Mike Stine is a professional farrier and educator with Registered Journeyman Farrier certification. A member of the Board of Directors for the Guild of Professional Farriers, Mike is also a BWFA Journeyman Farrier and tester. Other certifications include Proper Balance Movement (PBM) in the field of equine biomechanics and Equine Podiatry from Dr. R.F. Redden in Kentucky. Specializing in equine biomechanics and whole horse evaluation, Mike uses this knowledge to understand, correct and prevent problems with equine movement. Referrals for horses needing comprehensive gait analysis and shoeing come to Mike from Dr. Richard Mansmann of NC State University, Gene Ovnicek of Colorado (Equine Digit Support System) and Dr. Ric Redden of Kentucky.

For several years, Mike has presented clinics and demonstrations across the U.S. in major venues such as the Southern Horse Festival, Carolina Classic Horse Expo, and Equitana. Mike has been a guest on “The Horse Show”, Rick Lamb’s syndicated radio show and has appeared on limited access cable television. A new video/TV production “Horse Sense in Horse Care – From Foal to Old” ™ recently aired on Horse TV featuring Mike as the host. The program is dedicated to helping horseowners improve the lifetime care and performance of their horses. Most recently, Mike conducted a series of clinics in New Zealand and Australia during January 2005.

Education

Affiliations

Awards

Professional Referrals

“Mike is a talented and experienced farrier who thinks outside the box, managing each horse (and even each foot) according to the individual’s needs. He is one of the few farriers worldwide who thoroughly evaluates the whole horse when devising a trimming and shoeing strategy. Mike has developed an interesting seminar that teaches horse owners and farriers about conformation and biomechanics in relation to horseshoeing. He’s even taught a few vets a thing or two about evaluating the whole horse. With his down-home style, practical approach, and simple visual aids, the audience quickly gains a fresh perspective on horseshoeing, balance, and movement, and a better eye for what constitutes a good shoeing job for that horse.”
- Dr. Christine King, DVM

“Mike is an accomplished farrier who has studied shoeing in relationship to the motion of horses and how it affects their motion. He has worked with some prominent farriers in the past, namely Tony Gonzales and Gene Ovnicek. There are three areas where I’ve had interaction with Mike. First, he has attended and contributed at our monthly practice’s Farrier Rounds over the past three years. He has also been helpful in setting up a program in our practice to try to evaluate odd gait irregularities, as well as shoeing these particular types of cases. Lastly, we’ve been involved in programs namely the Carolina Classic Horse Expo where we have talked about these gait irregularities. His lectures focused on how shoeing affects the normal and abnormal motion of horses. Mike is a good demonstrator who can speak to horse owners, farriers, and veterinarians about shoeing and it’s effect on gaiting.”
- Dr. Richard A. Mansmann, DVM, PhD, NC State University

“Mike Stine has done several lectures and demonstrations for the Guild at large venues such as Equitana USA with the pony skeleton “Dolly” and has always been well received, drawing large and appreciative audiences. Mr. Stine is well-versed and has an excellent presentation.”
- Henry Heymering, President, Guild of Professional Farriers

“Mr. Stine’s expertise and professionalism as both a farrier and a clinician has drawn national recognition. He has demonstrated farrier skills that far surpass those of simply trimming and shoeing equines. His holistic approach begins with taking his subject horse’s movement and conformation into consideration prior to making any adjustments, and ultimately ends with a solution that is specific to the individual animal’s physiological needs.”
- Sarah Sealy, Equitana, USA

“Mike Stine has proved himself and his theories during the Carolina Classic Horse Expo now for three years. Both the amateur and the professional horseman alike are swept away in his clinics and demonstrations. One of the more popular clinics he has produced for us has been in conjunction with other veterinarians and health specialists working together to solve the cause of the lame horse. In the process, he demonstrates how the secondary ailment is often misdiagnosed as the primary cause of lameness, leaving the horse with a persistent ailment. It is nice to see a professional of his scope work so well with other professionals. We have found him to be a delight to work with and look forward to having him as a clinician again.”
- Tracy L. Simmons, President, Carolina Classic Horse Expo, Inc.

“Mr. Stine has the ability to explain his theories and techniques in such a manner that even the most complex issues can be easily understood. His sincere concern for his customers and their horses is always clear and apparent.”
- T.M. Harris, Roughedge Farm

“I first met Mike Stine at Equitana USA 2000, where we were both invited speakers on our specialty fields. I found his seminars extremely interesting. He uses original presentations and demonstrations, explains complex ideas well, and has huge knowlege of hoofcare theory and practice. He keeps in touch with the latest research and work being done in the field of hoofcare, and is very aware of how it meshes with areas such as saddlefit and rider ability, to contribute to the overall performance of the horse.

We have frequently worked together as clinicians - at equine expos, on a video on basic horsecare, and presenting seminars for rider groups in the USA, NZ and Australia. I have found him excellent to work with at all times, with a professional attitude, a friendly and relaxed manner towards his audience, and a willingness to answer questions they may have. He easily adapts his seminar material to the knowledge level of his audience.

