Natural Hoof Care

09/15/2024

What laminitis prevention looks like.

What the cure for laminitis looks like.

Keep your horse on a grass free Paddock Paradise to prevent suffering that doesn’t need to happen. To avoid vet bills that you don’t need. To avoid the costs and harms of horseshoes.

Your horse can be sound barefoot if managed according to the equine species’ needs instead of what’s cheapest and easiest momentarily for us humans.

Laminitis is one of the main reasons horses are euthanized. It’s time to take it seriously and find a place that offers species appropriate care.

We have space for a couple lucky horses. Get in touch if you’re interested in having the healthiest horse possible!

09/09/2024

Mariposa and me on a beautiful September morning.

Have you always dreamed of a career with horses but didn’t know what direction to go? A career that keeps you physically fit 💪🏽, working outside on your own schedule as your own boss?

I always dreamed of a career with horses, but don’t like needles or blood and couldn’t emotionally put a horse to sleep, so veterinarian was out. I don’t like having to project my voice across an arena so riding instructor was out. I’m not interested in working with equine behavior issues, so horse trainer was out.

But I do enjoy working with my hands. Educating horse owners on the 4 pillars of NHC. Improving the lives of the horses that are under my care. I love being my own boss while making a positive difference in the world, wouldn’t you like to join me?

Currently I am one of seven ISNHCP instructors in the world and hosting a Step 2/3 clinic October 14-18, 2024 at in Paonia, Colorado, USA. Apply to the ISNHCP program today at http://ISNHCP.net

If you’re interested in a career in NHC, go to my website and find the ISNHCP tab and or http://ISNHCP.net

09/08/2024

Better Than an Insurance Policy

"Why pay the vet later when you can prevent chronic disease now?"

Horse owners often rely on insurance policies to help cover the cost of vet bills when their animals fall ill, particularly with chronic conditions like laminitis. But what if there was a way to prevent these diseases altogether? What if, instead of reacting to illness, you could take steps to ensure your horse remains healthy and vibrant throughout its life?

This is where Natural Horse Care (NHC) steps in. Unlike traditional approaches that focus on treating symptoms after they appear, NHC emphasizes prevention—addressing the root causes of common ailments before they develop into costly health issues.

The Hidden Costs of Chronic Disease

Whole Horse Inflammatory Disease (WHID) is one of the most common and devastating conditions in horses, yet it remains relatively unknown. In fact laminitis is a symptom of WHID. It is a chronic condition that underlies many of the symptoms we recognize in horses. During states of inflammation caused by imbalances in the hindgut, harmful bacteria travel throughout the body, slowly damaging soft tissues and organs.

This condition can lead to severe pain, such as during founder, requires expensive treatment, and can ultimately lead to euthanasia. While insurance may help with the financial burden, it doesn't address the heartbreak or the ongoing risks. Relying on treatment after the fact is like putting a bandage on a problem that could have been avoided.

Consider the cost: Insurance policies may cover vet bills, but they do not guarantee your horse’s well-being. The physical and emotional toll of chronic illness is something no amount of money can truly compensate for. Natural Horse Care, on the other hand, empowers you to take control of your horse's health, reducing the need for costly interventions and enhancing your horse's quality of life.

Treating chronic illness doesn’t just drain your wallet—it can stifle your finances, making any significant changes seem like an impossible task. We know this from experience, and now we also know there’s a better path—a path to health.

Prevention is Better Than Cure

But prevention isn't just a concept—it’s a practical, everyday approach. NHC promotes the idea that simple, natural practices can prevent the onset of chronic diseases. By focusing on proper nutrition, 24/7 access to movement, natural hoof care management, and creating a more natural living environment for your horse, you can significantly reduce the risk, if not eradicate it completely.

As Hippocrates wisely said, “Prevention is better than cure.” This timeless principle is at the heart of NHC. By addressing the core needs of your horse and creating an environment resembling their natural habitat and lifestyle, you are investing in long-term health. Instead of waiting for problems to arise, you can create an environment where your horse thrives naturally.

