Hooves & Hounds Pet Services

16/03/2025

It was W***y day at H&H HQ today

I have three geldings, Mr S who’s never had a bean or even very much sm**ma build up, The Lord Himself who came to me with a mahoosive bean and was a gentleman while I removed it, and The Little One one who is new to us so was due his first check.

The results were: Mr S all clear as usual, TLH had a bean that whilst small was still of suprising size given it’s been only a year since he was completely checked and cleaned, and TLO who had this sizeable spiky bu**er which had to be removed in three parts.

What this tells me is that TLH needs checking in six months, Mr S can continue on his yearly checks and TLO needs monitoring so he’ll get checked in six months too.

Why don’t I do this more regularly? I do of course rinse them with plain water after a particularly hot or sweaty ride. And I check their outer sheath for excessive sm**ma build up through the year. But I don’t clean them excessively because I don’t want to disturb the balance of good bacteria that exists in this delicate area, removal of which could lead to dry skin, inflammation or infection.

The key is being aware of your own horse’s normal physiology and behaviour. If in doubt seek the advice of your vet.

10/03/2025

Two more beautiful boys checked over and cleaned tonight.

Did you know a sheath clean can also act as a mini health check? Any abnormalities I notice while cleaning I will always highlight for you to monitor and talk to your vet about. Things like lumps, swellings, warts can all potentially be picked up and monitored. Of course I am not a vet but I can see and feel things during a clean that will help give you more information on what is normal for your horse and allow you to discuss any changes or concerns with your veterinary professional.

Happily neither of these handsome lads had any large uncomfortable beans to remove but both benefited from a good clean of sm**ma build up in the outer sheath ahead of fly season which should keep them comfortable and irritation free until their next check up in twelve months time.

Booking now for May 2025, message me to make an appointment 🫘

28/02/2025

More beans today, two wonderful boys both with big beans needing removal. This one was able to be removed in one piece, the other needed breaking up in order to make removal as quick as possible.

Always thankful for lovely owners who know their horses inside out and help to keep them calm and comfortable; removing a large bean isn’t always the nicest experience but once it’s out the sense of relief your boy will feel is immediate.

Lots of yawning and licking followed by a soft eye and happily munching hay followed these bean removals. So good to have played a small part in these lovely boys wellbeing 💖

02/02/2025

Getting properly looked after today while clipping in the cold with lots of cups of coffee and the best nonsense chats with Claire Louise Brown So much so that I forgot to take a picture of the actual clip 🙈

I’ve got limited availability for clipping now for the next couple of months so if you have been meaning to book please message me asap 🙂

Viki xx 🐴

29/01/2025

When your new friend finds out what you do for a living, what your nickname has become, and fully embraces it 😂

Taking bookings for sheath cleans in March now, pop me a message to book. Discounts for yard bookings. Fully insured and BGA registered.

👑 The Bean Queen 👑

25/12/2024

Wishing all of my clients and your amazing animals a wonderful Christmas. Thank you all for supporting my small business and for entrusting me with the care of your best friends.

I know many of us have lost special souls this year, this is my darling Melody who crossed the rainbow bridge in January aged 11.5, so I’m sending extra love to those of you spending Christmas without a loved one whether they be animal or human.

Much love to you all ###

27/10/2024

Beautiful Quinn: before with his man-bun and super thick but wonderfully clean coat, and after with a hunter clip to keep him cool during work while leaving a saddle patch to prevent irritation. Also importantly leaving his muzzle alone with just a gentle blend into the rest of his face to soften the effect of the clip without removing any of his vital whiskers.

Quinn is a traditional cob type with an incredibly thick coat, his mum fully understood the assignment and made sure he was bathed and dried before I came to clip him and I’ve got to say I don’t think I’ve ever clipped a cleaner horse! This is fantastic as it meant my equipment didn’t have to fight a greasy build up meaning I could get a much neater finish, but most importantly that the clipping process didn’t pull or snag on any dirt or grime within the coat ensuring that Quinn was comfortable throughout.

