The Glorious Hoof in Freemans Reach | Pet service

The Glorious Hoof

Locality: Freemans Reach

Address: PO Box 3042 2756 Freemans Reach, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.theglorioushoof.com.au/

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25.01.2022 #eponahorseshoes direct glued with Equilox over Artimud and @glue_u shufill DIM to add depth and reduce leverage for this aged shetland who is a delightful kids pony and deserves the extra special shoe package while packing around my 5yo daughter. A sound and happy pony is a safe pony! We used @eldrun.equine sleipnir casts over the top of this package to keep it secure. We will reset this package in 4 weeks to ensure optimal balance, and keep him in this package for the next 3 cycles. I get all of these products from the wonderful @innovative_hoof_care_australia #glueoncompositeshoes #farriersofinstagram #femalefarrier #shetlandsofinstagram

24.01.2022 This year, I have decided to enter The Glorious Hoof in the Penrith City Local Business Awards! If you have had an interaction with us, I would love it if you could pop on over to vote for us here: https://thebusinessawards.com.au/busine//The-Glorious-Hoof

24.01.2022 As a farrier/trimmer, I absolutely LOVE my job. I truly do! The rewards are great, I get to cuddle up to horses all day long, and the people can be absolutely wonderful. But, horses being prey animals, unpredictability is a part of my daily life. I have many farrier and trimmer friends who have been hurt in their daily work, sometimes severely to the point where they can't work for months on end (so, no income!) or even have their careers end. Even the good horses who do stan...d well can sometimes be in a bad mood, annoyed at flies, cranky that everyone else is being fed and they have to stand there with a hoof in the air. This podcast is by the lovely Alicia Harlov at The Humble Hoof and features a bunch of different farriers and trimmers giving tips and tricks about how owners can help make our days easier, safer and more enjoyable, plus help make our careers longer! What do YOU do to help make your farrier or trimmer appointments easier on the hard working people who are so passionate about hoof care? https://thehumblehoof.libsyn.com/farrier-friendly-how-to-su

24.01.2022 "How do I take a digital pulse on my horse?!?" I got you fam.

23.01.2022 Found a scent gland today in a pony gelding's frog and I had my phone handy to film it - he had a thrush pocket I was clearing up for him when I found the gland. This is not an abscess, it's normal and representative of a healthy frog. Enjoy! #barefoothorse #farriersofinstagram #hooftrimming

23.01.2022 New horse for an existing client, picked up his foot to find this little gem. Conservative trim and a soak with @nogerms1 Hoof Mate tablet and a poultice applied today, and will have a few more soaks over the following days to clear it up. Check up next week to see if it's stopped draining.

22.01.2022 Over the last few years a horse owner noticed their horse was a little stiff on a certain rein, a little tender on a certain surface, a little more hesitant app...roaching the jump. But nothing gets said, its just a thought in the back of their mind, the horse is fine at the next ride so they forget all about it for a while. Then, one day, he starts refusing to canter. He's clearly lame on hard ground. He has started to refuse showjumps. And they ask me what I did different at the last visit. "Nothing, but now that you've told me there is a problem, maybe we can do something for him. Can we get a vet involved and maybe some xrays and see if something has changed?" "But nothing has changed" they say, misunderstanding. "He's been on this same popular feed for the last 10 years. I always buy my neighbours hay. Its the same arena surface he's always worked on. It has to be how he's getting his feet done, cause nothing has changed" The thing is, something HAS changed. Something is always changing. Time is passing. So maybe we needed to change the way we (us, or you, or BOTH!) were doing something in response. You see, I've been blessed to have had some horses on my books for their whole teen to senior life. One day, when I've been at this a little longer still, maybe I can say I've seen a few horses their ENTIRE life. I have been blessed to be fortunate enough to give many horses their last trim so they have fresh feet to cross the rainbow bridge. Some of them I knew would be the last time, some of them I suspected, some we kept saying "could be the last time" for 7 years, and some of them were a complete surprise. But working on the same horses for many consecutive years is a real privilege, and an amazing teacher. 10 years ago, maybe your horse wasn't insulin resistant and that popular feed was fine for him, but as he's gotten older his metabolism has changed. Now he's prone to low-grade laminitis. 10 years ago his joints had less wear, and now he's powered up the grades with you and his knees and hocks can tell the tale. He swivels when he walks now and it always wears down his inside heels. 10 years ago maybe his pedal osteitis was sub-clinical - an xray might have shown it, but you didn't think the sensitivity was worth investigating at the time. Now, he has clear clinical changes and needs pads when he's shod. 10 years ago maybe his back didn't hurt, now he has low back pain and standing camped under is crushing his heels, his low heels are now making his back pain worse. Your farrier suggested different shoes before and gave you the name of a body worker, but you thought he was fine enough so you couldn't justify the extra expense. Things are always changing with our horses, because time is always passing. The more we can keep an open dialogue about it and employ a team approach, the more chance we have of catching things before they start causing serious issues.

