Kelly Brown Equine Podiatrist

18/11/2024

I have a giant box full of hoof care goodies here from the AMAZING who never fail to be thoughtful and generous and incredibly kind when it comes to horses who need them. I asked them if they would like to contribute something to a little raffle, to raise money for this christmas. I was praying for a winter care kit, but in typical Red Horse style they sent me two of those, plus two sole saver kits, two artimuds and two hoof stuffs. No way!! 🙏🏼🙌🏼

SO! If you would like to win any of these items (and your chances aren’t bad because i have a finite number of owners to see in the next 5 weeks), just pop your donation in my collection tin and I’ll add your name to the hat. I’ll send this post to everybody with their appointment reminder (no pressure/obligation), and will do the draw on new year’s day. Good luck! And thanks as always for your custom and your support 😊

17/11/2024

Here is a photo of my horse, Ollie who was pts a few years ago. He was sunbathing when i took this photo, and he looks happy, maybe even smiling. Ollie had a number of degenerative and chronic conditions. He had navicular, liver failure, his pelvis was extremely weak. The list was pretty long. He had his better days and he had his not so great days. To a stranger, or a fellow livery he might have seemed perfectly healthy. Big, shiny, mobile, with a great appetite. He might be the last horse in the world you thought would be pts. But MY choice for him was to not wait until to the bitter end. His last summer was a reasonably comfortable one. He wasn’t thrashing in the mud, too weak to get up. He wasn’t on four bute a day. He wasn’t stiff as a board in the mornings or reluctant to eat. He had a peaceful and comfortable last day, with a belly full of carrots and apples at the end of summer.

So what am I getting at? Well - I would ask that if you know someone who chooses to let their horse go “too soon”, please respect their wishes. A decision such as this is incredibly hard and emotional for the owner, and i know because i’ve been there. I have several customers who in recent weeks have let their beloved horse go.

”He seems fine, you’re making the wrong decision”, or “I wouldn’t let my horse go until he told me it was time”, isn’t helpful or constructive. Please be kind to one another, and don’t make things harder than they need to be. Much love to anyone who ever lost a horse, and much respect to those who chose a day too soon over a day too late ♥️

You guys have my support, and i can only hope that others will follow your brave and selfless lead.

17/11/2024

Spent today with a farrier, on a ride-along/shadowing day. She totally let me borrow her shoe pullers 🤗

I wish more people would shake hands and learn from each other. Thanks so much for today, and hopefully it won’t be the last 🙏🏼

15/11/2024

Everybody knows by now I’m a massive fan of The Last Ark Orphanage over in Uruguay, and a few people have asked me this week if i’ll be doing another collection this year. The short answer is YES!

As an added incentive, the guys over at (my favourite hoof care brand) have very kindly sent me a goody bag. So, anybody who contributes to the collection will go into the hat for the chance to win some Red Horse products.

and co do an astounding job of keeping a herd of horses with horrendous pasts safe and healthy, but their care costs money. If this is an organisation you are unfamiliar with, visit their instagram page or watch Ben Fogle’s New Lives In The Wild Uruguay, and please empty your pockets to help some beautiful and deserving orphans to thrive 🫶🏼

13/11/2024

The happiest cat I ever met. 😸🫶🏼

12/11/2024

Hind hoof belonging to a nice little cob 🫶🏼

09/11/2024

This hoof looks generally more relaxed than it did in 2023, but the sole depth and concavity as well as wall thickness/quality have improved a lot too.

09/11/2024

It’s quite amazing how the body can heal, given the opportunity, and there are nine days between the first and last photos.

I won’t apologise for the gore because at some point or other most horse keepers will encounter hoof abscesses, though thankfully they aren’t usually as damaging as this one.

It’s still seeping fluid, and is dressed daily with a nappy, gaffer tape and a hoof boot to keep it clean and absorb any leaking fluid. She’s had a course of antibiotics from the vet, and her system has done an incredible job of generating repair tissue.

It’s so important to involve your vet in cases like this. Thankfully she was seen by the vet before it even blew.

Please note also that this horse only came under my care nine days ago, and i’m limited on how much I can trim the foot while she’s still so sore (so please don’t bother critiquing the flare/trim).

Really pleased she’s heading in the right direction now 💪🏼

07/11/2024

Nice tidy hoof belonging to a warmblood.

