Trevor Jones Equine Podiatrist & Hoofcare Educator

Liz & Mason

I think that 5th May 2010 was quite possibly one of the lowest moments in my life. The vet phoned me from the equine hospital and said that my beloved Mason had a 40% chance of ever being sound again as he had just discovered navicular in Mason’s front feet. He made it clear that I should be prepared for him to not get better.

Mason had started his career as a hurdler, his half brother is Red Marauder, the Grand National winner and the breeder must have had high hopes for him! Unfortunately Mason had other ideas and was not the success on the race track that everyone had hoped. I bought him, in 2008, from the trainer, whose wife had started re-schooling him and I continued with his training.

In April 2010, he started to become unsound, which gradually got worse. I tried poultices as he often had abscesses and when this didn’t work he was rested. Towards the end of April, the vet came and could not diagnose the problem, he was referred to the equine hospital and was X -rayed which diagnosed the Navicular changes. The vet explained the prognosis was not good and he recommended to me that the farrier fitted heel wedges and frog pads along with 6 weeks box rest with 20 minute daily walks, but he was not hopeful of this treatment being successful. On the way home we discussed the best place to bury him and prepared for the worst.

I was just not comfortable with the idea of heel wedges. All I could think about was the pain of walking in high heels! In desperation, with nowhere to turn to, I logged on the Horse and Hound forum and explained my dilemma. Somebody on there said ‘go barefoot, it will save his life’. What a load of rubbish I thought, he’s a wimpy TB who can’t walk when he casts a shoe-not a chance that he will cope barefoot.... But I started researching and discovered Trevor Jones, who lives locally and phoned him. I think that by this time I was crying down the phone and I must have sounded desperate as poor Trevor was on holiday with his family and phoned me back. Assuring me that I was doing the right thing, he came out the following week.

Trevor looked at Mason’s feet and was incredibly positive, he was sure that we could get Mason rideable again. Trevor looked at Mason’s feet and diagnosed white line disease. Pardon? Mason had been shod a week before, he had been to the vet? White line disease? This was new to me. So I soaked his front feet in a solution that Trevor gave me. The next day he was walking sound! I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The trim immediately made Mason’s feet a better shape, it was so obvious looking at the before and after photographs how much difference the first trim made. After the second trim, I could ride again and after the third he was able to do pretty much anything he had done before. In August,4 months after being told I had a crippled horse, I entered a small show and won the riding horse class, I was so emotional ,I cried as I was handed the red rosette.

Since then, Mason has had regular trims from Trevor and has got more sound every time. His feet are stronger and he walks confidently over gravel as if it was a carpet. With the first few trims he wore front boots but they improved so quickly that he had to have back boots to keep up! He now wears boots all-round on the road so that his feet are not worn away too much, but when he is ridden ‘barefoot’ on grass and in arenas he acts like he was born without shoes! He now strides out when being ridden, ears forward, loving life, as if a long standing pain has gone. He seems to be much more comfortable with his ‘new feet.’

The vet wrote on my insurance form ‘likely to need further medical intervention’ I don’t think so, neither does Mason!

I can honestly say that contacting Trevor was the best decision I have ever made, I can’t recommend his knowledge, his positive outlook and ability to instil confidence in horse and owner highly enough; he gave me my horse back.