What Horses Want

21/01/2022

I recently had a day when I had an almost identical conversation with 2 different clients, one after the other. It got me thinking about why we keep our horses the way we do.

The gist of the conversation was this…

It started when I commented how pleased I was with how well their horses hooves had improved.
In both cases they said ‘I don’t know why. I’ve been away, I’ve hardly seen them never mind done anything with them’

But the thing was, in both cases we had made sure that we’d created an environment that promotes good health and strong hooves.

They had systems in place that meant the environment was doing a lot of the work for them, so it didn’t matter that they’d had some time off. The systems were still working.

Neither client had a track system or anything complicated or expensive like that. They’d just made sure they were doing the best they could with what they had.

🔹️ Like providing forage and nutrition that suited their horses and their yard.
🔹️ Making sure their horse’s were functioning as well as possible, so the hooves were being strengthened not weakened.
🔹️Removing any ‘blocks’ that were causing stress on the body rather than promoting health.

The horses needs were different and the facilities each yard had varied, but by monitoring the horse’s responses and making appropriate changes we were able to design a system that suited not only them, but the whole herd.

Once the right system was in place, it felt like ‘they were hardly doing anything’. It was just normal for them, so it was easy to forget that they were in fact working towards improving their horses. They were just working smarter, not harder.

If you’re interested in making your systems work for you, have a look at The Healthy Horse: Feeding and Nutrition mini course.

www.hoofgeek.com/fan-enroll

Hundreds of horse owners have benefited from this course over the last 2 years. The price is going up on 1st Feb, but right now you can still get it for just £22.

15/12/2021

It’s so EXCITING!! 🥳

The final checks have been made by Highfield Group and our Integrated Equine Podiatry course has been approved!! ⭐️

IEP is a professional course for training Equine Podiatrists that fits around your life, giving you the freedom to create a successful business doing what you love while empowering your clients to develop happy healthy horses from the hoof up.

If you’d like more details about the course, click here
areion.co.uk/iepsp

To celebrate the launch of this flagship Areion Academy course we want to give 1 person an incredible opportunity to change their life by training to become an equine podiatrist with all course costs fully funded!

This place is open to applications from anyone who is truly passionate about working with horses but genuinely couldn’t afford to fund the course themselves. This is an amazing opportunity so we are looking for someone with real drive and commitment to make a difference in the horse world.

If this is you, or someone you know, check out our prospectus now to find out how to apply. areion.co.uk/iepsp
(Terms and conditions apply)

05/11/2021

29/10/2021

We’re incredibly excited to announce the launch of Highfield approved training centre Areion Academy!

Areion will be providing high quality courses for equine professionals and dedicated horse owners with a focus on horse health and species appropriate methods.

Our flagship course Integrated Equine Podiatry is being developed by EP’s Debs Crosoer of Hoof Geek and Amy Mitchell Heavenly Hooves Equine Podiatry to train professional EP’s who are keen to start a successful business rehabilitating horses with a whole horse approach to hoof care. We will be announcing the launch of this course very soon so watch this space for all the details!

The Essential Equine Nutrition qualification from independent Equine Nutritionist Nia Cooke is a science based, species appropriate online course for continuing professional development. This course is also suitable for any horse owner who really wants to understand the ins and outs of feeding their horse.

Follow our page to see helpful whole horse health posts, updates about upcoming courses, events, and industry developments.

08/07/2021

For years people have been looking for THE THING that causes laminitis, but I really don’t think it’s that simple. If it were, we’d have this all under control by now.

There is no ONE singular thing that causes laminitis. Laminitis refers to inflammation in the hoof, and most times that inflammation is through the rest of the horse as well. There are many causes of inflammation. Too much grass is a common cause but it is certainly not the only cause.

Cases where horses get laminitis from a single short term assault aren’t common. The majority of laminitis is a slow build up of multiple assaults.

This makes it difficult to pin down exactly what ‘the cause’ is. It simply isn’t just one thing that happened one time. It’s many things happening repeatedly.

The slow onset of symptoms can easily go ‘unnoticed’ until it’s too late. This is why many people describe laminitis as ‘coming out of nowhere’.

I put ‘unnoticed’ in inverted commas there as the symptoms often are actually noticed. They’re just not considered to be an early warning sign of laminitis, or they’re considered to be too subtle to be a cause for concern.

These subtle signs can build up until an acute attack happens.

Think of it like a glass of water. The glass can hold a certain amount of water, after which it will overflow. You can fit a number of 5ml increments in that glass of water without it overflowing.

If you keep drinking the water then maybe it will never overflow. But if for any reason you slow down your drinking, or the filling of the glass increases, then the glass will, at some point, spill over.

This is why management is so important when it comes to preventing and recovering from laminitis.

I’ve had so many conversations with people who notice an early warning sign of laminitis and consider it perfectly normal for their horse ‘it’s always been like that’ or sometimes 'but every horse on the yard has that’.

I’m not saying we should overreact or be paranoid, and it’s very possible that one singular symptom isn’t anything to be worried about. Maybe it’s just 5ml of water in a 100ml glass. But I do think we should recognise it as a symptom and monitor it, so we can determine if or when action needs to be taken. Those 5ml increments can add up if you're not looking.

That’s why I put together a course to make it easy for horse owners to recognise, monitor and manage these early warning signs of laminitis.

It’s a 6 week course, that we work through as a group. You get access to the content at the beginning of the week, and we have a group discussion on Zoom at the end of the week. You have lifetime access, and can join in with future classes, if you want to.

