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Holistic Horse Education, Yarra Junction (2025)

24/09/2025

Spring is here! Therefore, it is time for your annual reminder that
you👏do👏not 👏need👏to👏automatically👏rotate👏wormers👏

There is nothing quite like people saying “I rotate my wormers!” to get my eye twitching. It is mostly the way people tell me, half proud of themselves for doing what they have been told is the right thing. So I cannot slap them as Batman is slapping Robin because it isn’t really their fault.

But the truth is, rotating actives is not always the right thing; you’ve been lied to, with the idea that it will prevent drug resistance and keep your horses healthy.
The “rotating” wormers regime puts people into a system of deworming for the sake of deworming: Oh, I used a “red” wormer in autumn, now that it is spring it’s time for a “green” one.
I have nothing against changing actives when worming, however swapping actives because the wheel on the stable fridge tells you to is very unscientific. And it does not prevent drug resistance.
If you want to prevent drug resistance there are two things you need to do:
1) Get a FEC prior to every deworming treatment. Let the FEC results guide you to choosing what dewormer to use – if you need to use one at all. The choice should be based on age, weather, climate, what worms are present, what drug resistance you have on your property, paddock situation/herd mates. You should always choose your dewormer based on the CURRENT infection, not a past treatment.
2) Find out what drug resistance you have on your property by getting FECs done AFTER treatment as well. If it turns out that the classically labelled “green” drenches (the benzimidazoles) do not work well, then rotating to them in spring is worse than useless.

It does not have to be your job alone to decide if your horse needs to be dewormed, or with what it should be treated with if it does. That’s the job of people like me (a parasitologist!) and vets. That is what we are here for, and I would much prefer you to ask rather than to continue putting unnecessary or inappropriate drenches down your horses’ throats.

Lastly, make sure to get your horses checked via FEC this spring. All details on how to get samples to me are up on the website (link in comments).

NB: This is a respost from Spring 2024.

14/09/2025

Same paddock. Same diet. Same lack of trimming. Two very different feet.

These two ponies lived together, ate the same forage, and had never been handled or trimmed. One has short, tidy, self-worn hooves. The other shows long “slipper” hooves with clear laminitis pain. This is a good reminder that laminitis is not caused by trimming. Trimming can help or harm the mechanics, but the disease starts inside the pony.

Why one becomes laminitic while the other does not
1. Endocrine status
One pony may have insulin dysregulation or PPID. High insulin damages the laminae and changes growth patterns. Pain then reduces movement, so the hoof stops self-wearing and the “slipper” look appears.

2. Intake is rarely truly equal
Same pasture does not mean the same consumption. Grazing order, hours spent eating, and plant choices all matter. Internal factors matter too. Dental pain can reduce or alter chewing and encourage soft, sugar rich forage. Leptin resistance can blunt normal satiety signals so the brain does not register “full,” which drives higher intake.

3. Movement and wear
Horses with sore feet move less, avoid abrasive ground and often seek soft surfaces. Horses with comfortable feet, move, play, and use harder surfaces, so they self-trim.

4. Conformation and mechanics
Small differences in limb or foot shape change leverage at the toe. In a laminitic foot the wall loses attachment, the toe migrates forward, and the capsule deforms.

5. Horn quality and minerals
Individuals vary in how they use copper and zinc and how they cope with high iron.

6. Age, genetics, season
As horses age they carry a higher PPID risk. Native types are predisposed. Spring and autumn pasture can tip a borderline pony over the edge.

In endocrinopathic laminitis the primary driver is prolonged high insulin in the blood. Diet sugars and starch do not act on the hoof directly. They are a trigger because a susceptible pony produces an exaggerated or prolonged insulin response to them. Early endocrine laminitis is mainly a failure of laminar attachment and stretching of the epidermal lamellae. 90% of laminitis is endocrine driven.

Poor trimming does not create the hormone or infection problems that cause most laminitis. It can make compromised feet much worse, and in extreme and rare cases it can cause a mechanical overload type of laminar failure. Good trimming is part of the treatment, not the cause.

Takeaway
Same paddock and same feed can produce very different feet. The laminitic pony is usually the one with a sensitive metabolism, less movement, and less wear, compounded by mechanics and horn quality. Trimming is part of the solution, not the cause.

Photos of the two ponies I have used as a reference for this post. You can see the first pony has been seeking out wet, soft ground. The hooves are severely overgrown and she shows severe hoof pain. The second pony has stayed clear of the mud. The hooves are short tidy, yes, they have some rings but it hasn’t affected soundness or turned into full-blown laminitis.

Neither have been trimmed.

04/09/2025

Donkey Hoof Before And After

The first photo shows a very underrun hind hoof with a likely negative palmar angle of the pedal bone (P3). The toe was long, the lamina stretched, and this donkey was walking almost on her heel bulbs at times. This developed because she was extremely laminitic in the fronts and was leaning back to relieve the pressure. Under the wall we also found severe seedy toe pathology.

