Success Stories - Testimonials
Explore success stories and read testimonials on this page, you may find stories similar to your own and be inspired or find hope in them.
OTTB's barefoot transition
"When it comes to a horse’s soundness and health; hooves are overlooked and neglected - neglect that simply stems from a lack of education. My journey with Louisa started when I decided that I wanted to transition Bonnard to barefoot. I had already started the process with his back hooves a year prior to meeting Louisa, but the transition was unsuccessful, to say the least. Bonnard was in an extremely poor condition - underweight, weak with a dull coat, a lackluster mane, and unhealthy hooves. During our first consultation in September 2021 Louisa did an extremely thorough evaluation – looking at not only his hooves but his posture. I was pleasantly surprised by the experience, she skillfully guided me step by step as she examined Bonnard. After her first consultation, I not only received a full guide to understanding my horses’ hooves, but also a 10-page evaluation in which Louisa extensively and expertly explains the issues Bonnard has in each of his hooves and how it affects his posture and overall health. She also explains how she will address these issues and what I can do from my side to facilitate this journey.
Within 4 months not only was Bonnard completely sound for the first time in years, but his overall condition improved DRASTICALLY. At this time (January 2022) Louisa did another detailed analysis and presented me with a 10-page progress report which showed Bonnard’s amazing improvement. In short, I’m ecstatic with the progress! There are still a few things to work on, but the hooves have made a lot of progress in a very short time, and Bonnard is feeling a lot better because of it. I highly recommend Louisa’s expertise; she goes beyond trimming hooves but educates and advises every step of the way. She always goes above and beyond to answer any questions I might have with extensive theory and practical examples. I am now learning to understand my horses’ hooves and the importance of maintaining healthy hooves."
- Tamzen B
Club foot & Laminitis rehab
"I believe in giving credit where it's due....this is a long read but I think needs to be out there. 8 months ago I met Louisa, I had a 900kg Percheron mare with a severe box foot, the start of laminitis, and WLD. Farriers didn't want to work with her as she needed to be sedated to work with her feet and when she saw a needle she walked over you and dragged you along, it was a disaster and a nightmare working with her....so couldn't blame them. I had been through so many farriers in the months before, they all shod her with custom-made shoes which didn't last long. Her shoes wouldn't stay on for more than 2 weeks and then come off and broke the feet with them, her feet were getting worse and worse. She was sore and miserable and hated her feet being touched, one farrier even told me I'm cruel and I should put her down.
Louisa was up for the challenge and 8 months later I have a happy, sound mare that holds her own feet up without sedation. Louisa combined her barefoot trimming knowledge with her nutrition knowledge and positive reinforcement training and we have a happy horse. She went beyond what was expected and did a tremendous amount of research on box feet. My mare was born like this but as far back as we could see on her bloodlines we couldn't find any box feet, we discovered that a shortage of copper and zinc, while she was in the womb, could be the cause of her being born with her box foot. We added copper and zinc supplements into her daily routine and wow what a difference! She has shifted her weight from her toe to heel on her own and working that box foot heel down naturally.
So the box foot is not necessarily a genetic thing, her foal was born with perfect hooves. So I'm giving credit where it is hugely due.....Thank you Louisa for giving my mare a happy sound life."
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- Jolene R
Anastasia learned to trim her own horse's hooves
"I very highly recommend Louisa's hoof course and her expertise. The course is very clear, very well structured with extensive theory and practical examples, and doesn’t require any prerequisite knowledge on hooves. It gives a solid foundation and allows you to see and understand your horse’s feet and other horses’ feet even before you really master the practice. On top of that, all of my questions are always answered by Louisa in a very detailed and helpful way, which makes the learning experience even more beneficial.
In October 2020 my horse’s feet were in poor condition, even to an untrained eye (cracking, very high sensitivity). Even if the professional that I have had for a while wasn’t necessarily making it worse, there was no initiative at all to make them better. It seemed like I wasn’t losing anything in trying to do it myself, so despite not having had any previous training experience I decided to jump in. Practice is hard, you need to learn to use the tools, to apply the learned theory on the spot, and you need to be patient with yourself and your horse who might be in pain or startled by your clumsiness. But what made the difference for me was that I wasn’t alone. From tracking progress through evaluations to concrete trimming advice, I “knew” what I was doing every step of the way. The hoof course is a very good guideline, with clear dos and don’ts and what to watch out for, and honestly, it's very hard to cross these limits once you know them, even unintentionally. But the evaluations and the trimming advice is where it was really taken to the next step for me. By not only explaining the what but also the why, they allowed me to learn specifically about MY horse’s feet, but also to generalize that knowledge to other hooves.
I am 6 months in and we still have a long way to go, but my horse has quite literally transformed. The way he moves, the way he stands. I, embarrassingly, haven’t realized how many health and behavior problems were related to him not being comfortable in his feet until that pain started to go away. I still make mistakes and I am scared of setting us back, but so do all of the professionals, and I have the reassurance of Louisa watching over what I am doing and making sure I don’t stray far from the path. Louisa is an amazing and very knowledgeable professional and I can truly recommend any of her work and services!"
