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The reason I got into the whole
natural trim modality was because of a farrier. He didn’t tell me or direct me to
become a farrier although at one time I nearly went to farrier school. He simply sored a
horse. Scout was a former trail and lesson horse, a Navajo pony to be exact, with the
brands to prove it. Debora had bought Scout from a wizened old horse lady that was
retiring and moving to Arizona. Scout was part of the rental string and one of, if not the
most, favored of the horses. He was the top Kid horse and all the kids wanted him for
their lesson. Deb took lessons there a couple of times and rode Scout as well.
 
Now of all the horses there, the
one thing that stood out about Scout other than his insatiable appetite was that he
actually picked Deb to be his new human. One day we went over there to check out the
horses and Scout literally followed Deb around the turn out pen at least three times and
so the she put a down payment on him and come time to close shop Deb brought him back to
the stables where my mustang was being kept.
Scout had the most rag-tag,
chipped, over-grown feet that he kept under check simply by being a rental horse and
wearing enough hoof off to keep sound. The local farrier, who by the way is a top notch
iron hanger and the one person who would have put shoes on my horse if I had thought he
needed shod, trimmed Scout’s feet. Now mind you Scout was sound, sure footed and as
safe as a horse can come and still be breathing. All of a sudden he started to
"stumble". Our trainer asked the farrier to look at his feet and low and behold
he was "flat footed and needed shoes". Yep he was, the farrier trimmed him flat
footed.
Now I’m no horse expert,
don’t claim to be and probably never will be, but when a horse has run his whole
twelve years of life barefoot, maybe having been trimmed twice in his life, if that, and
now after one trim is suddenly in need of shoes, that didn’t set right with Deb, me
or Scout.
Come Christmas time I became the
owner of The Natural Horse and Horse Owners Guide to Natural Hoof Care by
Jaime Jackson and Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You by Pete Ramey. I read all
three a couple of times and decided that I can do this. I mean you trim a little here,
rasp some there and bam, you’re done right? Ya uhuh. Reality Check!
  
Deb searched the whole area for
someone who could care for our horse’s feet and could find no one who knew anything
about Natural hoof care. Oddly enough the mustang, Spirit, was not bothered by the
farrier’s trim. But that could have been because of his large hooves for his size and
the fact that I wasn’t riding him at the time (that’s another tale).
Ultimately, we both attended one of
Pete Ramey’s clinics. At the end, I asked Pete "How long will it take for me to
learn this?’ and Pete’s reply was, "You can do this now." Now realize
Pete wasn’t telling me to run out, buy some nippers, rasps and hoof knives and call
my self a Natural Hoof Care Professional, he merely meant that I could try the concept on
my horses and see what happened. So I did; and after buying some cheap but serviceable
tools I began taking care of our horses. Scout grew some new hoof; and I trimmed very
conservatively, respecting what was shown to me by the hoof. By following the guidelines
provided by Jackson and Ramey I was able to maintain our horse’s hooves. I then
applied after a while to the AANHCP program and now my practice is growing at a fairly
rapid rate.
Every day I am amazed by how simply
being conservative and doing nothing more than observing and following what each hoof
tells me needs to be done, how quickly the horse can recover. One horse, lame for over two
years in corrective shoes under the direction of a Vet, after one trim was more
comfortable than he had been in the previous two years, and after three trims the client
is talking about showing him. Does that make me the best trimmer to strap on chaps? Not
hardly. I just followed the direction the hoof asked me to follow. That’s all I do
and it works for the horses.
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