Our Story

We’re Lori and Brian—horse lovers, inventors at heart, and proud residents of Albertville, Minnesota. We also happen to be the inventors of a brand-new hoof-cleaning tool we call the HoofWand™.

This journey started, like many great inventions, in a moment of pure frustration. February 2024 was one for the books here in Minnesota. Instead of snowdrifts and frozen nostrils, we got warm, wet, spring-like days that turned the paddocks into hoof-trapping mud pits. And while our two beautiful horses—Yanko (a magnificent Gypsy Vanner) and OB (a dignified Fell pony) along with their 14 pasture mates —enjoyed the weather, their hooves did not.

We were dealing with one abscess after another. The wet-dry cycles created cracks in the hoof wall, the mud packed in and stayed there, and bacteria did what bacteria do best—fester. We needed a tool that could handle soggy, waterlogged hooves in February. And let us tell you: there aren’t many tools that check that box, especially when your hands are freezing and your horses are looking at you like "you're not using that thing again, are you?"

That’s when we said, “What if we made something better?”

And that’s how the HoofWand™ was born.

No, it’s not a spatula. We know it looks like one. Trust us, we’ve heard it. But every single edge, curve, and texture of the HoofWand was designed with function in mind—not pancakes.

We built it to solve real, muddy, hoof-wrecking problems:

  • A 90-degree edge to pry out embedded rocks (especially the ones that show up right when you're in a rush)
  • A rounded edge to clean the white line without annoying your horse
  • A flexible side that’s gentle for sensitive hooves like OB’s
  • A rigid side for dried-on mud that might as well be concrete
  • And our favorite: a diamond-textured surface perfect for scrubbing the coronary band and removing stubborn muck

Our mission is Hands on Hooves. We want to empower horse owners to be more engaged, confident, and hands-on with their horses’ hoof health. We’re not alone in this, either. Farrier organizations across the country have rallied behind the HoofWand, supporting both the tool and the Hands on Hooves mission. They know better than anyone that good hoof care starts with engaged, educated owners.

 

We spent days and weeks tossing around ideas and eventually decided to create Ranchers Preferred LLC, so that we could share our other products and ideas with the equine community.   We’re not a big company. We’re just two people who love our horses, love solving problems, and got really tired of scraping mud with tools that weren’t designed for what we needed. The HoofWand is the result of barn trial and error, 3D model prototypes, and lots of muddy boots. But it works and there’s nothing else like it out there.

Thanks for supporting our muddy little dream.
— Lori & Brian