Boot Camp, EasyCare, Inc. Dealer Blog

Links to useful information for EasyCare Dealers

The following information was sent with our 2008 authorized dealer packets: 

Continuous website updates help you and your customer’s size, fit, use and repair hoof boots. We hope that you will take advantage of this useful information: 

1. Video clips that give instructions on boot fitting and repair which will help you address customer questions with confidence.

2. Informative articles about keeping a barefoot horse.

3. Testimonials about what our hoof boots have done.

4. Blogs that provide helpful tips and the latest updates. The Boot Camp blog is set up just for dealers, make sure you visit often for useful tips and great specials.

5. EasyCare product images and descriptions for catalogs, ads and websites that can be downloaded from the Dealer’s Corner…and more!

6. Dealer Search is now located on our home page (If you are not listed, please contact us and we will get you added ASAP)

EasyCare Dealer Jay DeHart Gets Press In Montana

Photo by MICHAEL GALLACHER/Missoulian

It's taken years of training to prepare Jay DeHart for his career in natural barefoot hoof care for horses. DeHart believes that horses can survive quite well without horseshoes.

STEVENSVILLE - A couple of years back, Jay DeHart decided he wanted to learn how to shoe his own horses.  So he signed up for classes with a certified farrier in Bozeman and began to study the craft.
The more he learned, the less sense it all made.  DeHart's 20 years as a mechanical engineer probably had something to do with that. He knew a thing or two about physics, energy conversion and fluid dynamics. And as he learned how nature had intended a horse's hoof to expand and contract to absorb its weight as it moved across the landscape, and that movement was vital for its circulatory system, the idea of confining the hoof within a metal shoe seemed strange. A horse's hooves are meant to act as shock absorbers. Putting a constrictive metal shoe around the hoof is about the same as putting a board in the springs of car, DeHart said. The hooves can't absorb that force when they're shod, especially with a rider, he said. Mechanically, it just didn't make any sense to me. I thought there had to be another way. DeHart's search led him to a Missoula bookstore where he discovered a book by natural hoof/horse care guru Jaime Jackson. After years of studying wild horse hooves - which, of course, aren't shod - Jackson developed techniques to mimic what he'd seen. Now, horse lovers like DeHart and his wife, Q, are embracing the idea of letting their mounts go barefoot.
The couple's three horses - an Arab, a draft/quarter horse cross and a miniature - are all without shoes these days. Q takes her Arab on long rides into the rocky Bitterroot Mountains without even the protective rubber boots that are recommended for the newly barefoot mounts.  My horse goes everywhere barefoot,Q said and her feet look beautiful. The more riding you do, the tougher they get. It takes some time for a horse's hooves to readjust to their shoeless environment but that doesn't mean horse owners have to give up their trail rides or hunting trips. While a horse's hoof is getting stronger through regular trimmings, diet and exercise, its owner can outfit it with rubber boots when it ventures out of the pasture. The shoes cost about $100 a pair. The DeHarts have found that front hooves are usually the ones that need the most protection.
It does take some time and patience to make the switch, Q said. Horse owners can also help their mount's hooves adjust with a diet low on sugar (put that sweet feed away), making sure they get plenty of exercise, and adding about 4 inches of pea gravel around the water trough. The gravel stimulates the hooves and the horse's feet respond.  Pea gravel works wonders, DeHart said. DeHart is currently working through the intensive two-year process to become a certified natural hoof practitioner through Jackson's America Association of Natural Hoof Care. I've almost completed all my training, he said.  Working with mentors and peers, I've learned how to trim a horse's hooves to resemble the wear patterns of wild mustangs.
Through mostly word of mouth, DeHart has been finding work around Montana. Every horse presents a different challenge. DeHart's first visit includes a mustang trim and sometimes some advice on how a horse owner might be able to improve the living conditions of their steeds.
A horse's hooves mirror what's going on above, he said.  Trimming is only about 10 percent of this. I often can offer some information that will help steer owners in the right direction for improving their horse's environment. The cost for keeping a horse barefoot is comparable to shoeing, he said. While every horse is different in how often they'll need to be trimmed, DeHart said the average is about once every five weeks. Right now, he charges $40 a trim.
Horse owners who want to learn more about natural hoof care might want to circle March 29 on their calendar. The DeHarts will host a workshop that day at the Bitterroot Valley's Sapphire Event Center in Corvallis. The cost for admission is $30 in advance, $40 at the door. We're planning on offering a lot of information to people, he said.  Hopefully people will get interested. For us, it's all about having healthy horses. That helps everyone in the long run. 

