Click here to see Case Sudies & Trimming at WillowVale Hoof Care

 

WillowVale Hoof Care Centre for Healing Horses has been established by Racheal Taylor and Stephen Onslow, on our beautiful 200 acre property at Reid River, North QLD, 40 mins West of Townsville.

The Centre was established as a result of my constant bare foot work with horses suffering chronic and / or acute lameness issues. Many of these horses need constant daily care to help them back to soundness via ensuring correctly functioning hooves, and my 13 year veterinary nursing experience is an added benefit to providing the care needed. Lameness in our domesticated horses has become a daily issue.

Traditional methods of dealing with lameness are proving more and more inefficient and are simply a bandaid to the problem and in fact the lameness issue will generally recur later as a chronic condition.

However, bare foot rehabilitation is consistently being proven that it is in fact a long term solution to many lameness’ by returning the hoof back to correct form and function, through trimming the hoof the way nature intended!

 

At WillowVale Hoof Care Centre, our aim is to return distorted, dysfunctional hooves back to correct form and function by correct trimming.

WillowVale Hoof Care Centre deals with: Navicular Syndrome, Laminitis, Seedy Toe (White line disease), Incurable Cracks & Splits, Thrush, Ringbone, Canker, Side bone, Abscesses and Undiagnosed heel pain.

Upon arrival horses are trimmed and depending on the problem are either fitted with rubber boots or turned out onto our rubber long yard, which allows for comfortable and therefore correct movement.

 

 

Pictured Below: Hind foot of our "Barefoot Stallion" AP Wings of an Eagle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pictured Above: Solar view of hind hoof of our stallion,

Mahtrix after completing 80km. Note the size of his frog

indicating excellent use and function of the hind hoof.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rubber is the perfect footing for recuperating horses; it is non concussive but firm enough to allow maximum hoof mechanism on a properly trimmed hoof.

The rate of repair to the hoof is amazing! Our rubberised long yard is 3 metres wide and set up in one huge loop making it about 700 metres long.

Because of the width & the circular shape the horses are constantly on the move tending to not stand around in one corner.

***Remembering: “Movement = Function & Function = Healthy Hooves.

The option of hoof boots is brilliant; we can add comfort pads to the boots depending on severity of distortion and lameness. This allows for correct movement and in turn speedy healing.

At WillowVale Hoof Care Centre, we look at the whole horse. It’s not only about the trim!

Most horses that come into our care have a huge amount of tension throughout their bodies.

A big part of the rehabilitation process is to try and relieve some of this tension via body work from our highly qualified Equine Body Balance Therapist.

 

With each patient we also need to regularly address the patient’s diet, especially the sugar uptake. We lean towards using more natural feeds and feeding regimes.

Depending on the type and severity of each lameness the duration of stay at WillowVale Hoof Care Centre is anywhere from 4 to 6 months. If you are one of those who have experienced and reached the limitations of traditional hoof care, when some problems are inherent, untreatable, and even terminal, then there is now another option available.

 

 

~ THOSE WHO WANDER, ARE NOT ALWAYS LOST ~