This is a great site - I found and read some interesting articles there.
Just wanted to say to the person who is having trouble with their horses
feet to keep in mind that sometimes it can take a very long time to correct
any problems.
I know, been there, done that. For example, my horse Weaver. The old (bad)
farrier I had was doing whatever he had to do to keep shoes nailed on
Weaver's feet. He never measured his angles, used different sized shoes on
different feet, had his back feet larger than the front, a whole serious of
man-made mistakes. Not only that, but because this farrier had my horses
feet so out of balance, the hoof wall was basically non-existent. So you
might wonder, how did he keep shoes on my horse? Well, he nailed them on
thru the sole of the horses foot. Yes, REALLY!! I feel just horrible that
my horse had to go thru all of that pain. Now, the new farrier (who is
GREAT) has been working on him for almost 15 months now. It took an entire
year to fix his feet. When the hoof walls are not balanced, they don't grow
evenly, if at all. That makes it very difficult and that's why it takes so
long to correct some of these problems. Once we got the feet balanced, it
still took an entire year for the hoof to grow out so now he has nice thick
hoof wall evenly all the way around - amazing difference! There was a lot
of bruising in the hooves due to them being so out of balance. When we
started making these changes, the horse did go out on the trail and whack
himself good a couple of times, he had to get used to the new way of going.
I can't tell you the difference it has made - this horse can now travel
straighter, faster, smoother and with greater ease than ever before. The
new farrier can't believe this horse could even walk let alone do a 50 mile
endurance ride in the condition his feet were in before. I think he was
going on all *heart*.
Look at some of the horses feet at the next ride you are at. The majority
of them (IMO) could use a better farrier. If you really, really look you
will be surprised at what you see.
Happy Trails,
Karen
in Gardnerville
& Weaver
& Rocky