My business focuses primarily on equine health care at a holistic level and the services I provide are hoof maintenance and rehabilitation, boot fitting, soft tissue body work, nutrition advice and herbal healing.
I initially became involved in hoofcare about 6 years ago when I wanted to learn more about what was going on with my horses feet but the hoof obsession soon took hold and ultimately that lead to me becoming a professional trimmer with a keen interest in rehabilitation.
As a trimmer, I was coming across a lot of horses that I knew had body issues. I could often feel resistance from tight muscles and encountered horses that were clearly uncomfortable when I picked up a hoof to trim it and this was even more significant in horses that were undergoing hoof rehabilitation so I wanted to be able to do something to help these horses which would also make my the job of trimming their hooves easier. This lead to me also becoming an equine bodyworker.
Equine bodywork has since become an integral part of my practice and the horses I trim have benefited greatly on many levels from the combination of these holistic equine bodywork modalities in combination with a balanced trim, whether they be performance horses, pleasure mounts, horses undergoing hoof rehabilitation or just plain paddock ornaments.
It is important to remember that the equine digestive system is a very delicate one with colic and laminitis still being the two biggest killers of horses. The hoof pathologies I deal with on a daily basis are largely due to the digestive system being compromised to some extent so diet is extremely important.
I began using herbs to help with horses suffering laminitis or undergoing founder rehab earlier in my career as I found that horses responded very well to the herbal remedies. I have since gone on to use herbs to support the healing of various issues including tendon and ligament injuries, to support post surgery recovery, ulcers and tumors just to name a few.
I became involved with Cath at McDowells a few years ago when I consulted her for advice on dealing with various issues I was dealing with in the field. I highly recommend the team at McDowells for herbal consults as to date I have had a 100% success rate from using herbs to help support healing either on their own or in conjunction with veterinary medication.
