K.R.H Natural horse care

08/02/2025

Love it when we have a hay delivery.

07/02/2025

I love it when memories crock up on my page.
3 years ago today I did some training with Jaime and I remember learning so much.

28/01/2025

Briar is one of the most sensitive horses that I work with. I realised I've not posted much about Bri on here and that's purely because I'm so focused on us and the job at hand that I never document it.

Today I took a little video of the end of our session. Its of me, giving Briar a bit of Reiki before a little trim of his front hoof and then lots of scratches, which he adores!

He has been on my books the longest and on my first visit, he was terrified of me and my tools. After a bad past experience, Briar lost a lot of trust in having his feet handled and being trimmed. Slowly over the years I have worked with him and can now trim him. However it has been a roller coaster and we are still not there yet.
Through trial and error, I have found he prefers to be trimmed in his stable. I personally do not like trimming in stables but Briar, being so sensitive, can't handle being on the yard with so much going on. I need his attention and relaxation and the livery yard he is kept at is always busy.

So the stable it is. I also discovered he doesn't like feeling trapped. Sounds contradicting seeing as I just said I trim him in his stable, but what I mean is in holding his foot between my legs, he feels trapped. Instead I rest him on my knee which allows me to trim two handed still but allows him to move as soon as his feel tense. I give him lots of little breaks. And I mean A LOT but this enables me to get the job done quicker as he is more relaxed and willing.

I always offer Briar reiki at the start and through out our session. He loves it and it helps set the mood for the trim. I love working with Briar. It's so rewarding to see how far he has come.
Pictures of his feet in the comments.

27/01/2025

Here's a little before and after of Mattys feet. The top pics where taken in September (before a trim) and bottom pics from this evening (after a trim).

This is my 4th time trimming this super sweet and chill mare and as you can see, she has a stretched white line. Before I met Matty, she was suffering from laminitis. After she was diagnosed, her owner moved her onto a grass free track, on a hay only diet and she's doing a lot better. We should see the stretch grow out in the next couple of trims. She was also diagnosed with EMS, her owner is on top of this and has the vet out often to check her bloods.
It's so nice working with an understanding owner, who does her research and reading, and wants the very best for her horse.

I may have a little bit of a soft spot for Matty, knowing a bit about her history and how she was bred. Her father was a bit of a legend and he belonged to a friend of mine who passed away a while back. So to be trimming Matty is a bit of an honour for me 🥰

23/01/2025

Two big beautiful/handsome gingers I have the pleasure of trimming.
Meet Calvin and Freda.
Freda has been barefoot 2 and a half years and has some lovely big feet that grow nicely. Just a simple maintenance trim for Freeds.
Calvin has been barefoot 2 years and also has lovely strong feet.

I will get you some hoof pics next time when they are a little less muddy and we have a bit more day light!

21/01/2025

The horses are back on track and tucking into their haynets 🥰

How long for? The weather will decide that one. Today feels like spring 🥰

20/01/2025

Did you know when a horse requires a certain herb or plant it will come across to them as sweet so they will then proceed to eat what they need, when they have consumed enough the plant will turn bitter to taste for them to eat, that's how they know they've had enough!

Horses are truly amazing and we have so much to learn from them

18/01/2025

Evening trim for Dante' and Thumba.

(Excuse my messy fencing, in the process of sorting it all out 😅).

14/01/2025

Had a little apprentice help me today. 🥰
Such a cheeky boy

13/01/2025

Some fantastic news 🥳

As of February 10th, more weekday slots will be available for trimming. I'm leaving my part time job to focus solely on my trimming and paddock paradise livery.

Please get in touch if you are interested in either 🥰

13/01/2025

Did you know that a healthy white line should be between 2-4mm in width and off white to pale yellow in colour?

When a horse has Laminitis, this is what 'stretches' or 'separates'. Blood in the white line can also be confirmation of Laminitis.

Photo courtesy of Hoof Matters

10/01/2025

Cold clear sunny days are my favourites.

08/01/2025

Trust the process ☺️

08/01/2025

Lively evening ponies.

They currently have 3 hay stations while on the field. I love having a hill. Watching them plod on up to get their hard feed and zoom back down to see I've filled up the hay crates while they were busy munching their dinner. The water trough at the very top of the field and the hay at the bottom means they have to climb this hill a few times in a day.
So while they are not on track, I'm still trying to encourage movement.

06/01/2025

Interesting. We have these in the field and noticed the horses had been nibbling at them.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1GkerEcGoH/

Juncus Effusus
Horses start to nibble at the seed heads in autumn and happily eat the plant to the ground through Jan/ Feb, the nibbling started late this year as the grass has continued to grow through the early winter months.
Juncus Effusus is described as a tall soft rush grass, growing in large clumps about 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) tall in moist soil. It is commonly found growing in humus-rich areas like marshes, ditches and fens.
Full of important antioxidants (triterpenes) that are anti-depressants, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial, important for horses with cushings, abscesses, lethargy, muscle wastage and late coat shedding.
Has a high triterpene content all year round and high sugar content in Autumn and Winter this may not be suitable for some horses but for ours are out 24/7 in a challenging environment.
Great for oxidative stress damage in skin and hoof.
Contains high levels of vitamin e and magnesium.
Horses gather amongst the clumps to breathe in the volatile organic compounds released into the air. Juncus Effusus has a sour and pungent smell, stimulating relaxation through the release of hexanal and acetic acid.

