Interview with Jaime Jackson and AANHCP CPs on "Being Barefoot"
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recently asked several of our practitioners to provide answers to some very basic questions that we all get asked about natural hoof care and barefoot horses. I thought the Q&A would be interesting for our members as well as other visitors to the website. We all see and hear things differently so the various ways that the CPs provided similar information might be useful. (And, it should also put to rest the idea that a horse must land heel-first!)
Thanks to Jaime Jackson, Louise Bach-Holler (CP-Denmark), Sherry Eucher (CP-Ohio), Dr. Luca Gandini (CP-Italy), Steve Johnson (CP-Kentucky) and Nick Hill (CP-Scotland) for contributing answers to the various questions.
1. Why should horses go barefoot?
Jaime: "The biology of Equus Caballus, the result of 60 million years years of natural selection that culminated more than one million years ago, demands that we work with its nature — not against it. The equine species is genuinely adapted to go barefoot. It is only through human ignorance of the horse's natural state that led us to the incorrect, and harmful, conclusion that shoes are necessary -- or useful. They aren’t, and, moreover, contribute significantly to the lameness we see everywhere around the world."
Louise: "The shoe was invented because poorly conceived boarding conditions made the horses sore-footed and the hooves deteriorate -- becoming brittle and weak. It is important to understand that most hoof problems that we see stems from bad boarding conditions (too much confinement, unnatural feeding, too little movement etc.) and not from genetic failure. Anything you nail or glue to the hoof will impede the hoof mechanism and thereby weaken the hooves and the horse's health in general."
Additional articles can be found on the "News & Articles" link on menu at left.
nfortunately, many hoof care providers advertise themselves as being AANHCP-Certified even if they are not and/or never have been certified with the AANHCP. For example, the "Resource Guide" in Equine Wellness (magazine) has a state by state listing service for 'barefoot hoof trimmers' and, unfortunately, quite a few people erroneously indicate that they are AANHCP-certified. Some even say they are Field Instructors for the AANHCP as well even though they are not even members of our organization. If someone is not on the "Locate a Practitoner" list on this website, you can be 99.9 percent certain they are not certified with the AANHCP. Some were at one time and others never have been.
I have also seen business cards of hoof care providers which falsely state that they are AANHCP-Certified. So please, feel free to check with us if a hoof care provider says they are certified by us when they are not listed here. In rare instances, a mistake may have been made. Or, it may be a misunderstanding about one of our advanced students who is an AANHCP Practitioner but not yet certified. But in those instances where they advertise themselves as a Certified Practitoner (CP) or Instructor and are not listed here on the website, we don't know what they do - and that's the point....
Another extremely problematic issue is that quite a few practitoners will try to 'hide' their training background as a result of a lack of credible training or by virtue of being associated with organizations that are known to cause harm. Many hoof care providers say they follow a 'wild horse method' or some other variation of the natural trim based upon the wild, free-roaming mustang of the U.S. Great Basin. Whether they are hiding their training to get the business or hiding their training because they have renounced it, you owe it to yourself (more importantly, to your horse) do your homework! Ask for references or speak to the hoof care provider's clients. We have horseowners checking with us frequently about this or that person who either read the books of Jaime Jackson or attended one or two clinics with him years ago - and maybe even has a photo of Jaime from the clinic on his/her website. But it is not accurate to assume that anyone who says they 'follow' the wild horse model even knows what that means. We are constantly running into this here in California and I have to believe it is happening everywhere else in the world. For every wonderful story we hear, we hear two more about hooves that were 'butchered' or horses made lame by being trimmed improperly.
