Anna's Mobile Hoof Trimming

01/01/2024

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year. 🎉🙂 Thank you to all my clients who allow me to do something each day that I truly enjoy! I'm excited to see what the new year brings! 🐴💗💗

12/31/2023

5 horses ready and waiting for their pedicure. Out of the mud, lower legs cleaned and hooves picked! This absolutely makes my day and I appreciate the effort their owner makes every visit!

12/22/2023

A little piggy action. 🐷🙂

12/14/2023

What a year 2023 has been! Thank you to all my clients who kept me busy all year.
I have a few changes for the new year. Changes will begin 2-1-24. Please read. 🙂

All maintenance trims are going to a flat rate of $50 be it a mini, pony or horse. Sorry, I do not offer services to draft horses. This will only affect those of you who are not already at this rate.
I've recently taken a few hits from minis which has made me realize that although they might have a smaller hoof to trim, their small stature puts me in a more vulnerable position and their size also makes trimming them a bit more tricky. Kneeling to standing multiple times and often trimming one handed amongst other things. I know I can make it look effortless but it's from lots of practice. 😉

The other update which will likely only affect new rehab clients is that any visit that is not routine will be charged by the hour. I've learned what I currently charge for those types of visits doesn't equate to what I charge for a routine visit.

So for most stops nothing will change unless you have a mini/pony. Sugar here says Thank you for understanding! 🙂❤️🐎

12/13/2023

This!! Check for fillers. I often hear "but that supplement is expensive." Sure but you're not paying for a bunch of crap the horse doesn't need and are actually getting the beneficial ingredient in high enough amounts to actually do something.
Don't always just focus on the price. The ingredients, amounts of active ingredients and feed rates are where it counts.

Check those labels and do a bit of math!!! 🙂🙂

𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 - 𝘄𝘄𝘄.𝗠𝘆𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲.𝗰𝗼𝗺

You open the bag of supplements and the smell of freshly baked bread waifs from the bag. It smells so good that you wonder if people can eat it. Surely your horse will be interested in this joint supplement.

So how much does it “really” cost to have the fillers in the bag? After all, my horse already gets a “bucket” of soaked pellets or beet pulp to carry the supplements.

Labels can be confusing – and for a reason. Servings in grams, sold in lbs, active ingredients in milligrams, number of days… How do you make sense of it?
How much of active ingredients are actually in the supplement? And what are the “inactive ingredients”? Does the supplement contain alfalfa meal, flax seed, rice bran, sunflower seed meal, wheat middlings? Is the amount of the ingredients significant?

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩?
A popular joint supplement (Supplement A) has a feeding rate of 60 grams per day. It has 4 ingredients – MSM, glucosamine, chondroitin sulfate, hyaluronic acid. When you add up the amount in each serving, you get a total of 20 grams of active supplement. This means that 33% of Supplement A is supplement and 67% of the supplement is filler and binder. This means that you are paying full price per lb for 67% of the supplement being alfalfa meal or wheat middlings.

Let’s take another example of joint supplement (Supplement B) has a feeding rate of 1/2 ounces (14 grams) per day and consists of hyaluronic acid in the powder form. It contains the fillers of dextrose and powdered sugar. The amount of HA in this serving is 100 milligrams. 25 ounces for 50 days costs $100. So for the 50 days, I would be paying $100 for 5 grams of HA and 695 grams of powdered sugar. Compare that to My Best Horse HA, which is $2.90 for 5 grams – without any powdered sugar.

𝙄𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨?
Some popular supplements contain insufficient amounts of the active ingredients. An example is amino acids. It’s common knowledge that many hays lack sufficient limiting amino acids, such as lysine, methionine, and threonine. But does the supplement contain sufficient amounts of those limiting amino acids? Supplement C was investigated to analyze two of these amino acids. The amount per serving of lysine was 1.4 grams. The recommended amount should be closer to 10 grams. The amount of methionine was about 0.3 grams, with the recommended amount closer to 3 grams. It’s clear from looking at this supplement that there isn’t enough of those amino acids to be the only supplement source for them.

𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙄 𝙗𝙪𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩?
This is where the cost/benefit analysis comes into play. Ask yourself these questions:
* Do I feed a tasty bucket that can easily blend in the supplement that I choose?
* Do I have a picky eater that turns her nose up at anything I try to give?
* Am I willing to pay the cost for the filler, which can be quite tasty?
* Do I need to have something easy for the barn to feed?

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜?
1. Look for the inactive ingredients. Does it say alfalfa meal, flax seed, rice bran, sunflower seed meal, or wheat middlings? These are inexpensive items that add bulk and palatability to the supplement.
2. Is there enough of the ingredients that you are wanting to supplement? Sometimes the math can get a bit tricky, but it’s worth the time to look into it. At the very least, KNOW what you are paying and why.
3. Am I willing to pay the price for the tastiness and/or convenience of the supplement?

We try our best to take care of our horses. 𝘽𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚.

12/11/2023

Merry Christmas to me. Bandaids included so they are hopefully as sharp as they claim!

12/10/2023

I did a couple of rough markups on this radiograph.

Yellow arrow- look at the joint space -it’s thinner at the arrow head compared to the space further back which is wider. It’s showing pinching in that joint.

The red line shows the ski tip - on the end of the coffin bone showing bone loss.

The blue line shows a super straight coffin bone- showing bone loss. These look so flat when you look at them once they are processed with little to no concavity.

12/07/2023

Omg!! 🤩😍 are these not just the cutest little boots!!
My little mini Sugar is going to look darling in them and studs can be added to help with traction in the snow when pulling the sleigh.

12/07/2023

Had a fun one but you only get a before picture for now 🤣🤦‍♀️. He was a bit spicy and he decided he needed to be trimmed in the barn where lighting wasn't ideal for an after picture.
I always wonder what these guys (donkeys) go through to make them defensive over hoof handling? Patience and perseverance paid off though once again and I was able to trim him without force or restraints.
I looked forward to his next trim!

12/04/2023

Ice and snow packs... BIG and small please remove them all. Sometimes they pop right out and other times they need to be chiseled out. ***Please help me by removing them prior to my arrival.*** They make it very difficult for a horse to stand as they teeter back and forth on them.
Here's the catch. When they are cleaned out before my arrival, most times the hooves pack back full while they wait to be trimmed. See pictures. If at all possible have an area set up on pavement, stall mats, a large scrap piece of carpeting or shovel the snow away from where they are waiting to prevent snow from packing back into the hoof.
An area free of snow also allows me to set a hoof down to check for balance without having to worry about it packing back full. My rasp also works more efficiently when not getting clogged by snow and filings.
Removing ice from hooves all day especially when they don't pop out clean is very straining on 1 person. I appreciate the effort you put in to have hooves clean and ready to be worked on.
The claw on the back of a hammer works really well to chip the ice chunks out. Usually a few gentle taps are all that's needed.
As always thank you. 🙂🙂🙂🌨️❄️☃️⛄

11/30/2023

Ridges and ripples in the hoof wall tell a story and generally are not something we want to see. The hoof wall should be smooth and free of them and I encourage owners to pay attention to it!
In this case, this ridge coincides with about the time he sustained an injury and was on antibiotics and stall rest.

11/29/2023

Interesting read. You would think with how much of a coat they grow that they wouldn't be as susceptible to the weather. Shelter from wind and rain is even more important to a donkey than what a horse might need.

Donkeys are not well suited to cold, wet environments and need extra protection in the winter, new research has found. The findings have been incorporated into the UK's updated Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Code of Practice for the welfare of horses, ponies, donkeys and the...

11/29/2023

This is what the term "hoof rehab" means to me. What does it mean to you?

11/23/2023

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone. I'm forever grateful to all my clients!! 🦃🦃❤️❤️🙂

11/22/2023

Scheduling is one of my absolute least favorite parts of the job. It requires taking the schedules of several different people and making it all come together for 1 day. It can be daunting at times so I wanted to share this.
When I ask for all available days and times for a given week this makes my day. Literally each day they have shown what works or doesn't work for them. I appreciate this so much!!!!!

