Cotterel Polo Farms – A farm at the cutting edge of polo training

We are all familiar with the unfortunate but sadly accurate phrase, ‘No foot, no horse’. Foot welfare is so important across all equine disciplines, including polo. To focus on this pivotal area we caught up with Formahoof and Cotterel Polo to see how problem feet might be treated. FormaHoof is a liquid-fit, reusable mould system that offers a highly effective and easy to apply solution to every hoof care challenge, from laminitis and white line disease to thin soles, collapsed heels or conformation, developmental and poor hoof performance issues. Cotterel’s ranch manager, Francisco discovered FormaHoof when looking for a solution to the many hoof-related issues the farm faced on a weekly basis. Francisco comments, “We utilise mainly thoroughbred-type horses, many of which experience on-going hoof-related issues and we were constantly looking for something to try to keep them comfortable. I found FormaHoof and I immediately reached out to find a farrier in our area who used the products. We met David from Diamond C Farrier Services, showed him some of the hoof issues we were dealing with and he was confident that our horses would thrive with FormaHoof. He was right. Horses that walked up lame, walked out sound almost immediately!” “The first Cotterel ponies to receive the FormaHoof were mainly those that had serious, diagnosed hoof issues,” said owner/ player Jenny Luttrell Benardoni. “One of our homebreds, Panamera, suffered a laminitic event that left her with excessive damage in the right hoof when she was three-years-old. We turned her out for a year and a half with no training or riding because she was not sound until we found Formahoof. With the first application, she was sound and we were able to put her right back into work. Within a period of 10 months we were able to finish breaking and training her to play polo. She is now in her first competitive polo season here in Indio.” Although Cotterel found success with more serious hoof issues, the advantages were also evident when using the product on more common hoof issues. “It seems to us that by putting the horses at the correct hoof angles, plus the increased blood flow in the hoof leads to faster recovery times,” said Francisco. “We also put one of our homebreds, Moonshine, in FormaHoof to help heal a tendon issue. Within 12 weeks not only did we see an improvement in the tendon, but we noticed she developed bigger shoulder muscles than she had prior to her injury.” The Cotterel team continued to see great results in their competitive tournaments in California last Winter and expect the same in their summer polo operation in southern Idaho.

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For more information about Cotterel Polo visit their #FormaHoofEquestrian profile or website and social channels.