May 2010
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n May 18, Jaime Jackson had the opportunity to tour the Houston Mounted Police Department's Mounted Patrol Unit facilities, the second largest in the U.S., where all 38 horses are now barefoot! Back in 2004, Sr. Police Officer Gregory Sokoloski first explored different barefoot trimming methods and was given approval to begin removing the shoes of some of the more seriously lame horses. Although they describe their initial methods as a bit 'too aggressive,' they found their way to natural hoof care by 2005 when Sr. Police Officers Scott Berry and Danny Pryor joined Officer Sokoloski at an AANHCP workshop conducted by former member Pete Ramey. The next year, Berry and Pryor enrolled in the AANHCP Natural Hoof Care Training Program and became Certified Practitioners in 2009.
Pictured from left are Sr. Officer and AANHCP CP Scott Berry, Jaime Jackson, AANHCP CP Eddie Drabek, Sr. Officer Gregory Sokoloski, Sr. Office and AANHCP CP Danny Pryor and Lt. Randall Wallace, who was ultimately responsible for allowing the officers to bring natural hoof care and natural horsekeeping practices to the Unit. A huge congratulations to all involved! You can read more about their journey in an article written by Scott Berry, available on his Facebook page.
Natural Hoof Care Training and Certification
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lease go to www.isnhcp.net and click on the NHC Training link on menu.
Although we are happy to see that our training & certification program is recognized by other hoof care organizations to the degree that our certified practitioners are automatically qualified to be considered "certified," in their program(s), we are, unfortunately, not able to reciprocate in turn. To be certified by the AANHCP, students must come through the ISNHCP/AANHCP Natural Hoof Care Training program. However, we do intend to have a cross-over program at some point in the future for hoof care professionals who have come through a different NHC training program or farrier school but would like to join the AANHCP.
From Shod to Barefoot, Hooves in Transition and other new articles...
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lick HERE to see a few of Jaime Jackson's clients beginning with the day their shoes came off and then later after developing an entire new hoof capsule. Many people wonder if their horses can be barefoot and the answer is 'of course they can ALL be barefoot -- successfully, healthily and happily!'
Please take a look at the "News & Articles" link to read "Lose the Shoes" in the April 2010 edition of Barrel Racer magazine and "Worn Thin: Part I" in the April / May 2010 edition of Equine Wellness magazine. We will have the English translation of the April 2010 BIT magazine (Holland) feature on Jaime Jackson posted there soon.
About the AANHCP....
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he AANHCP is dedicated to promoting natural hoof care and horse keeping practices through our education, training and advocacy programs. A pioneer in the natural horse care revolution, the AANHCP continues to be the leading global force for the humane care of domestic equines worldwide.
Testimonials from the Clients of our Certified Practitioners
We often hear from horse owners about how they stumbled into or discovered either Natural Hoof Care, or an AANHCP Certified Practitoner or one of Jaime Jackson's books -- often after being told they had no other options except for a lifetime of problems or euthanasia. And so we decided to share some of these letters.
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n July of 2008, I made the decision to stop competing with my horse Stamp in barrel racing (pictured above this year) because he was sore. After my vet told me he had navicular I was devastated because he was only 4 years old at the time! I couldn’t accept this so I took him to PEI (the Veterinary College on Prince Edward Island) for a second opinion only to have them tell me the same thing. They told me that corrective shoeing and medication would probably allow me to continue to race for a couple of years and then maybe he would be a candidate for nerve blocking followed by an early retirement or he could be euthanized. This was not an option for me! I love my horse too much too see him suffer like that. That is when I started to research about natural hoof trimming. I called PEI to see what they thought about it and they told me to "stick to corrective shoeing." I didn’t listen!! I found (AANHCP CP) Gudrun Buchhofer’s brochure and called her immediately. She told me she would help Stamp.
"Against everyone’s advice, I went with the barefoot trim for Stamp. I decided to give it a try for a full year before I made any other decisions. I’m not going to lie; the first couple of months were really rough. He had some abscesses and he was extremely sore barefoot. So I used the hoof boots on him to get him through this stage. Sure enough, 4 months later I was back in the saddle. I wasn’t sure at this point if I could race him because everyone told me he could never run as well barefoot. Well, this summer we proved them wrong. Not only did he run just as hard as he did in previous years; he improved. This summer was the first summer I’ve had him that he was completely sound for the whole show season. He competed in almost every exhibition in the Dodge barrels and did great. I went from being the most skeptical person in the horse industry to the biggest fan of natural hoof care. Gudrun is amazing at what she does and she truly wants to help the animals. In my opinion, she saved my horse. It has been more than two years since he went barefoot and he continues to show improvements. And he has never had any more lameness issues. It not only improved his hooves but also his entire body."
