Hi Rebeccah

I really found the talk last night very informative and interesting.

I have a question are the talks just for barefoot horses?

I very much want to learn about the structure of foot and conformation.

Thanks Debbie 

Hi Debbie 

Lovely to meet you, I am glad you enjoyed the talk, Clive is very knowledgeable and really knows his subject.

The talks are for everyone with horses, Clive is a barefoot trimmer and the room had several barefoot people and people who shoe too, everyone can learn and new science is coming out all the time to support how amazing the hoof actually is - I find it fascinating.

As the talks develop I think it will become clear that managing the foot is also about environment, diet, workload and conformation, its never one dimensional. 

Next time we will be looking at hoof balance so that will bring in hoof issues and how we can help manage them, conformation will play it's part, as we learnt last night if your horse has poor conformation it can often follow down to those all important feet.

I hope that helps..? 

And that you were warm enough! 

Looking forward to seeing you next time. 

Becky 

www.littlegreenstables.com

Thanks for a very interesting and informative talk. It filled some of the many gaps in my knowledge and made various things a lot clearer. There is so much to learn about the feet and it's amazing how what seems so simple (like heel then toe on flat ground) can remain so confusing if you don't really study the reasons why. Then it seems obvious. 

Dawn

Photo courtesy of Dawn Westcott

Well! there we go. The first talk of our Winter Series is done.

A big thank you to all those who turned up on Tuesday evening. I believe we all had a good time. The yurt was a great venue. Nice and cosy. I will bring more wood for the fire next time, although I believe everyone was warm enough.

Some of the feedback I have had was wondering if the talks were just for barefoot horse owners. The answer is NO. The talks are for everyone interested in healthy feet and healthy horses. It was good to have an informal question time at the end, and I encourage everyone to join in.

Really looking forward to the next one. Here is a brief run down of the talk for those of you who were unable to come.

During the talk we looked at why the foot is the shape it is, how it is the product of successful evolution.

We briefly looked at the function of the foot and how all the parts of the foot come together.

We explored the role of 'intelligent tissues' within the foot and how the foot responds to stimulus.

We looked at how the foot dissipates energy and the vital role that soft tissues play in the overall health of the foot.

Source material for those interested in the topics covered are:

Charles Darwin (Darwins finches)

Andrew Van Epps (laminae)

Dr R Bowker (haemodynamics of the equine foot)

Dr D Taylor (role and function of the soft tissues of the foot)

Don't forget the next talk - Balance of the Horse and Hoof - 13th November 2018.