Your Cavallo News – June 2026

What do a renowned working horseman, a team of mighty Percherons, a centuries-old farming museum, and modern hoof boots all have in common?

At first glance, not much. The Weald & Downland Living Museum in southern England is a place where history breathes through every field, fence line, and furrow. Visitors step into a world where horses still plough the land, traditional skills are practiced daily, and the pace of life feels wonderfully untouched by modern times. Yet hidden among the authentic sights of Britain’s farming past is an unexpected piece of equipment that has quietly earned its place.

For horse owners curious about hoof boots—or anyone who wonders whether modern innovations truly belong alongside traditional horsemanship—the story of Andy Robinson and his working Percherons offers a fascinating answer.

Sometimes the best way to preserve history is to give it a little help from the future. 😉

One of the biggest mistakes donkey owners can make is assuming that donkeys are simply horses in a smaller package. In reality, donkeys evolved in harsh, rocky, semi-arid environments where survival depended on tough, efficient feet capable of travelling long distances over challenging terrain.

Their hooves are naturally more upright, narrower, and more box-shaped than horse hooves, with thicker walls, different sole depth, and a unique internal anatomy. Even the position of the coffin bone and frog differs from that of a horse, which means that what works for horse feet doesn’t always work for donkey feet.

From Desert Tough to Pasture Puff?

Ironically, many modern donkeys no longer live the rugged lifestyle that helped create those famously hardy feet. Today’s companion donkeys often spend more time on soft pasture, consume richer diets, and travel far fewer miles than their desert-dwelling ancestors ever did. The result? Hooves that may be softer, less naturally conditioned, and more vulnerable to problems such as overgrowth, obesity-related hoof issues, and Laminitis (a condition that donkeys are particularly good at hiding until significant damage has occurred).

Want to know exactly what makes donkey feet different—and how to help them thrive in today’s world? Carole breaks it all down HERE, offering a practical and simple solution—the LEB Hoof Boot—that helps protect these remarkable animals from the ground up.