04/11/2024

Normally I would expect these kind of changes after 3 or 4 trims. When I say changes I mean the heel decontraction and the much rounder heel bulbs. But Lester has only been out of shoes four weeks so I was surprised and pleased today to see these improvements. He’s been in boots and therapy pads on hard surfaces every day, both in hand and ridden, and it shows.

“Pressure stimulates growth” is what my tutor told me a thousand times. And of course she was right. If your horse is tentatively pottering down the lane once or twice a week, constantly favouring the verges his progress will be very slow, and possibly miserable. If your horse is striding out comfortably/heel first every day in boots and pads, his progress will be faster.

Don’t skip the therapy boots if your horse needs them. Comfort over cost. Ask Lester 👌🏽

04/11/2024

This is Bob, owned by a teenager, Elliot. I was called out to young Bob because he’d come from a driving background, and was terrified of the farrier. Wouldn’t even take treats from him… so they tried a female farrier which didn’t make much difference. And then Elliot, just like Daisy started thinking outside of the box. She figured I smell different to a farrier because I don’t hot shoe. She told me before I touched Bob how she finds he responds best… eg don’t f***y around stroking each leg before asking for the foot, and just nipper because he’s reactive to the rasp.

She used feed to pacify him because hay wasn’t enough. He was allowed the feed as long as i was touching him. Once that was established, he let me nipper all four feet without much incident, but the rasp was absolutely out of the question. I know a couple of horses who strongly dislike the vibration of the rasp so that’s a fair objection. I gave Elliot an old rasp and asked her to practice regularly with the fine side (which vibrates less) before his next trim.

Today was Bob’s second trim, and honestly, the first few minutes he was running around in circles terrified. We re-established that he could eat pellets while I was touching him. He stood like a rock while I nippered and then went back around with the rasp. No incidents 🩶

So, it seems to me, that finding the right person, doing homework between visits and most importantly speaking up for your horse makes a huge difference. I’m so happy to see traditional horsemanship being turned on its head by young people whose horses are not the rosette winning machines, but the friend worth nurturing.

Fantastic job Elliot. Thank you for listening to Bob. I love his moustache 🫶🏼🩶

02/11/2024

Follow the tubules. If you find them hard to spot, look at the black stripes for guidance. They will show you the angle of the new growth. In this case the heels were underrun, but have come more upright since her shoes came off.

02/11/2024

Four months out of shoes, and the digital cushion is much bigger now. The heels are more upright, and the hairline is very different. I suspect her pedal bones are at a better angle now. Still a way to go but I’m very happy with these changes.

01/11/2024

This is an abscess blow hole. A big one. Last night there was a blow hole in the back of the frog that was draining nicely, but the dorsal coronet band was super inflamed and painful. I trimmed the foot, wrapped it in a nappy and duct tape, and went back tonight with hoof boots and pads to help with comfort. Her abscess has blown out of the coronet band too since the trim, so she’s much more mobile today but understandably too sore to have her other feet trimmed. Hopefully next week everything will have drained and dried up, and she’ll be back out with her friends.

01/11/2024

No hoof photos today, but this is Annie. You may have seen a post a few weeks ago about an inspirational teenager named Daisy, who has spent the time since meeting Annie just bonding and building trust. Annie has been nervous and needs plenty of time and space, especially with her feet.

I went back to trim Annie for the second time last week, and she had moved across the road to a different yard but with horses she knows. Unfortunately Annie was distracted and by all accounts didn’t feel safe in this new environment when I got there. So rather than give her a bad experience we waited. Twice a day, sometimes more she’s been brought in to the new yard with some friends and some hay, and had her feet picked out by amazing Daisy. So when I arrived today, it wasnt such a strange place and she stood like a pro. She’s a little hesitant to keep the left fore up, but we did everything we needed to safely and quietly.

Thank God for those good people out there who give horses the time and space that they need. I think Daisy would make a fantastic farrier or trimmer. Today she asked me to trim the hinds first, and leave the foot she’s most unsure about until last. She was right to do that (and brave! We all know a hcp who doesn’t want to be told how to do their job). Anyway it all went smoothly. They both did great today 🫶🏼

26/10/2024

22/10/2024

They say he’s a Dales pony. I say he’s got Friesian feet.