Eddie Drabek AANHCP Certified Practitioner & Field Instructor (979) 533-1731 - Cell (979) 578-8913 - Home drabektx@hotmail.com I’m located an hour SW of Houston.  I work in Wharton, Fort Bend, Colorado, Fayette, Austin, Washington, Brazoria, and the surrounding counties. Not in my area? Contact me and I'll be glad to try and help you find someone, even if you are in a different state. I can't stress enough to ask for references when choosing a trimmer! Keep in mind some of the online lists don't have any requirements at all in order to list yourself on them as a trimmer. Don't ever worry you are offending someone by inquiring about their experience! A good hoof care professional will be more than happy to answer any questions you have.   AANHCP students wanting to set up a mentorship with me please feel free to contact me at anytime! I have a nice travel trailer you are more than welcome to stay in for free to help save on travel expenses. I also have some clients that are further North (such as Bertram or Navasota) and I don't mind meeting you at one of those places to save you a few hours drive time further south to where I live. I also give hoof care and/or equine enrichment/natural horsekeeping clinics to riding groups, 4H, Pony clubs, etc. Most clinics are in my area, but I also travel out of state from time to time. Contact me if interested! Keep an eye on the front page of this site for any upcoming clinics. In my clinics I talk about the physics of the hoof, how to acheive high performance bare hooves, discuss lameness issues as well as pathological hooves and their causes/prevention, learn how to recognize healthy hooves as well as spot issues early on before they become problems, learn proper hoof maintenance and care, the physical and mental benefits of natural horsekeeping and enrichment, and the critical role diet plays. I have various hoof models to show, bone sets, charts, a power point presentation, and for those interested we can do a detailed cadaver hoof/leg dissection. I feel every horse owner truly needs to understand equine feet...because as we all know (let’s all say it together!) "No Hoof, No Horse!" Ironically though horse owners pay little attention to hooves other than cleaning them out occasionally and having someone come trim or shoe them. Horse owners go to clinics on and read everything they can on training, grooming, feeding, maybe even massage or saddle fitting. Yet the one part of the horse that can stop him in his tracks.. literally...and it’s surprising how very little owners truly know about it and how to prevent lameness and promote a lifetime of soundness. Once you realize just how hooves are truly a window to your horses overall health and can be as easily read as a road map, you'll be glad you learned how to do so. It may very well save you a lot of heartache down the road if you learn to  spot things WELL before they become problems. Please understand.... I do not give "How to Trim" clinics. I do not believe anyone can learn to trim in just a couple days of training, and I feel these sort of clinics imply that you can...and unfortunately lead to a lot of lame horses and frustrated owners. The only people I work with as far as teaching to trim are AANHCP students, though I have had a couple rare exceptions that were not students but made longterm commitments to wanting to learn. Strange as it may sound horse hooves (and the horses they are connected to of course!) are my passion (my other is antique tractors...so there you have it, hooves and tractors. I’m just weird.) When I saw the dramatic differences for the better in the horses I was trimming I knew this was something I wanted to do for as many horses as possible. The more horses I can help the better. To see "hopeless" horses become sound, those we thought were sound begin moving even better and their overall health improving...it is a truly powerful thing. Me, riding my 5 yr old gelding Duncan. He was a "PMU baby" which explains his unusual breeding; 1/4 Norwegian Fjord, 1/4 Belgian, and 1/2 Thoroughbred. Boy did that mix turn out to be one fantastic horse and the perfect match for me. I can't say enough nice things about him and I'm constantly impressed by his intelligence and heart! I, like many unsuspecting men out there, married a horse nut. We met in 1994 and while many guys squash the horse bug or at least have the common sense to swat it away, I got bit by it. In the beginning I'm sure I was merely trying to impress and woo my soon to be wife, but after being drug to countless horse shows and Anderson, Shrake, Lyons, Parelli, etc. clinics, I caught "horse crazyitis". Of which, if you are reading this website you probably know, there is no cure...and here I am today. My wife, Tiffany, has been around horses her entire life, lucky enough to have grown up on a Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse Racing and Breeding farm. She still owns her childhood horse (who's 28 now). She was a Therapeutic Riding Instructor for nearly ten years working with both the disabled and at risk youth but for now is a stay at home mom, though she still holds her certification in hopes of teaching again one day. She also pulls double duty as secretary for my trimming business and this website! We have two great kids (our son Riley, and daughter Lauren) and 6 horses (4 Quarter Horses, a Morgan, a draft cross) and 2 ponies (POA/Shetland cross and a Welsh), 3 dogs, and 3 cats. We live on a small farm on the Southeast Texas coastal prairie. (So yes, we live in a "little house on the prairie"! )

I'm often asked how I became a natural trimmer....

