Ambassador Introduction: Cynthia and Indie

Say hello to Cynthia and Indie, our new ambassadors!

Hi, my name is Cynthia and this is my horse Indie. I live in Scotland, but I am originally from Canada. I work as an equine welfare researcher, currently focusing on alternative grazing systems, especially track systems, and their impacts on welfare. I have decent knowledge of equine functional anatomy due to my academic background, but learning how to put that into practice to trim properly is a whole other story. I don’t have much hoof trimming experience – I do a little bit of maintenance rasping on my horse currently but overall have limited personal experience – and I’m hoping to change this through being an ambassador for Holistic Hoof Care.

My mare Indie is a 16.3/17hh Irish Sports Horse (Holsteiner x TB), and 12 years old. I have had her for three years – she was passed around by a couple of dealers, sold and then returned for being difficult to handle (her feet especially), and then left in a field with shoes on all four feet for 6 months or so. Her feet were in terrible condition when I got her, and she was quite anxious, but now she is incredible in every way. I bought her as a project horse with the intention to event her (that’s what she’s bred for - several of her half brothers/sisters are 5* eventers) but she much prefers to be ridden bitless which means we can’t compete in eventing or dressage. I ended up fully retraining her, using a lot of positive reinforcement, and now we do a bit of everything. We hack, school, do some jumping, TREC, do lots of riding through fields, pole work, groundwork, etc.. I like to ride bareback as well, and sometimes bridle-less. She is now in great health and lives on a fabulous track/Equicentral hybrid yard.

The first summer I had her I just wanted to work on building trust and fitness so we didn’t compete, then the past two summers have been uneventful due to COVID, so this will be our first proper summer out and about. We are signed up for endurance rides and a saddle tramping clinic.  We’re also planning beach rides with friends and hopefully lots of fun and adventures – whatever she wants to do, really!

I found out about this ambassadorship programme through Flex Boots, which were recommended to me by my EP. After being unsure of how to get the best fit for Indie, I reached out to Minna at the Flex Boot helpdesk, and she has been brilliant and so helpful. She helped my EP modify Indie’s trim and Indie's feet are now looking and feeling great! I know there is always room for improvement, though, and as I am always wanting to learn more and do the best I possibly can for Indie, I really look forward to doing the Holistic Hoof Care for Horse Owners online course so I can be empowered and educated to do so myself. Trimming Indie’s feet myself has been my goal since I first transitioned her to being barefoot, so I’m really grateful for this opportunity to do so with the support of Holistic Hoof Care (and my EP who has kindly agreed to help me fix any rookie errors, if need be!)