Posted by Phil Armitage on October 22, 2003 at 07:18:03:
In Reply to: CORRECTIVE TRIMMING posted by DONNA on October 21, 2003 at 22:58:57:
: COULD SOMEONE TELL WHICH IS THE CORRECT WAY TO TRIM THE HOOF ON A HORSE THAT IS TOEING INWARD?
: DO YOU TRIM ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE HOOF TO JUST PAST CENTER ?
: OR WOULD YOU TRIM ON THE INSIDE OF THE HOOF TO JUST PAST CENTER TO TURN IT OUTWARD.
: Thanks!
: Donna
Stop yelling Donna, typeing in all caps on E-mail or on the Web is yelling. The correct way to trim is to balance the feet to the bone coloumb and conformation of the horse. Using the landmarks on the bottom of the feet is a good quide or the use of Radiographs works well. The Farrier should be able to determine what is correct by observing the the bottom of the foot and conformation of the horse and how they move. If your getting conflicting opinions from others and they do not have an understanding of how to analyze the bottom of your horses feet, observe conformation and watch your horse move then I would not trust there input. Also you do not correct toe in or out or any deviation to the foot and limb once the horse is matured, these types of deviations can only be correct at a very young age like within the first couple of months from birth. Trying to correct anything in matured horses or adult horses will cause lameness. If the horse is crooked due to poor trimming then that is a different story and needs to be corrected and it takes a trained and experienced farrier to determine this.
Phil