BAREFOOT, ARE WE MISSING OUT?

After qualifying, Robbie set up in general practice in the south-west of the UK. In 1985, he founded Greatcombe Clinic, a centre for hoof-related referrals from vets and farriers.

Along with the clinic he also started ‘Little learning’ a training method for owners, farriers, and vets to understand better the language of the horse.

As from 2022 he is part of ‘Intohoofcare’ team, a movement that amongst other things wishes to get away from the convention of nailing steel to a horse’s foot.

He has also published two books ‘The Horse’s Foot and Related Problems’ in 1994, and ‘So You Want to Take Your Horse Barefoot’ in 2020.

ANATOMY APPLIED TO HOOFCARE

Mark qualified in 1983 and, after serving his apprenticeship with David Gulley FWCF, he continued to work for David for a further 12 months, gaining valuable experience, until he left to set up in business on his own near Bicester in Oxfordshire. By his own admission, he always challenged thinking – his own and others – and has sought practises to overcome the repetitive problems the industry. Over the years he has adopted what he terms as, some fairly diverse methods in his quest for finding solutions that work. Furthermore, he says, observing the unshod horses he was responsible for, he believed their feet looked healthier.

He has extended his knowledge of barefoot maintenance – based on information gained from both the UK and abroad, and from some of the best barefoot practitioners – so that his passion for functional anatomy and the whole horse has flourished.

Mark delivers anatomy clinics in the UK and abroad and runs a business consisting of unshod horses, supported by hoof boots and the use of composite shoes where necessary. Two years ago, Mark took the decision to eliminate steel shoes from his business. Enthusiastic about further educational opportunities, Mark welcomes a collaboration between Robbie Richardson RSS and himself as they seek to compile a shoeless syllabus aimed at assisting the farriery industry.

HOW TO OBJECTIVELY MEASURE THE HORSES’S HOOF AND GAIT

Marc qualified as a Farrier in 2006 and has since gone on to pass four postgraduate examinations, the foundation degree (FdSc) in 2011, the Associate of the Worshipful Company of Farriers in 2012, the BSc (Hons) in Farriery Science in 2014 and the Graduate Diploma in Equine Locomotor Research at the Royal Veterinary College in 2021. To date, Marc has had over 50 articles published worldwide on hoofcare and regularly offers clinics for farriers, vets and horseowners. Marc’s daily work focuses mostly on corrective farriery, working alongside a number of veterinary practices in Shropshire and Staffordshire.

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE REST OF THE BODY DURING EXERCISE? THE STRESSES AND STRAINS ON THE BODY ABOVE THE HOOF

David Marlin studied at Stirling University from 1978-1981. He then trained with dressage rider and coach Judy Harvey. He obtained his PhD from Loughborough University in 1989 on the response of Thoroughbred racehorses to exercise and training, and worked for three years for racehorse trainer Luca Cumani in Newmarket.

He studied thermoregulation and the transport of horses in the build-up to the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and advised on air-conditioning and cooling of horses competing in Beijing in 2008. From 1990-2005, David held the position of Senior Scientist and Head of Physiology at the Animal Health Trust. His main areas of professional interest are exercise physiology, including nutrition, fitness training, thermoregulation, anhidrosis (the inability to sweat), competition strategy, transport, respiratory disease and exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage in horses and he has published over 200 scientific papers in these areas.

David has a strong interest in equine welfare and has been involved in many projects, including working with World Horse Welfare to improve the conditions for horses transported for meat in Europe. He is currently involved in a projects that include the impact of Covid-19 on horse owners and horse welfare, protective boot testing, headcollar safety, performance analysis, saddle tree design, saddle pads, the quantification of headshaking and nutrition.

David is a past Chair of the International Conference on Equine Exercise Physiology, editor of Comparative Exercise Physiology, author of Equine Exercise Physiology and President of the UK National Equine Welfare Council. He runs his own equestrian community at DrDavidMarlin.com.

A SURGEON’S PERSPECTIVE: THE FOOT AND FARRIERY

Bryan is a European Specialist in equine surgery. He also has an RCVS certificate in equine orthopaedics and a Masters of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Glasgow where he investigated a new surgical technique and surgical instrument. He completed a Senior Clinical Scholarship Residency Programme in equine surgery between O’Gorman Slater Main and Partners, Newbury, and Glasgow university, which was funded by The Horse Trust.

Bryan has presented work on tendon disease in racehorses at the European College of Veterinary Surgeons, and at the British Equine Veterinary Association conferences, and has published studies in the Equine Veterinary Journal, Irish Veterinary Journal and Equine Veterinary Education among others. He has a special interest in dynamic endoscopy (overground endoscopy) and upper respiratory tract surgery (WIND OPS). Bryan has extensive experience of equine practice, having worked in several practices in the UK and in his native Ireland.