Such a lovely lad, he’s a definite H&H favourite! 💛🖤💛

12/10/2024

Perfectly put 👌 It’s so important to present a properly clean and dry horse for clipping if you want a good finish, a happy clipping professional and most importantly a comfortable and calm horse 🐴

I always ask my clients to bath their horse the day before clipping (this is to allow for adequate drying time).
Most of my clients are booked in around 4 weeks in advance, so that’s plenty of time to organise bathing your horse!
If you are unable to bath your horse, then a thorough groom should be carried out instead. A thorough groom will take you a minimum of an hour, and your arms should be sore by the end of it.

There are a couple of exceptions to the clean horse rule - Cushing’s coats which won’t dry, welfare clips for severe matting etc.

But really, why should your horse be as clean as possible for clipping? 🤨

• To prevent dirt, grease, mud, grit etc blunting blades super quickly, causing them to snag and pull on your horse’s hair.

• To look after the clipper motors - dirty hair and blunt blade will put excess strain on the motor, which will cause damage, and an expensive repair bill.

• To make is as comfortable an experience as possible for the horse - hair snagging HURTS.

• To get the smoothest, most flawless, perfect clip possible.
Dirt = lines and patches.
Clippers are perfectionists, it upsets us to leave you with a sub-standard clip.

• To avoid a ‘dirty horse’ surcharge from your professional clipper, or a repair bill for damaged equipment.

We hate clipping the horse like this, we hate what it does to our equipment, we hate charging more money.

Please make sure your horse is clean - if you want a show quality clip, then your horse should be show clean.

#馬

22/09/2024

Some of the absolute beauties I’ve had the pleasure of looking after over the last few weeks ❤️ Holiday care is now fully booked until 2025. I have a small number of spaces left for sheath cleans or clippings before December. Get in touch to book.

30/08/2024

A record breaking bean removal today for this true gentleman, Troy the Belgian Draft. So large it had to be very gently broken up in order to be removed without causing him pain; in one piece it was the size of a large chicken egg 😳

He’s a much loved rescue who has come a long way in a short space of time and his wonderful owners are making sure they do everything possible to ensure his comfort and happiness; he’s going to be so much more comfortable now this is no longer putting pressure on his urethra.

Second sheath clean of the day was Troy’s rather stunning young Friesan friend who stood through his first ever clean like it was a walk in the park. It’s really important with young horses to introduce them gently to the feeling of having their sheath checked and cleaned, creating positive associations so that it doesn’t ever become a scary thing for them. If checked regularly from a young age they are unlikely to build up enough sm**ma to form a hard painful bean and cleaning then just becomes a super easy part of your horse care routine.

If you’re knowledgeable and confident then check your horse regularly, if not then get a professional booked in for a clean every 6-12 months. And always feel free to ask us questions, I love it when clients are interested in what I do and I’m always happy to show you how I do it.

🫘 Please get in touch with any enquiries 🫘 Discounts available for whole yard bookings 🫘 Gentle, patient and professional service 🫘 BGA registered and insured groom 🫘

13/07/2024

Some much loved regulars and some lovely new clients this past week. I’ve not done very well taking photos though 🤦‍♀️

Call or message for availability over the next couple of months, bookings are getting very busy but there’s still a little space. Priority given to regular H&H clients but I will always try and accommodate everyone wherever possible.

02/07/2024

Just some of the awesome animals I’ve had the good fortune to work with over the past month. Some treasured regulars and some wonderful newbies to the H&H family ❤️ As always it is an honour and a pleasure to be entrusted with your precious animals’ care.

I’m almost fully booked now for the summer and taking bookings into October so please get in touch asap if you need holiday care, ad-hoc/1-2-1 dog walking or any of my equine services.

Fully insured. DBS cleared. BGA certified.

03/06/2024

How’s this for a bean 🫘?