We’ve built an awesome community of knowledgeable, supportive and non-judgemental horse owners. Why not sign up and come and join us.

https://learn.hoofgeek.com/lws-enroll/

12/03/2021

Good Morning! Today is the day!

Please take the time to listen to my very first podcast and let me know what you think. The link below is to Spotify but it is also currently available on both "Pocket Casts" and "Anchor" - search for The Healthy Happy Horse Podcast on either platform.

This first episode is an interview with fabulous independent nutritionist Nikki Meggison where we explore her journey to where she is now from a childhood in Scotland to helping owners really improve their horses health and well being through nutrition.

It's a great listen! If you enjoy it, then please rate it in the app and give it a share :-)

https://open.spotify.com/show/7k4IpbaCX3WRunDFAuZpPX

19/02/2021

⏳ There’s still time to join the Spring intake of the Laminitis Warning Signs course! ⏳

Imagine if you could recognise 35 EARLY warning signs of laminitis; Signs that show up in the horse and the hoof, long before the rocked back stance, the pedal bone rotates and things get really serious.

But we don’t just talk about warning signs.

The course has been specifically designed to give you the understanding and support you need to help your horse.

We take it step by step, in bite sized pieces so you don’t get overwhelmed. After all, laminitis is stressful enough already!

By the end of the course you’ll know how to get ahead of laminitis early on so you can limit the severity while it’s more easily manageable.

What you’ll learn:

✅ Anatomy and hoof function, because that’s the foundation of understanding
✅ What a healthy hoof should look like, so you know what you’re aiming for
✅ How laminitis affects the hooves, so you finally understand those niggley problems
✅ What’s going on in the rest of the horse, because it’s not just the hooves that are affected
✅ How to recognise mild vs chronic laminitis, so you don’t panic too early ;)
✅ Quick and simple ways to assess your horse, so you can fit it into your routine
✅ How to find and address the real cause, so you can meet your horse’s individual needs
✅ Practical ways to manage your horse even if you’re on a livery yard
✅ How to address foot soreness, so your horse is comfortable
✅ Nutrition for maximum health, because that’s what we all want!
✅ Emergency interventions for laminitis, because sometimes the worst can still happen

Our supportive and knowledgeable community takes a whole horse approach to solving hoof problems.

Enrollment for this 6 week guided course is open until Saturday 20th February.

👇 Get Lifetime Access TODAY 👇
https://learn.hoofgeek.com/lws-enroll/

29/11/2020

Focusing on just the % of sugar in a feed can cause more harm than good.

17/09/2020

We all know the signs to look out for; Bounding pulse, horse rocking back on it’s heels, difficulty walking and turning.

Those are the signs of acute laminitis. In most cases, by that point, the damage has already been done. The pedal bone is tearing away from the hoof capsule.

So what about EARLY warning signs? These can tell you your horse has low grade laminitis.

This gives you time to step in and make changes before acute laminitis develops.

There’s quite a few early warning signs you can look out for. At least 35 of them.

Knowing a just few of these signs is a great start but it can make life more worrying.

If you know 1 or 2 early warning signs and you see them in your horse, it’s easy to think the worst. But if you see just 1 or 2 out of 35 signs then you know there’s something a little off but it’s not 😱😱😱

If you see 10 or 15 signs then you have a much clearer picture of what’s happening in your horse and know you need to take action.

Laminitis is caused by inflammation, and can happen in any horse in varying degrees of severity for a multitude of reasons. It’s not just about fat ponies getting too much grass.

If you want to fully understand the early warning signs and what can be causing your horse’s hoof problems maybe the Laminitis Warning Signs course is for you.

We’ve already made a start, but there’s still time to join us. Enrollment closes Saturday 11pm.

https://learn.hoofgeek.com/lws-enroll/

13/09/2020

Past students can't stop raving about the Laminitis Warning Signs Course

⭐️“WELL WORTH DOING THIS COURSE
I wish I'd known all of this information you've provided in this course before, I could have definitely prevented my mare from getting laminitis. I certainly know what to look out for now.”⭐️

⭐️“ALWAYS MORE TO LEARN
I really recommend this course! I had done a lot of research but still learned more! Especially from the live chats that are a huge added bonus! Learning more for the horses we care for can only be a good thing!”⭐️

⭐️“EYE OPENER
I wondered whether to do this course when it was run, earlier in the Spring. My pony has EMS and I'd already done lots of online research and picked my trimmers brains to death. However, how wrong could I have been. The course filled in all the gaps the online learning couldn't and provided me with a practical toolkit to pick up those early signs, helping to avert a full blown attack. I really liked the interactive format and the group chat, question and answer sessions. Debs was so patient with all our questions and this was another good way to learn. Thank you. Has helped me tremendously.”⭐️

There’s loads of early warning signs if you know what you’re looking for. Most of them are common complaints about hooves, but they’re so often accepted as normal, and just covered up hoof boots or shoes.

Flare, Bruising, Underrun Heels, Wall Cracks, Persistent Hoof Infection, and Foot Soreness are all symptoms of a larger problem.

If you want to know how to:

🐴Create a healthy hoof by getting your horse as healthy as can be
🐴Understand what’s happening in the laminitic hoof
🐴Spot 35 early warning signs so you can take action and stop it before rotation occurs
🐴Recognise the many other pathologies laminitis causes and get the hoof back to health
🐴Tailor a laminitic friendly diet to your horse’s needs
🐴Easily monitor your horse so you can worry less

To find out more, and see even more student feedback, click the link below

https://learn.hoofgeek.com/lws-enroll/

10/09/2020

06/09/2020

SPRING IS HERE!