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.