Say hello to Nicky, Makaio and Eluney, our new ambassadors! Hi! My name is Nicky, I was born in Holland but moved to sunny Spain in 2016. I don't come from a horsey family, but still my love for horses started at a very young age. I went to riding schools when I was a little girl and a few years after that I had my first pony. I eventually ended up at a western oriented livery yard, where I learned how to ride western style. I really enjoyed it, but looking back at those times - I am sure my pony did not enjoy it at all. She had a tiny stable, a horrible diet and I kept on asking my parents f ..read more

Learning to trim online Is it really possible? Read one of our student's experience! I’ve been on my trimming journey for about two years now. I struggled to find a good, reliable barefoot trimmer who knew what they were doing, so after some persuasion from a close friend, I decided to give trimming a go. A professional barefoot trimmer had done a poor job with my horse a couple of weeks earlier by trimming him way too short whilst leaving a very long toe, and my horse was visibly uncomfortable. So - although the thought of trimming hooves was pretty scary to begin with -  I figured that ..read more

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Say hello to Luna and Hvalur, our new ambassadors! Hi, I’m Luna from Germany and this is my Icelandic horse Hvalur. He was born in the Icelandic wilderness and is a very independent horse; he knows he will be just fine on his own, so getting him to work with me is a case of persuading him, never forcing. He’s the kind of horse that needs to see the sense in an exercise, otherwise he will simply refuse to participate. But once he is interested in something and sees the human as his ally, not a threat, he turns into the most willing, determined, enthusiastic, loyal and protective horse I know ..read more

Say hello to Essi and Wilma, our new ambassadors! Hi, I’m Essi from Finland and this is my horse Wilma. Wilma is a 12-year old Haflinger mare that I do a variety of fun stuff with. We compete in dressage and show jumping, do a lot of trail riding and also trick training. My horse’s welfare is important to me and I pay a lot of attention to her species-specific needs. It’s important to me that I can use social media to spread awareness of how horses in active competition use can still be barefoot and have a fulfilling life that includes long periods of turnout in a herd. Wilma is barefoot, we ..read more

Say hello to Jess and Ava, our new ambassadors! Hi, I’m Jess from Tasmania. I’m learning to trim hooves, with the intention of becoming a professional trimmer in the future, and have already completed a few short courses and read several books about hoof trimming. I have been assisting with trimming my own horse’s feet in between professional trims for the last 12 months and in the last three months I have taken over the trimming of my own horse with guidance from my hoof care professional. My equine partner is an 11-year-old Friesian x Thoroughbred mare Ava. Ava and I enjoy trail riding and ..read more

Say hello to Ronja and Kerttu, our new ambassadors! Hello, my name is Ronja and I live in Finland. Kerttu, a horse that I’m leasing, is a 5-year-old Irish Cob mare and we have known each other for about 1.5 years now. I see her weekly, sometimes only once and sometimes more times per week. At the moment she only does easy trail rides and a bit of liberty work and positive reinforcement training. She lives out 24/7 in a herd. I have a little bit of experience on hoof trimming but not that much. I have already purchased and gone through your Weekly Maintenance Trim short course and have tried t ..read more

Say hello to Cynthia and Indie, our new ambassadors! Hi, my name is Cynthia and this is my horse Indie. I live in Scotland, but I am originally from Canada. I work as an equine welfare researcher, currently focusing on alternative grazing systems, especially track systems, and their impacts on welfare. I have decent knowledge of equine functional anatomy due to my academic background, but learning how to put that into practice to trim properly is a whole other story. I don’t have much hoof trimming experience – I do a little bit of maintenance rasping on my horse currently but  ..read more

Say hello to Gemma and Roly, our new ambassadors! Hi, I’m Gemma and this is my pony Roly. We are based on Dartmoor in the UK. I have no previous experience of trimming my horses’ hooves but have been using an equine podiatrist for my herd since 2014. I have four horses, two that I own and two that I have adopted via sanctuaries, but I have selected my New Forest pony, Roly, for this ambassadorship. He is rising 14 now, been out of shoes for 4 years, and he has previously been a showjumper and pony club pony. Now he is predominately a trail horse, but we do enjoy infrequent lessons and the odd ..read more

This blog post tells you why concavity is an important factor when assessing hoof health. Concavity can be described as the cupped appearance of the horse's sole - like an upside-down bowl.  Imagine you're holding the horse's hoof up and looking at the sole; the frog should be nestled at the bottom of the bowl shape and the sole should rise up to the periphery of the foot and the hoof walls. Concavity is a sign of a healthy sole with enough depth to keep adequate distance between the coffin bone and the ground. It allows the coffin bone to “sink” with each step and spring back up to its n ..read more