Trevor Jones BSc (hons) MBA ADAEP
Applied Equine Podiatrist & Hoofcare Educator
Freddy Von Rabenau - Equine Physiotherapist
When I decided to let my first horse go barefoot in 2008 the farrier I ‘inherited’ with her refused as he argued that she would go lame and would need to be shod again later but I thought that I would never know if I didn’t give it a go. At that time Trevor Jones was recommended to me and when the shoes came off Trevor gave her a usability rating of 3.2 out of 10, which is very low. Initially her soles were so soft that I could not hear her walk on concrete. Her biggest problems after shoe removal were tightness in her hamstrings and back. his resolved and after 2 weeks I started to ride her gently in the arena. In a very short period of time her strides improved significantly in comparison to being shod and the dishing that she had whilst shod disappeared.
Her usability rating, which varied according to time of year, improved to up to 6 and she only struggled during hacks on flinty ground. Against everyone’s expectations we never looked back.
Trevor also removed my show pony’s shoes when the horse first came to me. This changed his way of going significantly. While shod he had always been stiff and needed to be lunged for 20 minutes to warm up prior to being ridden. After he had been barefoot a few months his formerly contracted feet were able to expand and a hole in his left rear hoof caused by his untreated white line disease, which had been concealed by the shoe, had healed. He did not need to be lunged prior to being ridden anymore and his canter and transitions became a lot smoother.
In 2011 Trevor helped me with my foal when I was unable to get my vets to show any interest in my horse’s problem. Her left carpus started to bow out to an alarming degree when she was about 4 months old. I was concerned that she may end up crippled and would need to be put down. I contacted my vets but never heard anything back from them. So I asked Trevor whether he would be able to help. He correctively trimmed her left front foot every 3 weeks for about half a year and the problem resolved. Her leg is now straight and the only thing we have to continue correcting is a small deformity in that hoof capsule (the bones are stacked up straight as demonstrated in an x-ray).
Freddy von Rabenau
As an equine physiotherapist, for me one of the great frustrations of treating horses is when it appears that my patients’ shod feet are important contributors to the body problem that I’m asked to treat and the owner is unable or unwilling to do anything about it.
When working with Trevor’s clients I have always felt safe in the assumption that with a high probability the feet are not the cause of any problems that manifest themselves in my patients.
Over the years I signed up to a couple of the courses that Trevor taught to further my understanding of hoof biomechanics as a diagnostic tool; In my opinion it is important for physiotherapists to recognise when hooves are potentially the cause of the problems of the bigger picture.
Trevor taught these courses with great enthusiasm and continues to display knowledge that in my opinion surpasses that of most vets and all farriers that I have come across over the years.
I also want to point out that Trevor is not against shoes but recognises that being barefoot does not suit all horses, all problems or all activities and on a number of occasions I have seen him recommend that shoes be reinstated, which meant that he was losing those clients.
To me this shows that Trevor puts the horses’ welfare before his personal gain and if in doubt about hoof problems Trevor is always my first point for advice.
The Homestead Physiotherapy 2017
"In nature nothing is hurried, and yet everything is accomplished"
Lao-Tzu