Metta Equus
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Helping you give your horse a solid foundation to stand on.

Our mission is to develop healthy hooves, rehabilitate, and prevent lameness through a whole horse approach to hoof care.

Our vision is to be an industry leader for inspiring and educating horse owners and caregivers to continually seek a higher standard of care and quality of life for horses through science-based, integrative care practices.

Do you want to get more involved in your horse’s hoof care?

Do you want to trim your own horse’s feet?

Do you wish you had a better understanding of your hoof care practitioner’s job?

Are you an aspiring hoof care practitioner?

Would you be surprised to know that 80% of the factors determining the health of your horse’s hooves are already in your hands?

I’m going to let you in on a little secret – the trim is only the tip of the iceberg, or maybe a better analogy would be to say the trim is the last stone on the top of a pyramid.

Without a solid foundation beneath it, the trim won’t stand up on its own.

As your horse’s primary caregiver, you are responsible for building the base of the pyramid. Once you’ve properly built a solid base, putting the last piece of the pyramid in place -the trim- can also be within  your capability.

As a horse owner, you play a critical role in the health of your horses’ hooves. The major factors affecting hoof health are in your hands. These factors come into play on a daily basis in between trimming appointments.

We want to teach you how to recognize and develop healthy hooves. Learn how you can play an active role in your horse’s hoof care by way of a whole horse approach.

Whether you wish to trim your own horses’ hooves, (or not!) we offer an online, learn-at-your-own-pace course that will give you a solid basis of the necessary information to play an active role in setting your horses up for success.

Courses launching shortly!

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Language
All Levels

Foundations of Soundness

10h
MC
by Maia Chaput
In Virtual
All Levels

Private Coaching

MC
by Maia Chaput
In Private
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Who we are

Maia Chaput

Maia is a PHCP-certified hoof care practitioner, mentor and clinician.

Her specialties include:

  • Helping horses grow healthy, strong, bare feet
  • Using hoof boots and composite shoeing as alternatives to traditional metal shoeing when horse’s feet are in of need support
  • Prevention and rehabilitation of common hoof related lameness issues including laminitis and navicular
  • Educating and empowering horse owners to play an active role in all of the above
  • Mentoring the next generation of hoof care practitioners through their certification process

Catherine Larose

Catherine is based in the Rigaud region of Québec and regularly travels to other regions to provide training or consultations. As the owner of Services Equus, she completed most of her training in the US and has been professionally trimming since 2006. Over the years, she has developed a special interest in laminitis issues. She has successfully rehabilitated many horses practicing a scientifically recognized treatment protocol. Catherine’s approach combines a revised nutrition plan, a short trimming cycle and the use of flexible support when needed. She encourages a team-based approach, involving massage, acupuncture, laser, nutrition and veterinary care. Herself a lifelong learner, her second passion is teaching, and she encourages clients to become more involved in providing some of the trimming care for their horses.

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What we do

Hoof care

We are based in the Rigaud/Saint-Lazare area, servicing eastern Ontario and western Quebec. At this time our regular clientele spaces are full. Availability is reserved for serious/difficult emergency cases and students of our education program who wish to pursue hands-on instruction as a follow-up to our online course. We can, however, provide referrals to trusted colleagues, so please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Education

Metta Equus helps horse owners to play an active role in their horse’s hoof care. Course leaders Maia Chaput and Catherine Larose  have teamed up to form a collaborative education project to share their specialized knowledge with horse owners and other equine care specialists.

The core education program is called Foundations of Soundness– Recognizing and Developing Healthy Hooves. This program originated as a three-day, live introduction to hoof care and trimming workshop and has evolved over the last decade, changing with the valuable interactions we’ve had with each group of students.

We’re always striving to improve the material we present with the latest research and information learned at the many conferences we’ve attended. Credit also has to be given to the other wonderful professionals we’ve met and collaborated with over the years.

In essence, this course is not an attempt to make our own “method” or to reinvent the wheel, rather we are curating the most up to date information from expert sources and presenting it to you in an easy to follow format that will give you a solid foundation on your hoof care journey.

It has been our dream since the beginning to make the theory portion of our course available as an online, learn-at-your-own-pace resource, and we’re happy to announce that it will be available right here shortly!

Needless to say, the pandemic has put a damper on our ability to teach live, hands-on trimming clinics, however they will return as soon as possible.

The core Foundations of Soundness course is recognized by the PHCP for education training credits.