Longmarsh Track Livery

Longmarsh Track Livery A surfaced track system/paddock paradise in Somerset.Specialising in weight loss & hoof transition.
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A beautiful surprise from Mia's owner Georgia who lives all the way in Switzerland  😳❤️.Thank you 😊 xxMia has not been s...
28/06/2024

A beautiful surprise from Mia's owner Georgia who lives all the way in Switzerland 😳❤️.
Thank you 😊 xx
Mia has not been straightforward and needed a lot of extra brain power from us and help to get her back to feeling herself .
Thankfully now I think we are nearly there 💪❤️.
See you soon when you come to visit 💐.
Xx

This month's water buffet options. All popular with bicarb and salt winning  x
27/06/2024

This month's water buffet options. All popular with bicarb and salt winning x

16/06/2024
Woke up this morning to gorgeous pictures of the herd from Annie Keetch  😍 must be a rest day 😴
16/06/2024

Woke up this morning to gorgeous pictures of the herd from Annie Keetch 😍 must be a rest day 😴

13/06/2024

Random filming this afternoon and look at Keith go !!!!
I will post a comparison video later to show how sore he was

I was chatting to a non horsey family member about this exact thing, he said it makes perfect sense 👌.  Why is it so eas...
10/06/2024

I was chatting to a non horsey family member about this exact thing, he said it makes perfect sense 👌. Why is it so easy for non horsey people to grasp but not traditional horse owners ? 🤔

The other day, I asked some of you if you thought all horses could go barefoot and if all horses could live on track systems. We had some great, varied responses and discussions!

So, on the topic of going barefoot, I wanted to talk a little about some reasons why a horse may not successfully transition or stay barefoot.

-

Although we’re seeing a rise in owners taking their horses barefoot, there is still a huge amount of horses that fail to transition fully. Many owners associate barefoot horses with the simple absence of shoes yet fail to recognise the importance of providing a species appropriate diet and management that works to fulfil the horses needs on a daily basis.

Anyone who has transitioned a horse to barefoot before will know that this is often met with comments from their fellow equestrians. This can be ‘my horse is crippled without shoes’, ‘my horse wears down his feet’ or ‘my horse is ridden so he can’t go barefoot’. Despite the number of professional riders and horse owners riding, hacking, jumping, competing, eventing and team chasing barefoot, there is still this giant misconception that barefoot horses are unable to do what shod horses can do.

When a horse fails barefoot, it is typically due to an aspect of their diet, management or trim being off. Sub-clinical or early symptoms of Laminitis takes the top spot for reasons many horses fail barefoot, causing soreness and discomfort over any terrain that isn’t grass. This is one of the warning signs that your horse is suffering from inflammation in the early stages yet is so often ignored and covered up with the use of shoes. We like to use the term ‘stuck a plaster on it’ when talking about this particular scenario because when shoes are used to mask their sensitivity, the underlying cause of inflammation is still compromising the body and often results in further problems down the line. More than often, the culprit is the abundance of grass we have in the UK and the idea of removing the grass can seem impossible or simply ridiculous when so many of us are led to believe horses eat grass, without considering the type of grass and the nutritional profile of said grass.

Additionally, there is also a widespread fear of riding horses without shoes and wearing the hoof away. Most issues or concerns regarding wear can be traced back to diet, movement and trim.

1) Diet affects the quality of hoof horn, the tightness of the white line and new growth. A hoof that has poor quality hoof horn that chips and splits is in need of a diet overhaul. Shoeing may help in the sense the feet ‘look’ better, but this will not remove the fact that the horse is struggling with the diet they are currently on.

2) Movement, with the correct diet in place, is needed to stimulate new growth. Without reoccurring hoof to floor contact and daily movement, the rate of growth can be drastically affected, playing into this idea that ridden horses simply can’t go without shoes. Many confuse self-trimming with hoof’s that don’t grow but it’s actually very difficult to self-trim properly in the UK with what we have available, so if your hoof care professional is taking little to no excess growth off at each trim, then chances are your horse isn’t getting enough movement and this will be reflected when ridden.

3) Shoeing itself tends to cause a whole heap of issues for both owner and horse, one of which is circulation and upper body issues. Referring back to the hoof to floor contract, we know shoes can reduce circulation to the hoofs which again plays an important part in hoof growth. Additionally, upper body problems and conformation issues are commonly caused by shoeing and the tightness and imbalance they caused further up, sometimes contributing to uneven wearing of the shoe or hoof. A classic example of this is a horse who struggles with tightness through their hamstrings and SI area caused by contracted heels and deep central sulcus thrush inflicted by shoes (and diet).

