I attended Pete Ramey's Introduction to Natural Hoof Care seminar in August 2005. I was looking for guidance to help Margie as well as improve my trimming skills. I attended Pete's seminar again in August 2006 as a student in the American Association of Natural Hoof Care Practitioners training and certification program. I was very fortunate to be in the program during 2006. As part of the AANHCP certification program I studied the required materials and traveled around the United States spending time with Certified Field Instructors. Some of my instructors had been "shoers" for many years before becoming "barefoot trimmers". All of my instructors had been Natural Hoof Care Practitioners for several years. They were all very experienced, knowledgeable, and talented. I earned Certification in January 2007.

As with all sciences, natural hoof care information is constantly changing. New research answers questions while raising many new ones. I believe one of the most important skills for a hoof care practitioner is critical thinking.

Several years ago I experienced pain in my knees. I went to a specialist, the diagnosis was cartilage wear. The standard treatment was surgery to scrape away cartilage. A second doctor agreed with the diagnosis & the standard treatment. Then he looked at my feet, gave me arch supports, and cured my knee problems... critical thinking.

As Natural Hoof Care Practitioners, Barefoot Trimmers, or whatever we like to call ourselves, we stand on the shoulders of pioneers such as Peter Laidely, Cindy Sullivan, Jamie Jackson, KC LaPierre, Pete Ramey, Dr. James Rooney, Dr. Thomas Teskey, Gene Ovenick, Dr. Chris Pollitt, Dr. Robert Bowker, Marjorie Smith, Paige Poss, and Dr. Lisa Lancaster.

I am indebted to all of the people who shared their time and natural hoof care expertise with me; and to my best teacher, Margie.

Whether your horse needs help recovering from a pathology or needs to have growth redirected to natural parameters, it is my goal to help your horse grow a healthy hoof as quickly as he can.

During a discussion about his horses hoof problems one of my clients told me that the vet said to ask the farrier and the farrier said to ask the vet. I suggested we ask the horse.