Are painful hooves holding you and your horse back?
I know you are a loving horse owner who just wants the best for your horse, and it's difficult when you see your horse in pain. It can be disheartening when your horse doesn't want to be ridden after you've been looking forward to it all week, or doesn't want to walk on the stony path and becomes reluctant to continue, or becomes aggressive and you feel your relationship isn't what you dreamed it would be. It's difficult to build a positive relationship with your horse if the pain is all he feels when he is asked to do behaviors or when you just want to enjoy your time with him.
You may notice that:
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• Your horse is avoiding harder or rocky terrain and trying to walk in the sand or on the grass instead
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• Your horse is reluctant to pick up hooves especially for longer periods of time
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• Your horse's hooves chip/break easily, or seem to grow differently than that of other horses
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• Your horse displays behavioural signs of discomfort when movement is involved, such as head shaking
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• Your horse's gait and posture seems abnormal or your horse is reluctant to stand square
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• Your horse struggles with upper body pain such as stifle or lower back pain
Hoof care wasn't always one of my top priorities and my horses ended up developing chronic laminitis which came with at least 2 years of rehab.
I lacked a lot of knowledge surrounding hoof care, and when several of our horses in the herd developed chronic laminitis I felt helpless against it. It progressed to such a stage where I was warned that we might need to put them all to sleep if something didn't change quickly. Luckily I found wonderful individuals who mentored me through it and played a big role in why my horses are still alive today and running happily in the fields. From there forwards I decided to help others who also have horses who struggle with hoof pain but to make the process easier than I experienced it, and to continue to search for solutions to the problems they were facing.
Now I want to teach you everything I've learned and give you the support you need along the way
For your horse to grow really good hooves you need to:
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1. Be able to distinguish good from bad - It's important to be able to identify hoof distortions before your horse becomes lame, and then choose the right trimmer who can adjust the trim to restore the inner foot (inside), so that the hoof capsule (outside) can restore as well and you can relieve pain long term. But to choose the right person for the job you need to understand hooves first and understand which type of trimming can damage your horse's hooves.
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2. Understand which factors affect the hooves - A holistic approach is needed when trying to improve hoof health. When horses experience pain in their hooves or somewhere else in their body they will compensate in many different ways, the one affecting the other which creates a never-ending cycle of pain. It's important that you know when there's pain, why there's pain, and how that affects the body and the hooves.​
What Clients Say
"I highly recommend TrulyTrust Hoof Evaluations! This service has been such a great help and eye opener to my 5 horses and their feet health. Having sound & anatomically correct hooves is so much more then just a pretty looking hoof. And when looking at a hoof it's easy to not realize something is wrong when you don't exactly know what you're looking at.
Not only does this service help to grow your knowledge, but also to help you be able to better evaluate the type of job your farrier is doing as well. This service has also greatly inspired me to want to dive more in and learn about their feet even more. I'm now in the process to learning how to trim their feet myself to be able to help them grow in the right way for each horse & their individual needs and keep them going strong for the years to come"
Katie B - United States
"I bought the Understanding Hooves ebook and loved it! This reading will provide an essential knowledge about hooves, the care and importance of a healthy hoof. The language is very accessible even to those who don't use english as their first language, all the technical terms are explained in a easy way to grasp the concept.
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These are also the reasons why I included this ebook on the list of "must read" for all my students. No hoof, no horse."
Bianca -
"I bought the Hoof ebook, I loved it, for someone like me who doesn't understand hoof anatomy very well was easy to understand and I am now able to check up on my farrier and understand why a "TRUE" heal is sooooo important 10/10 would recommend."
Alta G - South Africa
What is the TrulyTrust approach to hoof care?
I believe in a holistic, individualized hoof care approach that takes into account anatomy, function, and the various factors that affect hoof health on a daily basis such as nutrition, conformation, and environment.
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Where many study wild horses, my focus is directed more at anatomy and function
Many hoof care methods are based on the study of wild horses' hooves, and while it's always important to study horses in their natural environment it can lead us towards a false impression of what is truly healthy since the type of hoof we see on wild horses can vary greatly depending on their environment. Many studies have highlighted the mistake and dangers of such an approach since many wild horses also suffer from common hoof-related problems, an issue not everyone speaks about. I believe in basing a trim around the anatomy of the hoof (and more importantly the structures that sit inside) as well as the individual horse's needs. When focusing on restoring the inside, we usually see the outer problems disappear.
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A Holistic approach is needed and we need to focus on the external factors that affect hoof health as well
Not all hoof problems are related to trimming, but other factors such as nutrition play an extremely large role in hoof health. Cracks, sensitivity, poor quality hoof wall, and many more issues can be related to poor nutrition. For this reason, I combine my knowledge and experience from being a barefoot trimmer with that of being a holistic nutritionist and myofunctional therapist to pinpoint possible issues in the rest of the horse's body that are negatively affecting the hoof health.
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•Reduce pain •Improve posture and movement •Be sound over any terrain
Start learning & correcting your horse's hooves today
Take a preventative approach or help your horse recover by reducing pain in your horse's hooves
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What Clients Say
"Just had a first hoof evaluation done for one of my horses. I was so impressed with the detailed analysis of what Louisa was seeing in the photos. I had such an epiphany. Letting small things go by not making sure that the whole hoof is properly balanced can lead to major problems over time. But how, as a lay person can one even tell? Paying attention to the hairline above the coronary band, for example, can be a huge deal for how comfortable your horse is feeling, plus it will tell you without a doubt if small things are being let go or not... Who knew?
After this first hoof evaluation as well as attending one of Louisa's live classes, I'm a believer! A believer in her teaching and a believer that we can take more responsibility for our horse's hoof health just by educating ourselves a bit more."
"I absolutely recommend getting your horse's hooves evaluated with TrulyTrust Equine, so educational and eye opening to learn what to look for in your horse's hooves. Very clear and easy to understand, I'm looking forward to checking back in for a follow up!"
Amy
"I want to recommend Louisa from TrulyTrust Equine to you. She trimmed my horse's hooves today. She worked really kindly with my horse, and my horse who is usually nervous was very calm. She follows a scientific approach and every horse gets evaluated individually. I can really recommend her!"
Madeleen - South Africa
Christina PJ - United States
"TrulyTrust Equine hoof evaluations are an absolute must when it comes to understanding the equine hoof properly. I had an evaluation done for my horse because I knew he was sore on his feet, the only trouble was understanding why. Louisa's evaluation is extremely detailed and thorough, her insight coupled with the ebook helped me to gain a better understanding of my horse's feet and what I needed to recognise/do in order to get him on the right path. Thank you!"