sumognat
07-12-2005, 01:14 PM
Hi,
I've had a friend of the family shoeing my horse (EZ - 17yr. QH) for almost a year now; he used to be a fulltime farrier, but he got injured a couple of years ago and no longer shoes fulltime. He offered to shoe my horse for me after I moved from WI to FL, and I decided to let him do the job to help him out. 9 months passed, and EZ's hooves seemed to be okay and he's had no soundness issues. Within 3 or 4 weeks of the last shoeing, EZ developed flares on his hooves and he proceeded to lose 3 shoes one-by-one over the next 1 to 2 weeks. Initially, I tried to get my farrier out to reshoe a front hoof, but he never came (getting him to come out on a regular basis has been a hassle, too). Unfortunately, by the 7th week (EZ was on a 6 week schedule), EZ lost alot of hoof wall (especially on his right rear and two front hooves), much of which came off when he lost the shoes, and he his front hooves were sore (where there were no shoes). On the 7th week, I decided to try someone new.
As background history, I've always had trouble keeping EZ's (my horse) hoof walls on his front hoves in good shape. We moved down from WI last year and his hooves had chunks of wall missing in his quarters. Over the last year since we moved to FL, I have been able to grow out his walls, but now we're back to square one again as the last 2 or 3 months have taken a toll on his front hooves. I initially thought the breakage was due to the wet weather, and I kept him inside his stall whenever his paddock was wet or when it was raining. After seeing the flares develop and watching the hoof wall disintigrate after the last time he was shod, I thought that maybe the problems were more farrier-related than weather-related. Since I had the same problem in WI, I began to wonder if the hoof breakage I had up there was really due to hoof imbalance, rather than wet weather.
So, the pictures that follow below are of the new farrier's shoeing, taken one week after he shoed my horse. He told me that my other farrier wasn't doing a good job because my horse's hooves were not balanced well. He said the reason why the quarters broke off was due to hoof imbalance, moreso than feet that were too wet. This seemed to make sense, especially because I am very good about not letting my horse stand in a wet, muddy paddock (he has a stall with wood shaving bedding). He said it would take some time to get his hooves back to normal, and that I should put my horse on a hoof supplement, put bell boots on him (so he doesn't pull the shoes), and treat the thrush he has on a rear frog; of course, I have followed his suggestions. He seemed to be knowleadgeable and he took his time to talk with me and answer my questions. The whole job took about 1.5 hours, and we put EZ on a 5 week schedule. Also, the last 3 or 4 shoeings that were done by my old farrier made my horse sore in the front hooves for a couple of days; this happened in WI, too. I thought this might be normal because his front toes are often brought back quite a bit. Well, after the first shoeing by my new farrier, EZ is completely sound.
Since I am no expert at detecting hoof balance, I was wondering if anyone could post their thoughts on this farrier's work. I think my horse's feet look better and he's had no flares yet, but I would like to get other opinions from people who are professional farriers.
Thanks!
http://img319.echo.cx/img319/6320/ezrfunder8pu.jpg
http://img312.echo.cx/img312/1507/ezconf3ae.jpg
http://img336.echo.cx/img336/7716/ezlfbehind3jj.jpg
http://img336.echo.cx/img336/3472/ezlffront9ea.jpg
http://img344.echo.cx/img344/5871/ezlfside1go.jpg
http://img307.echo.cx/img307/2876/ezlfunder0xz.jpg
http://img335.echo.cx/img335/188/ezlrfront6df.jpg
http://img342.echo.cx/img342/2476/ezlrunder0vi.jpg
http://img325.echo.cx/img325/7528/ezrfbehind0cd.jpg
http://img351.echo.cx/img351/5024/ezrffront3md.jpg
http://img318.echo.cx/img318/3293/ezrfside7ve.jpg
http://img335.echo.cx/img335/1757/ezrrfront4ii.jpg
http://img307.echo.cx/img307/1718/ezrrunder3xs.jpg
http://img307.echo.cx/img307/4612/lrrrbehind4fb.jpg
I've had a friend of the family shoeing my horse (EZ - 17yr. QH) for almost a year now; he used to be a fulltime farrier, but he got injured a couple of years ago and no longer shoes fulltime. He offered to shoe my horse for me after I moved from WI to FL, and I decided to let him do the job to help him out. 9 months passed, and EZ's hooves seemed to be okay and he's had no soundness issues. Within 3 or 4 weeks of the last shoeing, EZ developed flares on his hooves and he proceeded to lose 3 shoes one-by-one over the next 1 to 2 weeks. Initially, I tried to get my farrier out to reshoe a front hoof, but he never came (getting him to come out on a regular basis has been a hassle, too). Unfortunately, by the 7th week (EZ was on a 6 week schedule), EZ lost alot of hoof wall (especially on his right rear and two front hooves), much of which came off when he lost the shoes, and he his front hooves were sore (where there were no shoes). On the 7th week, I decided to try someone new.
