TrulyTrust Equine

17/10/2024

Brand new, FREE downloadable guide to help you on your journey towards a horse with strong, healthy and pain free hooves. We all want a horse who is able to walk comfortably over any terrain, but it's often difficult to know where to begin, or to figure out what we are missing when we don't achieve the results we want to.

This guide gives you a place to start, teaching you 10 things you can do today to help your horse. Various topics such as trimming, environment and proprioception is discussed showing you how important a holistic approach is.

Link to get your:

https://trulytrustequine.thinkific.com/products/digital_downloads/buildingstronghooves-guide?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabY00LXCkeOFK7dDj1XxiGaPbz8r6Ekncd6m0nxSHpX8xokVLmIj2Hwd3k_aem_3xuyRz1_BZZBTD866qtqeA

13/05/2024

What a lovely before and after trim photo of this miniature horse's hoof. I love seeing such a quick improvement after just one trim. Better and healthier hoof angle, and now we got much better hoof-pastern alignment as well. Less tension on those tendons and ligaments, and a more comfortable mini. It's a good day when you can help a horse feel better

27/02/2024

Club foot rehab alert! What an amazing transformation this hoof has gone through over the last couple of years. The owner and I were both surprised by the latest changes as it seems the hoof is starting to relax, expand and is now growing at a more normal angle.

You'll see the large difference in width of the hoof when looking at the sole view photo, and the difference in the angle of the horn tubules in the back of the hoof when looking at the side view photo.

This hoof was never forced down by lowering the heels, I actually took little heel and worked with a longer heel measurement. I had to work carefully to find the sweet spot, lowering the hoof enough to improve balance but not too much to avoid putting too much strain on the tendons. Now the hoof is starting the heal and we're all excited for the future of this horse.

19/02/2024

A big shout out to Louisa from Truly Trust Equine for trimming our horses' hooves for free and for working with so much passion and excellence! Thank you for your advice when we need it and for always being willing to help and assist.

Contact Louisa for your horses' hooves or nutritional needs!

Louisa: 081 820 9970

11/01/2024

Happy new year everybody! TrulyTrust is back trimming hooves and improving lives. What a lovely way to start the new year, with this pony's hooves in a much better state than before. It sure took a while to achieve this but thanks to owners who were incredibly dedicated, soaking the hooves to soften it so that we could remove build up sole, treating infection, providing much needed minerals and sticking to a strict trim schedule we have made excellent progress. While my job is important, so is that of the owner in between trim schedules. It's only when we work together that we achieve the best results.

21/12/2023

Cheers to a great year! Thank you to everyone who supported and trusted me during 2023. I simply loved helping people and their horses and seeing all of the wonderful improvements. I wish everyone an early merry christmas and happy new year.

Please note I will be on holiday till the 8th of January and will only then be replying to business messages and emails.

14/12/2023

Last visit to this mare for the year and I'm thrilled with what we've accomplished so far! Earlier this year the vet deemed laminitis the most likely diagnosis and since then we've been working at getting this mare happy and pain-free again.

Supplements to support her body through the process, including minerals and herbs, and then of course a strict trimming schedule with a appropriate trimming plan and the results speak for themselves.

The owner did an excellent job, she gave the horse the supplements she needed for healing, kept to the trimming schedule, and soaked the hooves so I was able to trim everything I needed to.

With a detailed plan we started seeing results quickly. You can see the new growth in June and the two very different angles of hoof wall that is present. Its great to see this. It truly makes my job worthwhile

27/10/2023

Some before and after donkey hooves for you today. It's always satisfying doing such a big trim and seeing improvement instantly. Now there are still quite a few things I would like to make improvements too and I would also like to take a bit more hoof in the next trim (a bit more heel and toe) but I'm happy with what was accomplished today. It's always so interesting trimming donkey hooves because the same principles apply when trimming their hooves compared to trimming horses, but the shape is a bit different as well as the angles of their hooves which has to be taken into account. Did you know that donkey hooves naturally have a higher angle compared to horses? It's thus important not to trim their heels too short but also to keep the toe in check.

16/10/2023

I love seeing horses in rehab making excellent progress. This mare is in rehab for laminitis and doing very well. Some minor changes in her diet along with a good trimming plan has led to new growth and a lot less pain. I'm excited to see these hooves a year down the road.

