By Dawn E. Willoughby, Natural Trimmer
Mario Chamorro, a horse owner living in Panama said, “I started barefoot trimming on my own about 3 years ago, in 2007. Since I didn’t have any guidance, I looked at the Hoof Jack™ as a non vital part of my tool set. When Dawn Willoughby came to Panama to teach a seminar this past January, she brought some stands with her. It was the missing link of my trim; it was what I’ve needed all along. I can now get very good mustang rolls on my horses’ hooves; they are even all the way around. Before I would rest the hooves on my leg, and to be honest, it is very hard to look and roll them in that position. Now I don’t even think of trimming the without the stand.”

Trimming Cliff from the bottom

Mario’s testimonial was typical of everyone I met in Panama who was new to trimming. I encouraged clinic attendees to trim with and without the stand. Learning to trim your own horse is hard enough without having him lean on you throughout the process. Horses love the stand too.
Only the two experienced farriers I worked with preferred to hold the hooves without the stand but of course they have developed the muscles for this work over many years. For novice trimmers, I strongly recommend the Hoof Jack hoof stand. I always have a few on hand at my place in Delaware and keep a few at Laura Florence’s Holistic Hoof Center in Unionville, Pa. I have tried metal hoof stands and the knock off of the Hoof Jack. They all have serious drawbacks.
Carol Delonis of Boquete Mountain Safari Tours organized my 3 clinics in western Panama for American and British Ex Patriots as well as local Panamanians interested in natural hoof care. Half day lectures, followed by lunch and full afternoons of hands on trimming made for a great 10 days in Caldera, a tropical paradise.

Louisa and baby Tornado

We worked on the beautiful horses used for safari tours as well as horses located at attendees’ farms.
Gina Cronin kindly hosted my 10 day stay at her boutique hotel, Rancho de Caldera, an Eco-tourist’s dream. I was awakened by the sun warming my toes and went to sleep with the sky filled with more stars than I had ever seen. Tropical birds visited my porch every morning sharing breakfast crumbs from my English muffin.

Piscano de Rancho

Happily they weren’t interested in my famed, organic coffee grown near by. With unlimited wind, solar and hydro power, Rancho de Caldera is off the grid. I don’t have words to describe Chef Craig’s ethnic cuisine. You will have to visit Caldera and experience it for yourself!
The trip to Panama was an experience of a lifetime I will never forget. I am already making plans for a 2011 visit with my husband.

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Mirror, Hoofjack and a grinder keep a horse with a locked knee more comfortable and a farrier safer

From the November 2009 issue of AMERICAN FARRIERS JOURNAL

Farriers frequently run into situations when they want to keep the hoof of a horse low as they trim and work on it. It’s a fairly common practice with older horses or those experiencing joint soreness or that have suffered hock and fetlock injuries. 

Kevin Keeler, farrier from New Plymouth, Idaho, owner of Equine Innovations and inventor of the Hoofjack, ran into a particularly tough situation with a retired carriage horse and came up with this innovative approach that allowed him to keep the foot low and also to work safely.

Kevin Keeler set his Hoofjack low and brought this horse’s foot forward, then used a mirror to spot his trimming landmarks on the bottom of the hoof. The retired carriage horse had a locked left knee and wouldn’t allow it to be flexed.

Here’s his description of the process. “The horse has a locked knee on the left front and will not allow any flexion (of that joint) at all,” Keeler explains. “Flexion on the sound right front seemed to painfully load the lame left front, so I needed to figure out a way to trim both fronts by bringing the hooves forward, as the horse would allow me to work on him in that position. “We had a successful trim by bringing the hoof forward and keeping the height on my hoof stand very low. I used a mirror to obtain my trimming landmarks. “The mirror made my job safer as well as faster by allowing me to see those landmarks without having to drop to my knees and put my face under the hoof. “Instead of trying to use nippers at a difficult angle and having to work only 12 inches off the ground, I opted to use an angle grinder with a 60-grit sandpaper flap disc. 

Because of the height he had to work at and the difficult angle that hoof nippers would have had to be held at, Keeler trimmed the hooves using a grinder. Note the mirror on the ground, enabling him to see his work. He tried both the post and cradle attachment for his Hoofjack and reports the post worked better.