Regardless of your reason for shoeing your horse, be it thin soles, flare, heel pain or arthritis, we need to remember that our horses are living, breathing animals and not machines. Rather than assuming your horse is just incapable of being without shoes despite being born with a perfectly good, intact set of feet, we need to be looking at WHY your horse can not go barefoot right now. Then, instead of brushing the problem under the rug, or in this case covering it with some pretty shoes, we address the problem so they’re not just ridable, but they’re also healthy and sound with their needs being met.

Your polite reminder that if your horse isn't sound without shoes, then they're not sound full stop

To everyone that I've been slow to respond to or have missed calls from I apologise, but this is the reason ... Meet Oli...
10/06/2024

To everyone that I've been slow to respond to or have missed calls from I apologise, but this is the reason ...
Meet Olivia, born 3 weeks early 🙈.

I will be taking the rest of the year slower .
The track is still running and we have a few new horses planned for the end of summer when I am better placed to be involved and sort them.
X

Fabulous, well done Lauren Johnson Hetherington  👏  good luck 🙏🏻😍
10/06/2024

Fabulous, well done Lauren Johnson Hetherington 👏 good luck 🙏🏻😍

⭐Livery Yard of the Year 2024 sponsored by Westgate Labs⭐
Headline Sponsor: Bloomfields Horseboxes

Congratulations to:
Graveney Equine: Horse Track System
Padwick Farm
Cow City Livery

Lovely day today , I spent it Ragwort collecting from the edges of the track. 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️. Ponies are happy though x
07/06/2024

Lovely day today , I spent it Ragwort collecting from the edges of the track. 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️. Ponies are happy though x

06/06/2024

Loki helping one of our livery rehab horses Keith with his backing up exercises 🤣🙈. Yes that is Keith's expensive fly mask that you can hear tearing in the video 🤣🙈

This pony is Ollie.Last year I posted a video of ollie that was absolutely slated !... Ollie arrived to us as EMS with t...
04/06/2024

This pony is Ollie.
Last year I posted a video of ollie that was absolutely slated !...
Ollie arrived to us as EMS with typical fat pads and had been stabled and restricted on turnout because of that in an attempt to help.

I did nothing to make this pony lose 90kg . It just happens on our track.
Our hay is seriously low in everything and they walk more . Simple as that.
Everyone got up in arms about how poor he looked, and I needed up deleting the video as it all took a wrong turn .

Now I will not try and cover the fact that if you lose 90kg quickly you also lose some muscle and you will look a bit ropey for a while, but I was pleased with how hos weight loss was going at the time, but appreciate if you had not seen him on arrival you may have been confused why I was so happy to see a very lean pony.

But I promised you all that in a years time he would look perfect because his body will adjust and he needed time to build muscle on the track.

Well he caught my eye today and it made me smile because he has finally reached that point in his journey.😍👌❤️

Pretty boys 😍. Nearly finished the bale in their Balemate feeder x
04/06/2024

Pretty boys 😍. Nearly finished the bale in their Balemate feeder x

This handsome man is Henry.He actually arrived a month ago but things have been a little hectic here recently so I had n...
04/06/2024

This handsome man is Henry.
He actually arrived a month ago but things have been a little hectic here recently so I had not been posting as much.

Henry belongs to Annie Keetch who is one of my original livery clients from when I opened.
She lost fletcher back in the autumn sadly it was time 😪. She still has tommy here with us.

Henry is already integrated into the herd and track.
He likes his new friend Summer the most so far , but Keith is a strong second.

He is 9 and has never been shod and has only just been lightly backed.
Hopefully Annie will have lots of good times with him in the future 😍👌❤️

02/06/2024
Peaceful today , same as every day here 🥰💕. They all choose to sleep after breakfast about 11am each day .
24/05/2024

Peaceful today , same as every day here 🥰💕.
They all choose to sleep after breakfast about 11am each day .

New angle coming in for Keith. 😍.Long journey ahead for this chap but it will so be worth it 🙌 x
13/05/2024

New angle coming in for Keith. 😍.
Long journey ahead for this chap but it will so be worth it 🙌 x

Come and see the Hoofing Marvellous  team here at Longmarsh Track  Livery  7-9th June ❤️.Get your tickets in the links b...
13/05/2024

Come and see the Hoofing Marvellous team here at Longmarsh Track Livery 7-9th June ❤️.

