CC’s Hoofcare

21/11/2025

When we raise our trimming prices, it’s never about getting rich — it’s about being able to cover our bills and keep doing the work we love. I love trimming and shoeing horses 🩷 Hoofcare isn’t the lucrative industry people often assume it is. We do it because we care about the horses, not because it makes us wealthy.

I appreciate all my beautiful clients that let me work on their horses. 🩷🩷🩷

Recently I've seen a few posts from trimmers advertising their prices, and had to cover jobs for others, and one thing that has really stood out to me is how unsustainable a lot of farrier pricing is. The days of $60 trims need to come to an end, especially for those businesses who are registered, qualified, insured, and paying their taxes. Farrier organisations generally suggest about $80-$85 / head in Australia, plus travel where needed. This would bring the cost of single horse trims closer to $100 / horse as a recommended industry standard, So... ever wondered where a $100 trim fee actually goes? (Hint, most of it doesn't go to your Farrier!)

Here’s a simple breakdown based *roughly* on my real-world business costs; fuel, vehicle wear, tools, BAS, booking/admin time, and the reality of running a rural mobile trade.

🥕 $40 – Business overheads
Fuel, tyres annually, vehicle servicing, rasps, tools, insurance, admin, bookkeeping, software, and the big one; saving for a new vehicle every 6–8 years (I’m already about to hit 500,000 km on mine!).

🥕 $18 – ATO obligations
GST, PAYG instalments, and tax withheld.

🥕 $5 – Superannuation
When you run a company in Australia, you must pay compulsory 12% super on your own wages, just like any other employer! Hoof trimming is physically demanding, and super isn’t optional anymore; it's part of keeping a long-term, sustainable career.

🥕 $37 – Useable income
This is what I’m left with to pay myself after running the business and keeping your horses safe and sound.

Hoof care is a highly skilled, physically demanding trade with significant ongoing costs; especially in rural areas with long travel distances. Transparent and sustainable pricing helps keep hoof care practitioners in business long-term so your horses receive consistent, reliable care.

Unsustainable pricing equals:
❌ No sick pay / emergency money
❌ No retirement plan
❌ Having to cram in bulk numbers and rush stops
❌ Burnt out / grumpy / late practitioners
❌ Poor industry retention - limited young people wanting to STAY in the trade as all the old guys leave

Which leads to a future where it will be VERY hard to find a farrier, and pricing could actually then skyrocket as a result, or... the possibility of more farriers refusing to provide for mobile services or attend small stops for recreational owners.

So for those of you who can see the value we Hoof Care Practitioners provide; thank you for supporting small, qualified local businesses ❤️

Your horses' feet (and your trimmer’s back!) appreciate it.

20/11/2025

HOOF MYTHS VS REALITY

PART 5 – THE TRIMMING MYTH

MYTH: “If the trim’s right, the horse will go sound straight away.”
REALITY: A good trim doesn’t create soundness — it creates the conditions for soundness to grow.

There’s something oddly human about expecting an instant transformation. We like before-and-after stories. Haircuts, kitchens, hooves — all better when you can post the two photos side by side. But a horse’s foot doesn’t work like a makeover show. The real story unfolds in millimetres, over months, and sometimes what’s good for the hoof doesn’t look particularly pretty on the day.

Every trim is a conversation with the horse’s biology. You can remove distortion, rebalance leverage, restore a healthier landing — but you can’t grow sole depth, rebuild digital cushion, or replace stretched laminae in an afternoon. A trimmer or farrier can set the direction of growth; the horse does the rest. If we force speed, we pay for it in sensitivity.

That’s why a freshly trimmed foot may look a little rough around the edges. The outer wall might still flare. The heels may still appear low until the internal structures strengthen enough to support them higher. Sometimes the frog looks ragged because, well, it is — it’s been shedding diseased tissue and needs a few weeks of use to even out. The important part isn’t the appearance; it’s the mechanics: whether the foot lands flat to heel-first, whether breakover has been brought back, whether leverage is reduced and circulation improved. Those are the quiet victories that grow the next capsule better than the last.

Radiographs are invaluable for this reason. They tell us what the hoof capsule is doing in relation to the bone — whether the palmar angle is functional, whether there’s sufficient sole thickness, whether the trim is genuinely helping or just neatening the edges. Without that information, it’s easy to chase a “look” that satisfies the human eye but not the horse’s comfort.

Owners sometimes get discouraged when a rehab foot doesn’t look “finished” after the first visit. But the hoof records time, not intentions. A wall grows roughly 8–10 mm a month, so a complete capsule takes nearly a year. That’s why the best farriers and trimmers talk in months, not moments. What matters is trajectory — that the new growth is straighter, tighter, healthier.

At the same time, trimming alone isn’t always enough. When the foot has been distorted or the horse is already sore, protection is often part of the process. Boots with pads, temporary shoes, or even casts allow correct mechanics without adding more trauma. They’re not shortcuts; they’re scaffolding. Remove them too early, and the structure collapses again.

There’s also a subtle psychological hurdle here: our urge to equate visual symmetry with health. Many hooves are naturally asymmetrical because horses are, too — one shoulder heavier, one limb dominant, one hoof taking more load. Forcing a mirror-image balance without addressing body patterning or movement only fights nature. Functional symmetry grows from correct movement, not from equal rasping.