“I tried both a straight post and a cradle to hold and stabilize the hoof. The straight post worked best because the horse was more willing to place his weight on that, offsetting the upward force I applied with the grinder. 

“When using a grinder, I always use safety glasses. The grinder turns the trimmings to power and will irritate the eyes. I also like to keep a fan running behind me to blow the hoof powder away from my eyes and nose.”

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This article was writen for and published by “The Horses Hoof”

We first learned of Jamie Jackson’s “Paddock Paradise” concept at a Pete Ramey/Dr. Bowker clinic sponsored by EasyCare last February 2007. We knew immediately that this was the answer to a feeding problem in our small herd of three horses. As soon as we got home from the clinic, we purchased the
Paddock Paradise book and began making plans.

We have two Arabians and one Morgan. The Arabs are older and do not gain weight easily, while the Morgan can gain weight on a blade of grass. The horses have access to 4+ acres of flat pasture and a dry lot the size of an arena, which is covered with crushed red lava rock (very conditioning for the hoof and drains moisture quite well). During the growing season, prior to implementing Paddock Paradise, the Morgan had to be restricted to the dry lot, while the Arabs spent most of the day out on pasture. During those times of separation, the Morgan would stand in one place for hours, never moving except to go get a drink.
That was about to change.

We decided to implement our Paddock Paradise in 3 phases. Lanes would be created inside of all the perimeter fences, along with one lane down the center of the property. Another lane would come off just one side of the center lane and connect up to a perimeter lane. The property was already fenced with wood posts and three strands of brown 1 1/2” electrical webbing. The lanes would be created with capped t-posts and 2 strands of 1 1/2” brown electrical webbing. All lanes would be 20 ft in width. We chose to use the materials we did because we have open land around us and find that the brown electrical webbing blends in with the space around it, especially if the webbing is pulled tight so that it doesn’t sag.
As you can see from the picture, there is very little visual impact, even though you are looking through six fence lines.

Because of the materials we chose to work with, it became a much bigger job than first imagined (aren’t most jobs like that!). Phase 1 and 2 took several weeks to complete. Phase 3 required us to
move an existing perimeter fence line that ran the entire length of the property. Of course, it was just after we got that fence line down that the weather turned nasty. We did not want to go outside
and finish the job, but as we were leaving soon for a week away and didn’t want to leave the caretakers with temporary fencing, we bundled up and forced ourselves to go outside. No sooner had we
started working than we looked up to see all three horses running around and around the lanes like they were a racetrack, slowing for the corners and going full out on the straight. This went on for well
over 10 minutes. We both agreed the horses had just spoken to us, and the message was THIS IS GREAT! That’s all it took to get us motivated to finish the job.

The Morgan now spends her days on the lanes while the Arabs have access to the pasture. As the Arabs move around the pasture, the Morgan can follow their movements out on the perimeter, feeling
comfortable enough to even lie down and take a nap. To encourage even more movement, the Morgan’s ration of hay is spread out over all the lanes, so that she might be getting only a few bites
of hay at a time before looking for the next mouthful. This has become our version of the Easter egg hunt! We have also done the same thing with a bag of carrots, much to the delight and amazement of the horses. At night, all thehorses come together to spend time out on the lanes as a group. Although we have not put pedometers on the horses, it is our observation that the horses move more when out on the lanes than when left to the open spaces of the pasture.
Unfortunately, we are dealing with irrigated land, and during growing season we irrigate once a week. To restrict the horses from areas of standing water, we created temporary gates of electrical webbing with gate handles that could be easily put up or removed on the lanes. It quickly became tedious trying to explain to each other where the gates needed to be as the irrigation changed location. We solved
that issue by naming all the lanes. Naming the lanes seemed to give the property an identity it didn’t have before.

One of the most unexpected and unanticipated results of this project is that it brought us closer to the property. Prior to the lanes going up, the only time we spent out on the pasture was during irrigation
season. Now, every day we walk the lanes to spread hay, often just as the sun is coming up. At night, just before bedtime, we take the dogs out and walk the perimeter of the property, often under the light of the moon. These are special times, and we give thanks each and every time we get to experience this connection to the property and the space around us.

