Horse Care Philosophy

"To begin with, I shall describe how a man, in buying a horse, would be least likely to be cheated. In the case of an unbroken colt, of course his frame is what you must test; as for spirit, no very sure signs of that are offered by an animal that has never yet been mounted. And in his frame, the first things which I say you ought to look at are his feet. Just as a house would be good for nothing if it were very handsome above but lacked the proper foundations, so too a war-horse, even if all his other points were fine, would yet be good for nothing if he had bad feet; for he could not use a single one of his fine points."

Xenophon - The Art of Horsemanship
Approximately 400 BC

Most horses don't need shoes to be healthy and to have healthy feet...they need good horse-food, fresh water, and exercise...simple and basic. Wild horses do not have any of the hoof problems we see in domestic horses...despite the fact that we are talking about genetically identical animals. Why is it that you can take a BLM horse with perfect feet out of the wild and within a couple of months of "traditional" boarding, that horse founders? The reasons are simple...diet, diet, diet, and exercise. If we can provide those four important things for our horses they can be happy and healthy throughout the span of their lives. Natural horse and hoof care may not cost you less money than shoeing, but will result in fewer vet bills, more soundness for your horse and less anguish for you over the life of your horse. Check out our The Case Against Horseshoes page for more information on the negative side of shoeing. Check out How to Keep a Healthy Horse for more details about what it takes to keep your horse healthy more naturally.

We advocate providing as natural an environment and living conditions as we are able to provide for our horses. While reality places many variables out of our control, we can still improve those conditions that we do have some control over and provide a more holistic approach to caring for our equine companions...starting from the feet up. See our section on How To Keep a Healthy Horse.

"See to it that the colt be kind, used to the hand and fond of men when he is put out to the horse-breaker. He is generally made so at home and by the groom, if the man knows how to manage so that solitude means to the colt hunger and thirst and teasing horseflies, while food, drink, and relief from pain come from man. For if this be done, colts must not only love men, but even long for them."

Xenophon - The Art of Horsemanship
Approximately 400 BC

We embrace natural horsemanship training as taught by the likes of Pat Parelli, Clinton Anderson, GaWaNi Pony Boy and Monty Roberts. Training a horse should be about developing a relationship based on mutual trust and understanding. Chains, whips, tie-downs and other "control" devices were designed to force a horse into compliance, and to enforce compliance through fear, intimidation, and pain. Natural training methods are developed through gentleness, understanding, and cooperation, which builds a trust bond between you and your horse that can last a lifetime.

A horse is a mirror, we should take some time to look into it now and then, and learn something about ourselves.

"The one great precept and practice in using a horse is this, - never deal with him when you are in a fit of passion. A fit of passion is a thing that has no foresight in it, and so we often have to rue the day when we gave way to it. Consequently, when your horse shies at an object and is unwilling to go up to it, he should be shown that there is nothing fearful in it, least of all to a courageous horse like him; but if this fails, touch the object yourself that seems so dreadful to him, and lead him up to it with gentleness.

Compulsion and blows inspire only the more fear; for when horses are at all hurt at such a time, they think that what they shied at is the cause of the hurt."

Xenophon - The Art of Horsemanship
Approximately 400 BC

We adhere to a strict "No Cruelty" policy with all horses. We will neither yell at, strike, or use control devices with yours, ours, or anybody's horses. We will also not tolerate any abuse between the owner and the horse while we are present. If we witness abusive behavior between you and your horse, we will terminate the appointment and cancel all further appointments with you. Abuse is no substitute for proper training. We also refrain from drugging horses, or working on drugged horses unless there is a compelling reason that takes the health of the horse into consideration first. About 85% of the problems we see with horse behavior during trimming is related to a lack of training. The other 15% of problem horses have some kind of a health related foundation as their issue. If we think the issue is health related, we will suggest that you seek the opinion of a licensed veterinarian before we perform any services on your horse.

If your horse has not learned its ground manners properly we may refuse to work on that horse...it is simply not worth the risk to ours, or your horses, health if he cannot stand properly for the trim. There is assumed danger in working around horses. Should we happen to become injured while trimming your horse it will cost us far more than the $40.00 we would have made from the trim in lost work time and hospital bills. For both of our sakes there may be times when we will just say NO!

Sometimes, if the issue is health related, we have found that waiting a week or two for the major symptoms to pass may be all that is necessary to calm the horse down enough to stand for trimming. For laminitis cases, 2 or 3 days of Bute are usually sufficient to take the edge off of the pain enough for us to perform a Founder Trim.

At no time will we resort to violence or abuse of any kind toward your animals. We embrace natural horsemanship as taught by the likes of Pat Parelli, Clinton Anderson, GaWaNi Pony Boy and Monty Roberts. We will also refuse to work with you or your animals if YOU engage in any violent or abusive behavior toward your horses while we are present.