Hoof-Care Professionals Trust GG Equine: Jen's Story

One of the great honors GG Equine receives on a regular basis is the endorsement of equine health professionals. From dentists to veterinarians, trainers to farriers, a growing number of practitioners are recommending our products - grazing muzzles, halters, and accessories - to their clients. Many times each season, customers will say something like, “My vet said I should check out GG Equine,” or “Our farrier said GreenGuard muzzles are the best.” 

These are the people that horse and donkey owners trust with the health and care of their herd! That makes us feel good, sure, but it also gives us an awesome responsibility, and it’s one we take very seriously. Beyond hearing that your family’s vet or farrier recommends our products, what really blows our minds is when equine health practitioners recommend GG Equine products because they use them themselves. 

It’s a real sign of confidence - the ultimate compliment - when professionals tell us their own horse or donkey wears a GreenGuard muzzle. This GG Herd story takes us to the heartland, Sugar Grove, Illinois. We’re visiting with hoof-care and bodywork professional Jen Rakas, who has entrusted her herd’s turnout time to GreenGuard muzzles for many years now. 

This farrier has two donkeys and a horse wearing GreenGuard Grazing Muzzles.
Jen's horse and two donkeys wear GreenGuard muzzles.

Back in March 2024, we got a Facebook notification that Jen’s business, Heel To Toe Hoof Care and Bodywork, shared one of our annual spring sale posts. We commented that, as a woman-owned small business, being recommended by hoof-care professionals is really meaningful to us. Jen replied, “your muzzles are a great product that I recommend regularly. I have all three of mine wearing them!”

We were charmed to meet Jen’s GG crew when she sent these photos of her horse and two donkeys. The horse is Penny and the two donks are Noah and Gretl. Jen says that Penny the horse “and my spotted donkey Noah have been buddies for 10+ years.” Jen adopted the inseparable pair from their previous owner “when Penny foundered badly in 2017.”

It won’t surprise you to hear that’s around the time “they began wearing GG muzzles,” which also makes Jen one of our earliest customers. Penny and Noah came to live with Jen in 2019. Gretl, “my gray donkey, came to me in 2021. She got her muzzle when she moved in.” Jen says the trio “loves any pasture time and have learned that when they see me with muzzles in hand, they get to go to pasture.”

Jen's donkeys and her horse wearing GreenGuard muzzles.

Jen’s practice, Heel To Toe Hoof Care and Bodywork, offers “whole-horse hoof care, booting services, and equine postural rehabilitation to the dedicated horse owner.” Jen knows hoof care. She has helped countless equine clients - including her own horse - recover from all manner of hoof ailments, from navicular and laminitis to founder, over the past 15 years.

At GG Equine, we think our muzzles and halters are pretty great, but they function most effectively as part of a concerted team strategy involving farriers like Jen, equine vets and dentists, our own customer service team, and, of course, horse owners themselves. Jen clearly has a similar approach. In a recent post, she said that “any rehab is a group effort between myself, the family, and their trainer.” Many hands working together!

We’re so grateful to count Jen and her beautiful and much-loved animals as members of the GG Herd. If you’re in or around the Sugar Grove area and need a dedicated, experienced hoof care or bodywork professional, make sure you look up Heel To Toe Hoof Care and Bodywork. 

Links:
Sugar Grove, Illinois

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