The Enlightened Equine Podcast

Steve sits down across from Ruth Bourgeois, director of Equine Spirit Sanctuary in Taos, NM, to discuss the mission of the sanctuary, its many programs, and its contributions to the equine community.

In this episode, Steve's wife Dora returns for a conversation with Steve about her most recent equine education pursuit: "Horses in Balance." After a bit of conversation about classical vs. competitive dressage, Dora describes the benefits of this exciting new trainer program, and then end the episode with a discussion of the contrast between what training so often looks like compared to what Dora...

Steve tackles the subject of explaining the range of possibilities of why some horses don't seem to do well barefoot, even in spite of correct hoof trimming.

In this episode, Steve first talks about some recent experiences with laminitic horses, and then goes on to discuss Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis - a heartbreaking, currently-incurable condition with apparent genetic links - that results in the fetlock sinking toward the ground and the eventual destruction of the horse.

Because of interest in a recent Facebook Post about a visual & auditory test system Steve has been developing, he decided to give a more detailed description of why he decided to build the test system, what it tests, and why it matters to the horse owner. Steve also briefly describes his background as an electronics engineer and product designer.

After some talk (again!) about the plethora of unscientific information constantly being propagated in the horse world, Steve discusses how the common practice of pointing a fan at your horse's stall and/or using fans in the barn aisle don't/doesn't actually provide any significant cooling. Steve goes on to describe how to properly use fans to actually cool a barn - with far fewer fans, electricit...

This podcast finds Steve discussing perhaps his favorite - and most-frequently-lectured-on - subject in the hoof care world, including his description of what the feral horse in its aboriginal environment shows us to be a correct landing. He also describes his own long-term research efforts on the nature of hoof landings. And check out the video he mentions - The Landings Project .

Steve first apologizes for inadvertently upsetting someone, and goes on to discuss the importance of hoof care education that provides what he calls the "why-to" of hoof care.

Steve discusses some of the origins of misinformation in the hoof care world - and why they exist - along with a few hoof care anecdotes.

Steve continues discussing his and Dora's recent Facebook Posts about laminitis, along with some ranting. He then continues his discussion on the causes of laminitis and the characteristics of a proper trim on a laminitic horse.

Steve postponed the second episode on laminitis to discuss some of the common hoof care practices he finds objectionable, along with an explanation of why he feels they're an issue.

In Part 1, Steve gives some insight into laminitis by sharing a few of his experiences in 20+ years of successfully caring for laminitic horses.

Steve decided it was time to (briefly) describe what happens at the Comprehensive Hoof Care Workshop in some detail, so in this episode, he goes through the entire schedule and talks about most everything that happens during the Workshop.

In this episode, Steve leads off with a bit of ranting about the idea of a lack of respect for the hoof care provider, including an anecdote about possibly the worst offender he's yet experienced. He then goes on to talk about sheared heels , and how they often relate to a misunderstanding of what a properly-balanced hoof actually looks like versus how balance is often taught. From there, the disc...

After a couple of news items and some reminiscing about past success stories, Steve discusses the idea of breakover: what can, and cannot, be done to successfully affect the time it takes for the horse's foot to leave the ground.

Steve continues his discussion of the positive and negative aspects of horseshoes, including correction and enhancement, and explains why - all considered - horseshoes aren't really the better option for your horse.

Steve weighs in on the advantages - real and alleged - of horseshoes, and explains what actually can, and can't, be accomplished with them. He also discusses lacks in the typical farrier's education, as described by Dr. Deb Bennett, and finishes up with talking about the idea of horseshoes providing protection to the horse's foot.

In Episode 15, Steve explains a bit about why he believes many of the current approaches to hoof care are flawed and moving in the wrong direction, and uses the common idea that feet are "supposed" to land heel-first as an example. He also describes how Enlightened Equine Workshop 's science-based approach to hoof care requires a fairly simple, yet very specific, set of knowledge to enable all typ...

Steve discusses an extremely common, yet rarely recognized and often misidentified, source of lameness in the horse, along with advice on how to identify and treat it. You can see Steve & Dora at Art of the Cowgirl in Wickenburg, AZ this week!

Steve brings Dora back for a discussion about some of her thoughts and experiences in dealing with asymmetries in the horse - their causes, consequences, and how to go about identifying and addressing them.

This episode finds Steve discussing what, for him, makes a client that he wants to have a long-term professional relationship with.

Steve discusses the underlying cause of, and solution for, flaring of the hoof wall, which leads to discussion of proper and improper hoof landings.

In response to a listener's request, Steve brings Dora back to discuss some aspects of training, including a description of operant conditioning after his usual rant about bad hoof care education.

After another bit of ranting about yet another group of non-science-based hoof care educators (who quite honestly, ought to know better), Steve finally brings his favorite horseperson - his wife and professional partner Dora - on for a discussion of Dora's horse background, her opinion of the state of hoof care and hoof care education, and some of her contributions to the Enlightened Equine Worksh...

In this episode, Steve discusses some very commonly-held - but incorrect - beliefs related to hoof care, including the notion of "support," the alignment of the hoof-pastern axis, "correcting" conformation "faults" at the ground, and mismatched hoof pairs.