21.01.2022 A pair of @scootbootsdownunder for this little shetland pony. Is this not the CUTEST thing you've ever SEEN?! #scootboots

21.01.2022 Giving this high/low TB some extra lift on the low foot, increasing his palmar angle. #easyshoeversa direct glued with #equilox2 to build height in the palmar foot, with added @glue_u shoefill DIM for solar and frog support. Secured with 4 nails and a rim cast. Thanks @ekwosultimatehoofcare for all your help today!

21.01.2022 Okay, it's official - my books are officially closed for maintenance work for the foreseeable future. I do, however, have limited availability for rehabilitation cases during the week.

20.01.2022 #easyshoeversa for this chronic lami gelding. Went with this one as we are thinking he will appreciate the stability of them as they are a firmer polyurethane, while still providing support to the weakened laminae as they are wide webbed with the frog support of the heartbar. Hoping he loves them! #femalefarrier #polyhorseshoes

20.01.2022 Some #easyshoeng for this mare who needs some extra help for a few months before returning to barefoot. #polyhorseshoes #farriersofinstagram #femalefarrier

19.01.2022 #easyshoeflex direct glued over dental impression material for this quarter horse mare who needs some mechanical changes. Going to do three cycles of these then see what foot we have at the end - stay tuned!

19.01.2022 This TB gelding has severe high/low. This is the low foot, which we suspect had a low or even negative palmar angle (top right, before first shoeing). We put him into a nail/glue hybrid package creating a higher palmar angle, with Artimud and dental impression material (DIM, the pink stuff) to give caudal support (middle right). He got a reset of the same package second shoeing (bottom right) then today (left photo) at his third shoeing he got just a straight versa shoe with DIM for caudal support. I'm so happy he's able to come out of the glue package! He will get another reset of this current shoeing then we will reassess.

18.01.2022 The next episode of my podcast is live! https://anchor.fm//Episode-7---Insulin-Resistance-in-Horse

17.01.2022 Who can guess what these two types of shoes are? Hint: they're both poly nail on shoes.

17.01.2022 This year has been the worst year ever for sore and lame horses. It's absolutely exhausting. Help a sister out and PLEASE control your horses diet!

15.01.2022 Let’s talk about NPA. NPA stands for negative palmer/plantar angles and refers to the angle of the bottom of the pedal bone in comparison to the ground surface.... An ideal angle is between 3-7 degrees which can be measured on a radiograph or we can make an evaluation from external markers. The coronet band can be an indicator of the internal structures. When looking at the angle of the coronet band in the hind feet we want it to meet the front leg between the elbow and the knee (when the cannon bone is perpendicular to the ground). When a horse is struggling with NPA it will often go hand in hand with issues in posture and poor caudal foot. It can be a really challenging cycle to break. See more

15.01.2022 We interrupt your Wednesday evening to bring you this breaking news: Baby mini donks. That is all! ... #femalefarrier #farriersofinstagram #donkeysofinstagram

14.01.2022 Did you know that your hoof care professional is stressed right now? The constant rain creates professional and financial uncertainty. It would be a good time ...to pay on time. They could be doing unprofitable runs due to only some clients offering adequate trimming facilities and spaces because it's so wet everywhere. It would be a good idea to pay on time. They might have gotten saturated to the bone on their trimming run because there was just that one horse that needed doing and a massive shower came over and so for the rest of the day their socks are wet inside their boots. It would be a good idea to pay on time. They might be up to their armpits in mud because Sweetie has trouble standing on 3 legs, or they might be going home extra sore because Johnny fumbles around slipping and sliding on surfaces that are wet (which increases the risk of injury to trimmer and horse) It would be a good idea to pay on time. They are sitting watching the rain knowing that as soon as it dries up their days will be jam packed trying to catch up It would be a good idea to pay on time. Hooves resemble a thrush ridden apple crumble and their work satisfaction is limited to 'ah we'll rehab it when it dries out'. It would be a good idea to pay on time. Because paying on time isn't a favour you are doing for your hoof care professional. If we turn up we want to get paid on time. It's a requirement of a spoken contract you have entered into.

