World Renowned Hoof Specialist Pete Ramey
Michigan State Professor of Veterinary Anatomy Dr. Robert M. Bowker Host Four Amazing Days of Hoof Care Education

World renowned natural hoof care specialist Pete Ramey, who has been turning the world of horse care upside down, was joined by Robert M. Bowker VMD, PhD, Professor of Anatomy, Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine for a four-day hoof care clinic in Valley Center, CA November 10th through 13th.

"What an amazing opportunity this was for horse owners everywhere," said Valley Center resident Joe Camp, one of the three sponsors of the clinics. "These are two of the most knowledgeable specialists in the entire world of hoof care placing their knowledge and experience up close and personal. It was really a coup to get both of these guys in one setting," Camp said.

This clinic was Pete Ramey's last for at least three years. Ramey, known the world over for saving horses on a regular basis that others have said should be put down, says "The time spent preparing for and putting on these clinics has severely limited the time I can spend doing research that will benefit horses in my care," Ramey said. "I need some time to do more research, trim horses and write my next book."

Ramey has just released a 17-hour DVD set that is a composite of his entire clinic.

Ramey's hoof care approach centers around pulling the horse's shoes and trimming their hooves to replicate the way wild horses trim themselves when running free. Padded hoof boots are provided when needed for comfort, protection, healing, and variable traction. The method is so successful for laminitis and navicular problems, that veterinarians are taking great interest all over the world. Veterinarians and vet techs could earn 20 hours of Continuing Education credits by attending Ramey's clinics and 16 additional hours of CE credits for attending Dr. Bowker's clinic. (AAVSB RACE Approved).

At a recent Ramey symposium, an equine vet stood up and announced to the crowd that after four years of vet school, fifteen years as an equine vet, numerous clinics and two trips to the Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium, he had just learned more about hooves from Ramey's clinic than during the rest of his entire career combined.

Natural trimmer Jaime Jackson, one of Ramey's mentors, started the movement in the United States when he published his study of the hooves of more than one thousand horses living in the wild. Without regard to geography or climate, all of these horses' feet were hard as rocks and perfectly sound, and they all looked very much the same. Using these hooves as a guide, Jackson developed The Wild Horse Trim, replicating for the domestic horse what would be happening naturally if the horse were in the wild. Both specialists have said that they have never seen a horse that couldn't be taken barefoot successfully. "So far," Ramey says, "they all out-perform their former 'shod self' either barefoot or in boots." Ramey specializes in helping horses with lameness problems.

The Ramey - Bowker clinic was held at The Oaks Indian Hill Ranch in Valley Center November 10th through November 13th, sponsored by Joe & Kathleen Camp, veterinarian Matt Mathews, and natural hoof practitioner Marci Lambert, all of Valley Center. This was Ramey's earliest-ever clinic to fill up and close reservations. "I think everyone who attended was simply blown away," Camp said. "Thanks and good words have been pouring in. To me, it means a lot of horses out there are going to be happier campers," Camp smiled.

Joe Camp is author of the upcoming book The Soul of a Horse to be published by Random House Harmony Books on April 29, 2008, and is also creator of the canine superstar Benji and the floppy-eared mutt's writer-director. Camp says, "Ramey and Bowker are my heroes, brilliant, caring men. And this was the last chance to learn from Pete face-to-face for at least three years. If you love your horses, please get his DVD set."

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Note from Joe:

For all of you who could not attend the clinics both Pete Ramey and Dr. Bowker were simply incredible in their ability to simplify to the point of injecting our brains with true understanding of what the hoof is all about. And why following the wild horse model is so logical.

Dr. Bowker nailed a point I had never really thought of. He uses the term "peripheral loading" when referring to a situation where the hoof walls are carrying all of the weight when a horse's hoof hits the ground. Which is almost always the case when he's wearing a shoe, and often the case when he's barefoot and his hoof walls are too long. Dr. Bowker's point is that the hoof walls should never carry all of the load. The load should be shared by the bars, the frog, and even the sole. Why? Well, picture a small diameter tube inside a slightly larger diameter tube... with nothing locking the two together except a fiberous spongy material called the lamina; connected only laterally, on the sides. No help from the bottom. And nothing touching the ground except the rim of the larger, outside tube. Now start applying 300-400 pounds of pressure on the smaller, inner tube (as in every time the horse's foot hits the ground)... and imagine the shearing pressure on the lamina trying to hold everything together (from the side) with no help from below. That's an over-simplification, but pretty much what's happening with your horse's hoof mechanism when each step is loading only on the periphery (the hoof wall).

In the wild, if a horse is on rocky terraine, his hoof will usually be concave, because the rocks above ground will reach up and wear and callous the frog, bars and sole. If a horse is barefoot on concrete, like the Houston Mounted Patrol horses, there will be less concavity naturally (flatter) so there can still be load support from the frog, bars and soul. That's why both Pete and Dr. Bowker emphasize so strongly that the shape of the bottom of the foot can not (and left to nature will not) be the same when living on different types of terraine. If your horse is on soft arena-type footing most of the time, his foot will wear differently than if he's on concrete, or hard rocky ground, or grass. This is why Pete spends very little time trimming the bottom of the foot, preferring to let the horse tell him how he'd like it to be, and then just helping him get there.

There's so much too all this that I very strongly recommend that you spend as much time as possible on Pete's website and Dr. Bowker's website, reading their articles. It takes time to get a handle on all this, but it's so worth it for your horses. Here are the two website links:

Pete's website: http://www.hoofrehab.com.

Dr. Bowker's research rticles: http://cvm.msu.edu/RESEARCH/efl/index.htm
or http://wwwthehorseshoof.com.