About Us
I didn’t sleep the night before and it couldn’t have been a longer drive to that horse show in Ashville, North Carolina. But I couldn’t wait to get there and begin living my childhood dream; owning that National Champion Stallion that everyone else wanted. I had waited 13 years, took a second mortgage on my home and worked three jobs to finally have my stallion with a nationally acclaimed trainer and I just knew it would all pay off in the end. Well little did I know that sitting here twelve years later I would be telling a very different story than the one I envisioned that day.
I have been breeding and showing Arabian horses since I was 15 years old. Now approaching forty, I have learned so much about every aspect of owning and caring for these beautiful horses. But no lesson has been as vital to my horse’s health, trainability, performance and success as the job of my farrier. The farrier that we choose is our horse’s lifeline and probably the most important person in our horse’s life in regard to their everyday comfort and health. As the owner, we put a lot of money and dreams on the shoulders of these professionals and simply have to trust that they know what they are doing.
Fellow horse owners and I talk all the time about each others farriers and the way our horses are shod, trying to compare and figure out whether we are doing what is right for our horses. It’s an ongoing struggle and always a topic of conversation, right? I didn’t realize just how lucky I was until recently. Hind sight is twenty, twenty and my reason for developing this website is to help all horse owners have a place to share their experiences and information in the hopes that we will feel more empowered to make better decisions for our horses. 
Hooflameness.com is in memory of a courageous, beautiful and forever loyal mare, WN Blu Velvet. I first came to know her at that same Ashville show and thought to myself, wow, what I wouldn’t do to own a special mare like that. I was fortunate enough to finally own her years later only after she foundered and then was within my budget. We were able to comfortably maintain Velvet for 4 years, but late this past April, Velvet lost her battle with this debilitating disease. I am blessed that she gave me her only offspring, Blu Dahlia who I will forever cherish. By the way, her dad is Montanha. I miss Velvet immensely and I want her death to represent hope for stopping lameness before it starts. So let me share my story.
For eighteen years I have had the same farrier. Looking back, the injuries that my horses have suffered over this time period were all when the horses were at a training barn or recently when my farrier had to take three years off for personal reasons. We have bred probably 30 horses during this time and all the horses under my farriers care have never needed joint supplements, joint injections or suffered any longterm lameness. My broodmares require trimming only 3-4 times a year because they simply maintain their balance. They’re all 100% sound, healthy and happy. Even our foundation broodmare, Century Cerene who turns 30 this year and she still gallops up for her grain or a carrot. I am forever indebted to him and his ability to do his job.
Back to the Ashville show and my childhood dream. Montanha, Tana, won every class he went in and qualified for the Regionals where he was named Top Five and 1st on one judge’s card. Not bad for his second show. Oh, I also received a number of offers to purchase him. We were well on our way to a National title and my dream when things began to unravel. A month after that region, Tana just wasn’t himself. He had problems
picking up leads and simply wasn’t happy doing his job. My gut told me that there was something wrong, but this was my dream and I had a lot invested in this opportunity. Unfortunately my gut was right, we were unaware that Tana had suffered a fracture in his cesmoid joint and he ended up flipping over at his next Regional show. I was devastated. My dream for Montanha seemed lost forever, or so I thought. Just 4 years later, Tana’s son JFK Junior was named Reserve National Champion Stallion AOTH and 2 years later his full brother War Lhord was named National Top Ten Stallion AOTH. Trust me, follow those dreams, it’s worth it all to have those roses draped on your horse.
Montanha came home, healed from his injury and 10 years later he was named Regional Top Five Sport Horse in-hand at the age of 23. He is 100% sound and requires no supplement or medication to maintain his soundness. What’s remarkable has been his treatment; my farrier. During any time in the last 18 years that my farrier wasn’t in charge of my horse’s care, they have suffered torn suspensory ligaments, stifle problems, shin splints, wind puffs, unexplained joint swelling and laminitis. These injuries have cost me thousands of dollars, a lot of pain for my horses and lost dreams for all of us. A good trim or shoeing = a sound horse. Without my farrier, I am lost in knowing what is good for my horses hoof health and that scares me. He won’t be continuing his job much longer, which is what inspired him to be involved in developing a great new product, the Hoof Wizard. It is his gift to the all horses’ happiness and health around the world by continuing his decades of experience and wisdom in his trade.
I know I’m not alone. Horse owners everywhere struggle with the same fear and anxiety about the decisions we make everyday that directly impact their horse’s hoof health. I’m not a farrier and I don’t plan on putting the years of training and education needed to do the job well because lets face it, a lot rides on the job of your farrier. Let’s make www.hooflameness.com a place horse owners can go and find information and support for prevention of lameness so that horses everywhere can live happier and healthier lives. That’s my dream. Lets live it.
