Rachael Bishop - Student Equine Podiatrist

23/04/2025

Lots of good info on their site, worth a follow, especially if you have a horse or pony that struggles with the grass at certain times of year!

A few daily checks that may help early identification of laminitis:

Hard ground - does your horse decrease his/her stride length or seem "footy" or "pottery" when going from soft to hard ground? Does he/she seek out softer ground?

Turning - is your horse happy to turn in a tight circle each way? He/she should move as fluidly as usual with no reluctance.

Digital pulse - is the digital pulse in the pastern or fetlock more bounding than normal?

Fat pads/regional adiposity (linked to insulin dysregulation/hyperinsulinemia-associated laminitis (HAL)) - is there any increase in the size or firmness of neck crest, supraorbital (above the eye) hollow filling (NB these hollows fill when horses are eating - check when the horse has his/her head up and isn't chewing), fat around the tailhead and mammary glands/sheath swelling.

If you are at all worried that your horse or pony might be at risk of HAL, talk to your vet and book an insulin test. The oral sugar test gives a good idea of whether a horse's insulin response to sugar is normal or abnormally high (and therefore the horse may have an increased risk of HAL). A basal/resting insulin test after eating their usual forage or grass will help assess their normal insulin response to their diet, but be aware that sugar levels in fresh grass can fluctuate considerably so a resting insulin test carried out after eating grass in the morning of a cloudy wet day could be considerably lower than if carried out late afternoon on a sunny day.

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The Laminitis Site rescues, cares for and rehabilitates horses and ponies with laminitis, and provides information and support for owners of horses with laminitis (and navicular), EMS and PPID all over the world.
Please consider supporting the work of The Laminitis Site: www.thelaminitissite.org/donate.html
For more information and support, join Friends of The Laminitis Site (£12 annual donation payable): www.thelaminitissite.org/join-friends-of-tls.html

18/04/2025

17/04/2025

🐣 Happy Easter! 🐣

Hope everyone has a lovely break! I’ll be catching up with messages and back out trimming on Tuesday.

16/04/2025

It’s been a busy few weeks with lots of new horses to trim and boot fittings!
Nice solid hooves and soles have been the theme due to all the lovely sun and dry weather 💪☀️

These are now due a trim (so not at their tidiest !) but wanted to share the pics to show how the sole is starting to loosen and exfoliate now we’ve had a little drop of rain! The extra protection laid down for the hard ground is starting to shed from the toe.
If I’ve been chatting while trimming about your horse or pony having solid soles like concrete, they may do the same now there is a little more rain around! 🌦️
I might let a bit more drop out before I trim him!

09/04/2025

Great talk last night from Mark Bailey EP and Tom Beech The Osteopathic Vet in the New Forest . A little bit out of my area but made the most of it by also visiting a fellow student EP and her lovely thoroughbreds, and having a wander with the Native Ponies on the forest. So interesting to watch the ponies in their natural habitat 🌳

06/04/2025

A little bit of Donkey heaven today! Lots of feet to look at! Donkey hooves are a little different to horses, post to follow! ☀️ 🫏 The Donkey Sanctuary Sidmouth

05/04/2025

Chatting away on the phone and sending photos over this morning (of Oreo’s muddy boots 🙈) to help a client set up her new flex boots … and then realise that it was only yesterday afternoon that I was there with my fit kits! New boots on and Stan is ready to ride in less that 24hrs 💪 Good service! The Hoof Boot Shop

24/03/2025

🌱 Lots of spring grass coming through now and changes in routine and increased turnout time all lead to changes in gut and feet! Keep
an eye on them and try to keep any changes to the winter forage, feed or routine gradual 🌱

Not all hoof problems are obvious — especially during the early stages of dietary-related hoof sensitivity. As spring grass starts to grow, even small increases in sugar intake can affect the hooves, but the signs aren't always what owners expect.

Some of the earliest indicators of hoof discomfort are changes in the way a horse moves.

You might notice your horse:
• Taking shorter strides or seeming less forward than usual
• Hesitating to walk over hard or stony ground
• Choosing softer surfaces to walk on, like grass instead of tracks
• Placing their toes down first rather than landing heel-first
• Shifting weight frequently when standing, especially on harder surfaces
• Being more reluctant to lift their feet for picking out or trimming

If you suspect that your horse may be struggling, please contact your veterinary professional and work collaboratively with your hoof care provider.