We have also combined our skills, as practitioners, to work with individual horses. Mike’s practical skills and special talents as a farrier, his ability to think outside the square, his sharp eye, and his thorough analysis of the horse’s movement and overall biomechanics mean that he can often make big improvements in the horses he works on. They are frequently animals that other people have written off as unfixable, or very difficult cases, so Mike’s results are doubly impressive.”
- Ray Morris, Saddlefitter, Saddler & Equine Massage Therapist
425 Medbury Rd
RD
Hawarden 8274
NEW ZEALAND

The Horse That Changed My Perspective

As a teenager not sure of my place in the world and pretty much a loner, I purchased my first horse, a stocky little buckskin mare around 14.2 hands. With no formal riding lessons, this athletic quarter horse type barrel racer quickly taught me to have a good seat (or eat dirt)! We competed in gymkhana events such as barrel racing and pole bending, but my favorite times were riding in the woods, up and down hills for hours on end, just me and the buckskin mare.

When it came to caring for a horse and their feet, my main concern when it came to hoof care was how much it cost and how long the shoes stayed on before I had to come up with more money. Working as barn help during high school, the budget was always tight. However, I was always intrigued by horseshoeing and attended a technical college trim/horseshoeing course in my twenties. Now married, my wife and I together had three horses and I began taking care of our horses’ hoofcare. Gradually I took on more horses and it became a part time business in addition to my full time job as a lineman.

The summer of 1988 would change my life. My beloved buckskin mare somehow contracted a respiratory virus, which despite our and the veterinarian’s best efforts, turned into pneumonia. The vet had tried everything we could do with the circumstances we had to work with and suggested that we take her to the nearest veterinary college, two states away. Without our own horse trailer at the time, we relied on the generosity of friends who let us borrow their truck and trailer. After checking on her each time we stopped on the several hour drive, imagine our horror when we arrived at the vet school, opened the trailer door to find a floor board had given way in the trailer floor. With scrapes on her hind legs, the terrified mare stood frozen, straddling the open gap in the floor. (Lesson 1 - Always inspect trailer flooring!) Somehow she had managed to get footing on solid boards, but the trauma together with the pneumonia produced laminitis...now this hardy little mare was battling two major illnesses.

After a few weeks at the vet school, the pneumonia was stabilized, but the laminitis would be a battle for three months. Back home, we spent a few hours each day before work and more after work doctoring the brave mare who had so much heart to endure numerous veterinary and farrier visits. Everyone did the best their training allowed, and we cared for her the best ways we could. Eventually, not wanting her to suffer further and with a grim prognosis, we made the most difficult decision to humanely euthanize my beloved mare. Ironically, the very same day, the great Secretariat was also euthanized due to laminitis. Anything about Secretariat always reminds me of the work to be done to give our horses better lives, as I wish could have been done for my best friend.

The experience of feeling helpless to change that outcome, sent me on a quest for more information, especially as it related to farrier science. My eyes had been opened about how uneducated I was about caring for horses hooves, both from a preventative standpoint and in a crisis situation. (Lesson 2 - Continually educate yourself as a horse owner.) Attending every clinic, symposium or convention I could find, I soaked up information on types of shoes, trimming methods, tools, philosophies- whatever was available. One weekend in Georgia I attended a clinic that forever changed my perspective on hoof care, from looking at just the horses’ lower leg and hoof to looking at the entire horse.

Realizing there’s a lot more to look at than just the hoof opened up a whole new world of horseshoeing. By now, my business had grown into a full time farrier service and I wanted to be knowledgeable and skillful, able to do my best to prevent other horses and horseowners from having a painful experience like ours. Little by little, I studied how different methods of trimming or shoeing affected the entire horse and his performance. Often between shoeings, I would ask the owner for permission to look at a horse to confirm whether my theory was correct. I studied how the horse’s body changed as a result of a trim or shoeing method. It became evident to me that horses, like people, are individuals and not every method works the same with every horse. But it also became evident that there were patterns that almost always hold true, and were often opposite of what you would expect. Having a different approach to farriery in a field that often relies on the way things “have always been done” has not been easy, but it has paid off in results. When horse owners had confidence in my theories and gave permission to try different approaches, the success has shown in the horses’ improvement. Not that everything is fail proof - sometimes the same problem has required different solutions on each horse. Usually the patterns would emerge that gave clues to how a horse would move, the problems likely to develop with that horse and how best to help prevent those problems. The opportunity to figure out why one horse’s movement problem didn’t respond as expected and finding a different solution has had me waking up in the middle of the night with an idea on how to help that horse with a certain shoe or trim. It is exciting and rewarding to do a job and know it helps that horse live a better life.

Over the years I’ve been fortunate to work with many special horses who had unique problems, and they have been my best teachers. I’m also in debt to the master farriers along the way who were willing to teach and ask thought-provoking questions. Only by carefully watching and putting together correlations between cause and effect am I able to hear what these horses are teaching me. Many things have been learned the hard way through mistakes made as a horseman and a farrier, and my hope is that I can pass some of these lessons to horse owners. As horse enthusiasts, I feel it is our job to be as educated as we can be in order to care for the equines entrusted to our care. As a farrier, I strive to work with the entire horse to allow them to live a long comfortable life and reach their full potential in whatever activity we choose to participate. All because of a little buckskin mare that changed my perspective in more ways than one.

Mike Stine
Registered Journeyman Farrier

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