Give Your Horse the Gift of Barefoot: Taking your horses barefoot involves more than just pulling shoes. The new breed of natural hoof care practitioners have studied and rely completely on what they call the wild horse model, which replicates the trim that horses give to themselves in the wild through natural wear. The more the domesticated horse is out and about, moving constantly, the less trimming he or she will need. The more stall-bound the horse, the more trimming will be needed in order to keep the hooves healthy and in shape. Every horse is a candidate to live as nature intended. The object is to maintain their hooves as if they were in the wild, and that requires some study. Not a lot, but definitely some. I now consider myself capable of keeping my horses’ hooves in shape. I don’t do their regular trim, but I do perform interim touch-ups. The myth that domesticated horses must wear shoes has been proven to be pure hogwash. The fact that shoes degenerate the health of the hoof and the entire horse has not only been proven, but is also recognized even by those who nail shoes on horses. Successful high performance barefootedness with the wild horse trim can be accomplished for virtually every horse on the planet, and the process has even been proven to be a healing procedure for horses with laminitis and founder. On this subject, I beg you not to wait. Dive into the material below and give your horse a longer, healthier, happier life.
http://www.hoofrehab.com/– This is Pete Ramey’s website. If you read only one book on this entire subject, read Pete’s Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You. Or better yet, get his DVD series Under the Horse, which is fourteen-plus hours of terrific research, trimming, and information. If you’ve ever doubted the fact that horses do not need metal shoes and are in fact better off without them, please go to Pete’s website. He will convince you otherwise. Then use his teachings to guide your horses’ venture into barefootedness. He is never afraid or embarrassed to change his opinion on something as he learns more from his experiences. Pete’s writings have also appeared in Horse & Rider and are on his website. He has taken all of Clinton Anderson’s horses barefoot.
The following are other websites that contain good information regarding the barefoot subject:
https://www.facebook.com/eddie.drabek – This is the website of Eddie Drabek, another one of my heroes. Eddie is a wonderful trimmer in Houston, Texas, and an articulate and inspirational educator and spokesman for getting metal shoes off horses. Read everything he has written, including the pieces on all the horses whose lives he has saved by taking them barefoot.
http://www.TheHorsesHoof.com– this website and magazine of Yvonne and James Welz is devoted entirely to barefoot horses around the world and is surely the single largest resource for owners, trimmers, case histories, and virtually everything you would ever want to know about barefoot horses. With years and years of barefoot experience, Yvonne is an amazing resource. She can compare intelligently this method vs that and help you to understand all there is to know. And James is a super barefoot trimmer.
Our current hoof specialist in Tennessee is Mark Taylor who works in Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi. He’s fantastic!!
http://www.natural-hoof.com/
662-224-4158 or barefoot2003
Also see:
Video: Why Are Our Horses Barefoot
Video: The Soul of a Horse Paddock Paradise: What We Did, How We Did It, and Why
Video: Why Our Horses Eat from the Ground
The next 2 links are to very short videos of a horse’s hoof hitting the ground. One is a shod hoof, one is barefoot. Watch the vibrations roll up the leg from the shod hoof… then imagine that happening every time any shod hoof hits the ground:
Find a recommended trimmer in your area:
Liberated Horsemanship Practitioners
The American Association of Natural Horse Care Practioners
Pacific Hoof Care Practitioners
See our article: Why Our Horses Are Barefoot
See the video
WHY OUR HORSES ARE BAREFOOT
Joe’s Comments on
Pete Ramey’s DVD set Under the Horse
