Rhi’s Holistic Hoof Care

19/07/2024

A Toe Bean trim and a massage today for 19y/o Star ⭐️

I’ve been trimming Star’s hooves for about two years now, she has really great feet, but this was her first massage session with me today.

And what a lovely transformation in her posture from a hollow elongated back and an ewe neck to a more neutral posture, a more relaxed neck and less compressed in her shoulders and ribcage.

There is still more unwinding to do, but for her first massage session I’m pretty happy.
😊 🦄 💫 👣 🙌

(Apologies for the poor lighting in the second photo)

16/07/2024

This 🫶🏻

Elevation From Within

P3 elevation shouldn’t come from elevated heels. That approach just disengages the soft tissue and tips The horse’s weight over their toes, depleting live sole and causing bone erosion. P3 elevation needs to come from the support of deep soft tissue and live sole over low heels. This tips the horse’s weight over their heels where it can keep building live depth and strength. When the majority of the weight is behind the widest part of the foot, the internal arch raises. The frog ascends with the internal arch and becomes poised above the ground. This “collects” the foot and therefore, improves collection in the rest of the horse. The horse becomes more “bouyant”, loading their muscles more than their skeleton. This is how you use the horse’s weight for them instead of against them. This can’t be forced. It has to be built.

26/06/2024

A nice before and after of Mr.D’s posture change following his massage today, he was such a dude to work with. 💆‍♂️
And what a beautiful afternoon for it ☀️🦄✨

Notice in his front end how he is camped under in his stance and pushing through his sternum and shoulders in the before pictures and how much more balanced and square he is in his stance after, and notice the angle change in his shoulders too, and generally how much softer he looks overall. 🤍

If your in the North Wales area and would like to book your horse/pony in for a massage please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 😊

25/06/2024

Misty - laminitis rehab
January 2023 - June 2024

Misty is a sweet little section A who I have been helping rehabilitate from laminitis since Jan 2023.

We’ve had a couple of set backs along the way last year where she regressed and came down with laminitis again, but after trimming her today I had to look back at her progress because it’s easy to forget how far you’ve come sometimes.

I’m so happy with her journey so far and even more happy with her owner for never giving up on her! ❤️
Laminitis can be really hard to deal with on so many levels and as owners we can often feel helpless, but I’m here to tell you it does not need to be a death sentence.

Misty has been having 4/5 weekly trims pretty much from the get go to get her weight distributed back over her heels and to keep the laminitic wedge under control.
We still have a little bit of work to do on those front feet but I reckon by next trim they will be looking like normal hooves once more 🫶🏻✨🦄

17/06/2024

Hoof of the day goes to Benny 🦄 gotta love those cob clogs 🫶🏻 👣

17/06/2024

Sam Shire - All 18 hands of him! 🙈😅

Sam is the biggest horse I have on my books and has the biggest hooves I think I have ever seen in my life!!

His feet were terribly distorted, long and pathological when his owner took him on last year as he hadn’t had foot care for quite some time.
We’ve battled and conquered abscesses, under run heels, seedy toes and thrushy frogs in that time.

It’s been a journey to this point to say the least. He has taught me a lot. 😅
And today I feel like we had a break through with his hoof handling and we trimmed his feet at liberty, albeit he had a halter on but he wasn’t tied up.

Great job Sally and Rachel your doing fantastic with him! ❤️🦄

20/05/2024

Monday Morning Massage 💆

Such a gorgeous morning today in the ☀️ giving
31yo Standardbred Star a full body massage. 🙌 ⭐️

What a lovely boy he was, he released a lot of built up tension around his poll, neck shoulders and rib cage which you can see from his after photos, his overall posture and musculature is a lot softer and more relaxed. Look at that neck!!
He looks years younger! 😃 Looking forward to treating him again. 🤎

Taking care of our horses into old age is important and not to be underestimated just because maybe we aren’t riding them anymore. Wear and tear on muscles over the years, joint/arthritic pain, poor posture can all be alleviated with regular massages and bodywork and improve flexibility in the muscles, joints and tendons.

A small price to pay when they give us so much.
🤍🦄✨🙌

17/05/2024

Did some CPD at the beginning of this week down in West Sussex at Healing Hands for Horses with Osteopath Louise Vernet.
Deep diving into the anatomy, biomechanics and dysfunction of the equine ribs and rib cage and the relationship with the rest of the body (including the feet!!) along with some techniques to help release and rebalance the structures.

Such a fantastic day! 🤓 with some more tools added to the toolbox to be able to help your horses as much as I can. ❤️🦄✨

10/05/2024

I think I like this little life 🤍🦄

Hoof trim and massage in the sun for Bella aka Small, helping her release the tension in her hamstrings and gluteal muscles today. I think she likes this little life too! 🫶🏻

08/05/2024

🦄 Northern clients 🦄

I highly recommend Rosie from Pony Talk Academy if you are looking to strengthen your relationship, learn new skills and do something a little bit different with your equine partners. 😃🙌🐎

🦄 Learn Liberty & tackless! 🦄

👩🏼‍🏫 Discounts available for yard and group bookings, riding school visits etc.

Beginner liberty/trick training/tackless riding lessons available in Manchester - Learn how to start communicating effectively with your horse/pony, how to start becoming attuned and improve your overall relationship. Improves ground manners and teaches skills that transfer to ridden work.

🐴 - All ages welcome! Starting to learn more about how to speak to your pony is an essential part of your horsemanship journey and will give you skills for life.

🐴 - Suitable for all horses. We can cater lessons to suit you and your horses needs and combat any issues you run into during ground/ridden work.

🐴 - A great aid for non horsey parents and first time pony owners to get a well rounded understanding of horse body language and common problems.

Message for details and to book.

17/04/2024

Post hoof trim releases for the gorgeous Sir Lancelot ✨🦄🤍