13.01.2022 Have you registered for this free live event yet? I'll be presenting a talk on "The Horse Owner's Hoof Care Checklist" - what are the basics you need to know to grow healthy sound feet! I'm super excited to be a part of this summit. Have you ever tried progressing with the training of a horse who has feet that just aren't up to the job? Making sure your horse is comfortable is the #1 welfare step in the journey to producing a happy, healthy horse. ... Register for the summit today to enjoy presentations from myself and other practitioners passionate about our horses welfare in training https://www.equestrianmovement.com/summit-may-2020

13.01.2022 Often, I see images posted of hooves on social media, and an owner asking for help with a lame horse. Too often, whether or not there is sufficient information ...to comment on the work that was done, soon comes a barrage of comments saying things like "fire your farrier!," or berating the job or the professionals working on the case. I want to address this judgment of others' work on social media a bit. Pictures of a hoof can only tell us so much. Yes, they can show us the current health of the external hoof capsule and give us clues to what is going on inside. Pictures can even give us an idea of how we might approach a similar case, or things we might want to change. But what do pictures NOT show us? 1. Pictures don't tell us how long ago the horse was seen for hoofcare, and how consistent of a cycle the horse has been on for its feet. 2. Pictures don't tell us what the horse is getting nutritionally/diet wise, which can largely affect the health of the foot. 3. Pictures don't often tell us the environment the horse is in, and how much movement they get. 4. Pictures don't tell us how often the horse is ridden, or HOW the horse is ridden. 5. Pictures don't tell us how the horse is moving biomechanically, how it is landing and loading its feet, or any issues higher up that might affect limb loading. 6. Pictures don't tell us what the current hoofcare provider and/or vet is thinking in their decision making, how far into rehabilitating the foot they are, and why they have chosen to do what they have done with the foot. 7. Pictures don't let us know how the horse stands for getting its feet done - does the horse fight, yank, kick, lean, rip the foot away, hate the hoof stand and not allow a finish, leap around, shy away from hoof tools, etc? All of the above factors affect how professionals approach the foot and can affect how the feet look after the job is done, or even midcycle. There is a real person behind the work shown in pictures. Are there inexperienced hoofcare providers out there? Of course! Is ANY hoofcare provider out there to harm horses? Absolutely not. I KNOW most of us have at least ONE horse on our books that if photos of the feet were plastered all over social media, we would be mortified. So why do we do this to each other? Why do we tear others down, or throw their work under the bus? It has to stop. Are there times someone might need a nudge in a different direction in how to approach a foot? For SURE! This is true of me too! Can we do it without being rude, hurtful, judgmental, and condescending? Definitely. We all approach horses trying to help, doing the best we can with the information we have at the time. Most of us are continually seeking out ways to learn and grow and be better. None of us are seeking out ways to harm. Rarely anyone changes their approach by being bullied into it. We don't create more skilled hoofcare providers by belittling them. And often, people have very specific reasons for choices they make when they approach a foot. So let's encourage each other and seek to understand each other instead of tearing each other down.

10.01.2022 I've never worked a more difficult year in my life. Fires that lasted for months on end and choking smoke filled air, terrible drought then soaking floods, Covid, iso life (except everyone else got to stay home but me), cold, rain, humidity, blasting heat. I don't know how we did it, but we got through. The inner 12 year old me still squeals with delight that she gets to snuggle ponies all day long. These guys are what gets me out of bed every morning, what keeps me pushing t...hrough all the obstacles and drama. I just want to help the horses and make them feel good on their feet. To 2020, the year we all learned how much we could actually push through to achieve our goals anyway. #femalefarrier #farriersofinstagram #horsesofinstagram

10.01.2022 Regular cycles are definitely insurance!!

10.01.2022 Easyshoe Versa for this hard working mare, who had been going awesome in the Easyshoe N/G. We needed some more stability in her shoe so we switched over to the Versa. I'm really liking this shoe! @easycaredownunder @easycareinc ... #polyhorseshoes

