Wild Soles Hoof Care

04/12/2024

This is such an excellent explanation and set of visuals! My clients all hear about me raving on about the digital cushion or soft tissue in the back of the foot. It’s an absolutely vital part of the anatomy of the hoof, and is stimulated when the horse is loading its heels correctly. Sadly it’s very hard to rebuild once its mass is lost

04/12/2024

UPDATED PRICES FOR 2025

From January 1st 2025, prices for barefoot trimming will increase to $70 a trim for horses. For clients already on this rate, nothing will change for you.
I am also expanding my services to include more glue-on shoe/shell options and boot fitting/sales now include Scoot boots. All prices are on my website:

www.wildsoles.com.au

This change is necessary for a number of reasons.
✅ It brings my services in line with other similar professionals in Victoria
✅ It reflects the constant professional development, collaboration, and extensive learning that I undertake to ensure that I am incorporating the most current contemporary practices and knowledge about hooves and equine health and wellbeing
✅ To cover increasing costs of tools, equipment, and travel
✅ To ensure that I can continue to work hard for the horses I trim and ensure that I am doing my best work by feeling physically and mentally well

If this update means you no longer require my services please just let me know.

Big thanks to all my valued clients 💙🐴

Quality, regular hoof care is incredibly important to the overall health of our horses. Hooves are constantly growing and unless horses are covering long distances over varied terrain like their wild cousins, domestic horses need regular trimming to mimic wear of the hooves and keep them healthy. 

10/11/2024

UPDATE: All participant places have been filled for this clinic.
Auditor places are still available. Auditing at the clinic isn’t like traditional fence sitting, auditors can get up close with David and the other participants, ask as many questions as they like and participate in all other aspects, they just don’t do any hands on trimming. It’s perfect for those who may be new to trimming or for owners who want to learn but might not be ready for hands on trimming yet.

Get in touch if you have any questions!

David Landreville Yackandandah clinic - 22-23rd March 2025.

Sign up here:
http://www.davidlandreville.com/shop/p/yackandandah-vic-2025
Sign up for this clinic will open November 9th at 8am AEDT (daylight savings time). Last year places filled very quickly, so set yourself a reminder!

David’s approach to hoof trimming combines technical, precise, physical elements with emotional, intuitive, feeling based connection. The horse is the ultimate judge of the trim and the experience, and tuning into their feedback allows for a deeper understanding of just how much the details matter.

09/11/2024

Robyn and Ledge rocking their newly fitted hoof boots. Explora Magics on the front and Flex boots on the hinds. Ledge is recently out of steel shoes and his transition to barefoot has been made much easier with well fitting boots fit for purpose. There’s no stopping them now!

08/11/2024

Registration opens tomorrow at 8am!

You can return to our homepage by clicking here, or you can try searching for the content you are seeking by clicking here.

25/10/2024

Exciting news!

David Landreville (my trimming Mentor) will be back in Yackandandah, Australia in March 2025! Put the date in your diary! I can highly recommend these clinics for owners, owner-trimmers and professionals.

24/10/2024

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR CLIENTS IN SUMMER 2024

Things are warming up already and I have a couple of important messages for clients to help keep me and your horses safe.

🪰 Please ensure that before I arrive, you have applied effective fly repellant (sprays, fly veils etc) to your horses to help with stomping/tail swishing/irritation. Horses that kick out or stomp at flies are really dangerous for me as I'm in a vulnerable position. I can provide fly repellant for $5 per horse.

🔆 Hooves become very hard in our hot dry season and this makes them much more difficult to trim using manual tools. This year I will have a preference for using a mini grinder. I may ask you to help work with your horse to desensitise them to be comfortable with the power tools. I will work with horses as much as possible, and I understand there will be some horses that are not compatible with grinder trimming. I will discuss this with clients on a case-by-case basis.

I really appreciate your cooperation and look forward to seeing you and your horses over the next few months! Cheers ✌️

06/09/2024

Couldn’t have said this better!

Before you criticise your hoof care professional..... take a moment to think.

Trimming and/or shoeing horses is not an easy job which is probably why you've asked someone else to come and do the job for you. Hoof care professionals make the job of performing micro-surgery on the foot of 500kgs of prey animal with an opinion, look easy. I mean sure, once you know what you're doing it's easy to put nippers, hoof knife and rasp over a foot and make it look pretty.... when the horse is standing still.

When the horse isn't standing still and is trying to run the handler over.... not so easy.

When the horse snatches its foot away from you..... not so easy.

When the horse is trying to pull the foot away from you.... not so easy.

When the horses pulls the foot away from you AND THEN tries to kick you..... not so easy nor fun.

If your hoof care professional is getting a little gruff and grumpy with your horse because it's doing all or some of the above that is not a reflection on the professionals inability to contain their temper, no, that is a reflection on you. It is a reflection on your ability to help your horse develop some basic life skills it needs to survive in this world.