What makes it difficult is when I'm given 1 day and 1 time as an option.

11/21/2023

This doesn't happen often but I'm accepting a limited number of clients around the Gleason/Merrill area.
Specializing in donkeys but I also trim horses, minis and mules.

11/20/2023

The effort you put in does not go unoticed! 🙂

As a kid, I rode show hunters, and back then most of them were off-the-track Thoroughbreds–notorious for their shelly, thin feet and the tendency to lose a ...

11/17/2023

Might your equine have subclinical laminitis? Individual help is just a click away when you join our free outreach group on groups,io: https://bit.ly/2DzMqzw. Visit our website for additional information: http://bit.ly/2GFhZY4

11/14/2023

Well worth the read!
It is saddening to hear out of all the things to remember from a convention, it was the number of people blaming their farrier for issues.

I had such an amazing time at Equine Affaire MA, and met thousands (yes, literally thousands!) of awesome horse owners wanting to chat about hooves, track systems, pathologies and lameness, and even possible podcast guests. To all of you I was able to meet- thanks for stopping by! I enjoyed talking to each and every one of you; it’s always so fun to meet more hoof geeks ☺️

There was one thing I noticed, that irked me a little, when talking to some dealing with lameness issues, and I’ve been mulling on it a few days thinking about whether to write a post on it. Well here we are.

As people would come up to browse at the Doppelhoof or a cadaver limb or Paige Poss’ anatomy books, Vova or I would ask if they’re dealing with hoof issues. Most would say yes, some would say no. But some would say, “no, I’m dealing with farrier issues.”

When expanding on that comment, there seemed to be a lot of people convinced that 100% of their horse’s issues were due to the farrier’s [trim, shoe job, etc].

Now let’s get this out of the way - are there uneducated hoofcare pros out there? Sure. Are there people who need to do more continuing education and learn more latest research? Of course. Are there newer hoofcare pros who need more time and practice to hone their skill? Always.

Looking at pictures of my own trims from 8 years ago and I shake my head.

But for every comment made about “this farrier just ruined my lame horse’s feet,” I can only imagine the other side of the story… the hoofcare pro saying, “I tried for months with every tool in my toolbox to get this horse sound and we just couldn’t figure him out…” or “Even just a super conservative trim had this horse walking off sore,” or “the feet didn’t respond in any way they were supposed to when we did [XYZ].” Or even “that horse had a metabolic related founder that wasn’t being controlled and nothing I did could get the feet in line.”

There is not one person who wakes up in the morning and sets out to “ruin feet” or lame horses. We all set out to do the best job we can with the knowledge we have at the time. Most of us got into this profession because of a lame horse or a desire to help other horses, and there will always be a time that we come to a horse that doesn’t fit the textbook.

Now sometimes is that knowledge insufficient? Sure. Sometimes does a horse need someone with a different set of skills or experience? Of course. That’s true across the board. We all have our comfort zone and strengths and weaknesses. Some are more comfortable with certain disciplines of performances horses. Some thrive working on founder and laminitic cases. Others love navicular puzzles. Some are just happy doing maintenance work and keeping horses sound that way.

Not to mention that sometimes, it’s not anything the farrier is doing or not doing that is causing issue. A metabolic problem or incorrect diet can cause excessive toe growth. A founder/rotation case most often grows a ridiculous amount of heel. Foundered minis can grow literal Coke can stilts.

All of those issues are controlled with proper diagnosis, diet and management, but can sure make a hoofcare provider look silly when that management isn’t in place.

Now, I’m not trying to let hoofcare pros off the hook and I’m not trying to throw owners under the bus.

I just would love owners to open a dialogue with their hoofcare pro about what they see, but also be willing to listen if that pro is thinking there is something else going on.

The amount of pictures I saw this weekend where an issue like a long toe or high heel was blamed on a farrier but the pictures strongly suggested rotation, or metabolic issues, with chronic event lines, flare, and deviation from growth at the coronary band is just one example.

