Queen of Hooves Equine Podiatry

30/05/2025

Keep a watchful eye on your equine friends please guys. Cornwall rating high on the growth scale after the little bit of rain we've had. With more sun due next week it's only going to escalate. Keep a close eye on pulses, any changes in stride or footiness. If in any doubt pop me a message and we can talk about it.

🌱UK LATEST GRASS GROWTH REPORTS🌱

A few days ago we warned that the combination of rain and sunshine could lead to accelerated grass growth. Whilst most will welcome this its a risk for LAMINITIS prone and COLIC prone horses and ponies as well as those trying to manage WEIGHT!

As you can see, the reports for the past week still show nationally grass growth way below average for this time of year!

However, CORNWALL is reporting rates for the past week not far off the UK average for this time of year. POWYS and STAFFORDSHIRE are also reporting rates in the mid 60 kg DM/ha/day. Most other regions are down around 40 kg DM/ha/day - around half the UK average for this time of year.

I expect we will see a big jump in the next report in 7 days time!

20/05/2025

One of the many bonuses of doing your own hoofcare is that you can take your time. Juno has never really been a fan of having his hooves done and by doing it little and often he was happy to stand today to have all 4 done at once.
As a reward he got first dibs on the new water buffet flavour beetroot.. 🤣

19/05/2025

Receiving messages like this really drives home my reason for becoming an EP. (Posted in the comments)

I want to help people make a difference.

I'm so fortunate to have some lovely clients who go the distance for their equine friends.

Here we can see the lovely Annie enjoying herself out hacking, marching across a surface that previously she would have avoided. But now, thanks to the dedication and hard work of her owner she has no issues with any surface..

This is my why, making a difference one equine at a time..

17/05/2025

For some people this photo would be a bad thing..
A lost shoe.. that's if you were lucky enough to find it.

But for my client from this morning, it signifies the beginning of a journey down a new road. One that is new to her, but a regular route for me.

I'm here to advise, morally support, physically remove the shoes and then, when the time is right trim the hooves.
But ultimately the decision to 'go barefoot' is one that needs to be made by the owner. Once they have researched, asked questions and sometimes asked for help.

It's not as simple as just taking the shoes off and that's it, you're barefoot.

It requires dedication and sometimes learning a whole new way of managing your best friend.
I'm looking forward to seeing how this handsome lad gets on, and enjoying being part of his journey.

If you are thinking about whether the barefoot option could work for your equine friend feel free to reach out. I'm always happy to help 😊

24/04/2025

When your daughter is just as hoof obsessed as you are.. she spends her time making a hoof related wordsearch for you to do between clients. 🦄

20/04/2025

Busy day on the Island yesterday. Started off with my favourite chestnut boy's kisses and seeing the amazing changes in his hooves.

Finishing with a new client and a boot fitting.

48 hooves trimmed and everyone's good to go for another 5 weeks. 😁

Thanks to the owners for allowing me to post their handsome gentlemen..

12/04/2025

There needs to be more said about this.. how much we CAN change the back of the foot..

If you look at your horse or ponies hooves and think there might be a problem feel free to ask me I'd be happy to help!

The back half of the foot is packed full of soft tissue (or it should be). This soft tissue is really important to the functioning of the hoof. It’s used in absorbing concussion, blood flow of the whole horse, and keeping the hoof shape.

If the frog is narrow, and the heels too close together then the soft tissue is weak.

The cool part is that soft tissue can improve really quickly when given the correct environment!

28/03/2025

Superb post from my lovely friend Kim Holden Equine Podiatry
This really isn't normal.. if you are noticing this then speak to whomever you hoofcare provider is and get on top of it.

23/03/2025

A lovely video from one of my clients today, enjoying her horse over lots of varied terrain on a hack, barefoot hooves doing a great job!

19/03/2025

Spring here we come..

Today is the last day of winter.. woohoo!

For some people it's a thankful feeling, that it's over, and the warmer, drier days are ahead..

But for others, me included, it's an oh no.. what will this year bring us.

Spring grass is a nightmare for those of us who have natives coming out of winter a little too plump! I can see in the rested part of my field that the grass is starting to grow now the days are longer.. there's also some coming through on the track.. which worries me.

I tend to change my management at this time of year, in fact have been building up to this change for a while.

In winter I tend to give the bulk of the forage (meadow haylage) to my herd late afternoon / evening time as it helps to keep them warm overnight.
We all know what I think about Forage = Fire!

Now the grass is here I prefer for them to have the bulk in the morning time, as this stops them from getting too keen on the freshly grown - sometimes, still frosty grass that's popping up!

I'm planning on spending the day tomorrow extending my track as well, for 2 reasons. One is to rest and treat more of my land, being on ex farmland it could do with some tlc to keep it tip top. And the other is to increase the distance between resources for my herd..

Having seen them frequently hammering around the track I know full well that they know where everything is, so I have no concerns extending it. It also means they have a more natural environment to be in where they have to cover more ground to access things..

I'll soon be putting the haylage out on the track rather than in the barn, so this again helps to keep them moving, rather than parking in the barn.

I'll be closely monitoring my herd, (as usual) over the coming weeks to ensure they aren't showing any signs of inflammation. If some start showing signs I'm not keen on, they'll be spending a bit more time off the grass but with constant forage access instead.

I'm fortunate to have the facilities to be able to have them ‘off the grass’ but still in a herd environment with space to move, play and forage as naturally as possible.

Next week we will be looking at forms of enrichment for those of us who are considering more stable / yard time to avoid the grass!
Next weeks post will be Spring tip Saturday!

If you are struggling and worrying about the change in season please reach out, I'm happy to advise on dietary and management changes to help tackle this tricky time!

13/03/2025

What a fantastic evening I've had! Hoping everyone who came enjoyed themselves.

Look out for info on the next one!

12/03/2025

This week’s Winter Wednesday is all about preparing for Spring!

Have you been having the lovely sunshine that we have in Cornwall? It’s been a real taste of what’s to come!

The grass has started growing in my field, and I’m already thinking about how I’m going to reduce the access to that nice fresh grass. Most of my herd are natives ergo extremely good doers. They live on a grass track all year round with access to forage at all times.

I’ve just purchased some more fence posts so I can extend the centre of my track so they have further to go, and less grass to access.

Another way to restrict grazing would be to strip graze, I often recommend this if you aren't able to track. I like to have a ‘chaser’ fence, so you are allowing the ground behind you to rest as well, best of both worlds! This helps to limit the fresh grass that your horse can access, but also helps to rest the ground so the sugary grass has a chance to recover.

If you can give your horses access to a yard or grass free area for a period of time each day and give them forage such as hay or haylage this is another useful method. Mine frequent the barn regularly, especially when it gets warmer as that’s where their water supply and shade is.

If you don’t have any of these options available to you, then stabling can be used. Although it is my least favourite option, with restrictions on livery yards you need to do what you can. As long as you can provide your horse with forage whilst they are stabled and they have access to turnout daily it can be manageable.

All of this is only really relevant depending on what type of grass you have in your fields. If you have access to varied meadow grasses that is ideal. However if like me you are on ex dairy pasture then you need to find a work around to give your horse what they require.

Forage, friends and freedom.

If you find you are struggling with how to tackle the worry this Spring feel free to reach out, I might have an idea or suggestion you haven’t thought of.