Melissa Williams (Millie)
Millie has been around horses her entire life, she got her first horse at the age of four and had a keen interest in sharing her riding with other youngsters giving pony rides in the summer months at Pakiri Motor Camp. She developed these skills and continued giving lessons at well-established riding schools in Kerikeri and Auckland. With this experience she was lucky enough to travel the world, first spending the American Summer at Camp Cedar Lodge, then to Germany spending a year nannying, riding and trimming horses. She then returned to New Zealand and completed a professional Barefoot Hoofcare Course in Christchurch.
She is based in Northland with her trimming business and also travels to Auckland for Equine Dentistry. In between, she offers private or group lessons on horsemanship skills and riding, she also schools and starts horses.
She started out riding conventionally, she says “at the age of 16 I went on a horse camp up North, I learned more about horses in that week than in the previous 15 years. I went to camp with a crazy TB gelding that I couldn't really ride out of the arena and in 5 days I was riding in a halter, jumping bamboo with 30 other riders". From then on she has chosen to care for her horses having them barefoot, living in a herd, riding them bitless and using natural horsemanship techniques.
She is based in Northland with her trimming business and also travels to Auckland for Equine Dentistry. In between, she offers private or group lessons on horsemanship skills and riding, she also schools and starts horses.
She started out riding conventionally, she says “at the age of 16 I went on a horse camp up North, I learned more about horses in that week than in the previous 15 years. I went to camp with a crazy TB gelding that I couldn't really ride out of the arena and in 5 days I was riding in a halter, jumping bamboo with 30 other riders". From then on she has chosen to care for her horses having them barefoot, living in a herd, riding them bitless and using natural horsemanship techniques.
Qualifications
Hoofcare Specialist (SHP) Professional Course
Melissa qualified as an SHP in September 2011. The course lasted two years.
Year 1 contained all written and practical assignments. It includes a written mid-term and end-of-year exam.
Year 2 was mainly work in the field with at least 200 hours spent with another registered SHP and concentrating on further case studies.
The course constitutes a holistic approach to equine healthcare, especially in the area of lameness prevention and healing, profound knowledge of hoof anatomy and physiology, the causes of hoof problems and lameness, and the correct method of trimming a hoof to restore or maintain physiological hoof shape and functions. Millie understands the complicated interactions of the hoof with the horse as a whole, and the effects that hoof problems and diseases can have on the entire organism.
Year 1 contained all written and practical assignments. It includes a written mid-term and end-of-year exam.
Year 2 was mainly work in the field with at least 200 hours spent with another registered SHP and concentrating on further case studies.
The course constitutes a holistic approach to equine healthcare, especially in the area of lameness prevention and healing, profound knowledge of hoof anatomy and physiology, the causes of hoof problems and lameness, and the correct method of trimming a hoof to restore or maintain physiological hoof shape and functions. Millie understands the complicated interactions of the hoof with the horse as a whole, and the effects that hoof problems and diseases can have on the entire organism.
Whole Horse Dissection
Millie has just completed a whole horse dissection at Massey University in Palmerston North.
The course was 3 days which covered the function, placement and names of the skin, muscles, fascia, ligaments, tendons, nerves and the skeletal system.
"It was amazing to see and improve my knowledge of the horse. I can't wait to do the next one!"
The course was 3 days which covered the function, placement and names of the skin, muscles, fascia, ligaments, tendons, nerves and the skeletal system.
"It was amazing to see and improve my knowledge of the horse. I can't wait to do the next one!"
Qualified Equine Dentist
Level 5 Certificate in Equine Dentistry NZEDS Training
Level 5 Certificate in Equine Dentistry NZEDS Training
On the 14th of March 2014, Millie qualified as an Equine Dentist at the New Zealand Equine Dentistry School in Hamilton. The course required nine months of study, which included six months of correspondence and three months of practical work in Hamilton on live horses. The theory component of the course consisted of 18 unit standards which you had to pass with an 80% or greater mark, the practical component was treatment and treatment planning of over 100 horses. Millie achieved all these requirements and passed with a 96% overall mark.
