Primal Equine Services

04/07/2025

Oat ‘hay’ is seen as normal forage for horses in the south of Spain 🇪🇸
This couldn’t be further from the truth!

🤔 Have you ever noticed that your horse eats the softer stalks and seed heads, yet leaves the tougher stalkier parts of his meals scattered over the ground?
🤔 Does your horse seem overweight yet only receives a few sections of oat hay per day?
🤔 Is your horse suffering with faecal water?
🤔 Colic?
🤔 Is your horse not as forward going as you’d like?
🤔 Does your horse stand in strange positions?

Any of the above could be signs that oat hay isn’t working for your horse and 24/7 access to meadow hay is a better option for domestic horses. 🌱🌿 ❤️

04/07/2025

Zoom forward to 2026 and this horse’s hooves, which are now balanced, will look normal. Balance will win and his hooves will recover from the imbalance that human hands forced upon them ❤️

03/07/2025

An important and simple thing for all horse owners to know 😉

💗 Calling all horse owners 💗

❤️ This is simple to learn and could change your horse’s life ❤️

🌱 Nature’s horse shoe aka the water line or the inner hoof wall…

🌱 …should always be protected in order to honour the size and shape of hoof that your horse needs…

🌱 …take a close look at how your horse is being trimmed to ensure that nature’s horse shoe hasn’t been thinned or removed…

🌱 …being the strongest part of the hoof, it’s designed to carry 100s of kilos and protect the weaker sole and inner hoof structures…

🌱 …you will see Nature’s horse shoe mostly white in colour…

🌱 …not to be confused with the golden coloured line which is sometimes referred to as ‘the white line’…

🌱 …protecting Nature’s horse shoe from harm helps ensure soundness, correct hoof growth and honours hoof surface area…

💪🏼As owners you know what is best for your horse and you have the right to be included in all the professional care your horse receives

❤️ Love and protect your horse by watching and understanding what is happening with your horse’s hooves ❤️

01/07/2025

💛Movement 💙Balance 💛Movement 💙Balance 💛Movement 💙Balance

💜Muscles help absorb shock, adjust balance, and compensate for poor alignment in the upper body.
💜Since there are no muscles in the lower leg, a horse can’t 'adjust' to a poor trim. I see many horses tripping or misstepping because of incorrect hoof balance interfering with proprioception.
💜That’s why hoof balance is critical — every tiny bit of unevenness or stress travels straight up the limb, affecting joints and eventually the whole body.

💚Muscles actively assist the lymphatic system. Lymph, the water of life, removes waste and fights infection, it is critical that lymph can make its way back up from the lower leg. With no muscles, it depends on natural movement and hoof balance.
💚If the hoof isn’t landing correctly or moving fully, fluid can’t drain properly — leading to swelling, inflammation, and even recurring infections.
💚A well-balanced hoof is essential not just for movement, but for the horse’s immune and detox systems too.

💛Movement 💙Balance 💛Movement 💙Balance 💛Movement 💙Balance

30/06/2025

Inspiring ❤️

The Houston Mounted Police Patrol Unit has been gaining global attention recently and is being acknowledged as a leader in the natural horse movement.

The Houston Mounted Police Patrol Unit has been gaining global attention recently for its leadership in the natural horse movement. After transitioning to barefoot years ago, the Unit has now also opted to go bitless.

The mounted unit herd was previously managed in a very traditional manner, however, the officers soon realized that they were frequently faced with hoof issues and other ailments that could be attributed to the use of metal shoes. Metal shoes on asphalt create concussive force that travels through the hoof and up the leg of the horse. In 1984, the Swiss Cavalry at the University of Zurich conducted a study on the effects of metal shoeing. The research revealed that the impact force on a shod hoof on hard ground is 10-33 times greater than that of an unshod hoof. The vibration caused by the shoe in the hoof is approximately 800 hz, a level that is high enough to cause damage to living tissue.

The metallic footwear was impeding the natural flexibility of the hoof under pressure, consequently reducing essential blood flow to the hoof and lower limb.

As a result of these challenges, the unit concluded that it was worth trying something different. In 2004, they decided to experiment by allowing one horse to go barefoot. The outcome was extremely positive, leading them to transition their entire herd (40 horses) to barefoot. They observed a significant improvement in the health of their horses, resulting in a 50% reduction in vet bills. Moreover, they noticed enhanced traction on slippery surfaces, contributing to a sense of safety for both the officers and horses during patrols. It is difficult to dispute the benefits of these changes! Furthermore, the force has recently made the decision to transition to Bitless equipment, which has been met with great success.

