Posts by Steve
Off to School…
A very quick estimate reveals that I’ve now spent well over 10,000 hours in university classrooms over the past 34 years, teaching a wide variety of technical subjects to students of all ages and backgrounds. Those teaching experiences, along with my other parallel careers/passions – electronics engineer, hoof care professional, recording engineer, and jazz musician […]
Violation!
New clients, particularly those with horses going barefoot for the first time since their youth, often ask, “When can I ride my horse again?” as I’m finishing up the first trim. That question used to puzzle me quite a bit, because nothing we do ought to affect a horse’s comfort in any way but positive. […]
The “Expert Syndrome”
One of the constant frustrations I encounter is nicely illustrated by the preceding clip from the 2004 – 2008 television show Wildfire. No, I’m not talking about chipped hooves and the common perception that they’re a problem; I hope I’ve adequately addressed that issue in earlier posts. What I’m talking about instead could perhaps be […]
Toy Story
I want to share the story of a horse named Toy who recently reappeared in my life. I consider my experiences with Toy to be pivotal in my development as a hoof care provider because they were particularly eye-opening with respect to the knowledge of veterinarians and farriers. And I also hope his story may […]
Liberated Horsemanship
I’ve mentioned Liberated Horsemanship in passing before, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to discuss our upcoming clinics at the end of next month (9/28 – 10/2). From my perspective, what’s offered a couple of times a year in Warrenton, MO (an hour west of St. Louis) is of immense potential benefit to every […]
Half a Trim?
A client of mine recently pointed me to the website of another “natural” hoof care practitioner. Always hoping to learn something new about the equine foot, I visited the site and did some reading about her trim philosophy. Wow! What a disappointment. Although what she describes definitely has some elements of proper trimming, her philosophy […]
Hoof Angles – Part 6
In the last installment, I introduced you to one of my clients with very mismatched front hooves, with a promise that I’d explain the “why” of her radically-different hoof angles in the next article. Well, it’s time to do exactly that! One of my best early lessons on cause and effect with respect to hoof […]
Hoof Angles – Part 5
Sorry for a bit more of a delay in getting this posted than I’d intended, but between managing clients, the end of the school Quarter, and attending the Berkshire International Film Festival with Annie last weekend, time has been tight. But hopefully you’ll find it was worth the wait! I’ve discussed some of the effects […]
Hoof Angles – Part 4
There doesn’t seem to be an end to what I can find to say about hoof angles! Several of my previous posts have mentioned the consequences of hoof imbalance, and it’s now time to start being more specific about the problems that can, and do, arise from an improper landing due to an out-of-balance hoof. […]
Success!
The clinics of the last two Saturdays are now behind me, and I’m very pleased with how things went. There were literal gasps “from the crowd” as I showed them slow-motion video of unbalanced landings and the consequent vibration in the hoof and lower limb. They were long days, though; we spent from 9AM ’til […]