>Susan
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Hi, folks - I'm climbing up on my soapbox only this time, it's not to talk
about saddles! Today the sermon will be about shoeing. Actually, I'm not
an expert at all and I really wish we could persuade some journeyman level
farriers to contribute. I do know this much though:99 out of 100 farriers
don't have the slightest clue about how to shoe a horse that is ridden so
much that it wears out the shoes before it outgrows them! Most farriers who
claim to know how to shoe a "performance" horse still mean a horse that
performs in a ring sport - ring classes, maybe cutting or reining or even
show jumping.
From the number of ads for shoes and hoof products its easy to
deduce that, like saddles, there is a lot of uncertainty, guessing, old
wives tales, tradition, pseudo-science here. "Corrective" shoeing is a big
buzz word and one that means something different to each farrier you talk to
- everything from full bore pads, shims and sneakers to having the "eye" to
see how the horse naturally travels and shoeing to preserve that as well as
to "correct" for the wear and pressure the miles we ride put on the hoof.
There is a farriery website:www.horseshoes.com. It has a bulletin
board where farriers answer questions posted by horse owners. Susan, I took
the liberty of posting your question there to see what kind of response it
would get. I also asked if any farriers would be willing to contribute to
this list or if an endurance/long distance trail riding bulletin board could
be started at that website. I'll let y'all know what happens (I may live in
California but I grew up in Tennessee and lived in Oklahoma for a very long
time.)
The sun is shining for for the 1st time in 2 weeks and I'm goin' ridin'!
Laney