Horses at Stud
Ashmount Forge provides specialist stud farriery focused on the long-term development, soundness, and commercial value of breeding stock and young horses. Our work at stud is built around careful planning, detailed assessment, and informed intervention, recognising that decisions made during these formative stages can shape a horse’s entire athletic future.
Unlike the training environment, stud work operates through structured, pre-arranged visits, allowing each horse to be assessed within a broader developmental context rather than in isolation.
Data-driven assessment and record keeping
A defining feature of our stud service is the use of a dedicated, cloud-based hoof care management system. Every horse in a stud’s programme is recorded within the system, allowing us to build a detailed, evolving profile over time.
For foals and yearlings, we routinely record video before any work is undertaken, alongside written clinical notes. This allows us to:
Track developmental trends within individuals
Identify recurring traits within families and siblings
Compare progression over successive visits
Support consistent, evidence-based decision-making
In commercial breeding operations where multiple horses share the same dam or bloodline, this historical record becomes an invaluable tool, allowing informed predictions and tailored management strategies.
Collaborative oversight
Our stud work is never carried out in isolation. Regular inspections and reviews are undertaken alongside stud managers, veterinary surgeons, and, where relevant, nutritionists and other advisors. This ensures that hoof care is aligned with the wider management, growth patterns, and health status of each horse.
Youngstock change rapidly, often week by week, which is why frequent observation and documentation are so important. Horses are reviewed before trimming, and where necessary after, particularly if any asymmetry, deviation, or developmental concern is present.
Measured, modern corrective farriery
All stud farriery is, by nature, corrective — but our philosophy is that correction must be both effective and restrained.
We aim to influence limb development and balance without creating long-term distortion or dependency. Interventions are selected to produce meaningful change while preserving the integrity and symmetry of the hoof capsule.
Where extensions or support are required, we use materials that are soft, forgiving, and adaptable, allowing the hoof to respond naturally. Importantly, we avoid applying rigid extensions across the solar surface of the foot, which can increase pressure within the hoof, elevate the risk of pedal bone injury, and create secondary imbalance.
Understanding how extensions alter the centre of pressure is fundamental to how we work — they are a powerful tool when used correctly, and a harmful one when applied indiscriminately.
Surgical collaboration when indicated
Ashmount Forge is a strong advocate of modern veterinary intervention when appropriate. In certain developmental conditions, targeted surgical procedures offer a level of precision and predictability that farriery alone cannot achieve.
We work closely with veterinary teams to ensure that any surgical decision is integrated into a coordinated hoof care and rehabilitation plan, rather than treated as a standalone solution.
Mares & Breeding Stock
While many broodmares remain barefoot, a significant number present with poor hoof quality, chronic imbalance, or conditions such as laminitis. These cases require careful, ongoing management to protect comfort, fertility, and long-term health.
Our team works with veterinary practices in the UK and internationally, and we maintain strong relationships with manufacturers and suppliers in the United States and Europe, giving us access to a wide range of modern therapeutic and supportive products, including systems such as Sigafoos and the EasyCare range.
This allows us to select solutions that are appropriate for the horse and the environment, rather than relying on one-size-fits-all approaches.
Balancing commercial and athletic goals
Stud work always sits at the intersection of two priorities: commercial value and athletic potential. Ashmount Forge understands both.
We work with owner-breeders, commercial studs, and international operations, and we recognise the pressures and expectations within each. Because we also support large numbers of horses once they enter training, we see first-hand the long-term consequences of early hoof management decisions.
That perspective allows us to be proactive without being aggressive, and corrective without being destructive — always working toward producing horses that are not only well presented today, but capable of sustaining a racing career tomorrow.
