Hoof Care Practitioner Linda Cowles of Santa Rosa California has been selected as EasyCare’s August Dealer of the month. After over 25 years in the high tech business world she was ready for a change. In 2002 she bought a new tack business and then began trimming a year later. Linda found she enjoyed trimming so much that she sold the successful tack business to focus on barefoot rehab.
Linda is no stranger to the EasyCare product line. “I pre-date the Easyboot Epic!” she says. “When I first got started, I used the old style Easyboots, and was delighted when the Boa boots came out. The Glove’s simplicity and reliability has made barefoot a good option for mainstream riders in all disciplines,” says Linda. She currently stocks the Easyboot Glove, Epic, Bare, Edge, RX, Old Mac’s and EasySoakers. “The Gloves are everyone’s favorite right now. They are so easy and reliable. I sell quite a few RX and Old Mac boots for rehab and turnout too,” she says.
When asked what she attributes her success to, Linda is quick to give her horses all the credit. After all it was her horses that led her in search of a more practical means to protect their bare hooves. Linda feels that it’s important to understand the role that diet plays in helping develop robust feet with healthy frogs. She also feels it’s important to have boot solutions for any occasion. “I have a good trim, but would be lost if I ignored diet and booting,” she says. Linda is also very thankful to have the support of friends and colleagues such as Dr. Kerry Ridgway, body worker and acupressure guru Diana Thompson and Pete Ramey through the years. “Pete is a dear friend and mentor from the early days, steering me towards a ‘less is more’ trim approach while hammering in the message that most trimming problems start with a diet problem,” she says. Linda also goes out of her way to educate herself and share her knowledge with others on forums, her website and articles she has written for regional and special interest magazines. She also uses shows like Horse Expo to open up the opportunity to educate mainstream horse owners on barefoot hoof care.
Through the years she has seen her share of circumstances that have stayed with her. She finds it very rewarding to heal horses and educate their owners. “I have so many truly wonderful experiences, many documented on my website Healthy Hoof. My clients’ horses love me; what could be better than having a devoted equine fan club?” Linda’s most memorable hoof boot success story was that of an 18 year old Akhal Teke gelding Azure whose fate had already been decided- a grave dug and a backhoe waiting to bury him. Thankfully, the owner took a chance and allowed Linda to work her magic. Azure went on to be ridden and ponied on the tough Tevis trails. She says he would never have made it through this without boots. Click here to learn more about Azure’s journey.
“Boots are taking barefoot into traditional territory these days,” says Linda. “I expect to see the development of new boots that offer a hidden profile and improved traction for markets like Dressage, Hunter/Jumper and Eventing. Western riders are very open to boots and barefoot, and that same hidden-profile boot with improved 
traction will be popular with Western competitors,” she says.
Linda currently has 200-250 horses on a 5 to 6 week trim cycle under her care. She says she continues to pull the shoes of two to three horses a month. Thankfully most of those horses are never re-shod.
Linda serves the greater San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. Allow her to help you with your hoof care needs. Give her a call at 707-548-9960 or email her at healthyhoof@comcast.net. Her new website www.wholehorsehealth.com will be launching later this month as well. Be sure to check it out!