22/03/2025

I know I’ve said it before, but have a look at the back of your horse or pony’s foot again! A healthy hoof shouldn’t have contracted heels and deep, sore cracks. 🕵️ 🧐

We should be able to leave the working day behind once we’re done but sometimes things do just slip under the energy barrier

I went to see a horse and owner I haven’t met before with a view to fitting some Scoot Boots today

Now the foot in the photo isn’t the horse and nor is it’s frog as compromised however, it does illustrate the point, imagine that slit you can see present In between the bulbs being at least twice as deep, with a decayed smell and slimy secretion coming from it and that’s about right for the horse I met today

Needless to say the boot fitting didn’t go ahead, as the centre stem at the rear of the boot would have been in direct contact with the infected area

But what REALLY! Grates with me is that despite the owner’s concerns, the problem was dismissed by the farrier responsible for the hoofcare

If you have a deep and smelly central sulcus (middle of the frog) if your lucky, it’s still a stage away from disabling your horse and for goodness sake take action to rectify the problem

In no way was the owner to blame, they rightly raised a concern with a professional and were assured, nothing to worry about 🙈

19/03/2025

Finer Forage - Horse feed & Supplements. Species appropriate horsefeed and supplements. Alfalfa free, grain free, soya free, no by-products. Made from 100% natural ingredients. Barefoot friendly horse food.

17/03/2025

Spotted this stunning big grey on the way to boot fit an equally lovely big grey last week! Not a bad view from the office!

14/03/2025

😍 Meet the lovely ‘Captain’! This beautiful boy has made so much progress since I met him last summer I thought he needed a shout out!

His owners reached out to the EPA after realising that Captain’s fear of his farrier and having his feet trimmed was escalating. They were at the point where a vet was neeeded to give him IV sedation prior to trimming, he was becoming more anxious with the vet attending to sedate, and as a young horse they wanted to see if there was an alternative.

On my first visit I left my chaps and equipment in my car, (which I left outside the yard, as cars driving up to the stables were usually the vet or farrier, and this was also becoming a trigger for his anxiety), armed myself with a couple treats , did little more than pick his front feet out and say hello and arranged to return the following week. His owners had already started using a mini lick as reward and distraction for picking his feet up, and they continued with this positive reinforcement when picking his feet out before my next visit .

We kept visits frequent (2-4 weekly) for a while and the next time I was able to wear chaps and trim both front feet using the positive reinforcement training that he was now accustomed to when holding his feet up.

8months on and he is able to have all four feet trimmed and is relaxed and confident enough to use the stand. He’s such a bright horse and huge credit goes to his lovely owners who have put in so much work with groundwork, diet tweaks (to a lower energy feed), and training when picking feet out to teach him that having his feet handled (and trimmed) can actually be a positive experience!

Next step is enough patience left at the end of a trim for a set of photographs to show off his gorgeous ginormous feet, but we’re nearly there ! 😂🤩 📷


!

12/03/2025

Happy 13th birthday spotty one 🥰 What a beautiful rollercoaster ride it’s been so far! A nice delivery of his favourite feed for tea 🎂

24/02/2025

Did you know? A complete hoof capsule can take between 9-12 months to fully grow out, making consistent care essential for maintaining soundness.

The hoof wall grows from the coronary band at an average rate of 8-10 millimeters per month. The growth rate can vary depending on factors like age, diet and activity level, meaning that any damage or imbalance to the hoof could take at least a year to fully correct and in some cases longer.

Regular trimming or maintenance is critical to prevent issues like flares, cracks or uneven wear, which could impact upon the horse’s overall biomechanics and comfort.

23/02/2025

Love this! I have a donkey on the books but yet to find a Zebra! 🦓

18/02/2025

🐻 Caught on camera yesterday trimming a Bear! 🐻
Lovely Bear has lots of flare (that’s now starting to come in nicely), lovely strong, thick walls, and she loves to grow a tonne of hoof between trims.
Nippers for the win with these little toes 💪 !
Part way through here and having a peek under those beautiful feathers ☺️

12/02/2025

Lovely to see a (very!) local charity benefitting from these great products.
The field paste is great to keep frogs and soles healthy this time of year when everything is a little damp and muddy, and Honey Heel should be in everyone’s first aid kit ! Think sudocreme but with less stinging and a bit more staying power!

Who remembers when Horseworld was open to visitors everyday? The donkeys and the ‘death slide’ were the favourites 😄 I used to spend hours there with my children!

** 2025 Charity of the Year**
Congratulations to HorseWorld Trust who have been chosen as our Charity for 2025!!! We are delighted to be supporting another small but mighty organisation and have made an initial donation of £500 this afternoon.
20p from every order placed through our website in 2025 will be donated to Horse World Trust along with products for the equines in their care.
Please check out their work: https://www.horseworld.org.uk/