Brendon Greig Farrier

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🥶❄ Frosty mornings = higher laminitis risk? Here's why...

As we're sure you've all been feeling, the cold snaps and frosts have well and truly arrived across New Zealand!

Not only does this mean digging out five layers of clothing ... it also means it's time to pay extra attention to your horse's grazing. 🌱

When we get frosty mornings followed by bright, sunny days, grass can accumulate higher levels of sugars (non-structural carbohydrates). During the day, grass produces sugars through photosynthesis. Normally, it uses these sugars overnight to grow. However, when overnight temperatures drop below around 5°C, grass growth slows dramatically, meaning those sugars remain stored in the plant.

The result? Grass can contain significantly higher sugar levels, particularly during the morning after a frost.

For horses and ponies that are overweight, have a history of laminitis, are insulin resistant, or are considered "good doers," this sudden increase in sugar intake can significantly increase the risk of a laminitic episode.

How can you help reduce the risk?

✅ Limit grazing for at-risk horses, especially following frosty nights.
✅Consider using a well-fitted grazing muzzle.
✅ Provide low-sugar hay to reduce the urge to gorge on pasture.
✅ Maintain a healthy body condition and regular exercise where appropriate.
✅ Keep a close eye out for early signs of laminitis, including:
- Reluctance to move
- Increased heat in the feet
- Strong digital pulses
- Shifting weight between feet or standing rocked back

If you're concerned your horse may be at risk, or you'd like advice on managing pasture during winter, get in touch with our team. A few simple management changes now could help prevent a very painful condition later.

Stay warm out there and give those frosty paddocks a little extra respect this winter! ❄💙

No, it didn't just ‘fall off’. And no, the mud didn't suck it off either 😅
If you've ever tried removing a shoe, you know it's not that easy (even if your farrier makes it look simple)
A shoe doesn't simply drop off a hoof. Something pulls it off. And once you know what, it's a lot easier to prevent.

So what actually pulls a shoe off?
🦶 Overreaching
the hind foot striking the back of the front hoof and catching the shoe. Deep going, fast work, jumping, hills, downhill ground and fitness levels all make it more likely.
💧 Waterlogged hooves
constant wet softens the horn, so has less strength to hold the shoe.
🪰 Fly aggrivation
Unsettled horses, pulling shapes to get away from flies and itching and stamping in dry weather loosens shoes too.
🐎 Movement and balance
Soreness, slipping, scrambling, a horse on the forehand, even a horse or its herd mate standing on its own shoe in the field. All made worse by uneven or slippy ground.
🧠 Unsettled horses
Spooks and startles, playfulness or fighting

How you can help keep them on:
✅ Correctly fitted overreach boots for turnout and fast work
✅ Manage turnout - protect from flies, roll field and avoid too much mud.
✅ Pick out and check feet daily to catch a loose shoe early
✅ Keep to your farrier's recommended interval, before the shoe loosens

A loose or thrown shoe can damage the hoof wall, so the sooner you call, the better but more often than not, it's the management, the weather or the horse, not the work.

Lost a shoe? Find it if you can (a buried, nail-up shoe is a hazard)

When the weather is really awful and just pouring down it's a good day to spend some time in the workshop making shoe's

After having my operation and then being very crook with the flu I may have missed some people so feel free to message me if you're horses are due

As most people know I have just had an operation on my voice box for a problem that has been going on for quite awhile the surgeon strongly recommended not to go back to work until Monday which as hard as it is to do what I am told I am going to follow his advice and give it the best chance it can have to heal properly

Just to let everyone know due to the passing of my sister I won't be back to work until Wednesday