About Camp & Co.

Three Generations of Horsemen. One Formula Rooted in History.

Camp & Co. didn't start with market research or trend analysis. It started with a worn copy of Clatter's Farrier (29th edition) and a simple question: What did farriers use before modern chemistry took over?

William Thomas Sr. rode with Deep Run Hunt Club in Richmond, Virginia, before the Korean War. After serving, he came to Florida as a thoroughbred bloodstock agent, building a career on evaluating horses from the ground up. He understood that soundness starts with the hoof, and passed that foundation to his son.

Camp Thomas Jr. spent nearly a decade as an exercise rider on the track (1988-1995), then transitioned to blacksmithing and farrier work in 1996. For almost 30 years, he's shaped shoes, trimmed hooves, and solved problems under thousands of horses across every discipline. But farrier work is hard on the body—and Camp wanted a way to keep serving horses without breaking his back in the process.

Campbell Thomas III, a third-generation Ocala native and 2013 Citadel graduate, served as a U.S. Army logistics officer before coming home to co-found Camp & Co. When Camp Jr. started pulling out century-old farrier texts—Clatter's Farrier, Horse-Shoeing and the Horse's Foot by Dollar and Wheatley—Campbell saw the pattern: the old formulas worked, but they needed refinement for modern expectations.

The Philosophy: Old Science, New Standards

Our formula is inspired by veterinary and farrier manuals from the 1800s and early 1900s, when hoof care was about function, not marketing. These texts highlighted ingredients we've since forgotten—like pyroligneous acid (wood vinegar), which research shows can alter the hoof and skin microbiome to push out pathogens rather than simply killing everything on contact.

Early test blends included harsh agents like copper sulfate—effective, but brutal. Campbell pushed Camp to refine the approach: keep the antimicrobial and antifungal power, but pair it with soothing, conditioning agents that support the hoof rather than attacking it.

The result is a layered defense system:

Antimicrobial & Antifungal Agents
Pyroligneous acid (wood vinegar) alters the hoof microbiome to push out pathogens. We pair it with a triple-oil blend—Manuka oil, oregano oil, and tea tree oil—each targeting different bacterial and fungal strains. This isn't overkill; it's redundancy. When one pathogen develops resistance, the others step in.

Structural Support & Healing
MSM (methylsulfonyl methane) supports hoof wall integrity and reduces inflammation. Zinc oxide provides a protective barrier while promoting tissue repair—critical for white line issues and sole damage.

Environmental Barriers
Pine tar seals the hoof against moisture intrusion. Bentonite and kaolin clays draw out toxins and create a breathable protective layer that doesn't trap heat or suffocate the hoof.

Conditioning Agents
Shea butter, beeswax, and coconut oil keep the hoof wall flexible without softening it. These penetrate deep into the structure, preventing the brittleness that leads to cracks and chips. These aren't cosmetic—they maintain the hoof's ability to expand and contract naturally under load.

It's not a harsh treatment. It's not a passive conditioner. It's a defense system that works with the hoof, not against it.

Why We Know It Works

In our first round of testing, a horse owner in Nashville, Tennessee reported that Heritage Defense Hoof Balm outperformed both her Rood & Riddle-prescribed Canker Paste (34% Metronidazole, 6.7% Oxytetracycline) and salicylic acid and chlorhexidine treatments for her horse's grease heel. The feedback wasn't just about effectiveness—it was about smell, ease of use, and the horse's comfort during treatment.

We've also heard from barn managers who said they'd actually want to use it daily, rather than avoiding the jar because it smells like a chemical spill. That matters—because consistency is what keeps hooves healthy.

The Ocala Advantage

We're third-generation Ocala natives, and we manufacture here for a reason. Ocala's climate is unforgiving: humidity, sand, wet-dry cycles, and year-round turnout. If a hoof product works in Central Florida, it works anywhere.

Our research and development happened in real barns, on real horses, with real problems. No lab simulations. No controlled environments. Just the conditions farriers and horse owners deal with every single day.

What's Next

Heritage Defense Hoof Balm is our foundation product, but it's not the end. We're already developing a skin balm for scratches, rain rot, and minor wounds—using the same philosophy of pairing historical ingredients with modern formulation standards.

Camp & Co. exists because we got tired of choosing between products that work but burn, and products that smell nice but don't solve the problem. So we made something that does both.

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Camp & Co.
Ocala, Florida
Farrier-formulated. Horseman-tested. Heritage-proven.

Founders:
Camp Thomas Jr., Chief Formulator – Farrier since 1996
Campbell Thomas III, Co-Founder – Operations & Business Development