On May Kath, Christoph, the Bootmeister, conducted a Hoof Care Clinic during the Fandango 3 Day ride at Oreana Idaho. In spite of the cool and rainy weather, the Clinic was attended by lots of riders who all had lots of questions and interest in learning how to trim their horses hooves safely. The clinic was geared towards the horse owners, riders and trainers, who want to do their own trimming and not rely on farrier services.
All the sponsors banners were displayed:
Global Endurance Training Center
EasyCare
Vettec
Equiflex
After thanking the sponsors for donating all the raffle prizes, Christoph introduced the few essential tools necessary to trim hooves. Then it was time to actually use them and demonstrate their proper use.
First: Hoof cleaning with wire brush to remove debris and sand. This will help preserve the trimming tools
Christoph shows the use of nippers for the hoof wall
This horse showed signs of bruising through bend over bars. Bars that are excessively laid over, can cause severe bruising and also flares on the hoof wall. They need to get shortened.
Using the rasp to level the hoof
Checking for flares and straightening the hoof wall
Finally, using anti fungal treatment to battle bacterial invasion in areas affected. Here, Sore No More’s THE SAUCE.
Then, Christoph introduced a brand new tool, The Merlin. This powertool facilitates hoof trimming tremendously. It saves time, energy and especially your back. It was used to trim the other hooves.
Christoph was so impressed with the ease of use and the results, that he decided to take on distributorship. What a difference that tool makes.
Horses do not mind at all, the Merlin runs very quietly and the speed can get adjusted. You can order it now on the Global Endurance Center website and on the Equiflex website.
Then it was time to demonstrate how to glue on EasyCare Glue-on boots.
This boot has Goober Glue in the frog area. Goober Glue is soft, but supportive. It will set a little slower than Vettec Adhere or Soleguard. Therefore we can apply it first in the boot, before applying VETTEC ADHERE on the side walls.
Finally, on the image below, sealing the top of the boots with Vettec Adhere.
After a short break, it was time for the raffle
Every participant won at least one prize, some walked away with two.
The sponsors had donated saddle bags, water bottles, logbooks, EasyCare Glue on boots and Gloves, Vettec Adhere, Soleguard and Equi-Pak, Goober glue, hoof picks, Sore No More products. All in all, several hundred Dollars worth of great and useful items were given away.Besides the free learning, all participants got awarded for their attendance.
Success through learning, the title of the clinic proved to be true in more than one way.
Later that evening, all riders and clinic participants enjoyed a wine and cheese party, sponsored by VETTEC.
The cheeses were plentiful and beautiful. What a delight for the palate!
If you couldn’t attend and missed out, there will be more opportunities in the future. Follow us on this blog or the EasyCare blog.
Super cute! My little man would look so stylin’ in those!
I just wanted to add a cpluoe of comments based on a conversation with a horse owner last week.Every healthy hoof exhibits two different forms of arch, just as our own feet do concavity, or vaulting, where the center of the sole is higher off the ground than the outside edge; and a front-to-back arch evident in the heel quarters. The degree of arch is highly dependent on breed, size/weight, and way of going. Generally speaking, the heavier the horse, the less pronounced these two arches will be, which is why the mustang hoof in my photos has a more obvious arch in the heel quarters than the Warmblood does. To be clear the trimmer does not create either of these arches. The hoof trimmer merely respects whatever arches are present, and works to allow the arches to develop as they will.This isn’t something most horse owners are used to seeing. Farriers are taught to trim the bearing surface flat, because they believe it provides the best mating surface for a shoe. This, unfortunately, is also a fallacy, as Dr. Deb Bennett points out in her writing
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