Luigi Found a New Home

Luigi is going to go home with Shelley Duffin. She is an Equine Massage Therapist from the Grass Valley area. She is so perfect for him! Shelley is quiet, focused, and confident. They will be a fantastic match! Best wishes to Shelley and Luigi! Luigi will be living with 3 other horses and will be going trail riding.

Equine Dentist Coming

Todd Jaynes is coming on May 16 to balance my horses teeth using the Natural Balance Dentistry method for horses started by Spencer LaFlure. To read more about this natural approach to equine dentistry, click here.

Advanced Whole Horse dentistry: http://www.advancedwholehorse.com

If you are interested in bringing your horse to this clinic, send me an email at tracy@hoofhelp.com. It costs $150. No power tools used (burns the enamel of the tooth) and no sedation required for your horse.

Todd worked on my horses last year and did a fantastic job! I have also had his teacher, Spencer LaFlure, work on my horses too. The idea is that they balance the front incisors to create a circular eating motion for the horse, rather than an oval. This then effects the proper TMJ joint movement, and the overall balance of the horse. This isn't just a "float" that files down the pointed edges of the molars, although that will be done if there are sharp points. This is a balancing of the overall horse's mouth which leads to better body carriage.

Booting and Shoe Removal Clinic

Holding a Booting and Shoe Removal Clinic on Monday December 7 from 9 to 5 in Greenwood, CA. Cost is $175 and is a requirement for the PHCP training program. We have more space available for attendees.....

ALso:

Looking for a Well Behaved Demo Horse

For:

-Free Shoe Removal
-Free Set-Up Barefoot Trim
-Free Boot Fitting

I will be teaching a clinic on shoe removal and boot fitting and I
need a well behaved demo horse.

Monday, December 7 around 10am - must be located on Divide or able to
trailer to Cool, Cronin, or Greenwood.

This is a good opportunity to try barefoot for the winter... or forever :-)

Please let me know if you have a good horse for this clinic!! Either
2 shoes or 4, doesn't matter.

Contact Tracy Browne at tracy@hoofhelp.com or 530-885-5847.

Pea Gravel - Touch It Up for the Winter

We touched up our pea gravel this weekend. Put down about 4 more inches on top of our old gravel. The area is 48' x 6' wide and only took about 3 yards of gravel. It is located under the overhang of our barn, so the horses have to walk through it to get to water, and in the winter, they spend a lot of time in the pea gravel to get out of the wet weather.

Why pea gravel? Because it is malleable, it fills in the voids in the hoof where healthy tissues would be and increases blood circulation by 90%, which in turns speeds up healing and new cell growth dramatically (study by Dr. Robert Bowker, MSU). It supports the coffin bone of the hoof and relieves peripheral loading by distributing weight over the whole hoof. Pea gravel makes great footing for areas horses spend a lot of time standing around in. It gives the horse a malleable area to stand or lay and gives the hooves a drying out time during the winter and wet season. Standing on pea gravel is like a good foot massage for the horse. It's like standing on foam pads for horses!

Interested in reading more about pea gravel, peripheral loading, and the effects it has on hooves? Read this: http://www.thehorseshoof.com/Art_Pad.html

If you have a horse with "flat soles" and would like to develop more concavity, start an area of 4-6" of pea gravel and see if that helps!

Parelli Level Three Pass

This year, I have been working on my horsemanship.... we put in an arena and I have been focusing on my relationship with my girls, mostly Anna and Feather, and building Luigi's confidence. I have been playing mostly with the new Parelli Patterns system. I like it because it is a blueprint - something to follow step by step everyday, and I have been getting horses that love it! They come running to me in the pasture when I call for them, they stay by my side, and they want to be the "chosen" one. They are more confident and are having fun when we are playing together. Not robotic, and they are certainly not being drilled, which was a criticism of the older Parelli system. My horses are truly happy and having fun!

So I sent in my Level Three Audition videos for fun, just to see where I was at, and sure enough, they all came back with a Pass! So I am now an official Level Three graduate, which is quite an accomplishment and something I have been working on for three years or so with Anna.

Here are our videos on YouTube - they are not great, not practiced, but rather, just a session filmed of me playing with Anna:

Freestyle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE0C7qf7bpY

Liberty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ_wzO1OxIM

Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1eWxFxLV-0

Next year, Feather and I are going to spend a month at Parelli, and work towards Level 4 and also the professionals program.

Yes, I do give lessons and will take horses in for starting and training... One of the benefits of being a hoof trimmer is that I have worked with a lot of different horse personalities and I have experience in what works for each. I really look at myself as a horse-human relationship counselor. I can see how to understand your horse more, and to make the interaction with your horse much more enjoyable and positive for all parties involved!

I have experience starting wild mustangs as well as lots of trail and endurance riding experience. So if you would like any help with your horse, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Wanted: Demo Horse

Wanted:

Demo Horse

FREE

· Shoe Removal

· Boot Fit (boots not included)

· Barefoot Set Up Trim

Clinic for Pacific Hoof Care Professionals

Saturday, October 31, 10:00 am

Must be located on the Georgetown Divide,

or trailer to Cool Olmstead Loop

Contact Tracy Browne at 530-885-5847

tracy@hoofhelp.com

Boot Fitting and Shoe Removal Clinic

We will be having about boot fitting and shoe removal clinic here in Greenwood on August 15 and November 7. Please let me know if you would like to attend. Cost is $175. Covers all the major hoof boots on the market, how to fit them, put them on, in what scenarios to use them, padding, modifications to the boots, fixing boots, etc. Lots of hands on with the horses.

9:00 – 9:30 Introductions, coffee, breakfast, etc

9:30 – Shoe Removal Video and showing the technique – the “Secret”

**Or a live horse shoe removal if I can arrange it**

10:00 – Why boots? In what situations? Without specific boot types yet.

10:30 – Specific Hoof boots

Overview

Show the boot

Pass it around

Advantages

Disadvantages

Which hoof shape

When to use it

What type of riding

How to fit it

Boots Covered – Gloves, Edge, Epics, Bares, Boas, Renegades, Simple Boots, Old Macs Original and G2, Delta Boots, Swiss, EasySoakers, Easyboots and Soft Rides

12:30 - 1:30 Lunch – bring your own or go out

1:30 – Padding system

Thick Pads, Thin Pad, Dome Pads, Comfort Pad System, Shocktamers, Equithane, Gel Pads --- How to use them, in what situations

2:15 – Easy Foam and Equithane info

When to do it, Technique

2:45 – Horse Demo – How to put the boots on

3:00 – Pull out all of the boots and put them on the horses

Find which boot fits each horse the best

4:00 – Wrap up and discussion