As background history, I've always had trouble keeping EZ's (my horse) hoof walls on his front hoves in good shape. We moved down from WI last year and his hooves had chunks of wall missing in his quarters. Over the last year since we moved to FL, I have been able to grow out his walls, but now we're back to square one again as the last 2 or 3 months have taken a toll on his front hooves. I initially thought the breakage was due to the wet weather, and I kept him inside his stall whenever his paddock was wet or when it was raining. After seeing the flares develop and watching the hoof wall disintigrate after the last time he was shod, I thought that maybe the problems were more farrier-related than weather-related. Since I had the same problem in WI, I began to wonder if the hoof breakage I had up there was really due to hoof imbalance, rather than wet weather.
So, the pictures that follow below are of the new farrier's shoeing, taken one week after he shoed my horse. He told me that my other farrier wasn't doing a good job because my horse's hooves were not balanced well. He said the reason why the quarters broke off was due to hoof imbalance, moreso than feet that were too wet. This seemed to make sense, especially because I am very good about not letting my horse stand in a wet, muddy paddock (he has a stall with wood shaving bedding). He said it would take some time to get his hooves back to normal, and that I should put my horse on a hoof supplement, put bell boots on him (so he doesn't pull the shoes), and treat the thrush he has on a rear frog; of course, I have followed his suggestions. He seemed to be knowleadgeable and he took his time to talk with me and answer my questions. The whole job took about 1.5 hours, and we put EZ on a 5 week schedule. Also, the last 3 or 4 shoeings that were done by my old farrier made my horse sore in the front hooves for a couple of days; this happened in WI, too. I thought this might be normal because his front toes are often brought back quite a bit. Well, after the first shoeing by my new farrier, EZ is completely sound.
Since I am no expert at detecting hoof balance, I was wondering if anyone could post their thoughts on this farrier's work. I think my horse's feet look better and he's had no flares yet, but I would like to get other opinions from people who are professional farriers.
Thanks!
http://img319.echo.cx/img319/6320/ezrfunder8pu.jpg
http://img312.echo.cx/img312/1507/ezconf3ae.jpg
http://img336.echo.cx/img336/7716/ezlfbehind3jj.jpg
http://img336.echo.cx/img336/3472/ezlffront9ea.jpg
http://img344.echo.cx/img344/5871/ezlfside1go.jpg
http://img307.echo.cx/img307/2876/ezlfunder0xz.jpg
http://img335.echo.cx/img335/188/ezlrfront6df.jpg
http://img342.echo.cx/img342/2476/ezlrunder0vi.jpg
http://img325.echo.cx/img325/7528/ezrfbehind0cd.jpg
http://img351.echo.cx/img351/5024/ezrffront3md.jpg
http://img318.echo.cx/img318/3293/ezrfside7ve.jpg
http://img335.echo.cx/img335/1757/ezrrfront4ii.jpg
http://img307.echo.cx/img307/1718/ezrrunder3xs.jpg
http://img307.echo.cx/img307/4612/lrrrbehind4fb.jpg