“Pete Ramey is my hero! He is why all of our horses are barefoot and healthy. He is much of the reason for the existence of my book The Soul of Horse. He cares so very much about the horse and proves it daily by how much time he spends researching the complex internal workings of the horse’s hoof and the myriad factors that affect its health. And substantiating that research on the horses in his care. In his new DVD series, Under the Horse, Pete lays every bit of it out for us. You will understand how and why the hoof works like it does, why so many domestic horses have lameness issues when virtually no horses in the wild do, and what can be done to create a hoof for your horse like the one he’d have if in the wild. Pete’s easy style is engaging, clear, even entertaining and all the more powerful because he was once a shoeing farrier. He will bring you to the understanding that every horse is different so no prescription can be generic. But he will give you the tools and insight to always know what your horse needs. If you’ve ever doubted the fact that horses do not need metal shoes and are in fact better off without them, please see this series. Pete will convince you otherwise. In my humble belief, whether or not you ever intend to trim your own horse’s feet, Under the Horse is one of the most valuable and user-friendly compilations of knowledge, research, and insight for improving the health and lifespan of your horse that exists on the planet.” Click on the cover above. – Joe Camp
Joe’s Comments on Pete Ramey’s New Book
Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot
Pete Ramey’s new Care and Rehabilitation of the Equine Foot is singularly the most comprehensive and complete work ever written about the horse’s hoof. Prepare yourself for deep, detailed and scientific. It’s not a light read but rather a study manual that will likely take years to absorb. At least it will for me. But the 630 color pictures and diagrams help even the lay person grasp the principles and get a deeper understanding of the hoof and what makes it tick. You’ll learn everything about growing a healthy foot from within, combining all of the various aspects of hoof care, nutrition, and lifestyle into a system that yields the best end-result for the horse, covering both the veterinary/internal and the farrier/physical sides of rehab and prevention of hoof problems. Most books only focus on one or the other. Cover-to-cover this book never strays from the foot and conditions that affect the foot. There is no “fluff” or “filler”. It’s a must-have for anyone interested in knowing more about the health of their horse’s hooves than anyone else on the planet. – Joe Camp
The Horses Hoof
The single best publication you can read on the subject of barefoot!
Click Here
Cavallo Hoof Boots
The transition to barefoot.
http://cavallo-inc.com/
Valuable Links on Diet and Nutrition:
Dr. Juliette Getty’s website:
http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/
Dr. Getty’s favorite feed/forage testing facility:
Equi-Analytical Labs:
http://www.equi-analytical.com
Here’s a terrific article on the Houston Mounted Patrol’s total conversion to barefoot; all forty or so of their horses now work downtown Houston’s concrete, asphalt, and marble completely barefoot. Click this link:
…and scroll down to the fifth Article in the column on the right entitled Barefoot Police Horses
Another article about the Houston Mounted Patrol on our website: Houston Patrol Article
Natural Hoof Specialists Around the Country
Our current hoof specialist
in Tennessee
Mark Taylor
(MS-TN-AR-AL)
http://www.natural-hoof.com/
barefoot2003@gmail.com
662-224-4158
Here are a few hoof care practitioners
who follow the wild horse model
Megan Hensley
Eureka, California
holistichooves@gmail.com
707-498-3166
Dusty McCord
Dallas-Fort Worth area
www.McCordsnaturalhooftrimming.com/
mccordshooftrimming@yahoo.com
Joel Means
Austin, Texas
jolee@ecpi.com
www.alphahorsemanship.com
Jeff Varga
Cleveland Ohio area
oponyrun@wowway.com
www.jeffvarga.com
Kimberly Jackson
San Francisco to San Diego
818-522-0536
kaj@kimberlyannjackson.com
www.kimberlyannjackson.com
Claudia Beutel
Riverside County California
And surrounding areas
www.thewildhorsehoof.com
thewildhorsehoof@gmail.com
Pat Wagner
Rainier Equine Hoof Recovery Center
Rainier, WA
360-790-4181
http://www.rainierhoofrehab.com/
patslark@fairpoint.net
Wes Wessels
Dallas/Fort Worth
Hoof care specialist
Pete Ramey Advocate