The second photo shows the hoof realigned: a short, balanced toe, upright heel, and laminitis and pathology now under control. While the hoof quality isn’t perfect, her movement is now comfortable and confident, even on hard rocky surfaces.

The wall quality is still a work in progress. This change didn’t happen overnight.

It came from regular four-weekly trims to carefully realign the bony column, and her owner’s diligent application of preventatives to manage pathology. Step by step, the hoof has been brought back into balance.

Don’t accept a ‘weird’ shaped hoof as normal. There’s generally a lot going on that can be brought back with careful rehabilitation.

31/08/2025

Laminitis Awareness

I was reading some scary comments from equine professionals saying blood and stretching of the lamina, as shown in the photos, isn’t laminitis.

Although as hoof care practitioners we cannot diagnose, we see enough of this to know what it is, and it sets off alarm bells. The damage is already done. The lamina is torn and now we’re in salvage mode, preventing further damage.

With spring grass coming through, we all need to be alert for laminitis. It is extremely painful for horses and is the second biggest killer after colic. Any horse can get laminitis, from thin thoroughbreds to miniature “lawn mowers,” including donkeys and mules. They do not have to be overweight to founder.

Symptoms include

Uncomfortable on hard ground
Shifting weight from foot to foot on firm surfaces
Shortened stride, especially on hard ground
Soreness after a trim
Strong or bounding digital pulse
Heat in the hooves
Flattened soles
Stretched or widened white line
Blood in the white line
Reluctance to pick up feet
Rings in the hoof wall

Prevention is better than cure. If your horse is sore you must remove the cause. If the cause is grass, that means absolutely no grass. Provide a low-sugar hay in a slow-feed net, and soak it if you’re unsure of the sugar content. Avoid rye, clover, oaten, and excess lucerne. Short stressed grass is highest in sugar, and afternoon grazing is most dangerous. Safer times are between 2am and 9am.

Track systems are a fantastic management tool as they promote movement when horses need to be locked off pasture. Grazing muzzles can also be invaluable if removal from grass isn’t possible. Do not starve overweight ponies, hay must always be available, even if double-netted to slow them down.

Avoid any feed or hay with more than 10% combined sugar (ESC + starch). If it isn’t listed on the bag, call the feed company. “Laminitis safe” ticks on packaging are often marketing, not science. During drought conditions, low-sugar hay is difficult to source, so soaking is essential.

Avoid apples, bread, grain, and molasses (often hidden in commercial feeds). Safer feed carriers include beet pulp and soy hulls. Remember that diets should not starve the body of nutrients, they should restore health.

Horses off grass require proper mineral supplementation. Mineral licks are not enough and are often high in iron and molasses. Balanced supplements such as Hoof Extra, along with added salt, vitamin E, and omega 3, are important for long-term management.

Contact your hoof care practitioner and vet at the first sign of symptoms. Diagnosis, diet, trim, management. If your horse is acutely lame, lying down often, leaning back, or otherwise unwell, call your vet immediately. It is always best to test for underlying conditions such as Cushings and Equine Metabolic Syndrome, and to take X-rays early. This gives us accurate information to work from and the best chance to create a successful plan.

21/08/2025

🇳🇿 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗭𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗
🐎 You asked. You begged. You spammed our DMs.
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗢 𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗭.
✅ Import approved. (2 years ago… but hey)
✅ Biosecurity approved. Paperwork = painful.
🐴 And now... you can 𝗗𝗢 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞 with us.
🛒 The squeaky wheel’s been oiled. You’re in.

21/08/2025

💛 When she flinches, I remember.

A hand reaches for her mouth.
She tilts her head away —
but the bit is slid in anyway.
Her body is no longer hers.

I know that feeling.
The air shifts.
The body remembers before the mind can speak.

They call her willing when she obeys.
Difficult when she resists.
I have worn those words too.

They speak over her as though she isn’t there —
as though her breath doesn’t matter,
as though the tension in her body is just “resistance to be broken.”

“She just needs to learn who’s boss.”
“She has to respect you.”
I’ve heard those words,
with different nouns, in different rooms.

She has been taught that safety lies in compliance.
So have I.

When she freezes under a touch she cannot escape,
I feel the tightness in my own chest.
When she tests the rope and finds no slack,
I feel the limits I’ve been told not to push.

Her story and mine are not the same —
but the echoes are familiar.

And when I fight for her right to move without fear,
to speak without punishment,
I am also fighting for my own.

11/08/2025

As horse-carers it is your job to know and understand the lifecycles of the parasites that infect your horses. Management of worms is not just about the worms that live inside your horse. One could be so bold as to say that the worms inside your horse are the least important part of the whole equati...

Holistic Horse Education

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