Blaine St. Peter owns and operates Owl Canyon Hoof Care and Rehabilitation. With more than 300 horses under his care, Blaine’s marketing strategies are simple: good work and sound horses lead to positive word of mouth. This has been the biggest source of new clients for him. People are also happy he takes all the time needed to explain what he’s doing and give them a basic understanding of how the foot functions in a logical way. Owl Canyon Hoof Care launched their first website last spring which has also created new clients.
Blaine attributes his success to staying true to the fundamental science of hoof care as taught by Pete Ramey and Dr. Robert Bowker. He went to Michigan this August to attend the latest Dr. Bowker clinic and then was able to spend some time with him in his lab. “I insist on clients feeding a low carbohydrate diet and doing some analysis on their mineral balance as laid out by Katy Watts. I won’t work with clients who won’t cooperate on the diet and I will not keep them if they want to feed a high starch diet. You cannot have a sound barefoot horse without getting the diet right, no matter how great the trim is. This is non negotiable and a key to my success. I did learn this the hard way, unfortunately, “says Blaine.
The pivotal moment came when his wife’s dressage instructor had a Hanoverian gelding named Passat that had been USDF Horse of the Year. As an upper level horse, Passat became very lame. Ruth had used all the top tier farriers in the area without results and was out of options. Hoof care practitioner, Rachel Drossman, consulted with Ruth on a barefoot transition strategy. Passat and Ruth got their Bronze Medal in dressage after only about four months of rehab in boots and pads.
He has used EasyCare products from day one: “They are a must to treat pathologies in an efficient way.” He carries Epics, Comfort Pads, EasySoakers and the best-selling Easyboot Glove. Blaine sees the introduction of the Easyboot Glove as having created great change in the hoof boot industry. “The ease of application has made people much more willing to try booting over traditional shoeing. News about barefoot is getting out and the results we are getting with the horses is the proof in the pudding. Tevis this year is a perfect example. The future is very bright for the barefoot industry.”
Blaine and his wife Lynn often ride their horses barefoot. “We are fortunate with our climate and environment that we usually don’t need to use boots unless we are going to be riding more than 15 miles at a time. Our horses all have fabulous feet.” Blaine and his partner Lynn own two Quarter Horses, an Arabian and a Trakehner.
He gives his clients the same advice: no matter how good their horse’s feet are, they need to boot for distances over 15 miles or if they are going to be in a different environment than the horses are used to.
Blaine was a power controller in Michigan for many years. “My skill with tools has been an advantage to my hoof care business but I was terribly afraid of horses. My wife Lynn got an Arabian then she very seriously got into the Natural Horsemanship concepts. We bought another horse, a very bothered Arab. I had to suck up my fear as it was up to me to have to handle the horses now and then. Lynn showed me how to get along with them and how to read them. This served me very well and kept me out of trouble when I first started trimming. I could do horses including abused or wild mustangs that others wouldn’t or couldn’t do, and a few that previously had to be sedated for a trim. I still use those skills every moment I’m with a horse. They have kept me safe and made trimming easier as the horse is relaxed, unafraid and happy.”
Blaine’s most rewarding experience as a trimmer was working with a foundered Friesian, Levi, whose owner was told by two vets to put him down. He spent most of his days lying down. Within two weeks on pea gravel, a diet makeover, proper trim and padded Easyboot Bares, he became sound enough to ride. The owner rides him almost daily, up to 12 miles at a time.
His greatest hoof boot success story was when he worked with Tennessee Mahoney and her AERC mare, Pearl. She would not stand to be shod and hurt a few farriers in the process. Tennessee had contacted Blaine and wanted to know if there was an alternative to iron as the mare was a 100 miler and was wearing her heels too low.
She started out with another boot, but when the Glove was introduced in 2009, they decided to try them. The results were fantastic: Tennessee and Pearl took first in BC for the Mountain Region and ninth nationally. Blaine says he attributes a large part of Pearl’s success to the Gloves.
Blaine believes the key to a successful trimming business is staying true to the fundamental science of hoof care as taught by Pete Ramey and Dr. Robert Bowker. Good horsemanship skills and the small but important things, like being on time and calling if I’m running behind also play an important role in a healthy business.
He says the barefoot movement is slowly but surely making inroads to the performance horse world. Recreational riders were the first to experiment without steel shoes. Word of mouth has helped spread experimentation to the performance community. “More and more of those people are willing to give it a try,” says Blaine, “usually as a last resort when the horse has run out of options and the traditional methods have failed.”
When asked about his hope for the future, Blaine says he envisions natural hoof care to be a first choice rather than a last resort. “The barefoot industry needs more educated and truly qualified professionals in the field. The more sound barefoot and booted horses are out there for people to see, the faster this wonderful alternative for the horses will be accepted.”
Blaine St. Peter and Owl Canyon Hoof Care and Rehabilitation.
Ft. Collins, Colorado
(970) 420-5496