The NHC Approach: Practical and Powerful

Implementing NHC principles isn't complicated. Start with a diet that mimics what horses would naturally eat in their adaptive environment, such as that of U.S. Great Basin wild horses. Follow the AANHCP Recommended Diet and adapt it to your individual situation. Provide access to regular movement, as a horse's body is designed to roam, forage, and stay active. Use Paddock Paradise as your boarding model, and turn your horse's paddock into a paradise. And perhaps most importantly, be proactive in recognizing signs of WHID before they turn into full-blown health issues.

By prioritizing these aspects of care, you’re doing more than saving money on vet bills—you’re giving your horse the gift of a healthier, happier life. That’s something insurance policy simply cannot offer.

A Choice for Better Care

In the end, the choice is clear. Insurance policies can help in times of crisis, but wouldn’t it be better to avoid the crisis in the first place? Natural Horse Care offers a better solution—one that prioritizes your horse’s well-being every day. So why wait to pay the vet later when you can prevent chronic disease now? The Four Pillars of NHC provide a complete framework for your horse’s health. By choosing this path, you’re choosing a better, healthier future for your equine companion.

You can learn more from NHC literature found on www.jaimejackson.com

Reach out to one of our practitioners, or contact us directly www.isnhcp.net/pages/nhc-practioner

Join our community:
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09/06/2024

Get Ready — Morgan Herum is Back with Another Step 2/3 Clinic This Year!

What Can You Expect from Our Training Program?

We’re here to support you every step of the way, from theory to hands-on practice. Our program will immerse you in the principles of natural horse care and provide consistent, detailed guidelines for mastering the Natural Trim method.

Why Choose Us?

At ISNHCP, we are committed to values of integrity, respect, and accountability. We take our responsibility in the equine community seriously. Whether you're looking to trim your own horses or embark on a full-time career, we offer unparalleled knowledge. You'll receive a comprehensive overview of the wild horse model and learn directly from the source. Our education is unique and not available anywhere else.

You can sign up today here:
https://www.isnhcp.net/products/2023-registration-and-tuition
Or learn more about our training program here:

https://www.isnhcp.net/products/prospectus

09/05/2024

You’ve tried every boarding facility, looking for the place that honors all the needs of the equine species.

The first place got A, B, and D right.
The 2nd place got A, C, and D right.
The 3rd place got B, C, and D right.

You want the best for your horse. That’s what we wanted for our horses too, so we built Paonia Paddock Paradise.

The horses spoke. We listened.

As an ISNHCP practitioner and instructor, I thoroughly understand and practice what is species appropriate. So that’s what we offer here: the Four Pillars of Natural Horse Care.

Horse owners that find us say it’s like horse heaven. If that is what you’ve been searching for for your horse, message me and come board with us on the Western Slope of CO.

09/01/2024

Wouldn’t it be amazing to be confidently self-sufficient when it comes to taking care of your horses’ hooves? Or to launch a career helping horses?

There’s time to enroll in the ISNHCP (go to http://ISNHCP.net) and get your Step 1 coursework done in time for the Step 2/3 clinic, where we’ll spend 5 solid days trimming cadaver feet and learning the art and science of sequencing.

In the Step 2 Cadaver Trimming Clinic, you will learn how to measure hooves and then trim based on the measurements. In the Step 3, Sequencing Clinic, you will learn how to safely position yourself, the horse, and a handler, effective and humane horse handling, and efficient tool and equipment handling.

08/30/2024

In honor of Beauty, a sweet draft cross mare that really embodied her name inside and out. I had the opportunity to trim over the last few years. When I started working on her feet, I was told she hadn’t been trimmed before, so we took it slow. And while she was a little uncertain was so willing and cooperative, and became a lovely, trustworthy horse to trim after just 2-3 trim cycles.

Her humans were so generous as to give me her feet for ISNHCP students to trim one last time. It’s a privilege to care for these sweet creatures and to teach others the ways of Natural Horse Care.

Collecting the cadaver feet is the hardest and heaviest part of my work, but so incredibly important. Training on cadaver feet is really the most ethical way to teach someone who has never trimmed a hoof before, so students are prepared to work on live horses without putting those live horses at risk of harm.

