In the beginning . . .

 

(Above) One of Jaime Jackson's many base camps, U.S. Great Basin (c. 1984).

In the beginning . . .

You might be wondering, how did this all start?

It began 40 years ago (1982) when then farrier Jaime Jackson found his way into the backcountry of the United States Great Basin looking for wild, free-roaming horses. Fully aware that horseshoeing damaged the hooves of horses, he believed that he would find "nature's model" for the perfect hoof among America's wild horses. And that he did! And after four years of observing these horses in their home ranges, and studying their hooves in the intake corrals of the Bureau of Land Management, he emerged with the "wild horse model" used today in the ISNHCP Natural Trim Training Program.

(Above) Rare photo taken by Jackson during his 1980s hoof studies at the BLM's Litchfield, California wild horse intake corrals. Jackson recalls, "The BLM wranglers were professional 'gentlemen' cowboys -- the last of a bygone era -- hired by the U.S. government. They are riding wild horses that they gentled and trained themselves. They were excellent 'ropers,' and at the end of their ropes, I entrusted them with my very life as I took the measurements of each hoof which we use today as NHC practitioners. I interviewed the front wrangler in the photo one night at a diner in nearby Litchfield to hear his life's story, and where he went each night after work, waiting patiently for one of the waitresses to come off duty -- his wife!"

Photo of Great Basin wild horse hoof taken by Jackson following capture by BLM wranglers (c. winter of 1983).