TESTIMONIALS

Bradley   Bradley came into my care almost 5 years ago. He has always had beautiful feet. He came to me fully shod, and I was not in the least bit concerned when the farrier first attended him - but I should have been. Brad was absolutely terrified and took off at a rate of knots! After much training and a change of farrier there was an improvement in his behaviour, but when his regular farrier moved on and another took his place we were back to square one to the point where somebody was going to get hurt! Bradley is ridden regularly over all terrain including roads and country tracks and I wanted to continue with this so I knew that I needed more than the regular pasture trim performed by farriers in preparation for shoeing. I also wanted somebody who had an empathy with horses and very importantly somebody who is correctly qualified in trimming ( I don`t let just anybody trim my pony`s feet!) After much research I found the perfect person in Abi. Bradley walked straight out of shoes and down the road. He went through no transition phase and has never looked back. He is now more forward going and his stride has lengthened. On a final note, one of the nicest things is that now having my pony`s feet attended to is a pleasure for all concerned.   Flash   Bradley`s pal Flash ( black and white fell pony now 2.5 yrs old and recently backed). Flash has absolutely no hang ups about anything. He looks forward to Abi`s visits, and he has beautiful feet. He is our resident mountain goat and walks out at present over all types of terrain. I am confident that with his natural foot trim he will have years of good foot health in front of him. Bob the Cob   Our third horse is" Bob the cob" - see case study 12 yr old cob. Bob was purchashed summer 2008. As you can see from the photographs, his feet had suffered through years of being shod. Also what can`t be seen from the photographs is that his sole was very flat and so walking on stony surfaces was very painful for him. Unlike Bradley, Bob has had to go through a transition period whilst his feet heal and become more concave. During this time, he has been wearing " Hoofwing Hoofboots" to give him the protection he needed.  Bob`s feet are improving all the time, in fact you can see from the photo that he is standing quite comfortably on stony ground . Bob had also suffered badly with cracked heels in the past and I was hoping that during this my first winter with him I would see an improvement with this since removing his shoes would increase the circulation in his legs. I have to say that I have had absolutely no sign of any skin problem at all this winter and  I am thrilled with this development. Bob is still not totally through his transition stage and still wears his boots on stony tracks, but he is able to walk quite freely on tarmac roads. His stride ( which was short and choppy even when shod ) is starting to lenghthen and he is slowly developing the tell tale " clip clop" of the concave hoof. It has been a time for patience and conviction in bringing Bob to barefoot health, and we are not totally there yet, but we are going the right way with thanks to Abi.

Alfie There is nothing special about my horses feet he is an advert for the idea that having poor feet is a reason to go barefoot, not a reason to shoe. Before Abi started trimming them he could not walk over gravel without hopping and becoming footy. After a few months of conditioning I was able to work him comfortably on roads, gravel tracks... anything! After a year my horse was in full work completing 5 miles a day on the road and unmade tracks, 6 days a week. Abi has been trimming him for 1 1/2 years during which time his feet have been brilliant. No abscesses, gravel, bruising. The splits have gone. Barefoot trimming is much cheaper than shoes. It would have cost 100 pounds plus to shoe my Clydesdale every 5 weeks (they are notoriously hard on shoes) in addition to the expense and time involved travelling him to the forge. Barefoot trimming has saved me over £1,000 pounds a year. I have also noticed that my horse had much better traction on all going. No skidding on the road or studs jarring his joints and causing injury. This helped his confidence develop. I have also noticed that my horse is less prone to mudfever. I can only put this down to the fact that barefoot trimming improves the circulation in the legs so he is more able to fight the condition. Abi is always professional, patient and fair with the horses who respond positively to her. Horses notoriously bad with the farrier have responded positively to her.

Khalil and Friends I have known Abi Hogg all through her training and practice as a hoof trimmer. She has regularly trimmed all seven of my horses. Most of these are rescue cases and have behavioural and physical issues which Abi has dealt with extremely well. Two of the horses had particularly poor feet, one of them, an Arab, with a twisted front foot and a club foot on the other fore. Abi worked gently with both horses and her work was seen by Pete Ramey who praised her skill and supported her approach to each case. She is patient and knowledgeable in handling horses who, for reasons of pain or previous abuse, are difficult to trim and has always been successful in re-training them to accept her as a trimmer. Her equine knowledge is extensive and covers all aspects of horse management and keeping. As the author of The Horse Behaviour handbook, it is plain that she has a long history of study and practice with horses. I recommend her to anyone looking for a helpful, knowledgeable approach, combined with excellent horse handling and hoof trimming.

Slipper and Paz 5 years ago Slipper was diagnosed with coffin joint arthritis, so I took her shoes off  and gave up jumping and dressage.  Since going shoeless and having barefoot trimming, I have been astonished to find that her movement is 100% improved and she is happily jumping and doing quite a decent dressage test.  Her movement is now fluid in a way that it never was when we had shoes on.  Slipper’s foal, Paz has been barefoot trimmed by Abi from birth and he did an eight mile journey on local bridleways  and tarmac at nine months and at one year is perfectly happy on  stoney bridleways.

 

 

Hamish Hamish has been chasing Howard!  He was trotting and bucking, so he is feeling fab.  He has got his evilness back! He was trying to beat up my son, how brilliant!   Thank you so much because I thought Hamish was needing to be PTS [put to sleep].  So many people told me I should get him shot... so did the vet. Thank you!