High Performance Hoof Care Australia

20/03/2024

Good morning!
This is a post that I never thought I would be making. Progress has been painfully (literally) slow but I am now at a stage where I can return to work, albeit in a limited capacity. I have a pretty significant impairment in my right hand now that will be permanent and will continue to cause problems with hand functionality. I have adapted to the changes as best as I can and I can comfortably trim a well behaved horse. My elbow injury has had to take a back seat while I waited to see how much function I got back in my hand. At some stage this year I will go ahead with the Autogulous Tenocyte transplant that will hopefully relieve the constant pain that the tendon damage in my elbow is causing. Baby steps!
If you'd like for me to resume taking care of your horses' feet I'd love to hear from you. I am only going to be working two days a week at this stage, probably Tuesday or Wednesday and Friday.
Priority will be given to those of you who have horses that are cooperative around having their feet worked on. I plan on working at about 40/50% of my previous workload so unfortunately I won't be able to take back all my previous clients at this stage.
Please send me a message either by phone or on Facebook and let me know when your next farrier visit needs to be scheduled and I'll start booking people in. My return to work will commence in April.
A standard trim is now $77 inc GST .
I am soooooo looking forward to see you all :)

08/01/2024

Happy New Year everybody!
I thought I'd update you on how Im recovering. I have now had the hardware removed from my broken finger as I developed a potentially serious infection in the pins. Thankfully a day in hospital on an IV of ABs and a course to take at home seems to have done the trick.
I have now started physiotherapy in order to get some function back in my finger. It is going to be a long and slow process with a guarded prognosis unfortunately. The joint in my finger basically exploded and the chances of it ever working again properly are pretty slim. I hope by now you all have someone to take care of your horse's feet as I can't see me being able to contemplate any sort of return to work for quite some time. I still have my elbow in the back ground as well.
I am remaining hopeful for a return to work at some stage this year.
I'll keep updating you all as things progress :)

02/12/2023

I thought it was time for another update. Unfortunately, things have gone from bad to worse for me. Earlier this week I sustained a nasty fracture to one of my fingers. I had surgery yesterday and will now be in a cast until mid January. After that I will commence hand therapy. This is all adjacent to the tendon tear in my elbow.
2023 has not been my year.
I'll continue to keep you posted about return to work times for 2024

18/10/2023

Just a quick update on my arm injury. Unfortunately I am going to have to have surgery. There is a cyst in the elbow joint that is causing nerve pain and some small tears in the extensor tendon that may or may not need to be repaired. I will know more on Friday week when I meet with the surgeon (an old friend by now as he has already operated on me three times!)
When I will be able to work again is very up in the air. I will help with suggestions of other farriers and trimmers who may be able to help but unfortunately most good providers have closed books :(
Once I have more of an idea of what procedure I'll be having done and recovery time I'll update you all again....

15/10/2023

Hi guys.
Unfortunately I am out of action... Again 😬
Monday started out normally but by the end of the day I had a combination of excruciating pain in my elbow and a massive loss of grip strength in my right hand. Rather than improving during the week, it is getting significantly worse with pain now rivaling that of breaking my leg. I'm am largely incapacitated and even simple tasks requiring use of my right hand are nearly impossible.
I am going to take time off the tools for at least a week if not more while I get some diagnostics done and work out a plan to get me back to work.
I'll keep you all updated as I find out more myself....

29/06/2023

I'm slowly catching up on everyone's pedicures. Thank you everyone for being so understanding.
My car also recently decided it was time to shuffle off this mortal coil 🙄. I now have a newer vehicle and I got my old friend Stoick to test out the new bullbar for me. He approved 😍
I'll see you all over the next few weeks.

13/06/2023

Good morning all. I am yet again having to do a schedule reshuffle thanks to another bout of Covid. This one has really got into my lungs and working full days has been a struggle.
Expect to be at least one week behind with your booking. I'll be in touch with everyone as appointments draw near to organise a new day.
Hopefully you'll all get this majestic view of me again soon :)

06/06/2023

So nice to see my little mate, Mav, back out and about bringing people joy. He really is more dog than horse 😍
I've been taking care of Mav's feet for many years and hope to be for many more. I just adore him...

15/02/2023

I thought I should make a post to advise that my books are closed to new clients. I will consider veterinary referrals on a case by case basis but if you are in need of a regular trimming or farrier service I am afraid that I am at maximum capacity.
In order to continue to provide great service to my existing client base I need to cap my numbers. This is something I should have done years ago but I have always found saying no to be very difficult.
Thank you as always to my wonderful, reliable and loyal client base. You are very much appreciated :)

05/10/2022

It literally never rains, it pours.
My wonderful Sydney/Wollondilly clients; this week is going to be a literal washout. I am going to have to postpone for a fortnight to allow me a chance to catch up from both Covid and losing most of this week to bad weather.
Ill start contacting you all tomorrow to work out my next trip up there.
Cross your fingers for good health and fine weather 😫

28/09/2022

Hi All,
I have finally managed to catch Covid :(
I have decided that the easiest way to manage my schedule will be to push everybody's next appointment out by one week. This is providing that I am well enough to start work again once my isolation ends on the weekend.
There are some high priority horses that will be triaged to first in line but for maintenance and regular visits expect me to be a week behind this time around. I will touch base with everyone to confirm new days etc.