Like many that have discovered natural trimming, our journey began when one of our horses,
Scout, was diagnosed with navicular at age 7. Shortly after that we acquired a 14 year old pony,
Henry. He had suffered through laminitis multiple times over the years and was currently in acute
founder yet again. He had "elf shoe" curled hooves and couldn't move without grimacing in pain.
Both our vet and farrier told us we could probably get a couple more years out of Scout with
corrective shoeing but agreed that would only be a temporary fix, injections might get us a bit
further when the shoes start to fail. Our hearts sank when the vet said for Henry we could consider
cutting his nerves to buy him a little more time but moreso, he felt he was completely hopeless and
should be put down.

We refused to believe they were doomed. Through countless hours of research we discovered natural
trimming. Our gut instinct told us it was right and it made so much sense. But who were we to argue
with a farrier or vet? They say corrective shoeing, pads, raised heels, stall confinement, cutting nerves,
etc. were what horses like this needed - they knew best...right? Plus my horses WERE barefoot at this
time...so if it’s simply about being barefoot they should be sound - right?

Photo to Left: Scout and my wife having fun at Sam Rayburn Lake. Today he's our most sure footed mount earning him the nickname "mountain goat". He's comfortable barefoot even on the rockiest trails ...a far cry from the horse who couldn't even walk on soft ground without a limp.

We decided to give natural trimming a try. We were still skeptical but with Henry, it was his last
hope. With Scout we figured it made more sense to try the simpler approach first before using a
more complicated/expensive/aggressive route.

We quickly learned it’s not about simply being "shoeless". A natural trimmer trims the hoof so that
it may function as nature designed it to. Plus, the WHOLE horse is considered, from diet to lifestyle
which is vital to healthy hooves.

After seeing the changes in all our horses (not just the lame ones!) I was amazed, convinced...and
hooked. As hard as it was while still working full time as a police officer, I began attending clinic after
clinic travelling all over the U.S., I read everything I could, worked alongside other trimmers,
attended equine nutrition classes, and farrier and vet symposiums and lectures on anything hoof
related (as well as ones on diet/metabolic issues) in order to get well rounded views and input. I
eventually became certified with the American Association of Natural Hoof Care Practitioners. My
journey has been expensive and intense, but its all been very worth it, and I still continue my
education, attending clinics whenever I can. Today I'm a full time trimmer and an instructor with
the AANHCP and thoroughly enjoy teaching others something I so strongly believe in.

Over the years I’ve witnessed many horses recover completely from lameness to move freely without
any clunky corrective shoes, pads, surgeries or extreme measures involved. I've had many return to
the show ring (and win!) after being told they'd never compete again. I've gone from constantly
hearing "what the heck is natural trimming?" to seeing major horse magazines printing excellent
supportive articles on the subject, top trainers using natural trimming, and trimming horses that
have competed at National and even World levels. And yes, this includes horses that had
pathologies....This past year I had a past foundered mare go on to World in cutting and 2 past
navicular horses competed at the National Reining Breeders Classic. I have been contacted by
several vets wanting to learn more come to work with me, and I trim for some as well....something
that would have been unheard of just a few years ago when vets understandably had a hard time
thinking outside of the shoeing box. People are realizing this isn't just some fad...when done correctly,
it works, and it works well!

Photo on right: My daughter (still in her church attire, which she insists is perfectly suitable for riding!) having a conversation with a sleepy Sunday afternoon Henry. Good 'ol Henry has taught me a lot... including how to be a grumpy old fart, yet still look cute doing it!