Now owners- this doesn’t invalidate your experience with your hoofcare pro. You should work with someone you are comfortable with (and believe me when I say, we only want to work with people who trust us and are comfortable with us. It limits our compassion fatigue and burn out and makes our job much more enjoyable!).

But just remember that we all have the same common goal. We want to help horses. We want to see our horses sound and comfortable. If you come at conversations that way, it will go better than the “blaming” route.

11/14/2023

Even the young ones are capable of being trimmed at liberty. Although, we need to be mindful of a young horses inexperience, I hear far too many people making excuses for their behavior because of their age. Then before they know it, they have a 5 or 6 year old who never progressed in its abilities and still acts like a baby. Increase the expectations because 9 times out of 10 they can do it. 👏🙂❤️
Leroy is here showing how it's done. I trimmed my whole herd at liberty today.
🚫 now please don't expect your farrier to do this 🤪😉 we still need to stay safe.

11/12/2023

I missed filming her first hoof and the process they (most donkeys) go through when they are unsure about being trimmed but I feel these videos are still beneficial to watch. She took about 2 minutes of reassurance with pressure and release before I was even able to touch her 1st hoof but here's where my patience paid off.
You can hopefully pick up on her still being a little unsure yet but willing when given the chance.
No need to snub or manhandle them.

11/11/2023

Follow up to yesterday's post regarding Navicular.
I cringe every time I look back at these pictures which show the traditional way to manage it with wedge shoes.
There is so much new information and new data to show what is causing the pain that I can only hope we will see a shift in management sooner than later.
Bo has been out of work and carefully managed since his diagnosis to allow him to heal. This has been a long road but one that has taught me so much and given us our horse back.
Again, if you are looking for more information on how I managed him and rehabbed him, head over to the Humble Hoof FB page or podcasts!

11/11/2023

Those of us who are interested in hooves often pay quite a bit of attention to the information that is shared about hoof pathologies.. sometimes to our dismay. When it comes to laminitis, I often see quite a bit of MISinformation swirling around - especially on social media. Comments on everything from diagnosis, to treatments, to future prevention or even prognosis can end up twisting the facts or even perpetuating outright incorrect information.

This past September, the NAEP held their Saratoga Vet & Farrier Conference, and much of it was focused on laminitis. Dr. Andrew Van Eps spent quite a bit of time presenting on updated research and things we have learned in the world of equine laminae within the last few years.

If you haven't heard Dr. Van Eps' previous episode discussing laminitis basics - definitely stop and review that (the last episode from two weeks ago). Then come back here and dive in to some myth-busting and fact-checking on laminitis!

The entire conversation can be heard on any podcast app under "The Humble Hoof," or directly at this link: https://thehumblehoof.com/2023/11/10/laminitis-myth-busting-and-fact-checking/

Thank you to our amazing sponsors:

Equithrive offers supplements for everything from metabolic health to joint support – get 20% off your first order at equithrive.com with code HUMBLEHOOF

Cavallo Hoof Boots is offering 20% off a pair of Trek hoof boots at cavallo-inc.com with code HRN

And special shout out to Grid as New, Mud Control Grids – they are a game changer for any mud issues, big or small! – mudcontrolgrids.com

11/11/2023

Back in 2019 or 2020 Bo was diagnosed with Navicular based on xrays and a nerve block to the hoof that resolved his pain. 2 years ago I started a barefoot rehab journey with him and over this summer I thought several times about putting him back in work because the toe jabbing was gone and he was moving better but he still sometimes showed lameness at the trot. Yesterday, I had him looked at again by the vet and had another nerve block done. I'm happy to report the lameness is no longer stemming from the hoof. He has some scar tissue around the fetlock that seems to be the culprit.
There were many times over the last 2 years that I thought about giving up but the research I've done encouraged me to keep at it.

If you have a horse with Navicular I highly recommend delving into The Humble Hoof Podcasts. Alicia has extensive knowledge on rehabbing these horses and her podcasts contain information from experts all over the world.

11/09/2023

The Digital Hoof Rehab Guide book is 50% off. Go download your copy!

11/06/2023