30/06/2025

Want to be a dressage queen? You need balance ⚖️
Want to be a showjumper? You need balance ⚖️
Want to event? You need balance ⚖️
Want to do endurance? You need balance ⚖️
Want to be a happy hacker? You need balance ⚖️

So why do all the hooves I see have incorrect balance??? 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’m not talking about a balance that a farrier says is right, or your vet says is right, or your bodyworker…

I’m talking about the balance that your horse is crying for and needs in order to perform 100% for you.

I’m talking about the balance that 8-20 km of daily walking would shape and create…

I’m talking about balance that communicates seamlessly with the nervous system, the digestive system, the skeletal muscles and every single cell of the body…

Balance is possible for every horse and every owner should have a chance to witness the positive changes that go with resetting balance ❤️

29/06/2025

Did you know that there is ZERO guesswork in the way I treat a hoof.

❌ No approximations.
❌ No measurements.
❌ No forcing the hooves to a pretty shape.

✅I follow each hoof’s natural shape.
✅ I listen to the horse.
✅ I take my time.
✅ I trust the horse.

❤️ I respectfully trim the hooves to where a wild environment would have. ❤️

28/06/2025

Did you know that horse’s have NO MUSCLES below the knee?…
… or that your horse is WALKING on his TOES?

Did you also know that hoof balance is connected to every part of your horse?

Is your horse suffering with any of the following :

Faecal water
Colic
Sweet itch
Tooth misalignment
Laziness
Nervous behaviour
Spooking
Sore footed
Swollen limbs
Arthritis
Navicular
Side bone
Ring bone

I fully understand that the hoof can not be treated as a separate entity to the rest of your horse.

The hoof is at the start of a larger very complex organism wHolistic, it plays a vital role and so it’s health is most important to your horse.

wHolistic hoof care and Zoopharmacognosy are, to me, the most beneficial therapies you can offer your horse 💕

In our consult we will be looking at some simple hoof facts, assessing your OWN horse’s hooves, posture and movement, also any issues you may have and connecting the dots between your horse’s hooves and the rest of your horse. 💕

If you are in the Costa Del Sol this consult is FREE if you book within the next 3 days 🤩

I’m looking forward to meeting you ☺️

26/06/2025

Am I trying to put myself out of a job? Well no, but yes 😜

💕 My goal is that all the horses that I trim, and all horses in the world, would one day be perfectly in balance with their environment and need little to no hoofcare. 💪🏼

🤦🏽‍♀️ Why do I want you not to need me (too much)?

🐎A self-trimming hoof stays in perfect balance.
🐎A self-trimming hoof won’t be at risk to growth deviations.
🐎A self-trimming hoof is stronger.
🐎A self-trimming hoof is very stable.
🐎A self-trimming hoof maintains joint health.

Finally, my hands and tools can NEVER ..(despite my eye for perfection 😜).. BE as perfectly accurate as a hoof which is in balance with its environment 🌱 🏔 ⚖️🐎

25/06/2025

When your client gives you the feels 🥰
This 👇🏼 means everything to me 💗
Knowing that this horse feels better 💗
Knowing that his owner feels it too 💗

25/06/2025

My horse gets looked at strangely when she COMMUNICATES with me, she does this because she knows I will LISTEN ❤️
This never used to be me, I was so self absorbed with my own pain that I didn’t give my horses freedom to share their own thoughts or feelings 💔
Horses can be triggers to our pain and it’s often easier to train that pain to be quiet and obedient…
However if we open up to our horses and allow them to open up to us…
Our horses can also be amazing therapists too 💗

There is no such a thing as "bombproof horses", if we want these horses to remain...just horses, that is to say naturally reactive prey animals who instinctively tend to remain always alert, with this being a fundamental trait of their species specific needs in order to survive.
Consequently, horses being truly horses will always notice and be careful about any new stimuli or potential threat to their animal mind: yes, they can surely learn to calmly investigate it instead of simply reacting, but they will always remain alert and they just won't tolerate what is simply too much for the mind and instincts of a prey animal.
So, horses not reacting at all instead to anything, no matter what and no matter how, are simply completely shut off because of the learned helplessness: by the use of forceful training methods like Flooding, they simply learned to have no escape at all from whatever they may have to endure, they learned to have no way to avoid it and so they finally end by passively accepting anything without reacting.
But not because they aren't scared or bothered by it anymore, but just because they know to have absolutely no choice...
Well, surely not something to be ever proud of, reducing horses to become just some sort of programmed robots without any autonomy and real life left in them 💔

Picture credit: Fed Up Fred

24/06/2025

WHOOPS 😅
Navicular who? Arthritis what? 😜
Very happy that he is feeling much better ❤️