Karen Hatcher & Going Postal (AKA Stamp), June 2010
(Client of AANHCP CP Gudrun Buchhofer - Novia Scotia, Canada)
AANHCP Message from the Executive Director, Jaime Jackson
"Natural Horsemanship: A Hoax of Near Mythical Proportions"
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ome people say that I am a “natural horseman” because I practice certain philosophies and techniques. Others say I’m not “natural” (oddly enough) for the very same reasons. If you ask me, I say that it seems pretty dang hard, if not impossible, to be - or not be - something that doesn’t even exist in the first place." [from "All Things Natural" by Mark Rashid]
The rise of "natural horsemanship" in recent years as an equestrian discipline and philosophy has its origins, at least in good measure, in an understandable revulsion many horse owners possess for blatantly violent training and riding methods. And, for that matter, denigrating and abusive relationships with horses, generally speaking. Not that this sentiment is new, for the human behavioral instinct to be kind to the horse can be traced to treatises written by horsemen of Ancient Greece.* Most advocates today would agree that natural horsemanship is a humane way of working with horses that integrates the natural abilities of Equus Caballus with reasonable equestrian goals that facilitate communication and trust, and, very importantly, do not cause harm. Please click on "Director's Message" (on menu above left) to read entire article.
hank you for considering a donation to support the AANHCP's vital mission. Your generous donation will be credited towards supporting our domestic and wild horse advocacy, research, and public education.
You may donate in a number of ways! Send any amount to the AANHCP using PayPal using the email address "
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This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it " as the recipient. Or, click on "Payments to the AANHCP" on menu at left and make a payment using your Visa or Mastercard. Or please send check, payable to the AANHCP, to the AANHCP at P.O. Box 1432 Lompoc, CA 93438.
Please consider us in your estate-planning! Contact Jill at
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This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it if you wish to discuss arrangments on bequeathing funds to the AANHCP or making financial and natural care arrangements for your horse(s) upon your passing. Or simply request that your funds go to help those horses we know of who are in need of healing, rehabilitation, rescue, and/or permanent natural care.
If you would be willing to make land available to the AANHCP to use as a model for natural horsekeeping practices, we are in the process of developing non-profit natural boarding and rehabilitation facilities across the country in order to demonstrate how a proper diet, movement and living among other horses are essential components to a healthy and happy horse. Land could be donated and signed over to the AANHCP or simply 'designated' on a long-term, no-cost lease.
The AANHCP is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Please confirm with your tax consultant regarding IRS deduction benefits.
What You Can Expect When you Hire an AANHCP Natural Hoof Care Practitioner?
Radiograph of wild horse hoof (a,b) showing P3 position relative to digital axis (x) [AANHCP Archives]
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ur Model for Hoof Care Excellence
Our certified practitioners use the foot of the wild horse as our model for trimming as a result of the landmark studies by AANHCP Founder, Jaime Jackson, on more than 1000 wild horse hooves. That research found universal traits that we encourage and 'mimic' through our trimming methods -- no deviation in hoof wall angle, natural concavity, uniformity of thickness of hoof wall and what he called a 'mustang roll' around the bottom of the hoof wall resulting in a trim that is non-invasive, encourages strong, healthy hooves, and removes only what nature would remove in the wild.
Or, click on "Payments to the AANHCP" on menu at left and make a payment using your Visa or Mastercard. Or please send check, payable to the AANHCP, to the AANHCP at P.O. Box 1432 Lompoc, CA 93438. 
