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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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