 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.
"I 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)
"I would to take a moment to write a few words of appreciation for my barefoot trimmer Alicia Mitchell. I hope lots of you read this and realise the decision you made, no matter how tough it has been, to take your horse barefoot with the AACHNP; was the right one! Alicia has been working with my thoroughbred Rory and my Welsh A, Mickey; for a year now and it has certainly not been an easy road to travel as well as being by no means at the end. Rory had very tight short ‘white line strategy’ trimmed front feet which left him sore and stiff all over with an extreme ‘bad banana’ posture. Not only did Alicia have to deal with his situation, but also had to delicately alter the views and understanding of a brainwashed owner who believed that pain was a sure sign of transition!!!
Months have gone by with slow progress but now I have a sound happy horse who is developing a great posture with the help of Alicia and Easyboot Epics. Throughout this time Alicia has remained ‘in the present’, fun and easy to talk to and learn from. She remains supportive - more than I would normally expect from a paid service provider throughout this time of white-line-disease and laminitis. I am sure she will feel as pleased as me when Rory’s feet have healed fully.
I just want to say thank you Alicia; you are beautiful person, your love for horses is evident each time I see you and is refreshing and enlightening. Thank you for what you are doing for Rory and thank you for taking the time it took with me.”
Rachel Coveney, June 2010
"W hen I requested a referral to a regional AANHCP Practioner in our area along the central coast of California this past April, you responded with Aaron Thayne's name and contact information. You also said "I have no doubt that you will be thrilled....". You were right! His second visit was yesterday and we are "thrilled" with the results we have already seen with our three Mares. In one case, two seasoned Farriers had given up and our vet said "Poppy (our Morgan) may have to be put-down".
Aaron came prepared with solutions (having consulted with Jaime beforehand) and put in the several hours it took to get all of her feet to the best condition they can be for now. He implemented his ideas
towards correcting a very difficult condition with Poppy's rear hooves (he took pictures) while building upon the work performed during his first visit. Then went further, performing beautiful trimming jobs on both Christina and Ginger, each with their own unique problems.
During the session, Aaron maintained a dialogue of educational and common sense suggestions on hoof care, related health issues and proper pasture and feed exposure. By intelligently answering our many questions he helped reinforce our own body of knowledge and complemented the things we were doing right.
Best of all... our horses know. They know he is skilled and helps them, he is patient, he is kind and that brings a special joy!!!
Thank you,
Jim & Claudia Shaw, June 2010
(Client of AANHCP Student Aaron Thayne, California)
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