Start Your Own E-mail Marketing Campaign Part 1

According to AOL, the average American checks e-mail at least five times per day.  Wouldn't you like to be part of a relationship-based e-mail strategy that leads to sales?  If an e-mail campaign is done correctly, it can lead to as much as a 5 to 10 percent sales rate.  If you are looking to achieve that level of success, one of the best sources is email-marketing-reports.com. The following in an excerpt from their website:

Why should you do an e-mail marketing campaign? 

According to research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generated an Return on Investment (ROI) of $51.58 for every dollar spent on it in 2006. The expected figure for 2007 is $48.56, and the prediction for 2008 is $45.65. As such, it outperforms all the other direct marketing channels examined, such as print catalogs. According to research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generated an ROI of $51.58 for every dollar spent on it in 2006. The expected figure for 2007 is $48.56, and the prediction for 2008 is $45.65. As such, it outperforms all the other direct marketing channels examined, such as print catalogs.

In a December 2007 survey of Internet marketers by MarketingSherpa, email to house lists beat paid ads in terms of ROI, with 42% describing email as having "great ROI - outperforms other tactics." Only SEO and behavioral targeting (which you can also do with email) scored higher.  In a December 2007 survey of Internet marketers by MarketingSherpa, email to house lists beat paid ads in terms of ROI, with 42% describing email as having "great ROI - outperforms other tactics." Only SEO and behavioral targeting (which you can also do with email) scored higher

A 2007 survey of over 1,000 advertisers by Outsell Inc. put email as the second-most effective online marketing tool after the company's own website.

Marketers responding to a July 2007 global survey by McKinsey put email second only to paid keywords in terms of online marketing efficiency.

Sound good?  Visit our blog next Monday for tips on how to put together your own campaign. 

EasyCare's Dealer of the Month - Griffin's Tack

If you've ever been involved in Endurance riding in the Western United States you probably know Henry and Dona Griffin.  Henry's 'ol truck has over 600,000 miles on it and is packed to the gills with Easyboots, Stowaway Packs, EZ Ride Stirrups and other merchandise as he drives from ride to ride, vending and chatting with competitors.  Each event brings a varied experience, a new story, another few miles in the long history of Griffin's, in business for over 35 years.  After traveling to 41 rides last year, if there was an award for the most miles covered by a non-rider, Henry would win--hand's down.

Henry's friendly demeanor and his willingness to do custom work keep his customers coming back time and time again.  Not only does he carry a full line of EasyCare products, but he makes his own line of gear (some in as many as 125 colors) and will often make a specialty item for a rider that has a specific want or need.  He makes bun warmers, cruppers, hay bags, gear bags, reins, horse blankets, organizers and more. 

Henry started his business in 1965. At that time he was carrying a line of gear for showing livestock--sheep, pigs and cattle.  Then he met Donna, his wife, who was riding and showing horses, and who eventually ended up at Tevis.  "At that time," Henry says, "there wasn't even a decent halter out there for horses.  So, I started making them.  And, I started making other equipment, too.  When I'm not traveling I'm making stuff."  He laughs when he talks about the competitors who still have the equipment he made years ago.  "I tried to have a contest for people who had the oldest stuff," he says. "But there was a three-way tie.  People had original equipment I sold way back, so I guess I'll have to wait about 15 years and hope there's a winner."

