Back in August, the EasyCare Team got to attend a Pete Ramey Clinic at our Durango location.  It was indeed a treat for all of us that attended.  Rebecca wrote about her experience at the clinic and after reading her blog again the other day, it got me thinking about how depending on your horse experience, there are many different take aways from attending a clinic like that.  Performance focused riders may have very different notes than a person like myself (I have no horses and don’t ride, but have become infatuated with their feet), or the person with a therapy situation.

Getting ready to start.  In this photo we have just a few of the attendees, including a farrier, an equine massage therapist, and a barrel racer.

Pete’s trimming theory really left an impact on me. His guiding principal is to improve the movement of the horse. This often means less is more in terms of the trim, but he is insistent that the movement must be the motivating force, not just trimming to make the hoof look a certain way.  With each of the horses we worked with, the first thing Pete would do is have them move at a walk and a trot to determine if the horse had a toe or heel first landing.  On the first two horses, it was really difficult for me to tell how they were landing, but by the third I was beginning to see the difference. From there he would determine how to trim. A few times, Pete would just offer the horse a good stretch and the movement would improve.  It was really cool to watch.

Pete and Devan watch Charm move.

The other big take away for me was the fact that 90% of problem hooves are primarily nutritional.  It is never really just one thing that causes problem hooves, but measures to correct problem hooves will fail if the nutrition is off.  Too much sugar is a big one with nutrition.  Magnesium will help to process the sugars if your horse does have a high sugar diet, but they will also need exercise. If your sugar to exercise ratio is off then you might see ripples down the hoof wall, cracks and micro-cracks in the hoof wall, red stripes on white hooves, thin soles, thin frogs or a frog that is easily infected. There is also an abundant lack of zinc and copper in many horses’ diets.  The long term effects of poor nutrition are immeasurable and affect more than just the hooves.

The Durango clinic crew.

As a customer service representative for EasyCare, I see lots of hooves in all kinds of condition.  Pete definitely taught me that it is so important to look at the whole horse when addressing hoof issues and not to just look at the hoof. I look forward to continuing on this journey of learning with EasyCare.

Tina Ooley

easycare-customer-service-representative-tina-ooley

Customer Service Representative

As a member of the EasyCare Customer Service Team, I am here to assist you in fitting and choosing the best hoof protection for your horse. I believe in natural, holistic hoof care and its contribution to sound horses and happy riders.