Horse Pedicures in Panama • Boquete Horse Clinic

Dawn Willoughby finally arrived in Panama on January 8^th to kick off a week of “No Hoof • No Horse” clinics. Some of you might be asking—what does that mean? In my previous blog post: http://boquetesafaritours.typepad.com/boquete_mountain_safari_t/2009/12/no-hoof-no-horse-seminar-boquete-panama.html there is a full explanation, take a look if you don’t know what I am talking about.

It was a lot of hard work for Dawn, Rancho de Caldera, and Boquete Safari to pull this clinic off in a country where most ‘gringos’ shod their horses, and most locals, even though barefoot, are doing it wrong, and ‘know everything there is to know’. What could a gringo woman from the U.S. possibly teach them?

The clinic was divided in to Spanish days and English days, but by the final day, word had gotten out about the clinic, and we had a mix of local guys from country clubs to simple cattle and horse farms; and expats from the U.S., Canada, and England (or maybe Australia—I get confused with the accent). We even had a few local guys who were so excited about learning the “Mustang Roll”, they came to several clinics. If we could have kept Dawn here a month, I’m sure we would have touched every corner of Panama—one week was just not enough time.

The following pictures were taken from the classroom portion of the clinic, (where Dawn had prepared a simple but informative Power Point presentation), and the hands-on with some of the horses from Rancho de Caldera. I would like to express a HUGE thanks to Hoof Jack Hoof stands for donating several stands for use at the clinic; and to Heller Legend rasps, for giving us a box of tools for the clinic. http://www.hoofjack.com/v/vspfiles/home.asp (I don’t have the Heller Legend rasps web site link as of this writing—I will re-post when I find that info).

The Hoof Jack was a totally new concept to most of the local farriers and horse managers here in Panama. The stand enables you to trim from the top or bottom; allows the horse to lean on the stand, instead of on the trimmer. The horse is more secure and the trimmer can use both hands and be perfectly balanced. We had several horses that are always a bit itchy getting their hoofs trimmed—but with the stand holding their leg up, several of them were actually falling asleep.

The Heller Rasps were also new to some. They were long and extremely sharp. Gloves are essential when using one of these rasps. However, the comments were glowing from the guys who usually use a nipper or machete (very common in Panama). The rasp enables you to trim more precisely, and achieve that beautiful Mustang Roll.

Although there are barefoot horses in Panama, and trimmers who think they are doing it right, Dawn and her Mustang Roll have taken the clinic attendees to a new level of expertise and hoof health.

 
 

 

For more pictures of the clinic, and other things to do in Panama:

http://www.boquetemountainsafaritours.com/thingstodoinpanama.html

 

Also a blog post from one of the attendees: http://www.panamalady.com/panamalady/Blog/Entries/2010/1/16_Horses_Love_to_be_Barefoot.html