Laminitis is a terrible condition but there is hope with the help of a professional if you seek help early enough. The most important thing is to act fast and get help, don't try and face it alone.

10/10/2023

11/09/2023

First time we were able to Smokey's Hooves with out a fight, massive stress and trauma.

Hooves are something that has to be done. Belive it or not but some people never teach their horses to be calm through the proses of trimming.

If a horse has this level of fear for getting their feet done, one can't help but wonder what they have been through.

This situation can be dangerous and very unpleasant. This is why when ever we get horses in who struggle with the "basics", we in the work to solve this issue permanently so that even if this horse finds a new yard or home, I know in my heart they will experience much less stress.

I want to make a difference in each and every horses life I come across. No matter how small.

Smokey will soon be less stressy depressy about her hooves.

Thank you to TrulyTrust Equine Louisa for always working with me through the toughest of horses. Your patience is inspiring.

Phoenix Rising Equestrian Centre

31/08/2023

Another fantastic rehab! This was an interesting case, let me tell you a bit about it.

The owner and I quickly realised early in the rehab process that we would have to take a holistic approach since simply trimming the hooves wasn't working. We had to address 3 main factors:

1) The hooves: It became clear that this horse had a bit of a faulty conformation, causing her to wear her hooves down unevenly and creating major imbalances. This had to be corrected every trim and we had to keep a tight trim schedule. It also took a few tries to find the perfect trim for her, conformation can be tricky and the horses don't always respond the same way to the same trim. But after several videos, photos and evaluations we found what worked best for her.

2) Mineral imbalances in the diet: Some key minerals were missing in her diet, leading to weaker hooves growing. This had to be addressed so we could see stronger growth and hooves that were more resistant to infections since she was also dealing with some early white line disease.

3) Environment: With the imbalances and early white line disease the environment played a large role in her recovery. While at a stable yard where she was stabled overnight and had access to only small paddocks her hooves took a turn for the worse, but after the owner moved her to a livery yard where she lived out 24/7 in large paddocks there was a quick change in her hoof health and she made progress a lot faster.

The photos show the incredible change in the hooves (eventhough it's not perfect yet). I truly believe that if all 3 of these factors weren't addressed, that we wouldn't have made the progress that we did.

07/06/2023

Just finished another progress report for a client and I'm so happy with our progress thus far. Sometimes upright hooves are simply due to an imbalance within the hoof. Once you correct the imbalance, remove the excess hoof wall and trim to restore function to the hoof, then you'll see improvement. And most upright hooves have a strong foundation and they tend to restore faster than hooves that are run forward and at a low angle, which means you see results quickly.

Loving the progress of this arabian mare within only a few months.

24/03/2023

Ever wondered which areas I travel to for trimming? While I mainly work in Bloemfontein I do occasionally travel to other areas. Please note though that additional travel costs will apply to all other areas outside of Bloemfontein, and it will be cheaper if you can get a small group of horse owners together in your area.

Feel free to contact me for more information regarding barefoot trimming and costs.

11/03/2023

Remember this horse? I'm so happy with our progress so far. This horse had terribly overgrown hooves, and we discovered signs of severe laminitis when I cut into the hooves and laminar serum along with blood could be seen.

On top of the laminitis there were severe imbalances as can be seen in the photos, and this specific hoof had more than one abscess exit wound. Since Oct 2022 we've been working monthly to see improvement. I'm so happy with the progress! Future plans is a new custom diet that I'll be doing and I'm confident we'll see further improvement.

Stay tuned for more photos from this rehab.

P.S the photo shows before first trim, after first trim (in Oct) and after yesterday's trim.

01/03/2023

There's this common believe that if your horse is not working, then his hooves don't need to be trimmed regularly. I come across this notion daily, where "pasture pets" aren't nearly given the same attention as competitive horses.

Look, in certain areas you can afford to spend a little less if your horse is not working, but hooves aren't one of them, UNLESS the environment your horse lives in allows for the hooves to naturally wear down.

