Frank Tobias             Natural Farrier

I often begin a consultation with a new client by explaining my philosophy of how to achieve a healthy hoof.   During one of my trips to California to study with Jaime Jackson, I took a detour to Nevada to observe a band of wild mustangs living on the range there.   Watching these amazing creatures in the wild really hammered home much of what I had learned in my training to become certified as a natural hoof care practitioner.

Two of the horses in the Cold Creek herd.

FIRST:  DIET

SECOND:  MOVEMENT

THIRD:  TRIM 

MICHAEL WANZENRIED AND RED SONNE

Back in 2003, shortly after I first began trimming our own horses' hooves, I had the privilege of getting to know Michael Wanzenried, an amazing horseman who had been a steeplechase jockey in Switzerland before signing on as a Parelli instructor.  Mikey, as his friends know him, did demonstrations of liberty and bridleless riding with his Arabian horse, Red Sonne, at Spirit Ranch in Jupiter, just a few miles from our farm.

I noticed that Red Sonne was barefoot, and talked with Mikey about how he kept his hooves in such great shape.   A man of few words, Mikey told me that his hooves didn't need much and that when they looked long, he just ran him up and down the paved road.  I knew that Mikey worked Red Sonne hard evey day, jumping fences on a cross country course and in the arena, practicing high level dressage moves like piaffe and passage.  Red Sonne is a fine example of a horse with hooves in balance with the environment.  

Click on this link to see a video of a demo that I was lucky enough to attend where we got to see Mikey and Red Sonne in 2003 at Spirit Ranch:    Michael & Red Sonne video link.