I am a strong supporter of equine dentistry. After all, would you rather go to your general practitioner to have your teeth checked or your dentist?

I found an excellent one: Birgit Burglechner "Diamond Edge Equine Dental Care". Birgit moved to Colorado from Munich, Germany 8 years ago. She grew up riding dressage and after moving to the States found pleasure in western riding as well. She worked as a barn manager and general manager at a large boarding and training facility outside of Colorado Springs for her first 4 years in Colorado and then decided to move to La Veta to manage a guest ranch. The need for quality dental care became more obvious to her through the years and she decided to join the "American School of Equine Dentistry" two years ago to become an equine dental technican.

She lives in La Veta, Colorado and traveled to EquusLoco in Westcliffe for a day of thorough examinations (12 horses) and another day for the actual dental work.

She even came for follow up visits to check on Reg, who got an incisor pulled.

I was impressed with Birgit’s knowledge and expertise of equine dentistry and also with her confidence and calmness with each individual horse.

I highly recommend her...

If you like to contact her, please feel free to call Birgit or her assistant Rosanne at the the following numbers:
Home 719 738-6562
Cell 719 989-8629
Or you can send Birgit an email at Birgitvet@yahoo.com

Horse Wisdom, the Dance of Authenticity through the Wisdom of the Horse.

Spiritual and life coach, Kathy Pike, led the two-day event, which addressed: being present, learning from emotions and finding balance. The experience, though highly personal, was a shared spiritual connection for all participants. Finding one's authentic self from the master of authenticity, the horse, was the focus of the weekend.

Kathy Pike's sound and sensitive guidance made the experience not only meaningful, but memorable.

Equusloco's two day August clinic, with highly respected New Zealand horseman, Steve Houston, focused on the individual needs of seven participants and their horses. Positive attitude and movements were reinforced, as was confidence and calmness between horse and rider.

"There was an intuitive quality to the instruction," an observer said. "It was subtle, but I felt that Steve was teaching an almost psychic communication between horse and rider. He was definitely teaching sensitivity, and his own calm demeanor had to be especially helpful. Riders also received attention to their specific needs and questions. I learned a lot just by watching."

Equusloco, Center for Equine Awareness, is dedicated to the emotional, mental and physical needs of horses. Their first clinic, at their new location in Westcliffe, supported their belief in non-intrusive training techniques based on trust, respect and love. Watch for more great clinics in 2007!

By asking the horses that attended the Paul Chapman clinic we were left with no doubt that this is indeed the way they want their feet trimmed.
After all it is the way they would trim their own feet if we would not take them out of their natural environment.
Horses have existed for a million years without metal shoes. Horse shoes have been evented only a thousand years ago.
Prior to the middle ages the armies of Attila the Hun, Ghingis Khan, Alexander the Great, just to name a few, rode thousands of miles on barefoot horses.

We chose a rocky driveway as our test track before and after the trim. Every horse performed better after the trim. We observed that the horses were calmer, smoother, happier, more balanced and athletic.

Paul showed us that this is no rocket science, there is no need to measure angles and lengths, that simply trimming the nail (hoofwall) and leaving the sole made every horse more comfortable.

A "bit" of knowledge
The "Bit" clinic with Dave Peters was a success!

Allow me to first tell you a little "bit" about Dave:

Dave's Horse career started about 40 years ago.