I appreciate your understanding and I'm looking forward to seeing you all soon :)

15/09/2022

One of my most favourite long term clients celebrated her 90th birthday yesterday. Adele still holds her horse for me during our visits.
She is an incredible lady and I hope that I age as gracefully and as full of life as she has.
Many happy returns, Adele 😍

01/04/2022

Here it is!
Last November I got the chance to film for two days with Entropico to create an ad for Square.
I am so thrilled with the outcome! They have captured my mayhem, passion and love for horses and their soundness so well.
Thank you to Oakover Lodge for allowing Caelie BfD to have a starring role. Such an amazing mare!
A once in a lifetime experience 🥰

Sascha Laurenson is investing in the future of her business, High Performance Hoof Care, so she can narrow down her client list to the horses who need her mo...

09/03/2022

Good morning! Just a reminder that there has been a small price increase for all services as of the 1st of March.
I'm currently in the process of trying to rebook all my appointments that I have missed due to poor weather. I am also looking at rejigging some of my routes to try to maximise fuel usage as my recent price increase will barely cover the current fuel prices. I may be in touch with some of you to change our appointment in order to get you in line with other clients in the same area on the same day. Some of you may go out a week or so in your schedule to accommodate these changes.
Let's hope we've seen the last of the wet weather for now. I don't know how much more we can take here on the East Coast. Enough, Huey!

02/02/2022

To my wonderful, loyal clients.
The time has come for an increase in my fees. Please be advised that as of the 1st of March, all trimming and shoeing prices will increase by $5.
Effective immediately is the cessation of invoicing clients. I have tried so hard to be understanding but the flip side is that I have spent the last eight years chasing late payments. I absolutely hate it! I will now require full payment on the day from everybody. If you can't be there while I am doing your horses you will need to pay me before I attend your property.
This year will see me continue to develop my skill set in biomechanics and the management of hoof pathologies, which are the focus of my interests as a farrier. As much as COVID will allow I will be attending CPD events in person and of course I will continue with online learning as much as possible. It's been a tricky couple of years and I really miss the face to face opportunities that I took for granted in years past.
I will continue to welcome new client enquiries. I am really at more than maximum capacity in terms of my work load but will always review each new enquiry on a case by case basis. Please be patient with me though! I will get back to you but I may wait until I have a day in the office to do so unless it's a dire emergency.
Again I thank you all for your continued support and friendship.
Here's hoping 2022 is a great year for us and our four legged friends :)

11/01/2022

Happy New Year everybody.
I'm kicking off the year with a positive post. This is one of those cases where diligent husbandry by the owner and a super regular hoof trimming cycle has produced some incredible results.
When I first met this horse in March 2021 he had one of the worst cases of deep central sulcus thrush I've seen. His frogs would bleed with just light contact and he was bilaterally lame.
The result of chronic toe first landing (to avoid loading the painful caudal foot) was a horse that was not only foot sore but also uncomfortable through the shoulders, back and hindquarters.
In spite of regular hoof care, the condition of the frogs had not been flagged by the previous farrier as a cause for concern. There was no particular smell with these feet either that would normally alert an owner to the possibility of an infection. As such, it went untreated for some time.
Over the coming months I would open up the central sulcus as much as possible to allow for topical treatment of the frog. This was not an enjoyable process for any of us as it was very painful for the horse but it was unfortunately necessary to facilitate the beginnings of healing. Gold stars though to his young owners (and their Mum!) who followed my instructions to the tee and keep these feet clean and topically treated daily for many, many months.
It has taken the better part of a year but the results speak for themselves. Not only are the frogs now disease free but we have significant improvement in the whole caudal hoof. The digital cushions have increased in both size and structural integrity. The horse is no longer landing toe first and as such, the flow on in improvement to the rest of the body are continuing in a positive trajectory.
This is what can be achieved with a good farrier/owner team approach :)

23/12/2021

Merry Christmas everyone!
I am now on leave until the 4th of January.
I am not going to be contactable for the duration of my break. It's my one chance each year to disconnect from work and just be.
If your horse loses a shoe, please put a boot on that foot. If you have an emergency, please contact your local on call vet.
If you message me during this time it will not be answered until after the 4th of January.
Thank you so much to my wonderful, loyal, funny, caring and just all round great clients. Some of you have been with me for many years now. We laugh together, cry together, whinge and complain. Just generally share the ups and downs of life. A lot of you are no longer just clients, but part of my inner circle. I love you guys!
I hope you all have a wonderful time over the holiday. I look forward to seeing all of you again in the New Year.
Here is just one funny little thing that happened in 2021. Too cute not to share :)

