Transitioning Your Horse: Choosing and Using Boots And Pads For Rehabilitation Hoof boots are a great way to give a bare hoof some protection while you’re transitioning your horse from shod to barefoot, and used in conjunction with therapeutic pads they can even help strengthen the internal structures. They can however be a bit of a […]
Transitioning Your Horse:Rest or Exercise for Great Hoof Health? When the shoes come off, it’s common for the hoof to need to heal and strengthen to become fully sound and functional. What is needed to rehabilitate the hooves will depend on what problems you’re trying to address. People are often advised to work the feet until […]
To Rug or Not to Rug… Whether or not to rug your horse in winter can be a surprisingly contentious topic. Debates can get even more heated than an over rugged horse! Let’s skip over all the ranting and ‘my way is the only way’ attitudes and look at this a more logically. A rug is a […]
Transitioning Your Horse:Taking The Shoes Off?How to Plan For Barefoot Success There are so many health benefits to having a horse barefoot rather than shod that it’s becoming quite common these days for people to remove the shoes and transition their horse to barefoot. While the reduced concussion, reduce slippage, lack of nail holes and increase […]
Transitioning your Horse:The Best Time to Get the Shoes off and Go Barefoot I’m often asked when the best time to transition a horse to barefoot is. Is the hard ground in Summer a challenge or is the mud in Winter more of a problem. They say the best time to plant a tree is 20 […]
Mud Sucks! Winter Challenges and Solutions Winter is coming!! Rather than armies of White Walkers, we tend to get herds of mud monsters! Muddy conditions can not only cause problems for your horse’s hooves, they can make your trimmer’s job seem near impossible.I often hear people worrying about the mud making their horse’s hooves soft […]
It’s not normal for barefoot horses to be sore It’s not normal for a barefoot horse to be sore.Half of me can’t quite believe I have to say that, and the other half of me feels like I should say it again. It’s not normal for a barefoot horse to be sore. Well – now we know […]
Healthy Weight Loss for Horses Managing an overweight horse can be difficult. If your horse is kept on a livery yard, options can be limited, and as an owner you can be subjected to all manner of pressure from other *ahem* ‘helpful, well-meaning experts’. Sadly, fat shaming has come to the horse world. As has shaming […]
Inside Out I frequently see people asking for help on social media when their horse is lame, or footsore, as it’s often referred to these days. More and more often I keep seeing people asking for help because the weather has made their horse lame, or the ground is making their horse sore.Outside InThis would […]
Let’s Talk About It Every so often I ask on the facebook page, what people find the most frustrating or challenging thing about having a barefoot horse. The most common answer is communicating with other people, or dealing with people who don’t understand barefoot. It’s a common frustration for barefoot horse owners, that we come under […]