adapt to asymmetrical and changing hoof shapes
• The materials and modular design of the Pioneer boot
• The realities and costs of developing a physical equine product
• Manufacturing, tooling, patents and funding
• Building and marketing a small equine business
• Winning the Horse Care & Horse Wear category and overall Innovation Award at BETA International
• Pioneer’s fitting service and growing network of hoof boot fitters
• Why Tom thinks we need to listen to our horses more

Website: https://pioneerhoofprotection.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pioneerhoofprotection/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PioneerHoofProtection/

The Hoof School

Online hoof-care education covering hoof health, barefoot management, transitioning from shoes to barefoot and maintenance trimming.

Website: https://www.hoofschool.com/

Tom uses a number of visual demonstrations during our conversation to help explain some of the concepts we discuss.

The full video version of this episode will be available on the Horsemanship in Practice YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@d.mcnicklehorsestartingand2918