Hooves need to be trimmed regularly to prevent them from becoming painful. When the hooves become overgrown there are a few serious risks:

• The hooves often start chipping and breaking off. This runs the risk of infections creeping in which can lead to lameness if it worsens, it also compromises hoof strength. Worse even, you run the risk of the hoof breaking into live tissue! That's what happened to the horse in this photo (please note that the owner of this horse did keep the horse on a 6 week trim schedule, and this can happen to any horse, BUT the risk sky rockets when the hooves aren't trimmed regularly).

• If the hooves don't break you run a different list of risks. Then you may see run forward heels, stretched white line, stretched sole and worse case... laminitis. Yes I've seen that too. Devastating to tell the owner their beloved horse has laminitis and you can show them the blood in the hooves.

• Upper body issues and risk of injury to the tendons also increases if the hooves aren't trimmed regularly (or correctly for that matter).

These risks, especially the latter increases if the horse doesn't have the best conformation or if the hooves don't wear down evenly.

Early in my horsemanship journey I made the mistake of not taking care of my horses' hooves. Please don't make the same mistakes I did back then. If you aren't sure how often your horse's hooves should be trimmed, make sure to check out my short online course "Introduction to better hoof health".

01/03/2023

Hiroshima,

We have been struggling with this girl's weight for the longest time. She unfortunately had signs of early stages laminitis and we had to put her in a special diet, with a special trimming schedule to stop this in its tracks.

Besides the fact that she is a youngster over 17hh and still growing, she doesnt have the biggest appetite. She also is a very picky eater. It took months to find a safe type of feed that she actually wanted to eat.

The other problem was, she never finished her food in the stable and hardly ever finished her teff at night.

Her owner suggested we move her to outdoor livery with ad lip tef. This small life style change increased her appetite and we can finally see a difference in just a month.

Its important to remember that m, what works for the one, does not necessarily work for the other and this is a prime example.

Thanks to our nutritionist TrulyTrust Equine for this custom diet and the fact that you never gave up on us!

Thank you to our stable managers and for your patience and time!

Hiro is finally starting to look like she is suppose to, obviously she is not where we want her as yet but getting there.

We are proud to say that we do what we have to, to ensure each horse's health and happyness.

07/02/2023

Best feeling when you trim your own horses, all trained with R+ and they cooperate so beautifully. Each one of them different, and we use a different feeding strategy for each one. Flicka does best with open bar, Paige with continuous feeding and lovely Elvira with variable duration schedule.

And what I find even more amazing is that we literally only pick up hooves when we trim. Now with that being said I don't recommend that since practice makes perfect, and your horse needs to build up a positive hoof experience for that to work. And on top of that it's best to regularly clean hooves, especially if you ride or your horse has a tendency to develop thrush. But still, it's pretty amazing how horses remember their training. They make me so proud😍I'm so grateful for literally just touching the leg and up goes the hoof, or in Elvira's case just looking at her hoof and she picks it up. Yay for R+

I share all my experience and knowledge on hooves and R+ in the Hoof Handling Masterclass on The Equine Academy. Feel free to check it out. https://www.equineacademy.org/course-step/hoof-handling-class/

The code TT10 can be used on all my courses and classes on The Equine Academy for a 10% discount.

03/02/2023

Today is a day that I'm grateful for my work. Yes it can be a very difficult job but wow if I can help improve a horse's life, it makes it all worth it. Today I got to help a horse that was rescued by one of my clients not too long ago. Her hooves were in terrible condition and today I got to help improve them. It will take many more trims to help the hoof wall move back to a better angle but I'm sure those tendons are under a lot less stress than before. This horse has a long way to go but I'm so grateful for people like her new owner who can give horses like her a second chance and a loving home.

19/12/2022

Wow what a year! Thank you to everyone who supported me and those who trusted me with their horse’s rehab. It makes me smile seeing how well the horses are doing and the progress they are making.

This year has been such a whirlwind. TrulyTrust has grown more than I could have ever imagined and it makes me so excited for the future.

I’ve learned a few valuable lessons along the way. Most importantly that it’s so important to take care of yourself and to be kind to yourself. I’m pretty sure I reached burnout this year and it was tough! It made me realise that I need to really take care of myself and not just focus on everyone I need to help. If I don’t take care of myself I can’t help anyone properly. This will be one of my goals for 2023 as well, to make time for myself.

