Achaina
​Holistic Equine Services
​Kathy Ladendecker

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Thanks to Pete Ramey for allowing me to study his many cadaver specimens at his clinic in Ledyard, CT, hosted by PHCP. ​

Bisection of a feral horse hoof - perfection!

Bisection of a foundered hoof with coffin bone penetration through the sole

​This clinic provided lectures and live trimming with one of the top hoof rehabilitation specialists worldwide.

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Geri White's clinic at Hoofbeats Holistic in Sharon Springs, NY provided valuable hands-on training including cadaver dissections and live horse trimming.

The epidermal laminae on the interior of the hoof wall (top), the interior side of the frog, sole, and bars (left), and the corium that lies beneath the sole and frog, covering the coffin bone, digital cushion, and lateral cartilages (right)

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​Sadly, many of the cadavers were likely euthanized due to severe hoof pain, which provided us with very educational specimens.  

The navicular bone

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The dermal laminae attached to the coffin bone

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I am so pleased to announce that I have completed the following 10 week courses with Dr. Eleanor Kellon:

"NRC+" (Advanced Equine Nutrition) 
This course was very in-depth, right down to the cellular level.  It has given me the understanding of how the various nutrients are utilized by the body and the functions that they support.  It has also given me the tools to build balanced, healthy, natural diets that are best for the horse.  It provided the knowledge needed to grow healthy hooves and sustain happy, healthy equine bodies.

"Reading Radiographs" 
This course has given me the necessary education to work closely with veterinarians and utilize radiographs (xrays) as a tool in trimming to treat hoof pathologies, especially laminitis/founder.

"Equine Cushings & Insulin Resistance"
This course provided valuable information on understanding these conditions, bloodwork, and treatment.

"Nutrition as Therapy"
This course explained how nutritional deficiencies contribute to a multitude of health problems, and how diet can be used as treatment for various conditions.

Dr. Kellon is a well respected authority in equine nutrition, and an expert in the care and feeding of horses with Insulin Resistance (IR), Equine Cushing's Disease (PPID), and laminitis.

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It was super cool that the cadaver hooves had all been radiographed. This allowed us to evaluate the hooves externally and then compare our findings to the radiographs, and then we performed the dissections. With each participant getting their own hoof, we had a lot of hooves to look at.

The PHCP clinic on Long Island with Jeannean Mercuri provided an enormous amount of information and hands-on training.  Cadaver hooves, live horses, trimming, anatomy, booting, casting, grinder trimming... we did it all!

A sampling of the plethora of hoof boots that are available from different manufacturers.

Applying "glue-ons".

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Another fantastic Pete Ramey clinic in Ipswich, MA, hosted by PHCP friend Alicia Harlov of The Humble Hoof. I make Pete look like a giant!

Gotta love it when Pete Ramey recognizes you from prior clinics and comes over to say Hi!
I learned so much new information.  He is always learning, experimenting, and improving.  Amongst many other things, I learned a whole new way of trimming wall flares that is working beautifully.

More glue-ons with tips from The Best

Crawling beneath the crowd to get up close and learn all I can

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