Re: Tips on shoeing

[Chris Paus <paus@micoks.net>]

how true how true. Just looked at a horse this weekend for a little
neighbor girl who wants a first horse. He's a big older horse, but his feet
are too small, with pointy toes and absolutely no heel at all. He's
practically walking on the bulbs of his heel. Poor guy.

chris

At 09:59 PM 3/22/98 -0800, owens wrote:
>Just a tongue on cheek (sort of) list for picking a farrier:
>YOU NEED TO CHANGE FARRIERS WHEN:
>1.  After buying a horse with large round feet, that has never had
>shoes, and riding him for about a month, you decide to get him his first
>set of shoes. You assume that he'll wear about a 1 or even a size 2
>shoe. Before you know it, your shoer proudly shows you his work.  You
>look down to see four cute, little, oval feet, with hoof walls neatly
>rasped all the way up to the coronary band.  You note that the horse has
>an obviously smaller foot than he started with and you question what
>size shoe did he use?  He promptly tells you that he was able to get him
>into an OTT! Of course, he left no room for expansion or any extra shoe
>at the heel, so they won't come off in any rocky terrain.  You notice
>that the excess frog and sole have been neatly removed, picture perfect.
>Funny thing, the horse never quite moves right after the shoeing.  He
>moved right along before that, wonder what's the matter?
>IF YOU DIDN'T FIGURE IT OUT, AND CALL THE SAME SHOER BACK:
>He does much the same shoe job, only this time when he's shaping the
>shoe, you ask him what size he is using(because you noticed that when he
>held the shoe up to the foot, the shoe was obviously smaller than the
>foot.  He proudly states that he can get him into a DOUBLE OTT this
>time, as he is an arab and has very thick walls!  He assures you that
>there is nothing wrong with rasping the hoof wall off to fit the shoe,
>his daddy's been doing it that way for years.  You note that the horse
>seems to be developing Long-Toe-Low-Heel syndrome, and ask what the
>farrier can do to fix that.  He replies that all horses look that way,
>it's really not a problem.
>YOU KICK HIM OFF THE PROPERTY!
>And find a shoer who will work with you, put a larger shoe rather than a
>smaller, knows four-point, leaves plenty of room for expansion, leaves
>the hoof walls alone, and doesn't take off any more sole and frog than
>absolutely necessary!
>
>Katee
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