25/11/2021

Hi guys,
As you may have noticed, it's raining. A lot. The impact this is having on my work schedule is becoming close to unmanageable. I am literally weeks behind in some cases and with the localised flooding in a lot of areas that I visit, I may stay behind as it's just so hard to try to reschedule when I am literally booked out completely until the New Year.
Please, bear with me. I am trying my hardest to get to everyone but it's only me and there are only so many hours in the day. My territory stretches for some 500 Klms so I have geographical issues as well. I can't be in two places at once.
I am going to be juggling and shuffling people around in my diary until Christmas. I apologise but I really have no choice.
It's hard to believe that just two years ago we were begging for rain. The world really is ridiculous.

20/11/2021

Guys! I've had the most epic two days doing something that until now had not been anywhere near being in my wheel house.
I've spent two days with a film crew shooting a short documentary style advertisement for Square, who provide my invoicing and EFTPOS facility.
For someone who gets VERY uncomfortable with people watching me work it was insane to have people right up in my literal business with cameras! I'm pleased to say for a person who normally has pretty ordinary luck, the whole process was an amazing success.
I have some really cool images that I'd love to show you but until the campaign is live I have to keep them to myself.
Here is a little moment of me in my car yesterday morning :) I spent the first two hours doing driving scenes. I was a proper celebrity!
So.much.fun!!

24/09/2021

Little Poetry continues to do well.
We have now grown out two complete hoof capsules. As you can see, the improvement in both the hoof and the lower limb is significant.
Very happy to have been part of this girl's journey :)

28/07/2021

Team USA wins silver in the Tokyo Olympics.
Did you know that two of the three horses in this team are shod in composite horse shoes?
If they are good enough for Olympians then why don't you give them a try on your own horse?
Full caudal support, flexibility in the heel to allow for normal hoof mechanism and a spring steel nailing channel for stability.
I love them and I am so glad to see modern materials being embraced by some of the top level riders. The future is promising :)

05/07/2021

A very satisfying before and after from yesterday.
Someone had previously tried to "score" the crack in this hoof to prevent it going up towards the coronet band. In reality, all this foot needed was a bloody good trim!
A rim shoe has been added just to protect the hoof for this cycle as I did need to take quite a lot of hoof off. The plan is to go barefoot again at the next visit :)

26/06/2021

Ahhh, Covid.
I have recently returned from my regular Sydney run and I now fall under the same restrictions as those of you who live there.
For peace of mind I am postponing work until I have a negative test result and will then resume working with a focus again on social distancing.
I have a wide range of clients including vulnerable and elderly people and I want to do my bit to help keep everyone safe.
I will contact effected clients directly.
This too shall pass..... Eventually!

22/06/2021

COVID has put such a dampener on continued professional development opportunities.
I am so excited to be able to finally attend another clinic. It's been way too long!

On my way to NSW with a literal truck-full of stock! Looking forward to this great collaboration between IHCA and Wesley Stewart Farrier Services to teach other hoof care practitioners how to effectively apply products from GluShu and Glue-U Adhesives

Can't wait to see you all!

16/06/2021

A great simple explanation of what lies beneath.

For the followers that just need things to be simple. As I did when I started studying the equine foot! ❤️

Close up of the equine foot slices medial to lateral (side the side- like a stack of pennies)

From left bottom to right top in very lay terms.

Hoof wall (Armour)

Lamellae (Superman Velcro keeping the armour on)

Lamellae corium (a bed of blood vessels feeding the Velcro

Coffin bone (structural support that the Velcro sticks to)

Blood vessels (the motorways, roads and tracks carrying food to and through the bone to the Velcro)

Sole corium (the table packed with food for the sole)

Sole (the armour at the sole)

Lay terms for those just trying to get their head round all this. Let’s keep it simple. These structures have many other functions but for now let’s just understand that the foot is not a “solid block of wood”

http://www.patreon.com/hoofstudies

07/06/2021

I just had to share this awesome image of one of my clients, Kerry Masterman during a recent clinic at her beautiful property Oakover Lodge.
Caelie BFD is shod in front with Easyshoe Versa shoes and is currently barefoot behind.
I get a lot of joy seeing the horses I work on performing well with comfortable, balanced feet :)

03/06/2021

A flashback to the most epic rescue case I've been involved with. Three ponies, all with feet like this.
I'm very grateful to say that my hacksaw generally just sits in the back of my truck collecting dust. With cases like this though, it's a life and time saver.....
From memory I spent six hours working on the ponies with a four hour drive each way to get to them! I'm tired just thinking about it 😂

28/04/2021

Tara, one of the oldest horses I work on (age estimated to be somewhere around 40 years), enjoying the sun after her trim. Look at her little tongue blep :)
Gorgeous old lady...

23/04/2021

Great post!