This stunning boy’s owner had noticed a change in how he was urinating, with more frequent stop-start peeing and sometimes not going at all. This is often a sign of discomfort and always worth getting checked out. In this case once we discovered quite how large a bean he was harbouring it was obvious that the pressure on his urethra would have been making him very uncomfortable.

He was an absolute angel to clean, sometimes I do think they know you’re trying to help. Once removed he was very keen to ‘hang loose’ and was visibly happier. Lucky boy to have such a caring and observant owner who noticed a change and acted on it. These are the best results, being able to offer tangible relief to both horse and owner ❤️ We ended the session showing his owner how to check him herself so that any changes are easily picked up.

As always, please just pop me a message if you’d like to make a booking or enquiry about any of my services 🐴🐶🐱🐰🐔🐷🕷️🐑

04/05/2024

Today it was the turn of my own big lad Louis. He’s quite an itchy boy and with the arrival of better weather has been a little uncomfortable so the best thing to do was to take it all off, give him a really thorough bath and rinse, and then we could see what, if anything else, needed doing.

True to form he stood like a gentleman, I do believe they realise quite quickly that you’re doing something to help improve their comfort and the minute I started on his mane he dropped his neck for me and leaned in.

We found a lot of dead skin and itchy bits under his mane which will be much easier to treat now. The rest of his coat has improved loads over the last couple of months and it was lovely to see clear healthy skin underneath that thick coat.

I’m not saying he wasn’t a rather dashing boy before his clip but isn’t he the most handsome thing you’ve ever seen now he’s all smartened up 😍

26/04/2024

The second part of April 2024 was just as busy as the first! With so many of your gorgeous animals to look after, groom, feed, clean and generally spoil rotten the holidays have gone super fast. Thank you to all of my wonderful clients who continue to entrust your precious friends into my care. I love them all so much; taking care of them is a pleasure.

Please get in touch to discuss any of your animal care needs, I’m very flexible and have a lifetime of experience with many species. Fully insured and BGA certified.

10/04/2024

Easter 2024 is a crazy busy one for H&H! Here’s some of the beautiful clients I’ve been privileged to look after in the first half of the holidays. More to come this week!

Please get in touch to discuss holiday cover for your pets or smallholding. No creature too big or too small 🥰

19/03/2024

🔈Announcement: I am taking a break from horse transport. 🔈

I’ve absolutely ⭐️loved⭐️ getting you and your horses out for adventures over the past 15 months, but unfortunately the compliance costs of transporting commercially with a trailer are significantly higher than if using a 3.5t, which makes it really hard to offer you competitive prices and still earn a living. I’ve decided to take 12 months off from horse transport while I re-assess.

My aim when I started was to be able to offer a higher payload transport service within Cornwall. As most of you will know, 3.5t lorries are relatively restricted on what they can carry, which often makes it impossible to take two average sized horses without exceeding their payload. With my vehicle and trailer combination I am able to take greater weight and therefore transportation of two horses is possible. However in order to do this I have additional legal requirements to adhere to, and sadly those requirements are costly.

As I generally only transport within Cornwall and Devon I don’t have the opportunity to recoup the greater compliance costs within longer trips. And it would be unfair to expect local clients to absorb this. I have therefore decided to take a year out, to see how my business adapts to this change and to assess the local market demands.

In the mean time I’d like to sincerely thank all of my transport clients for entrusting me with your most precious cargo over the last year, it’s been such a pleasure. I may well return after a break, but in the mean time if you’d like my personal recommendations for local transport companies please drop me a message.

Have fun this season everyone, lots of love from H&H xx

16/03/2024

Another day, another bean 🫘 Well, two actually, removed for these two gentle giants this morning. Always so satisfying to see and feel a horse visibly relax once the discomfort has gone ❤️ These boys were gentlemen, and both definitely knew I was there to help. Lovely lads ❤️

Please pop me a message to book. Discounts available for group bookings.