Prairie Equine Performance Therapy

If anyone wanted me to come out and trim their mini cows I would not say no 😂

For most people, the best day of their lives is perhaps their wedding day, the birth of a child, or a college graduation. And then there's me, and today... Today was the best day of my life.

Just kidding. Sort of.

Casper and Burberry are divine.

They are regularly groomed with a blow dryer, so the grinder was really no big deal.

Favorite Hoofcare Quotes

It’s been 10 years since I really started my hoofcare journey, and throughout that time I’ve been able to learn from so many amazing teachers/mentors/veterinarians/farriers/friends from all over in the equine world. So many of them left such great nuggets of wisdom to push me along in my path and help me pursue soundness for each individual horse.

As I am now a mentor myself for Progressive Hoof Care Practitioners, I have been thinking about things I say to PHCP students a lot during mentorship days, or things I say during PHCP webinars or other teaching opportunities.. and it often comes back to the same phrases.

I thought I’d share them here, but also ask you all to share some of your favorite hoofcare quotes that have helped shaped your approach to hooves as well!

*️⃣ “You paid for your entire rasp, use it.” - Jeannean Mercuri
—- I say this to almost every single trimming student I work with, and it was said to me by Jeannean during my very first mentorship with PHCP! When I was a “baby” trimmer I took such tiny little rasp strokes and only dulled the very middle of my rasp! Jeannean reminded me I had more rasp to use and would have more life in my rasps if I actually used the entire thing 😂

*️⃣ “Movement isn’t the problem, improper movement is.” -Nic Barker
—-This comment shaped my approach to navicular rehab specifically, and it was something Nic said to me during her podcast interview when we hosted her for a clinic in NY. She was talking about how she rehabs soft tissue injuries in the hoof capsule with movement, instead of avoiding movement, and the importance of proper biomechanics to act as physical therapy for those structures.

*️⃣ “I love seeing a perfect hoof, but I love seeing a sound horse an awful lot more.” -Steven Leigh
—-Steve said this to me on the podcast, when we were talking about concerning ourselves more with a horse’s comfort instead of just carving a perfect hoof on them. I think of this quote all the time when I am trimming a hoof and tempted to remove something the horse may need for comfort just because the picture didn’t look “pretty.” I have so many more sound horses because of the comments Steve has said to me in the past!

*️⃣ “The healthiest hooves are attached to the healthiest animals.” -Tomas Teskey
—-I must say this quote in every single webinar I do… because we want to combat the idea of horses “just having bad feet.” If a horse has unhealthy feet, I want to figure out why their body isn’t growing healthier ones! Diet? Metabolic issues? Gut health? Lyme/EPM/PSSM/something else systemic going on? Day to day management? This quote reminds me to keep looking for things to improve in the horse’s health to see if we can grow better feet, and not just keep my focus below the hairline.

*️⃣ “The hoof is like the canary in the coal mine.” -Pete Ramey
—-Similar to the quote from Dr. Teskey above, I say this quote from Pete in basically every single webinar I’ve ever done. It again reminds me that the feet are like the “check engine” light for the horse… if there’s an issue with the feet, it’s a symptom… find the cause.

What are some of your favorite sayings/quotes that have stuck with you, or that you repeat often?