05/01/2025

To begin prioritising our horse’s health, we must first resist isolating our horse’s emotional, mental and physical health from one another. I’m incredibly vocal about the importance of diet, movement and trim and the severity of their impact on their horse should they not be treated as equals in conjunction with one another. Before now, I’ve been asked to pick the most important of the three. Whilst I understand why this question might be asked, it’s important as an owner to understand the depths of which these three aspects of our horse’s lives cross over and directly affect the other.

Why?

The diet of your horse should be viewed as the foundational building block to their optimum health, supporting the horse from the ground up. I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying ‘no hoof, no horse’, which also applies to whatever forage or substance enters their body. Without a suitable diet, or what we call species appropriate, your horse has no steady foundation to build upwards from. Without the stability and consistency that a species appropriate diet provides, us owners not only pay the price with an empty wallet and a sky-high pile of vet bills, but our horse’s entire body suffers the consequences. From their skin to their hooves, mental clarity, performance, fitness and behaviour, an unsuitable diet can make or break of your horse’s wellbeing and if continued to go unchecked, can take their lives.

At this point, you must be thinking ‘well Maddie, it sounds like diet is the most important of the three’. Whilst I must continue to stress the importance of getting your horse’s diet right, diet is only one necessity. Therefore, I want to provide you with some examples that closely resemble some horses we have worked with in the past and the problems that arose in each scenario. I appreciate there will undoubtedly be some flaws in my scenarios but please bear with me and try and look at the whole picture and the possible problem areas that can arise from neglecting or restricting one area of care.

Scenario 1: A horse that is kept in a small woodchip pen and is fed adlib, netted meadow hay with no access to grass. This horse receives minimal exercise and light ridden work and is trimmed by a barefoot hoof care professional.

Scenario 2: A horse that is kept on a wide grass track system and is fed adlib, netted meadow hay. This horse receives exercise encouraged by their track system and is in light ridden work. They are also trimmed by a barefoot hoof care professional.

Scenario 3: A horse that is kept on a non-grass track system and is fed adlib, netted meadow hay. They receive exercise encouraged by their track system, are in light ridden work and are shod by a Farrier.

So, let’s break them down:

Scenario 1: This horse’s chances of getting Laminitis have been drastically lessened through removing their access to grass and providing them with a species appropriate diet though the likes high fibre source such as adlib, netted meadow hay. There should be no soundness issues solely related to diet or trim if they are correct, such as Laminitis, and this horse isn’t showing any signs of ulcers, anxiety or resource guarding issues commonly caused by restricting feed.

This horse is likely overweight and/or the owner struggles with their weight due to lack of movement. It is likely that this horse gets periods of stiffness, lacks muscle and has very little hoof growth between trim cycles due to a lack of hoof stimulation. Additionally, they may not receive much daily enrichment which could take a toll on them mentally.

Scenario 2: This horse achieves more movement than the horse in scenario 1 and therefore is most likely able to travel further, is fitter and more toned. The feet of this horse are stimulated throughout each day and remain allowed to function unrestricted. They are likely more mentally stimulated throughout the day with more room to move.

This horse is at much more of a risk of having Laminitis and potentially struggles with the likes of sub-clinical Laminitis, something that is extremely common for horses on grass. Depending on grass intake and other factors, the horse is also at risk of becoming metabolic despite increased exercise. An optimal amount of movement is still not achieved due to the horse most likely grazing for long periods of time. Despite more stimulation to the feet, the affects of grass may be contributing to poor hoof health.

Scenario 3: This horse achieves the most movement and is on a species appropriate diet, so the risk of Laminitis and EMS are drastically reduced. Having no access to grass and this horse walks from hay station to hay station, resulting in a good, manageable weight, defined muscles and increased fitness levels. They also have no resource guarding behaviours formed through restricted feed and remain mentally stimulated throughout the day.

This horse’s hoof mechanism is largely restricted and despite the increased movement, struggles with stiffness and strain further up the leg. This horse most likely has contracted heels, increasing the likelihood of thrush and heel pain caused through shoeing. They also have tight muscles, most likely their SI region, and have areas of soreness due to becoming unbalanced and compromising for the restricted hoof.

So, whilst there are a million and one potential variables that could influence any of these scenarios, I hope this demonstrates how compromising, neglecting or ignoring one particular aspect of their health could in fact result in or increase the risk and likelihood of our horses experiencing any one of these problems.

There is no prioritising diet over movement over trim if the goal is to facilitate optimum health and soundness.

Please let me know your thoughts and experiences

05/01/2025

Snow day