09.01.2022 I think some view our career as hoofcare providers as straight forward. We go to a barn, maintain some horses' feet, and leave. I was thinking about this today..., and realized our job is a lot more than that, actually; it is a mixture of science, problem solving, and art all rolled into one. As hoofcare providers, we are part anatomist, picturing the soft tissue, bone, and internal structures of the hoof as we work. We are part engineer, considering what changes we do and how it will affect the movement and biomechanics higher up the limb. We are part artist, gently molding the feet in a healthier direction. But even more than that, we are part therapist. We listen to your struggles with your horse: the soundness issues, the training problems. The hurdles in your ridden work. Even the difficulties in boarding situations, or work you deal with when keeping them at home. We are often part friend, rejoicing with you when you reach milestones in your life, celebrating successes with your horse, and reminiscing in how far you've come - hoof-wise or not. Sometimes, in some special cases that we carry with us, you even become like family. So why am I saying all of this? I think it's easy to forget the weight we carry as professionals as we go from barn to barn. The rehab case that is having a setback, the laminitic horse that ate something it shouldn't have and is sore again. The emotional stress we absorb from owners and help them work through. We carry these small burdens as we go, seeking to lighten your load as we do it. We carry your horse's struggles with us as we work, and want to help them improve. One thing we ask as hoofcare providers is you remember that we care. So be kind. Give us the benefit of the doubt that we are seeking ways to continually help your horse. And we will never turn away a word of encouragement- you never know what kind of day we have had, or what tough cases we might have seen before coming to you. We care about you all. Next time we are a little quieter than usual, remember we may just be processing through some of our tough cases.

08.01.2022 New set of @costinhorseshoes on the hinds for this hard working arab warmblood mare with a powerhouse hind end. She's been over working her barefoot hinds since her fronts have been shod, dragging her toe on corners and her heel is running a little forward. Slight modifications to the shoe, where I ground a softer landing on the shortened heel of the shoe, and also cut in some more break over in the toe. I fit it full to where the toe should be so she can continue to push of...f behind. She's landing beautifully in these Costins after application! Hoping she really likes them and they give her the stability and support she needs for her dressage work. #polyhorseshoes

08.01.2022 Here's a little (read: long and angry) post about what I like to call the spring time shuffle. Around this time of year, every year, two things happen. 1. We ...get complaints from a handful of (generally predictable) people whose horses have been trimmed just fine for the last several months suddenly saying their horse was "trimmed too short" this last visit. And 2. We get a massive influx of enquiries from new clients who are looking for a new farrier because their last farrier "trimmed them too short". Now, I can understand this logic if you're either new to horses, or this happens on the first visit with a new farrier without warning. However, all the rest of you, need your annual reality check. (I honestly think y'all also need a reality check on realistic "soundness" expectations but I'll save that for another grumpy day). It is the annual shuffling of clients between all the local farriers' books, because the clients don't want to face the real reason why their horse is shuffling around the paddock. No farrier wakes up EVERY NOVEMBER and just randomly starts trimming horses shorter than they did the WHOLE REST OF THE YEAR. Generally we have spent the entire preceding year telling you the one same message while you shout "LALALA" back at us with your fingers in your ears. YOUR HORSE IS TOO FAT! Post-trimming sensitivity is one of the most obvious warning signs that you will get for subclinical laminitis. When this warning is left unchecked, guess what follows? ACTUAL Laminitis. We have become so disconnected as a society as to what healthy and appropriate body weight REALLY is. My masters degree research found that most horse owners could accurately identify their horses body condition score on a on a scare of 0-5 where 5 is obese. Some would even jokingly ask me if they could write 6. However when asked about the appropriateness of their horses body weight most of these high scorers felt their horses body weight was just fine. I see the same thing day in day out as a hoof care practitioner. And the reactions from owners range from flat out denial ("Cobs are meant to look like this, they have big bones" ... Bones don't jiggle Karen!) to just outright offence as though I've personally insulted them or "their horse" or that I am an unkind person for "fat shaming". Your horses feelings aren't hurt. You just don't want to face the truth because it makes you uncomfortable. It is very sad for our horses that being able to see their ribs from a certain angle has now become more offensive to people than seeing the myriad of health and wellbeing issues humans are creating by letting their horses suffer through chronic obesity and a constant state of low grade laminitis. We need to look back to what nature intended for animals (and ourselves). We have an abundance of carb-rich food in spring following the clear lack of food during winter. Wild / Feral horses would typically lose a lot of body condition during winters. They have minimal grass access and often rely on on fibrous and low-carb mosses, roots, leaves, bark, and their body fat reserves. When animals are consuming less carbohydrates they become more insulin sensitive. When you're insulin sensitive you don't need as much insulin in your system to regulate blood sugar. Then spring comes along and body weight is rapidly packed back on with rich grasses. And with constant and excessive consumption of carbs comes insulin resistance. Which means more and more and more insulin has to get produced to keep blood sugar under control. In our domestic horses we're so afraid to let our horses slim down in the winter, and keep them in a chronic state of obesity and insulin resistance year round. Because we hard feed them all winter to maintain their "condition" spring hits and they never became insulin sensitive enough to deal with it. We can also see this insulin resistance in some athletic horses who are fed high carbohydrate diets also - its the horse equivalent of the "skinny-fat" human. The human peak marathon runner who carb loads and gets diabetes and heart disease. Sadly, many of the horses we see with these problems are on "feeding plans" owners have developed themselves using a generic website (often funded by specific feed companies), from vets, or equine nutritionists (who often work for feed companies). You can see the owners well-meaning intent and that's why this breaks my heart. The nutritionists who I respect and recommend are the ones who are the first to tell you that you do not add to your horses diet unless they aren't meeting their metabolic requirements from grass and plain hay first. If I have one more client with a fat, laminitic horse tell me their horse isn't fat and that they paid someone for their feeding plan of processed feeds, I will lose my shit. I am SO passionate about your horses health, that this makes me angry! (And don't get me started on the inflammatory responses from most of these refined oils that get added cause for some reason people think shiny = healthy). And most people (including many professionals) are either ignorant of, or overlook, the roll of insulin on hoof sensitivity. Yet the fact that high levels of insulin lead to inflammation is widely know and accepted. And what IS laminitis? INFLAMMATION OF THE LAMINAE. Your farrier has nothing to financially gain by telling you stop feeding your dadgum horse! Yet we get ignored to the point we often stop commenting to people. And then people say "Why didn't you warn me!?" Then we hit the tail end of spring, and bingo, another year, another bunch of shuffling underworked and over fed horses, and another year of farriers suddenly shuffling a bunch of desperate "my-last-farrier-trimmed-my-horse-too-short-I-need-your-help" new clients in and a bunch of grumpy "you-caused-this-problem" ones out. It is no coincidence that all the species of animals that man controls the diet of are the ones that regularly suffer from metabolic malfunctions. We are so smart that we are incredibly fucking dumb sometimes. I also have a LOT of clients who will ask at each trim if I see any signs of laminitis in the feet. The thing is I can tell you there are low grade warning signs all year but nothing *new* today, and your horse could still go lame tomorrow. The biggest warning signs I constantly see are your horses weight, your feed bucket, and how dry your saddle blanket always is if you bother to exercise your horse at all. But you don't listen to this. You only seem to listen (for a week or three) if I can physically point out blood in the white line. So, here's my rant for the day. We are getting generally shitty with overwork by the end of the year and in need of a christmas holiday, and we are disillusioned with all these "unexpected" lamenesses in valley full of improved dairy pasture in the middle of unprecedented spring growth. It needed to come out. Someone has to say it. I don't give a shit if I've hurt your feelings, because I want to save your horses life.

