Easycare Down Under has an Equine Podiotherapist and Specialist boot fitter on staff to help with your questions relating to boots.
Easycare Down Under offers a free phone and email consultation service if you need specialist boot advice and you are unable to find a professional trimmer/boot fitter near you. This consultation is not meant to replace veterinary care and if your horse is displaying lameness, or you have any concerns please contact a veterinarian. Many vets are now also Equine Podiotherapists and incorporate natural hoof care rehabilitation into their practices. They are happy to work with the owner or the owner's professional hoof care provider to achieve soundness.
Please remember that if your horse is displaying any lameness issues these should always be assessed by a veterinarian.
Founder and laminitis are serious issues and can be mistaken in their early stages as being just hoof tenderness - left undiagnosed they are life threatening - a vet MUST be called as soon as you notice problems if you suspect your horse may be foundering.
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To arrange a personal email consultation please use the following procedure:
Please put BOOT CONSULTATION & (your name) in the subject line of your email that way we see it quickly and can deal with your request.
Send to easycaredownunder@bigpond.com and include your phone contact details and hoof photos of the hooves you wish to boot. Our Podiotherapist will call you back as soon as he can.
Phone: If you are unable to email us with your details and can only call, for phone consultations please call 02 4455-2440 to arrange a time for our Podiotherapists to call back that suits you both.
Setting up your consultation by email is best as it allows you to submit photos of your horse's hooves which greatly help our Equine Podiotherapist in identifying hoof deformation issues and allows him to suggest trimming changes if necessary.
Photos: Please send them in JPEG format only or downsize themwith Microsoft Office Picture Manager (which is on most computers) if you use digital photos. Some cameras also allow you to take your photos in a format suitable for emails.
Photos and measurements must be taken directly after a trim.
Stand your horse on concrete, or a hard surface, so the hoof is clearly visible, NOT on grass. It is pointless going to all this trouble if the bottom of the hoof and the heels are not clearly visible.
Take several views of the hooves.
1. One directly from the front;
2. from the side;
3 one looking down at the sole of the hoof;
4. and one taken looking forward at the back of the heels. Take this one with the hoof weighted and on the ground. You may need to hold the camera down close to the ground for this shot and position yourself behind the hoof, but close to the horse... remember to be careful and always stay safe!
5. Finally a full view of the entire horse from the side. Don't "arrange" his stance for this one just let him stand relaxed on a loose lead and to put his hooves where ever he feels he wants to.
Please be patient, our Equine Podiotherapist will look at your photos and contact you as soon as he can but we are very busy so it may take a day or two.
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