Before you criticise your hoof care provider... give the job a go yourself. Feel what it's like to have a horse leaning on you. Feel what it's like to have a foot snatched out of your hands repeatedly. Feel what it's like to have a horse wriggling around. Feel what it's like to be jumped and stomped on. Once you've felt all that with one horse imagine what it's like doing that all day long in the heat, in the cold, in the sun and sometimes in the rain.

I think once you've given the job a go then you'll understand how incredibly important it is to teach your horse how to handle being inconvenienced for a bit. Hoof care professionals do their best to keep their cool but their minds and bodies can only take so much.

So before you criticise your hoof care professional..... think.

📸 Elle at nearly 3 having her feet trimmed. She wasn't always this easy to trim but her shenanigans didn't last long, I got onto it pretty quick.

24/03/2024

GLUE ON SHOES!

I’ve had the opportunity to trial the application of glue on shoes over the past few months.

Glue on shoes are an option for horses that need hoof protection but for whatever reason hoof boots are not viable. While these are still shoes and don’t allow the hoof to be bare (ideal scenario) they can be an excellent option for some horses and are, in my opinion, a far superior option to steel.

Pictured is the EasyCare Versa Grip Glue with urethane glue, and Easy Care Versa Grip Octo with superglue application.

I’ll be adding glue ons to my list of services so chat to me if you’re interested in this for your horse.

14/03/2024

Excellent worming info! Hold off on worming until it’s colder!

And I love following this page, I always learn something!

It's always a good start to the month when HRCAV 's Chaff Chat has an article by yours' truly!

06/03/2024

Excellent reading on feeding lucerne! For most horses, it's a high-quality feed as part of a balanced diet

🌱 𝙇𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚

🐴 Today, let’s debunk some common misconceptions about lucerne/alfalfa, or 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢 if you’d like to get fancy.

🌱 Myth #1: Lucerne is high in sugar and soaking it helps to remove some of the sugar content.

🐴 Truth #1: Lucerne is high in protein, but not high in sugar. While it is true that soaking hay helps to remove some of the sugar content, soaking lucerne is pointless as there are no high sugar concentrations to begin with. Soaking does not remove protein or calories.

🌱 Myth #2: Lucerne will make horses hot.

🐴 Truth #2: As mentioned already, lucerne is a fantastic source of protein which converts to energy when consumed by the horse. Lucerne itself is a source of slower-release energy in comparison to cereal grains and grain by-products because it is low in sugar and starch but high in digestible fibre. It’s often not the lucerne itself causing “hot” behaviour, but an excess of energy input relevant to the horse’s energy output. Feeding a diet that is balanced and provides energy sources that are appropriate for the individual’s activity level will usually mitigate behavioural “issues.”

🌱 Myth #3: Lucerne is comparable to other hay types for ulcer prevention and gastrointestinal health.

🐴 Truth #3: Any low sugar and starch hay is going to aid in the prevention of ulcers and support gastrointestinal health, however lucerne comes with the advantage of being high in bioavailable calcium. Not only is this source of highly bioavailable calcium beneficial for horses with higher calcium requirements such as breeding and growing horses, or horses grazing on high oxalate pastures, it is also fantastic at neutralising and buffering gastric due to it’s alkaline profile.

🌱 Myth #4: Lucerne is suitable for laminitic/metabolic horses.

🐴 Truth #4: While lucerne does tick the box of being low in sugar and starch, it’s quality protein content can be a trigger for some laminitic and metabolic equines and it is therefore a “maybe” feed for this category of horse. Horses who are actively laminitic should not be fed lucerne (or any high protein feed), as it is not a situation where you want to be conducting tests with “potentially” suitable food sources.

🌱 Myth #5: Lucerne will make a horse produce poorly formed or watery manure.

🐴 Truth #5: Horses can be intolerant or allergic to any food source, but lucerne being the cause of scouring or diarrhoea is usually because it has been introduced to the diet too quickly, or because it is high in digestible fibre and the horse isn’t intaking adequate indigestible fibre elsewhere in the diet. Feeding lower quality and slightly stalky lucerne hay can help to overcome this issue.

🌱 So tell me, do you love or hate lucerne? Do you feed it daily or only on occasion? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and as always, please feel welcome to share this article if you enjoyed it. 😄

29/02/2024

I can't tell you how much I appreciate it when horses are caught, rugs off, sprayed and hooves clean!

29/01/2024

It’s getting closer! There are still a handful of auditor spots available! All participant places are full. As an auditor you can still get up close, watch David and the participants trimming, participate in discussions and ask as many questions as you like.

Come and learn from the best! This clinic is suitable for everyone from professional trimmers, bodyworkers, vets or owner trimmers.

Any questions please just ask! Amy and I are busy getting the venue and details organised and have set up a Facebook group to share information for those registered.

Sign up at www.davidlandreville.com/clinics

18/01/2024

2024 dates for trimming at Ovens Valley Equine

Looking forward to seeing all my OVE clients soon!