Posted by sandy on February 11, 2004 at 21:18:09:
In Reply to: Re: I'm so confused and need advice. EZ Boots? posted by Patty Stiller on February 11, 2004 at 12:19:01:
: : I totaly understand your confusion and frustration and respect how much you care enough to learn all you can to do the right things with your horse, I wish many more people would take it this serious. I am a farrier, but first and foremoste I am a horse owner and rider for over 20 years, don't have much time to ride now that I am a farrier, but I use to ride all the time, primarily trails, endurance rides. I have always believed that a trail horse, no matter how often they go out should be shod front and hind for protection, support and traction. If you do not have proper protection, support and traction I believe you are increasing the odds of injury to you and your horse. Easy boots are a good temporary way to protect the foot and have along if your horse pulls a shoe while you are out riding, however I would not use them all the time, and take them off as soon as you get back to the barn, feet can swet and get soft if left on to long. I do not believe they offer as good protection, support and traction as shoes. If your horse is ouchy on the rocks, then that is telling you something, why let them be ouchy when all you have to do is shoe them to make them comfortable. The key is finding a good farrier that you trust. If you do not trust your current farrier then ask other people and Vets for recommendations. A properly shod horse is a happy horse, as the old saying goes "No Foot No Horse".
: : Phil
: There are other brands of hoof boots that are better for riding. Some fit a better and none otherpther brands have that easyboot type 'clamp and cable' system.,Many folks including myself have found that clamping system ,including the ribbed strap in the heel can cause seroius rubbing in the heels ,damage and bruising to the hoofwall.
: For an overview on all the available hoofboots in one place go to tribeequus.com. It is a barefoot hoofcare site. Though I do not totally agree with their hoof trimming principles, they do have a really good review of all the available boots.
: Patty
Phil, I had horses when I was much younger and when I was first married. Then we sold our farm and built a new house with no barn, fences, or water on the 40 acres, so my horses had to go. A few years ago we purchased the neighbor's farm, which adjoined ours, and now had pastures, fences, and water, so I got horses again, and have been in horsey heaven! But I am probably the world's most neurotic horse owner; probably because I'm older now and much more aware of all the things that can go wrong, and also because now that my kids are all gone I have so much time for reading. But the more I read, the more confused and worried I get!
As to getting recommendations for farriers... there just aren't many farriers in my area. I hang out with horse people. I'm president of our Saddle Club, and my best friends own a huge tack store in our town, so I get all the *news* about farriers. The first farrier I hired when I only had two horses. Both were rescued Standardbred harness racers. This farrier also raised Stdbs, and he was just excellent. But during the year he was my farrier he only kept one appointment, and was two hours late with no phone call. Every other appointment he cancelled and rebooked, and then half of those rebooked ones were cancelled as well.
Then I found another farrier, who'd been doing this for 3 years. He graduated from the Midwest School of Farriers. He was very thorough... used calipers and everything, and I liked that, as he seemed very knowledgeable. He was slower than molasses, but that didn't bother me, because I knew that once he'd gotten more years under his belt his speed would pick up. However, I have a coming 2 year old Arab gelding and that farrier jabbed him in the ribs one too many times for me. All my horses stand extremely well for the farrier. They even pick up their feet on their own. But I'd only had this horse for seven months, and he wasn't even halter broke when I got him. He was very good about picking up his feet for me, but he fidgeted the first time this farrier came and got jabbed. From then on, he was very fidgety for that farrier, and he got jabbed each time. Finally, I asked the farrier to not jab him any more. (I always held onto the horse's head to keep him still). He told me that sometimes a horse just needed a good jab. I'm sorry, but that did it for me. I wouldn't have that man back.
Then I got another farrier and explained that the Arab might fidget a bit but to please be patient with him. That farrier said "All young horses fidget a bit. We'll get through it." Each time the horse fidgeted, the farrier just calmly held onto the foot and talked softly and by the second foot the horse was standing perfectly still, as he always does for me. And that farrier has been back twice and that Arab has been good as gold. He obviously responded much better to patience and firmness than a swift jab in the ribs with the file.
I like this farrier a lot. He's extremely fast, as he's been doing this for 25 years. But because he doesn't use calipers I worry that perhaps the angles might be off or one toe could be longer than the other one. I know it's probably ridiculous to worry, because this man does have a lot of experience and can most likely eyeball it and do it right. And he only charges $10 per horse! That's ridiculously cheap, and since I have 8 horses right now, that's a big savings to me.
I guess I always have this little fear, though, that my horses might be getting bad trims and I wouldn't know it, because I don't know enough to know what's a good trim and what's a bad one.
Patty, thanks for the website. You also gave me another website on one of the other forums I posted to. I'm going to look at both of them right now.
Sandy