07.01.2022 Some recent cutie faces. Very blessed to be able to do what I do all day! #femalefarrier

07.01.2022 At the end of this year, I'll be taking two whole weeks off, as I've only had one week off since January! I'll be away from the 24th December and will be back on the 11th January. All my current clients will get their booking as per the usual way, except we may need to shuffle things around especially in the lead up to Christmas. Your patience is appreciated!

05.01.2022 I'm presenting at 1pm AEST this Saturday! Have you registered?

04.01.2022 As professionals, an important part of our education is knowing what NOT to remove when trimming. I should be able to walk up to a hoof and make a decision on ...what that hoof needs for its movement and conformation and wear patterns, to keep the horse moving soundly. For example, the mare pictured here had a hind end injury a few years ago that affects her movement behind. She overly wears the lateral side of her hoof, and flares on the medial side. Balancing these medial flares helps her move comfortably, but the lateral side of her foot is already maintained with the wear from her own movement, so I try not to touch it with my rasp- not even a swipe. We aren't paid for how much hoof we remove, but for our education in knowing what to remove and what to leave.

04.01.2022 In the aftermath of the floods, I am almost 2 week's worth of horses behind. I may need to reschedule some appointments next week, to try to catch up on some pretty sore horses who need me. Thank you to everyone for your flexibility and patience!

01.01.2022 Last week. #barefoothorse #polyhorseshoes

01.01.2022 This mare started falling over and was loading her right hind outside heel so much it was starting to collapse, and the hoof was losing symmetry. The whole right hind limb wasn't stable in movement. We started her off in a costin shoe with glue caudal wedge and dental impression material under mesh. We changed tactics for the second cycle as she wasn't a fan of the non-weightbearing method so we swapped to an Easycare Love Child. The increased caudal and lateral support has allowed the hoof to be used correctly, and the hoof is growing in straighter. No more falls for this mare!