The long game of trimming is patience married to precision. The professional’s job is to guide growth; the owner’s job is to give time, footing, and nutrition for that growth to show. In the early stages of rehab, progress can be measured in better stance and freer movement, not perfect shape. By the time the new capsule grows down, the story told in horn rings and wall angle changes is often remarkable — but it never happens overnight.

THE TAKEAWAY
A trim is a starting point, not a finish line. Its job isn’t to make the hoof look beautiful today, but to make it grow beautifully tomorrow. If the horse walks off sounder, stands more comfortably, and grows a better hoof next time — that’s the real “after” picture.

18/11/2025

The best 👌
So simply to feed

🐴 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲, 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗣𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗮𝗴

💰 I love a good product breakdown to highlight what you are really getting out of your hard earned money. I can understand that $233.95 for a single bag of horse feed can be off-putting at face value, but let’s look at what that $233.95 really gets you and your horse.

🗓️ A 500kg horse in light work is recommended to receive only 100g of PractiBALANCE per day. That means a single 20kg bag would last 200 days, or 6-7 months. That’s over two thirds of a year out of just one 20kg bag.

💠 Out of that 100g daily serving, a horse would receive the following key vitamins and minerals (plus more!):
▫️ Copper: 302mg
▪️ Zinc: 892mg
▫️ Vitamin E: 3000 IU
▪️ Biotin: 20mg
*15-20mg of Biotin per day is the general recommendation of a “therapeutic serving” for horses who may have compromised hoof structure due to poor digestive health, immune function, or metabolic problems that inhibit their ability to produce adequate Biotin through microbial fermentation.
*PractiBALANCE also includes other nutrients such as Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Sodium, Manganese, Selenium, Iodine, and Amino Acids.

🦠 Out of that same 100g serving, a horse will also receive 10g of one of the most extensively researched and scientifically-supported toxin binders; Mycosorb A+. Not just 1-2g per serving to make it sound effective on paper, but a true, full recommended base serving as outlined by the developer, Alltech.

🫴🏼 PractiBALANCE is pelleted, making it incredibly easy to feed from the hand as a ‘treat’ to easy-keeping horses who don’t require additional hard feeding.

🌽 PractiBALANCE is truly free of cereal grains and grain by-products, and is tested at only 3.77% combined sugar and starch (NSC).

🐎 So with all of this in mind, at $233.95 per 20kg, this (excuse my biased-ness) incredibly well formulated product only costs $1.17/day to feed to a 500kg horse and even if shipping cost $100.00 on top of this (it doesn’t 😆), it would still only cost $1.67/day to feed. I think you would be hard-pressed to find a comparable product for a similar price point.

📸 The mare featured below is owned by one of my beautiful clients who was kind enough to share these “before and after PractiBALANCE and PractiFLAX” photos.

https://stableisedequine.com.au/collections

⚖️ Have your horses tried PractiBALANCE (or PractiCAL if grazing on high oxalate grasses) yet? I’d love to read your thoughts below. 👇🏼🥰

13/11/2025

So important to resect seedy toe and never leave it!!

🚨 URGENT CALLOUT – SEEDY TOE LEFT UNADDRESSED 🚨

Received a message from a very worried owner. Their horse was trimmed just two weeks ago, yet the seedy toe was not addressed and the hoof was left unstable, cracking and separating right up the front.

🦶 When seedy toe is ignored, it spreads fast, weakens the hoof wall, and can lead to serious structural issues. What you see in the top photos is avoidable damage that should’ve been treated at the previous trim.

Today we cleaned it out properly, treated the infection, stabilised the wall, and fitted appropriate shoeing to support the hoof while it heals (bottom photos).

📌 Please remember:
✔️ Seedy toe must be opened, cleaned and treated — not left hidden.
✔️ Regular farrier visits are important, but quality of work matters just as much.
✔️ If something doesn’t look right, trust your gut and get a second opinion.

Huge credit to the owner for reaching out quickly so we could step in before it became a much bigger problem.

If your horse’s hooves aren’t improving between trims or you’re noticing cracks, gaps or soft spots in the wall — send us a message. Happy to help before it becomes urgent.

— Redemption Lodge Farrier Service 🐴🔨

13/11/2025

We are so excited to present this conference!!! Please come and join us in Kenilworth.

There is an absolute stellar line up of guest speakers including Professor Chris Pollitt, New Zealands, Lindsey Field of the study of the Equine Hoof, Annette Kaitinis of Scoot Boot, Lisa Gilbert of the Glorious Hoof, farrier and instructor, Craig Jones and many more plus great horsemanship displays taming wild brumbies.

Make it the one conference you go to!!! And in sunny Queensland too!

Check it out: https://www.australianhooftrimmers.com/

Note: Payments can be made in four instalments

11/11/2025

Founder can be capsular rotation, bony rotation, or often a combination of both. It frequently can be hidden by simply misreading the shape and proportions of the hoof capsule. For more go to https://www.ecirhorse.org/realigning-trim.php

06/11/2025

❤️

27/10/2025

Every hoof care professional’s dream day… trimming in 100% humidity! 🥵💦

It’s been raining this morning 🌧️ and even though all my beautiful clients have lovely dry shelters far away from the rain, somehow I still manage to look like I’ve been trimming in a downpour 🤣

Who needs a spa day when you can get a free steam facial while doing hooves? 🐴💨☔️

The horses are looking fabulous — even if I’m not! 😂