If you care for your horse through to their end, live within an hour of Paonia, CO and are comfortable with the idea of their feet being used for education, please reach out when your horse transitions to their next life. With as much sensitivity and grace as I can offer, I will come remove the feet, in service of horses all over and those willing to care for horses through the humane practices of NHC.

08/15/2024

Last week was super fun! Don visited from California for a 5-day intensive, one-on-one, ISNHCP Step 2/3 Cadaver trimming and Sequencing clinic!

Unlike the big group 2 day trim clinics, people that learn with me get TONS of individual attention and build a skill to trim confidently. They also come prepared by The ISNHCP’s rigorous academic studies and quizzes that are required before attending the clinics.

I’m looking forward to continuing Don’s NHC trainings in the future.

08/07/2024

When Paddock Paradise was first introduced as a new paradigm in horse keeping practices, many horse owners opposed the idea as a result of not understanding it, not liking the ‘inconvenience’ of changing and/or simply because people are often skeptical of ANY ideas that are new, different or foreign to their traditions or way of thinking.

Thankfully, the logic of this system resonated with some of us immediately and one by one, we gave it a try. Now, it continues to be a fast-growing model for healthy horse keeping around that world. When we speak of their health, we mean the physical, mental and emotional symptoms of good health for all domestic horses!

07/04/2024

Happy Independence Day! I was proud to see the horses with the best feet in the parade were the ones who use Natural Hoof Care!

If you want your horses to be sound on all surfaces, including roads, rocky trails, etc., find an ISNHCP or AANHCP practitioner or study in the ISNHCP to trim your own, and apply the 4 pillars of Natural Horse Care: Natural Trim, Paddock Paradise boarding, Natural Horsemanship, and a Reasonably Natural Diet.

06/21/2024

We do not advise ‘strip-grazing’ or turning the horses into the center for ‘standing hay.’ Part of the formula for achieving safe grass hays is by having it cut and allowing it to cure, which begins the process of breaking down and reducing the sugar and starch stored in the plants (the process of respiration).

There is no safe way for horses to graze in grass pastures that are not located in or in similar biomes as their natural/adaptive habitat. The only time we suggest turnout in the center is for some playtime.

(Jaime Jackson addresses the herds of wild horses/ponies living in environments to which the species did not adapt 1.4 million years ago in his book The Natural Trim: Principles and Practice. These include but are not limited to the Kaimanawa horses of New Zealand, the Camargue ponies of France, the the Chincoteague ponies of Assateague Island, the Duelmener ponies of Germany and the Dartmoor ponies of southwestern England. NHC advocates have observed these herds and their hooves and found them to frequently be “overgrown, suffering from diseases, and badly in need of natural hoof care.” On page 37 is a photo of a Dartmoor mare whose hoof “is covered with stress rings, a telltale symptom of chronic laminitis.”

Photos by

06/08/2024

Horses did not evolve to graze in lush, grass pastures outside of an arid, high desert habitat. This image is a ‘pasture’ in wild horse country. Photo shot in Nevada - in the U.S. Great Basin - that is similar to the equine species’ adaptive biome. This is where research has shown us that healthy, sound and fit wild and free-roaming horses live and proliferate.

Photo taken by then-ISNHCP student Albert Villasevil.

06/07/2024

There would be no more grass pasture turnout if horse owners understood the species appropriate diet and environment. Look at the photo below for an example of a species appropriate environment.

06/04/2024

05/31/2024

A healthy, beautiful and naturally trimmed hoof such as this one is possible by providing species-appropriate management and care. The natural trim stimulates healthy, natural growth patterns that will allow the horse to grow its own best hoof but the trimming method's role is limited, and will be diminished or enhanced by the diet, lifestyle, environment and other management practices provided. It is not enough to simply have 'good footing.'

Photo by Dario Arcamone at the Aanhcp headquarters, August 2015. For more information, please take a look at the Paddock Paradise Track System page.

05/23/2024

What could be more practical or healthy than a genuine, natural, species-appropriate domestic environment where horses live in a herd, outside, at all times? (In a Paddock Paradise track system, there is no need for hanging toys like plastic apples, no mirrors, no sugary, licking things, no snuffle matts or other products designed to lessen neurotic behaviors created by unnatural management practices.) This is the lower level that connects to the track on top of the hill.

Pic by