Griffin's was the first vendor at Tevis.  They provided drinks and snacks to the riders (something they always enjoyed) as their "vendor fee."  Some of their first products were Easyboots (at that time the company was owned by Neel Glass) and EZ Ride Stirrups (made by Bob Walls at the time).  Thank you, Henry and Dona, for not only being loyal EasyCare dealers, but for supporting the ride teams at the many hundreds of events you have attended.  We appreciate you!

Winterizing your horse!

Winter weather can be responsible for stresses that can compromise your horse's health.  The good news is that you can prevent some of that stress through proper feeding management.  Most horses have some "down time" in winter, where adverse weather will not permit much riding or showing activity.  It is during these times that it is easy to neglect your horse's nutrition program.

Click here for the rest of this article!

Three of the Top Ten AERC Riders Use EasyCare Hoof Boots

The year-end mileage results are in for the American Endurance Ride Conference.  Three of the top ten riders used EasyCare hoof boots over their horse's bare feet (Easyboots, Epics, and Bares ) for the entire ride season.  They are:

Karen Chaton and Granite Chief +/ (Arabian) 1370 miles

Dave Rave and Lightening Strike (Arabian) 1120 miles

Terri Tinkman and Oliver Twist (Tennessee Walker) with 1120 miles (pictured)

The results can be found here. 

Not only is this exciting because it is the first year that three barefoot and booted horses have made top ten, but there is a Tennessee Walker in the mix!  In addition, the riders in our hoof boot contest completed over 19,000 sanctioned miles in boots in 2007alone. 

After attending many consumer shows and talking to our dealers we know that there are still numerous people out there, in spite of our best efforts, that aren't convinced you can ride in hoof boots. Here is your ammunition!  And yes, they work on gaited horses. 

Congratulations Karen, Dave and Terri!

EasyCare Posts New Natural Hoof, Barefoot Care Article on Website

EasyCare has posted a new article to the website.   It is written by Tomas Tesky, DVM and is about his experience rehabilitating a champion Quarter Horse mare.  It's called:

FREEDOM FOR THE FEET : Stepping out of steel shoes in style

A renewed burst of energy was mine four years into my veterinary career after being called to help a champion quarter horse mare, losing her hooves from founder. She was as painful a horse as I had ever seen, and had undergone over a year of corrective shoeing by a master farrier and daily treatments with many drugs by experienced veterinarians. The owners informed me of their decision to remove her shoes to see if she would do better and asked if I would “help them take them off?”—she could do no worse at this point in their eyes. I noted the latest and greatest pair of support shoes on her, but she was down and beginning to suffer despite all the best efforts of previous veterinary care: pressure sores covered her body and blood oozed from her coronary bands, her teeth grinding all the while. These courageous folks and this mare became my teachers over the next six months, as I came to understand what honest soundness was for horses.   

Not only did this mare heal, she continued in her rein as a champion the following year...(read more)

EasyCare on the cover of Trail Blazer, Tack'n Togs AND Equestrian Retailer!

  EasyCare was featured on the cover of three different magazines - in the same month!  We have also printed a second addition of the EasyCare product catalog that has a photo from the same shoot as the cover of Trail Blazer.   Boa Horse Boots were featured on the cover of Equestrian Retailer magazine.  Inside the magazine is an article on hoof boots and many photos of EasyCare boots. Tack'nTogs has a great article about hoof boots and how the equine world has discovered the advantages of barefoot.

  EasyCare was featured on the cover of three different magazines - in the same month!  We have also printed a second addition of the EasyCare product catalog that has a photo from the same shoot as the cover of Trail Blazer.   Boa Horse Boots were featured on the cover of Equestrian Retailer magazine.  Inside the magazine is an article on hoof boots and many photos of EasyCare boots. Tack'nTogs has a great article about hoof boots and how the equine world has discovered the advantages of barefoot.