Hello! My name is Holly Jonsson. I have huge shoes (or boots, I should say) to fill as the newly appointed Director of Sales at EasyCare. While I come from a background in international sales, domestic sales, training, R&D, quality control and everything in between, I am first and foremost a horse lover. It doesn't matter the breed, the discipline, the size of horse, or the country your horse is in: I love them all. For me, it started very young…and it has made me happy ever since.
I had a 9hh mini stallion that I would take jogging in my neighborhood. He hung out with my Weimaraner and I would often come home to find them both passed out on the cold tile floor in the room adjoining the back yard. My little stallion taught all my dogs that apple slices were worth begging for.
While I had ridden a little over 3,000 miles in endurance and even more on trails, for the first time I had to rethink shoeing my "horse". Who made shoes that tiny? I figured leaving him barefoot wasn't that "bad" because he didn't weigh as much as a normal horse, so probably wouldn't hurt his feet with no protection. Little did I know.
Queue my largest horse, a 19.2h Shire rescue.
For the first time in my life, I had a horse that weighed a literal ton and feet the size of frying pans. When I first went to "try him out" I saw his feet were a mess. "Of course they were! He had no shoes on!" But seeing as he was happy and sound and his feet needed loving, I held off on shoeing him. In my mind, I invented excuse #2, "If you aren't riding them much, you probably don't need shoes." I thought I was being cheap. Little did I know I was doing the right thing. He was the first to show me that, regardless of size of horse, they were happier barefoot.
In fact, it wasn't until I had seven horses and the cost of shoeing was a bit too much did I take a step back and try to confront feet. I knew of no horse owners who tended to their own feet and felt like a foreigner. I was lucky to have a familial mentor who showed me the basics of mapping a hoof and lent me a book by Pete Ramey. I was hooked.
I trimmed nearly as often as I cleaned out hooves. It became second nature to just tidy up feet. While my horses were in decent sized turn-outs, I knew that they needed a bit of assistance with light rasping, especially for my girls that weren't being ridden.
When I got Emmitt, a 2 year old halter show filly, they advised me that she really "sparkled" with the right help. That "right help" being a 5 quart bucket of Diet Coke and a large bag of Doritos. She was like flying a kite on a string. I figured I already had my hands full with her, so why not bite the bullet and be her trimmer too? I quickly found how happy a horse could be, once their toes (and diet!) were happy.
She taught me so much in her behavior and with her feet (all four were different: who'da guessed!?) that I knew I would never go back. She was the most happy and easy-going horse I've owned and she was never shod with steel shoes a day in her life.
Along my path I accumulated three PMU foals, a Friesian stallion, a Gypsy stallion, more Arabs than you could shake a stick at and several Gypsy mares and crosses. I currently have my first ever Quarter Horse! I am very passionate about the happiness of the horse and it is abundantly clear to me that happy feet are the start of it. I've seen so many different feet, shapes, and health conditions that affected the hooves.
Whether you are jumping, doing dressage, doing gymkhana, endurance or simply enjoying your horse on nature trails as a team, I will strive to keep you and your horse in partnership and happy. As Winston Churchill said, "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." While I know not everyone can have a horse, it doesn't keep me from thinking everyone should. Just as there is a hoof for every horse, there are a number of great hoof function, performance and protection products that I am now very happy to be partnered up with.
To a great 2014! Kiss your horse, get muddy with your pony and, if you don't have horse hair on your clothes; the happiest part of your day is yet to come.
Holly Jonsson
Director of Sales
Through a lifetime of "horse crazy" and the fortunate experience of riding nearly every shape and size of horse, I got to see a wide array of hoof shapes and sizes. No Hoof, No Horse is very true to me. I want to ensure that horses on every continent have a variety of footwear to pick from, to ensure the best match is found. I want your partner to be happy from the ground up!
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