972-897-9372
sjbjw@sbcglobal.net
Beckie Bailey
(Central Florida)
407-314-1734
goodhoofkeeping@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/goodhoofkeeping
Patty Pritchett
Arizona Hoof Rehab
PattyPritchett@AzHoofRehab.Com
http://AzHoofRehab.com
Miranda Ferrer
(Santa Barbara)
805.403.7506
www.all4barefoot.com
Leslie Carrig
(Gardnerville, NV)
775.450.6073
www.highdeserthoofcare.com
Tamara Cisek
(Frazier Park, CA)
408.347.1934
Tracy Brown
(Sacramento, CA)
530.885.5847
http://hoofhelp.blogspot.com
Maria Siebrand
(San Diego South County)
619-865-9614
maria@thoughtfulhorseman.com
http://www.thoughtfulhorseman.com
Marci Lambert
(Valley Center CA)
760-521-0372
horsefeathers63@hotmail.com
Sally Hugg
(Butte County, CA)
530.534.4844
http://www.bare-hooftrim.com
Asa Nuttal
(Las Vegas, NV)
702.296.6925
http://www.hoofauthority.com
Jennifer Reinke
(El Segundo, CA)
310.713.0296
http://www.heartnsolehoofcare.com/
Linda Cowles
(CA Bay Area)
707-548-9960
healthyhoof@comcast.net
www.healthyhoof.com/index.htm
James Welz
(Phoenix)
jim@thehorseshoof.com
www.thehorseshoof.com
Read One Good Reason to Go Bitless
——
The story of our journey with horses (to date) is told in the two books that follow: the national best seller The Soul of a Horse – Life Lessons from the Herd and its sequel Born Wild – The Soul of a Horse.
And what a story it is as two novices without a clue stumble and bumble their way through the learning process so that hopefully you won’t have to. If you haven’t read both of these books already please do because with that reading, I believe, will come not just the knowledge of discovery but the passion and the excitement to cause you to commit to your journey with horses, to do for the horse without waiver so that your relationship and experience will be with loving, happy and healthy horses who are willing partners and who never stop trying for you. Horses like ours.
The highly acclaimed best selling sequel to the National Best Seller
The Soul of a Horse – Life Lessons from the Herd
#1 Amazon Best Seller
#1 Amazon “Hot New Releases”
Amazon & Kindle
B&N
Order Personally Inscribed Copies of Born Wild
Order Both The Soul of a Horse & Born Wild – Save 20%
Both Personally Inscribed
Please list the names for each inscription in the “instructions to Seller” field as you check out!
Read More About Born Wild
Read More About The Soul of a Horse
Watch The Soul of a Horse Trailer
Watch the Born Wild Trailer
But first read the National Best Seller that started it all
now in it’s 17th printing:
Amazon & Kindle
Barnes & Noble
Order Personally Inscribed Copies of The Soul of a Horse
Order Both The Soul of a Horse & Born Wild – Save 20%
Both Personally Inscribed
Please list the names for each inscription in the “instructions to Seller” field as you check out!
Read More About Born Wild
Read More About The Soul of a Horse
Watch The Soul of a Horse Trailer
Watch the Born Wild Trailer
“Joe Camp is a master storyteller.” – The New York Times
“One cannot help but be touched by Camp’s love and sympathy for animals and by his eloquence on the subject.” – Michael Korda, The Washington Post
“Joe Camp is a natural when it comes to understanding how animals tick and a genius at telling us their story. His books are must-reads for those who love animals of any species.” – Monty Roberts – Author of New York Timers Best-seller The Man Who Listens to Horses
“Camp’s tightly-written, simply-designed and powerfully drawn chapters often read like short stories that flow from the heart.” Jack L. Kennedy – The Joplin Independent
“Joe Camp is a gifted storyteller and the results are magical. Joe entertains, educates and empowers, baring his own soul while articulating keystone principles of a modern revolution in horsemanship.” – Rick Lamb – TV/Radio host – The Horse Show
Follow our latest journey with two amazing new arrivals from the wild. Kathleen’s terrific photos are worth the click.
In chronological order:
What an Extraordinary Weekend!
Firestorm’s Amazing First Day in the Playpen
No-Agenda Time – So Much Value!
An Amazing Birthday Gift from a Wild Mustang!
Saffron and Firestorm – Progress and Photos – Lots of Both!
Two Mustangs – Three Mind-Boggling Months!
For more current posts go to the blog homepage and scroll down
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