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Good farriery does
not come in plain black and white boxes.
Hoof care is unique to each horse. There is no generic program
to be applied to every horse. Don't trust anyone who says s/he shoes
every horse the same way. Every horse does not need a rockered toe;
every horse does not need trailers, etc...
A good farrier is a
maintenance worker.
The farrier can't be blamed if he's not called. Hoof care must
be a regular, scheduled maintenance activity. Put your horse on a
schedule with a competent farrier.
The idea that "the
shoe should be shaped to fit the foot" is misleading bunk.
Good farriers are seldom content to live with what’s there;
instead, we "sculpt" the hoof capsule. In many cases, we
will use the appliance (usually a shoe) to obtain shape or symmetry.
Why anyone would shape a shoe to fit a mis-shapen or wry hoof, or why
anyone would be content with a front hoof that looked like a hind, or
other such foolishness is beyond my ken.
Short shoeing is bad
shoeing.
Most of the problems I see with farriery are a result of not
providing sufficient caudal (heel) support.
Establish a
reasonable toe length for the conformation and usage of the horse.
The"ideal angle"
is a wrong-headed idea that should die.
Despite all the ludicrous statements that you’ll find in
various treatises on horseshoeing, there is no generic, ideal angle. I’ve
seen all kinds of prescriptions, most of them ridiculously low, but
the ideal angle is one which is appropriate for the individual horse.
Most saddle horses trotting around the countryside will fall somewhere
between 52 and 58 degrees. If one is to make an error, it’s best
to make the angle a bit too high rather than too low. I’ve not
seen any horses that I felt should be at less than 50 degrees.
There’s no law
that says all horses have to be shod.
There are only three valid reasons for shoeing:
Protection--if a horse's rate of hoof wear
exceeds his rate of hoof growth, or if he’s being asked to work
on rough or variable terrain, his hooves must be protected in some
manner.
Traction--the horse’s usage will
sometimes dictate that we take away traction (e.g., reining horses) or
provide additional traction (e.g., pulling horses).
Gait alteration--a farrier
will try to change an animal's way of going for one of two reasons:
either to stop the horse from hitting (interfering in some way) or in
an attempt to modify a particular gait to better meet an arbitrary
standard, usually related to a particular breed.
Balance is essential
For some reason it is difficult for people to look at a hoof and
determine if it is balanced. Skilled professionals should have a
trained eye. Horses that are not balanced are not sound.
The hoof is plastic,
not elastic.
It changes shape, but it does not regain its shape; it's
plastic--not elastic. Subsequently, even an expert should find it
extremely difficult--virtually impossible--to evaluate a trim or shoe
job after even a short period of time has passed. Don't let someone
tell you that your farrier has done a poor job unless that person
watched the shoe job take place or evaluated it shortly after
completion.
Where a farrier went
to school or who s/he schooled with is virtually irrelevant unless
s/he's new to the trade.
The farrier industry/trade is not static. The basics are
essential, but technology and technique are rethought daily. The most
important measure of a farrier, then, is not where he went to school,
but whether he goes to school every day. If he's not taking advantage
of continuing education--reading books and periodicals, attending
clinics and seminars, participating in local, state, regional,
national, and international organizations--he's not educated. There's
a big difference between having ten years' experience and having one
year's experience repeated ten times.
Trainers are called
trainers because their job is to train... not to shoe, not to do vet
work.
Likewise, horseshoers are called horseshoers because their job
is to shoe horses, not to train them, not to vet them. Establish a
good working team of equine professionals (trainers, farriers,
veterinarians, dentists, chiropractors, etc.) and make sure that they
can work together and that you facilitate their working together by
calling upon the appropriate person for the task at hand. As the
owner, you're the coordinator.
All horseshoeing is
not the same.
Yes, the anatomy is the same, but gaits and usage vary
radically, even within breeds. The end result that you desire is more
specific to usage than to breed or type; subsequently the farrier you
select should be familiar with the discipline or activity you are
engaged in. In effect, don't expect a walking horse shoer to work on
your dressage horse, and don't call the dressage shoer to shoe your
walking horse. Good farriers don't necessarily specialize, but they'll
have a range that they want to work within.
If you drive on a
flat tire, you will ruin the rim.
If your horse is lame, acknowledge it, work with your
veterinarian and farrier to correct it; don't try to force the horse
to work his way through it.
No matter how good
the farrier is, he'll occasionally find himself standing in a pool of
blood.
It doesn't matter how good you are or how experienced you are,
you're occasionally going to take a nail too close or a knife too
deep, especially when working on bad-footed or bad-mannered horses.
This does not mean that you're dealing with a bad farrier (unless s/he
tries to hide it from you). It simply means that the tolerance limits
for shoeing are much closer than the average person is aware of.
Tolerance limits for properly driving a nail are in the range of
1/60,000 of an inch. It's amazing that farriers don't quick more
horses than they do.
Shoenailers look at
feet; real farriers look at horses.
You can look at a horse statically, you can look at a limb, you
can look at a hoof capsule, but you've got to look at the whole horse
to do things properly, and you've got to see that horse in motion .
Good horseshoers will often evaluate a horse dynamically without the
owner or the casual bystander even knowing it: they may watch the
horses in the paddock as they drive in, they may watch the horse
moving down the alleyway as he's being brought to the shoeing area, or
they may simply be listening (without looking) to the cadence and
rythm of the horse's footfalls as he's being brought to the shoeing
area--but they're paying attention and evaluating that horse in
motion.
You can take a
crowbar and straighten anything, but some things can't stand the
strain.
If a mature horse has angular deviations, you optimize what
you've got and live with it; you don't crank on it. You do not screw
around with it.
Foal hoofcare is
essential.
Regular maintenance at this most important time is preventative
maintenance. Furthermore, good farriers can recognize problems in
foals, recognizing angular and/or flexural deformities while they're
manageable.
The height of the
nail has nothing to do with whether the horse is going to be quicked
or not.
High nails are generally good nails. They help because they're
not on an acute angle, so if the horse rips a shoe off, he's not as
likely to rip hoof wall away with it. And they're usually into more
substantive hoof wall.
“Cutting
doughnuts” is tough on your tires, your shocks, your tierods, and
your rearend...
Hotwalkers and longe lines are useful tools, but it concerns me
that they’re often used to excess. Although longeing has become a
“training” tool of choice, I suggest that longeing be kept
to a minimum. It creates repetitive uneven weight loads on the
fetlock, pastern and coffin joints. Since--more often than
not--longeing is used as a quieting aid for horses that are too “high,”
there’s often a lot of stress placed on the horse’s head,
pulling him back into the pattern, which places stress on his back and
spinal process.
Of course, if you longe a horse properly (working the horse in
large circles, using a surcingle and driving set, or longing the horse
“free”), it’s not a problem.
This article was reprinted with the authors,
Danvers Child, CF, RJF permission.
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