Sixteen years ago he met Tom Dorrance and Ray Hunt. He has studied horsemanship ever since and has conducted clinics and seminars for about twelve years.
The subject about bits and bitting is very dear to him and safety for the rideris paramount.
Dave's philosophy is that any rider should be able to ride his/her horse in a rope halter before moving on to the use of any bit. His reasoning is that using a rope halter you first will teach the horse to give to pressure and to flex laterally. By moving on to a snaffle bit the communication with your horse will be more refined.
Your horse is able to do everything you need him to do in a snaffle bit. But it is your responsibility to teach the horse to understand it.
No bit can give control! Only use of pressure and release can achieve this purpose and even more importantly the untracking of the hind quarters, where your horses "engine" is located.
It is a fallacy that the more severe the bit, the more control the rider has. By inflicting pain to your horse you create a reaction but not a response. Any bit is only as good as the rider's hands behind it.
Dave then explained the transition from a snaffle to a bosal (which will help with vertical flexion) and then from the two rein to the full bridle horse.
He further went on to give fascinating information on the use of some types of bitless devices, such as the mechanical hackamore. These devices work with the theory of pressure to be able to stop and control the horse. Interestingly enough, most people who use the mechanical hackamore believe this is a kinder method, because one does not pull on the horse's mouth. In truth the pressure on the horse's nose is multiplied by the length of the shanks. If you use only one pound of pressure on the reins (which is not much) you can end up with 120 - 140 pounds of pressure on the horses nose right on the soft cartilage.
The same applies to any shank bit; only then the pressure is inside the horse's mouth.
The overall response of the clinic was very positive; we had several phone calls from participants who said:

"Thank you Dave for teaching us"

Like last year all horses performed much better after the trim than before. I could only repeat what I wrote then.
Paul, Ali and I took 3 horses on a 3 ½ hour ride through some pretty rocky terrain the day after the trim. No complaints from the horses, they were all go and handled the trail well.

From here Paul went to Texas and I got permission to publish the following 2 letters from participants of his clinics. Read on:

I really do not know how to thank the 3 people listed for taking time out to visit the horses of the Houston Police Dept. The last week started with a landslide of controversy on our barefoot horses. We now have 24 barefoot, with all the Officers that asked for barefoot horses not being the ones complaining. We have had to answer a slew of questions from many inside the Department to others outside. With the great education in the beginning of our barefoot program from Martha and Darolyn, we have been able to paint a very positive picture of the horses now involved in the barefoot program. We have a few horses with really deformed feet taking longer than others would like. We were very fortunate to have Darolyn, Paul and Eddie stop by this morning and stay until late afternoon. All 3 not only stayed but assisted with Paul in giving not only myself a great clinic, but also my Sergeant, Lieutenant and my Captain valuable information and guidance with the Departments barefoot horses. The subtle changes Paul made were eye opening and will help each barefoot horse now in service. All three were instrumental today in getting much needed information, guidance and support for our program. The Supervisors, Officers and horses involved with the barefoot program can never repay what they did today, and as many times as I said thanks would not cover all they did. We are in the public eye all the time and are constantly asked questions not only from the interested, but also from the interested in seeing horses back in metal shoes. The continued public support will help in defining a program that is evolving now into a program others are now watching and will want to copy in the future.

I personally want to thank all that have helped me in getting my police horse barefoot and have allowed me to continue to educate myself and others on helping our police horses

Greg Sokoloski

How nice of you to take the time out to give credit where is due. Although I was not able to attend the clinic due to a previous commitment, my husband did attend and was so excited with the knowledge he gained. Ron is fairly new to horses but had already been sold on the idea that the best care for a horse's feet was shoes. He is a changed man. He was so impressed with Paul, not only because of his education but also because of the kindness he showed while interacting with the horses.

Having said that, let me say this: I am the founding president of the Matagorda County SPCA, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, and an active advocate of animal welfare in the press and elsewhere. I was also, previously, a mounted patrol officer, metal shoes, borium, and all, and have lived first-hand with the damage that shoeing does! Should you need someone to share their opinion with anyone who doubts your barefoot methods, please contact me and I will be happy to assist.

When Ron arrived home from the clinic Sunday evening with my beloved 24 year old mare who'd been retired 6 years previously due to chronic laminitis and abcesses, she unloaded sound. I was able to ride her bareback, bitless, and barefoot in the yard for a few minutes and not one time did she miss a step. Our 'shoer' was recommending that we put her down because he had nothing in his toolbox to offer her relief. I cannot believe how good she feels and am so sold on barefoot. Let me know how I can help. Maybe we can have a clinic down here at our barn?

"The causes of many of our problems is our solutions."

Susan Dancer Ruthrauff
Blessing, Texas.