Fran McNicol

I am an amateur equestrienne living in the UK. I am also a full time doctor, specialising in colorectal surgery, and I published my MD thesis examining the inflammatory cascade in sepsis. As a surgeon, MBChB, MD, FRCS, I obviously know a huge amount about the human animal, but the most useful product of medical training, from the horses’ post of view, is that I learned how to research, evaluate evidence and then apply theory to optimise the care of my beloved horses.

My writing is therefore a mix of opinion, and my current state of learning, from 25 years of doctoring, time working around the world as a polo groom and many years of keeping my own horses.

I love training young horses, and focus on riding the sport horse both classically and holistically. I compete regularly for my local riding club, especially in One Day Eventing.

Nelipot Cottage started life as an educational blog, to share learning and best practise, to promote the benefits of a barefoot and holistic herd lifestyle for whole horse health, and to reflect on life lessons learned along the way. I believe that horses exist to bring out the very best in humans. It is my sincere hope that sharing these tales will bring new friends, kindred spirits, exchange of knowledge and lots of positive energy into the lives of the Nelipot herd.