Gill and ‘Jasmine Rose’ [aka Jazz] (East Yorkshire)
How lucky do I feel to have met you as in just a short space of time you have introduced me too so many new ideas about horse care and I am already seeing the benefit in my own horses.
Twelve months ago I had never heard of the science of Applied Equine Podiatry but while watching you work on a horse in Skidby I was impressed by the way you watched the horse moving in between trimming the hoof and I thought to myself that you were the first person I had ever seen do that apart from my vet.
So when my vet told me he would be happy for a farrier to trim my yearling filly’s feet which he had successfully treated for ballerinas syndrome I thought that you would be the ideal person as you put so much effort into balancing the horses hoof and how interesting it would be if you would take us on with a view to eventually riding her barefoot.
Luckily you agreed to take us on.
I suppose naively I just expected you just to work on my filly’s feet but straight away it was clear that you didn’t just want trim her feet but to help her with any other issues that were possibly contributing to the way her hooves were growing and affecting the way she moved. You wanted to help me find a solution to why she had been pre disposed to develop ballerinas’ syndrome in the first place. You wanted to work on the cause as well as the symptoms.
You suggested that we enlisted the help of Fiona Varian an Equine body management consultant which we did.
Fiona showed us that when Jazz walked she was able to step further with her left normal foot than she could with her right problem hoof and consequently when she grazed she put her left foot forward and the right foot back. Then to further assist in stretching of the neck to reach that tasty bit of grass she takes the right heel off the ground thus encouraging the foot to grow incorrectly. Fiona showed us this was because the muscles on the left side of her body were soft and supple while the muscles on the right side were tight and restrictive and this was probably a result of the way she had been positioned in the womb. Jazz had been born nearly five weeks late.
Fiona worked on Jazz’s body and hooves until she was satisfied that she could step out equally with her both front feet.
Now when you come to trim Jazz’s hooves you don’t just use your skills as podiatrist but you also use your horse massage skills to help release the tension in her muscles.
Jazz is a typical cheeky yearling always experimenting where the boundaries of good behaviour lie and Beccy you have so much patience, passion, knowledge and energy when dealing with her.
Thank you again for taking us on.
Gill Furman
Jaz before AEP in July 2010 and after (bottom) in December 2010