We also would like to thank Jamie Jackson forhaving the vision to see beyond the traditional methods of horse boarding. No matter where we end up living, as long as we have horsesthat need to be confined by fences in unnatural environments, Paddock Paradise will be a part of our lives.

About the author: Dawn Crawford and Kevin Keeler own Equine Innovations, the manufacturer of the Hoofjack® and other great products.
Contact Dawn at email dawn@hoofjack.com or cell 208-484-6988;
Kevin at email kevinkeeler@hoofjack.com and cell 208-861-3798.

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Capitalism with a conscience – Kevin Keeler’s motto.
This article originally ran in the New Plymouth News on March 4th, 2009 and was written by Anne Esplin

Kevin Keeler is an inventor, entrepreneur, semi-retired farrier, and horse-lover who lives in Star, Idaho and owns a booming market based business located in New Plymouth.

The secret to his success? – Provide the consumer with a high quality product that gives back more than the cost of the product.

His business is Equine Innovations, Inc. and his product is the Hoofjack®; a lightweight but durable hoof support system that horse owners, farriers, and veterinarians can use to support a horse’s hoof while performing hoof care procedures.

Kevin first realized the need for such a device when a horse that he was shoeing collapsed on him and took out his keen. Kevin admits that he is “not the first to develop such a device’” but is quick to point out the advantages of his product. The Hoofjack® base is made of linear polyethylene and weighs only 10 lbs making it not only easy to move but hard to damage.

The Hoofjack® cradles the horse’s hoof in suspended nylon webbing allowing it to rest directly under the horse, which increases the horse’s sense of balance and well-being.

Traditionally, farriers put the horse’s hoof between their legs and support the horse with their bodies. This means the horse’s leg is pulled to the side, which can be uncomfortable for many horses and causes them to shy away during hoof care procedures such as trimming, shoeing, bandaging, hoof picking, etc.

Placing the horse’s hoof in the cradle eliminates the need to put the hoof between your knees or support it with your hands and body making hoof care far more comfortable and safer for the person involved. In addition to the Hoofjack®, Kevin also created an attachment that allows veterinarians and equine dentists to support the horse’s head during dental/facial procedures.

Kevin’s latest invention is the Tooljack® – a portable tool cart that allows for quick, easy, access to tools. Originally intended to hold farrier tools, the Tooljack® is also proving to be successful in other markets such as motorcycle and auto mechanics. Kevin hopes that professionals in these fields will find this mobile, light-weight caddy a genuine asset in their business.

What started as a home-based business in 2000 has grown to a successful operation that has five full time employees, 250 farrier supply shops distributing the product, and a busy schedule for Kevin and his wife Dawn as they criss-cross the country attending trade shows and marketing their products.

Kevin emphasizes that people should never give up on their dreams. Hard work and patience (while seeking opportunities vigorously) are keys to success. Kevin also says he believes that trust in oneself, in family, and in providence are the keys to success in the American business market.

His own experience supports that belief. While being flown into Idaho’s backcountry to shoe horses, snow and cloud cover brought the private plane down in a high mountain canyon. The crash resulted in serious injuries for the pilot and the two passengers on board, forcing them to hike five miles to safety. While that is not the kind of providential package one would wish for, the crash was a blessing in disguise because it forced Kevin to trust in his own strength and lean on his family. The settlement from the crash also covered virtually all of Kevin’s marketing expenses, allowing his business to grow significantly.

Kevin also prides himself on making a high quality, American-made product. The Hoofjack® and Tooljack® base is made in Washington State and all the Hoofjack® and Tooljack® components are custom fabricated right here in New Plymouth by Bear Mountain Machine.

Kevin points out that some companies claim to sell American-made products even though some or most of their parts are manufactured abroad. They should say, “Assembled in America”, Kevin protests. Such products are not genuinely “American-made”. Kevin is proud to say that he is helping to create jobs and boosting his local economy by manufacturing products that use American made parts and that are assembled in our small, but proud town of New Plymouth, Idaho.

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We are excited to add our Hoofjack Blog to provide our customers with the latest information regarding Hoofjack Hoof Stand! Watch for more great posts.

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