In 2007 I purchased a thoroughbred called Maurice. He was a beautiful big chestnut that I had bought on a whim without consideration of his age or anything…he was just so beautiful to look at. Little did I know that this horse would be the beginning of my journey into the world of endocrine diseases, barefoot trimming and equine nutrition.
At the age of 25 years, Maurice was starting to show signs of Pituatary Pars Intermdia Dysfunction (PPID) also known as Cushings Disease. At this point in time, I didn’t know anything about this disease. Maurice started developing abscesses, he was losing weight, his feet were becoming more deformed by the day. As he deteriorated, I began looking for answers online and came across the group ECIR lead by Dr Eleanor Kellon which still exists today.
Dr Kellon is the catalyst for teaching me about PPID and equine nutrition. It was here that the passion for education began. I started studying with Dr Kellon and continue to this day…we can never stop learning and research into PPID is forever evolving.
Along with my studies, I met a fellow barefoot trimmer, Sue Daniel. Sue helped me with Maurice as we endeavoured to try and rectify his feet but unfortunately the disease had impacted his feet so badly I decided to give him the gift of peace and he crossed the rainbow bridge.
Sue encouraged me to learn more about trimming so over the next year I followed her around observing, learning, trimming and eventually starting to trim under her supervision. It was so challenging and frustrating that I could only do two feet at once as it was so taxing on the body. But I persevered and it’s now my chosen career.
My next horse Annie aged five years came into my life. She was emaciated, sad, lost the enthusiasm for life. However under my care she blossomed and I still have her to this day turning 18 years old living the dream in a herd on my farm.
Annie was the guinea pig. She put up with my frustration of not being about to hold the foot and trim at the same time. She put up with me poking and prodding her while I learned anatomy and massage. She was just so patient in being used as a guinea pig for all my initial learnings. I’m forever grateful to her.
Not long after I started college at the Australian College of Equine Podiotherapy. What a learning opportunity that was! I loved it, it challenged me, it made me work hard and understand science, it really pushed me to want to learn more. I’ll be a student of the horse forever.
Here I am 11 years later, working in a busy practice trimming horses, mixing minerals, guiding horse owners on trimming and feeding their horses as they evolved to do.
I’m super excited for the future of my business and where it will take me. I hope to encourage my clients to really embrace learning anatomy and trimming the feet…I get so excited when I see the changes they have made.
The future looks very bright.
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