I also learned boundaries are important. It’s important to communicate with clients and speak up when the environment they want you to work in is unacceptable or if the horse needs better training because the situation is dangerous for you. It’s okay to say NO! No to trimming another horse when you can’t do more, No to those who don’t put in any effort with their horse’s training or upkeep, No to having to trim with no one there to hold the horse and yes even No to certain rehabs when they expect the impossible from you or don’t give you the tools you need to do the rehab. It’s okay to say No.

And very important, MAKE TIME for friends and family, for the things you love and again, for yourself. Unfortunately it’s easy to be replaced, it’s easy to get horribly injured and not be able to work. You want to always focus on the people around you, those who lift you up and make you laugh. They are so important and life is empty without them, so make time for them. They’ll still be there when the job isn’t.

Probably not the lessons learned you were expecting😉

This’ll be my last post for the year so I wish everyone a merry Christmas and happy new year, and I’ll see you all in 2023!

12/12/2022

How amazing is this before and after trim photo😍Just shows how much we can do in one trim.

30/11/2022

No filter needed😍Paige is looking really good, all the horses are. So happy, they make me so happy.

Having a beautiful, shiny horse isn’t hard to achieve. With a healthy, balanced diet it can be achieved even on a budget. I honestly don’t pay that much for my horses every month, but none of them are working at the moment which makes a big difference.
The harder the horse works, the more he’ll need and the more you’re likely to spend. This still doesn’t have to break the bank but that does depend a lot on the horse, some horses have very few foods which they can eat due to dietary restrictions from certain health conditions, and that can make things a bit more tricky. It’s always good to discuss with your horse’s nutritionist what you can afford and what you are willing to change about your horse’s lifestyle to achieve your goals. Sometimes it’s best to decrease workload temporarily while the horse recovers physically, other times it’s best to change yards to where more movement is possible for your horse and pasture access or large bales are provided. The point is, be sure to have a discussion with your nutritionist and be open minded about how you go about achieving your goal for your horse’s health.

04/11/2022

How lovely to see this🤩Conformation plays a huge role in how the hooves naturally wear down. Luckily it doesn’t have to mean bad hooves, it just means the trimmer has to know how to properly balance the hoof based on how the horse wears the hoof down.

This is a hind hoof, and because of uneven wear due to conformation faults, the horse started twisting his leg when moving around. Now we are on the right path and while he will continue to wear down his hooves unevenly, we will continue to balance them and he shouldn’t have a problem going forward.

It’s all in the details. I feel blessed being able to do this job and help both horse and owner.

P.S the photos show April 2022 vs Oct 2022

26/10/2022

Love to see this amount of weight loss on this horse🤩 She’s always struggled with her weight and during winter she would not loose weight until this year.

I truly believe her body is finally healing since eliminating GMO foods from her diet and incorporating minerals that were previously lacking in her diet.

I’m very excited to see how her body will react this summer when the pasture is lush again. This is a big win though considering she hasn’t lost weight in years. Excited for this mare’s future

24/10/2022

You just have to love these transformations 😍. Did you know upright hooves can be created through incorrect trimming? When people tell me “my horse has a club foot” I ask whether they know if the horse was born that way or whether it developed over time. This is important because if it developed over time we can likely fix it over time. If the horse was born that way the entire trim is approached differently and we’re just managing it, not trying to fix it.

It’s interesting, I’ve noticed horses with true club feet (born that way) can be sore if we take too much heel, while with man made club feet the horses do better with shorter heels. That being said it’s important to remember that when I talk about shorter heels I’m talking about roughly the same length of heel on a normal hoof, while when I refer to longer heels it can be slightly longer than a normal hoof’s heels.

Balance is extremely important with club feet. You don’t want to leave the heels too long causing imbalance and tipping the hoof forward, but you also don’t want to trim the heels too short putting strain on the tendons and making true club feet worse. It’s interesting that most trimmers and farriers tend to trim the heels very short on a club foot, if you measure those heels it’s usually trimmed shorter than that on the normal hoof! In my opinion that’s a recipe for disaster and while it looks pretty after a trim, the angle usually gets worse over time. We CANNOT force a hoof into a certain shape, we need to figure out what it needs to heal and base our trim on that.

P.S the photo shows a comparison of when we started vs roughly 4 or 5 trims later. I lower the heels very slowly to see how the horse’s body responds and it’s not done in one trim.