Wild Soles Hoof Care

29/09/2025

Big thanks to my lovely clients for being patient with me while I recover from my injury.

I’m back trimming but taking it slowly and carefully. I’ll be in touch soon to arrange the next appointment.

Thanks Amy G for taking this pic of me trimming the sublime gentle giant Cameo who took good care of me.

22/08/2025

Got thrush??

I’ve just made a batch of beautiful hoof clay with all natural ingredients.

250g tubs - $30

Please let me know if you’d like some!

15/08/2025

Awesome content from Primarily Hooves! And a great demo of the mustang roll 😍

05/08/2025

A CASE STUDY

While I am laid up broken, it’s a good time to look at some photo documentation and reflect on a case study from the last 2.5 years.

Argo is an 8yo OTTB. He has been one of the most challenging cases I’ve worked on due to how damaged his feet were when we started. For anyone interested, I am going to include all the details as I believe there are a number of important lessons in this story. At least, for me there are.

We started this journey in April ‘23 when he was 6 (unfortunately no pics from this time). Argo was lame and extremely uncomfortable in his body. Trimming was difficult as he was often like a cat on a hot tin roof, having to constantly lift his other leg and move around. He was clearly in pain.

His feet were a mess - dinner plates with large cracks in his walls, crumbling white lines, flared, heels so underrun he was walking on his heel bulbs. Later that year the owner got X rays that showed his hind feet had negative plantar angles of -4.5 and -4.9 degrees. We were facing a massive uphill battle as I tried to help him build soft tissue and heels, but he was literally crushing his own feet with his body weight and poor posture. He had virtually no soft tissue, his feet were like tyres that had had all the air let out. We used boots in the paddock and for gentle rehab, but the improvement was very slow, and it was obvious his body was still dysfunctional due to his feet, poor posture and pain. He wasn’t moving enough either because it hurt. His hooves had no chance of recovering while his body was working against him.

After a year of frustration and disappointment, I knew we had to try something else. The reality was what we were doing just wasn’t working, or at least, it wasn’t working fast enough to help this beautiful horse who was still so young. I consulted with my colleague and friend Dr Jo Schirrman and she confirmed we had to try and improve his posture and get more correct alignment of his limbs to break the cycle.
We decided on glue on shoes with soft, 3 degree Scoot wedge pads. We used a combination of Easycare Versa Grip Glue shoes and then Scoot glue on shells with the wedge pads on all four feet.

I won’t lie, glueing on shoes is a tricky task with a horse that stands quietly, so it was difficult with Argo who couldn’t stand still. It was a three person job! But we got it done and he wore the glue on package in back to back cycles for around 5 months. We saw an immediate improvement in his comfort, movement, posture and demeanor. We all agreed that even if he had to live in these shoes, at least he had a quality of life. But with each reapplication, the hooves looked a little better each time, and he was able to stand better.

In November ‘24 we removed the shoes and let him go barefoot over the Summer which he handled very well considering it was very dry and hard.

We had plans to recommence the glue on shoes, but he has simply not needed them! He is moving freely and happily and ready to start the next stage of his rehab to build a stronger body.

Are his hooves great? No, not yet, but I believe they are heading in the right direction.

Using wedges (of any type) is a hotly contested issue in the hoof care world. Generally barefoot practitioners like me focus on building hooves by engaging the natural function to help repair damage in a sustainable way. In many cases wedges provide temporary relief and support at best, and at worse contribute to further damage. But in this case, I believe that they have been a significant contributing factor to Argo’s overall improvement. One factor in a long list (regular trimming, appropriate diet and movement, hoof protection etc) but an important one.

I guess the message here is - if it’s not working, be honest and prepared to admit it’s not working, and then consider what other options you have, even if it goes against your existing beliefs.

None of this would have been possible without a very committed owner, who placed 100% trust in me, an outstanding biomechanics vet and a horse with the willingness to trust us.

I can’t wait to see where these feet will be in another 2 years.

Documentation is March and July ‘24 to August ‘25.

28/07/2025

Well, this isn’t what I had planned, but that’s life hey?!

Apologies to all my clients but I’m going to be out if action for a while… at least 6 weeks, maybe longer.

I’ll be in touch as soon as I can to see what arrangements we can make for the meantime.

