Lee, Jamie & Trace Olsen

About Lee Olsen

A horseman at heart, Lee understands the whole horse. His love for horses began early, roping and training horses on his parents’ cattle and horse ranch in South Dakota from the time he could hold the reins. In 2007, he graduated from Western Dakota Tech, Rapid City, SD as an industrial electrician. He rodeoed, both amateur and professionally, for several years before becoming a farrier. He qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo three times and the Badlands Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals two times. He married Jamie (Lindsay) Olsen in 2008; she runs barrels, ropes, is a Nurse Practitioner. We moved to TX in 2010, and our son Trace was born in 2012.

Currently, Lee attends many of the biggest team ropings in Texas, Oklahoma City, OK and Las Vegas, NV. Roping is a family affair at the Olsen Ranch. He is grateful to be able to rope together with his wife, Jamie. Their son, Trace, loves roping, too.

As a AFA Certified Farrier, Lee focuses on therapeutic shoeing, using a variety of trusted methods to personalize care for each horse’s need. He specializes in shoeing the western performance horse, and serves some of the top barrel, cutting, team roping, and reigned cow horses in the industry. Additionally, he partners with veterinary clinics in providing therapeutic hoof care.

At Olsen Equine, continuing education is a priority, and is evident in Lee’s practice as well as his passion for educating horse owners. Lee is currently pursuing his Certified Journeyman Farrier licensure, and is in constant pursuit of improving the quality of equine hoof care. He teaches shoeing and trimming clinics in various locations, and provides helpful resources for equipping horse owners to best care for their horses.

My Personal Opinions on Hoof Care

I believe that barefoot is the best way to go if your horse can handle it. Not all horses can handle being barefoot, however, which is why shoeing can be a necessity in caring for your equine athlete. If a horse does need to be shod, most likely that is for protection, performance, a soundness issue, or conformational defects. The good news is that there is usually a winning combination the horse can be accommodated by. In these cases, I recommend pulling the shoes and trimming if the horse has down time throughout the year.

I believe that shoeing is something that should be kept as simple as possible. Shoeing should compliment the foot and be a continuation of it. There are some life-changing developments in the industry today that allow us to save horses that we normally wouldn’t have been able to. As with anything, there are gimmicks and fads out there also. I believe that being open to better ways of doing things and accepting help from others is a great way to do anything in life. With all the different styles of shoeing and trimming, I think that an open-minded approach will take you a long ways. God Bless America.