I often think I can communicate better with them than I can with my own kind! I have been the proud mother of many special horses since I was a young child and always been lucky enough to have them in my backyard where they have relied on my care morning and night to keep them more than just alive... HAPPY! I am so intune with my babies that I know if something is wrong, and being involved in rescuing and caring for some very troubled souls as well as competing to medium level dressage, hacking, jumping and endurance, I am now just a trail/pleasure rider who is more concerned with the well being of the horse. Having owned and cared for horses with tumours, cancer, laminitis, metabolic issues, open wounds and stitches, I think I've been through quite a lot... sleeping on the stable floor with a sick horse that can't get up, changing bandages and injecting antibiotics daily to prevent further infection.... my horses come before me and always will. I studied a Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary BioScience at the University of Sydney where I studied Equine Science and completed my Honours in Genetics. I also studied at the Australian College of Equine Podiotherapy where I improved my skills in barefoot trimming studying the Diploma of Equine Podiotherapy. I was first introduced to this art when my pony had laminitis and I searched all over NSW for advice on how I could treat this. Many 'specialists' provided me with their two cents worth but all of the theory in the world could not have prepared me for putting the practical skills in to place to look after my pony who was on deaths door. After a bit of convincing I was converted to barefoot trimming for all of my horses and haven't looked back. I took the shoes off all of my horses and learned how to manage their needs individually with regards to nutrition, housing and best practices to look after their feet. I needed to learn this skill to look after my own Horses, and then realised that many other horses needed my help too. Through word of mouth I picked up my first few clients whose horses had lameness issues, touchy or sore hooves, compromised hoof capsules or that their traditional farrier could not quite manage. I have taken a holistic approach studying a little bit of bodywork and nutrition, experiencing farm stays and working with horses from all different backgrounds, environments and levels of education I offer my services to help your horse. I am extremely passionate about working with your horse as an individual... not all horses conform to the general model and I think it's really important that we recognise that they are not all the same. People sometimes tell me their horses cannot go barefoot, or they have tried before and their horse was too sore so they put the shoes back on... Did they feed their horse properly to cover all of the nutritional needs that the hoof requires to build strong cells, did they feed a low sugar and no grain diet to prevent inflammation (and laminitis) that was high in fibre and nutritionally balanced? Did they pick their horses hooves out regularly and apply topical treatments to keep the thrush away? Did they transition to barefoot slowly and allow the horse a few months to get used to not having their shoes on? Did they try using hoof boots during this transition to protect their feet whilst out on the trails running over rocks? Did they try feeding a good hoof supplement, not just any hoof supplement, but a good one that actually works? Did they try some glue to add an extra layer of protection during the wetter months when the feet can be soft? Usually 'behavioural issues' are not bad behavioural problems but the horses way of communicating with us. They are often trying to tell us something and if you can't understand then hopefully I can help you to work it out. I can't promise you that I'll be 100% successful but I will always go above and beyond to help your horse to be as comfortable as possible.