12/07/2025

8 months’ development for this beautiful gelding who came to his owner with some hoof distortion. He wasn’t lame, but you can see the hooves were not structurally sound and would have been a ticking time bomb for mechanical laminitis, white line separation, abscessing etc. Still a way to go, and this hoof is still quite crooked, but I’m happy with this progress after 8 months. Particularly the soft tissue development.

Protocol - 4 weekly trim cycles, Flex boots for riding, biomechanical body work from Dr Joanna Schirrman.

31/05/2025

I haven’t posted for ages so thought I’d do something fun! Can you guess the breed from a solar view? Tricky I know!

Breeds are as follows (not in order): Palouse pony, warmblood, Knubstrapper, Clydie X.

Tell me why you think so!

30/03/2025

📣 ADMIN NOTE 📣

I would really appreciate it if you are paying by bank transfer, that you make sure you pay on the same day as service.

If it’s easier to remember, just do it during the appointment via your phone so there is no risk of forgetting.

Thanks everyone!

04/12/2024

This is such an excellent explanation and set of visuals! My clients all hear about me raving on about the digital cushion or soft tissue in the back of the foot. It’s an absolutely vital part of the anatomy of the hoof, and is stimulated when the horse is loading its heels correctly. Sadly it’s very hard to rebuild once its mass is lost

04/12/2024

UPDATED PRICES FOR 2025

From January 1st 2025, prices for barefoot trimming will increase to $70 a trim for horses. For clients already on this rate, nothing will change for you.
I am also expanding my services to include more glue-on shoe/shell options and boot fitting/sales now include Scoot boots. All prices are on my website:

www.wildsoles.com.au

This change is necessary for a number of reasons.
✅ It brings my services in line with other similar professionals in Victoria
✅ It reflects the constant professional development, collaboration, and extensive learning that I undertake to ensure that I am incorporating the most current contemporary practices and knowledge about hooves and equine health and wellbeing
✅ To cover increasing costs of tools, equipment, and travel
✅ To ensure that I can continue to work hard for the horses I trim and ensure that I am doing my best work by feeling physically and mentally well

If this update means you no longer require my services please just let me know.

Big thanks to all my valued clients 💙🐴

Quality, regular hoof care is incredibly important to the overall health of our horses. Hooves are constantly growing and unless horses are covering long distances over varied terrain like their wild cousins, domestic horses need regular trimming to mimic wear of the hooves and keep them healthy. 

09/11/2024

Robyn and Ledge rocking their newly fitted hoof boots. Explora Magics on the front and Flex boots on the hinds. Ledge is recently out of steel shoes and his transition to barefoot has been made much easier with well fitting boots fit for purpose. There’s no stopping them now!

06/09/2024

Couldn’t have said this better!

Before you criticise your hoof care professional..... take a moment to think.

Trimming and/or shoeing horses is not an easy job which is probably why you've asked someone else to come and do the job for you. Hoof care professionals make the job of performing micro-surgery on the foot of 500kgs of prey animal with an opinion, look easy. I mean sure, once you know what you're doing it's easy to put nippers, hoof knife and rasp over a foot and make it look pretty.... when the horse is standing still.

When the horse isn't standing still and is trying to run the handler over.... not so easy.

When the horse snatches its foot away from you..... not so easy.

When the horse is trying to pull the foot away from you.... not so easy.

When the horses pulls the foot away from you AND THEN tries to kick you..... not so easy nor fun.

If your hoof care professional is getting a little gruff and grumpy with your horse because it's doing all or some of the above that is not a reflection on the professionals inability to contain their temper, no, that is a reflection on you. It is a reflection on your ability to help your horse develop some basic life skills it needs to survive in this world.

Before you criticise your hoof care provider... give the job a go yourself. Feel what it's like to have a horse leaning on you. Feel what it's like to have a foot snatched out of your hands repeatedly. Feel what it's like to have a horse wriggling around. Feel what it's like to be jumped and stomped on. Once you've felt all that with one horse imagine what it's like doing that all day long in the heat, in the cold, in the sun and sometimes in the rain.

I think once you've given the job a go then you'll understand how incredibly important it is to teach your horse how to handle being inconvenienced for a bit. Hoof care professionals do their best to keep their cool but their minds and bodies can only take so much.

So before you criticise your hoof care professional..... think.

📸 Elle at nearly 3 having her feet trimmed. She wasn't always this easy to trim but her shenanigans didn't last long, I got onto it pretty quick.