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Our motto: "Sound Reasoning, Sound Horses."
My name is KC La Pierre, and I am a Farrier/Applied Equine Podiatrist. I am often asked: Why shoeless? As a Journeyman Farrier, I sometimes forget how difficult it was for me to admit that there was a better way to care for our horses feet than through shoeing. I had been a professional farrier for nearly 14 years before I made the conviction to develop shoeless methods for the treatment of the equine foot. I began shoeing horses in the early 80s, and established a profitable business on Long Island, New York. I worked on all types of horses including pleasure, show, and race horses. I had owned and trained standardbreds in the mid-80s, so I naturally had a large clientele of standardbred horse owners.
In 1989, I was fortunate to attend a workshop on the application and use of Equilox held by Rob Sigafoos, the then head farrier at the University of Pennsylvania. I was intrigued by the idea of hoof repair and glue-on shoes. I spent the next several years specializing in hoof repairs, quarter crack repair, and corrective type farriery. Also in the late 80s, I invented a flexible glue-on shoe made of heat shrinkable cross-linked polyolefin. It worked great, but was not cost effective. Even this early in my career I was questioning the logic of using a rigid apparatus on the horse's foot. My clientele continued to grow, and I was at a point in my life where I felt I needed to improve my forging skills if I were to better serve my true client - the horse.
In 1994, an opportunity to work under the guidance of a traditional master Blacksmith presented itself. Master Smith Paul Spaulding of the Cooperstown Farmers Museum was accepting applications for an assistant's position. I became his assistant/apprentice in July of 1994 and worked until July of 1996 under his watchful eye. The experience was invaluable, with my forging skills improving dramatically. I became enthralled with the craft, its history and the men that were true blacksmiths.
Unfortunately, the master did not like horses very much. In fact, I was not allowed to call myself a farrier while working at the shop.
I learned many different crafts, from wheelwright to locksmith, and of course blacksmithing. The most important thing that I learned was how to reason. There were no instruction manuals, no guidelines. Regardless of the project at hand, there was a protocol that needed to be followed. Keeping a journal, each project would need to be planned out prior to commencing the actual work. I found that by approaching a project logically, I could reproduce most anything. I soon developed a theorem that guided my work and has ever since.
It went something like this:
• What material should I use for the project? . Structure
• What function would each of the components have to perform to achieve my goal? . Function
• How must the finished product perform in order to achieve my goal? . Performance
The theorem: Structure + Function = Performance.
No I did not invent this theorem, but I do remember the first time I applied it to the act of shoeing a horse.
The theorem worked great for the production of the shoe, but when it came to the foot I would be applying the shoe to, I could not completely fill in the values. In 1995, I was blessed with the birth of my son, Ryan. I quickly found that I needed to put my newly developed skills to work, and I began to build a new clientele in upstate New York. I enjoyed the forging, but I just did not feel comfortable with shoeing any longer. I was not quite sure why.
The answer came to me one day while working on a horse diagnosed with navicular disease. I was preparing an egg bar shoe with wedge pad. The shoe had the recommended rocker toe, and I had decided on a suitable packing. It was this horse that I first completely applied the theorem (S+F=P) to. The decision to leave that particular horse shoeless was made. I applied a trim that I had been toying with for a few months, and on my return in six weeks, I was rewarded with a sound horse and a healthier foot.
The search was on. I spent the next several years researching foot function, reading thousands of pages and books, visiting web sites, and communicating with experts in the field of equine podiatry. More and more of my clients would become barefoot. I also went back to school so that I could continue my research and learning. I worked to further develop a trim method; one that would later be called the HPT Method.
In 2000, I published my first paper on foot function, The Suspension Theory of Hoof Dynamics. By this time I had become frustrated and confused. If I were to be true to my findings, I could not justify the use of a conventional horse shoe! I had spent two years developing my forging skills, and here I was faced with a huge dilemma. I tell people all the time, I did not come to shoeless because barefoot is natural. No, I decided to develop barefoot (shoeless) techniques following the application of the theorem (S + F = P) to the equine foot.
Shortly after publishing my first paper, I produced a video on the HPT Method™, a trimming method developed to support the theories of an evolving science.
In 2001, the International Institute of Equine Podiatry was founded in Charlton, Maryland, and I began teaching the HPT Method™ and the theories that supported it. In 2003, the Institute was formally incorporated in Delaware, co-founded by myself and Robyn Lord, now my wife. The Institute was moved to Ocala, Florida, in 2005, and renamed the Institute of Applied Equine Podiatry. Click here to read more about the Institute.
Since first incorporating, we have published a book on Applied Equine Podiatry, produced a four volume DVD set on that science, developed two on-line learning programs, published several papers on our theories, and developed a number of products that support our learning programs. We have graduates in eight countries and a faculty of seven, soon to become nine.
At the Institute, we are able to do extensive research and development. The Perfect Hoof Wear System™ evolved out of a need to find a way to aid the domesticated horse, while remaining true to our convictions.
In early 2007, we were approached by a distributor of equine casting materials and asked to try their product. I had used casting materials years earlier, the first being fiberglass cloth with Equilox applied to it, and later a casting material by 3M. So what was different about this product? We were evaluating this product based on its ability to support our theories, theories that I did not have when I used casting materials in those earlier years. We immediately began to ask the question, does this product support the theories and principles that have evolved over the past 12 years?
We tested and re-tested the product hoping that we could develop a method that would support those theories. The product was nearly there, but not quite right for our needs. We soon came to realize that we needed a different material, one that was less rigid, easier to work with, and more economical. We also discovered that simply applying the material as a cast would not support our theories. The material needed to be applied in a fashion that would support true foot function. After nearly a year of trials and testing, the Perfect Hoof Wear System™ (PHWS) was developed, and a patent application filed. The PHWS supports our theories on foot function, barefoot (shoeless care), and the theorem S+F=P.
Robyn and I hope that our work will in some small way benefit the horses we owe so much to.
To learn more about the Institute, Applied Equine Podiatry, and the HPT Method please visit www.appliedequinepodiatry.org. With our theories and methods, you will learn that we are going "beyond barefoot" when it comes to the Science of Whole Horse Hoof Care, Barefoot Trimming, Natural Trimming, and Natural Hoof Care. Please join us in this journey!
Check out Perfect Hoof Wear, Silvetrasol and other Natural Hoof Care Products or join the FREE Perfect Hoof Club Forum to discuss common hoof issues including navicular, laminitis, founder, white line, thrush, thin soles and so much more with our hoof care experts and other horse owners!
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