Get your tickets in the links below

In-Person Events

And here's abcess number two for our rehab Keith. 💔.This one is in his front left.You can just about make out the new gr...
12/05/2024

And here's abcess number two for our rehab Keith. 💔.
This one is in his front left.
You can just about make out the new growth coming in on his hoof where the marker shows.
He has been in his front boots everyday for just over two weeks (cleaned and taken off to sort each day ) whilst this one grumbled on ,good days marching around and then very sore days hanging the leg.

Sometimes it's not all roses moving to a different system and changing how things have been . But it will certainly be better for him in the long run ❤️.
His body is letting go of an awful lot of toxins and grime and I fully expect to see possibly even the other two hooves do the same.
He will have a salt water soak in the morning and a clean up and we will possibly put a boot on his opposite hoof for support.
He really struggles with the pain for these and previously lost a lot of weight with the first one. He then started to gain back before this one started to brew, so has lost condition again.
Hopefully we will have a month or two without one to help him get back to a healthy weight.
Keith has EMS so weight gain has to be done slowly and safely and with lots of forage.

Send healing vibes to the big Ginger boy 🥰

And it's off🤦🏻‍♀️it's going to be a long summer at this rate 🤣
12/05/2024

And it's off🤦🏻‍♀️it's going to be a long summer at this rate 🤣

12/05/2024

Two of mine caught on camera this morning being naughty boys 🤣
Thanks Chloe (effies mum ) for the video .

It's that time of year again for fly masks 🪰🪰🪰🪰.To make things easier for the grooms I bought some tiny yellow plastic z...
06/05/2024

It's that time of year again for fly masks 🪰🪰🪰🪰.
To make things easier for the grooms I bought some tiny yellow plastic zip tie labels to put on each mask.
Here's a few of them to show what they look like .
I will also do everyone's rugs this year 👌.

05/05/2024

WATCH OUT FOR FAT PRETENDING TO BE MUSCLE

I keep seeing very fat horses out hacking round our lanes. Many of these are cobby or draught types, which can sometimes look 'muscly' when they are actually carrying excess body fat.

If we take care of our horses' body fat levels, and be very sure not to confuse fat with muscle, we will keep them much healthier and reduce the risk of a number of health issues including laminitis and arthritis later in life.

If you're not sure whether your horse or pony is muscly or carrying excess body fat, be sure to ask your vet, farrier or physio at their next appointment, or get in touch with a Nutritionist like myself. (And don't worry - reaching out for help is better than feeling too embarrassed to, and struggling away on your own with stubborn weight on your horse or pony).

Feel free to share
🐴🍏

03/05/2024

I told you all this pony believes he is a big horse 🤣🤣.

Throwback Thursday! The first bit of surface we did here at Longmarsh, the gateway . After this we dug multiple French d...
02/05/2024

Throwback Thursday!
The first bit of surface we did here at Longmarsh, the gateway . After this we dug multiple French drains in the mud areas to filter back to the ditches behind the hedges.
It got this muddy in 1 week in August when we first set up the perimeter track.
We are at the bottom of a huge hill and on heavy clay soil on the somerset levels....
But look how shiny the quad looked back then 🤣🙈

Baby freya came to ask me for a little groom and some love tonight 💕.  Such a special filly 🥰
28/04/2024

Baby freya came to ask me for a little groom and some love tonight 💕. Such a special filly 🥰

I did some extra poo picking tonight and cleared the track and put out some different nets for the gang. Swinging nets a...
28/04/2024

I did some extra poo picking tonight and cleared the track and put out some different nets for the gang. Swinging nets are entertaining and take longer to eat 😋

28/04/2024

When I got my horse, Madhu, I thought the best environment was a grass pasture. I knew stalls were inhumane, and thought that horses were supposed to eat grass. That’s what I saw.

While Madhu lived 24/7/365 turned out on pasture, I saw many issues with his feet-abscesses, thrush, white line separation, and a crack. I saw issues in the hooves of the other horses in his herd. I didn’t know why.

Fortunately, Paige Wilfert, who would become one of my mentors, encouraged me to study in the ISNHCP, the Institute for the Study of Natural Horse Care Practices.

In my studies, I learned about the ideal diet, environment, movement and trim of horses as a species. I learned that grass hay is the ideal diet, fed in a slow trickle while the horse wanders between bites.

As I learned more, I wanted to improve Madhu’s quality of life and wellbeing, which is why I eventually built a Paddock Paradise. Paonia Paddock Paradise is here for your horse to get THE optimal and most natural care that can be provided.

28/04/2024

Finding old videos of horses gone by on my phone and came across this slow mo of CiCi marching down the track to the water .
She had fabulous hard functional feet, love the pretty butterfly 🦋.

Address

Longmarsh Track Livery
Langport
TA109NN

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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