Pinch Hit Trimming a Long Toe Run Forward Heel horse

[Dances with Hooves]

I have been asked by one of my wifes friends to pull and trim one time a horse that is normally trimmed by one of our local Long Toe/run forward heel farriers.

Is it better to give him a correct trim knowing that his follow up foot care will involve "growing back the heel" and not attending to breakover. Or would it be better to keep him tall and long.

I am trying to get out of this one but may not be able to avoid this. The horse has bilateral toe cracks, is shod summers barefoot winters.

George

[Donnie Walker]

George - "growing back at the heel" as you state, is exactly what should be happening, growing back at the widest point of the frog and downward if possible. The cracks are a direct result of your dilemma. Pull the heels back to the widest point of the frog, with the waxy sole as your depth guide, and bring the toe all the way back to the white portion of the hoof wall. If the horse is naturally under-slung in the heel then a maintenance program to fit his needs is all one can do, as heel growth is difficult to obtain on these. Take care of those cracks by all means. Sounds as if he will be in shoes until the cracks grow out. Appears to be a good thing he came your way.

[Jason Maki]

George,
If you are trimming the foot, trim the foot as you see fit. No one else has the knife, nippers and rasp in their hands, and no one elses "name" is on those feet.Do not vary from your judgement and rules. Everytime I try to play by someone elses rules and estimation of a situation, a large bite is taken from my Gluteus region. Trim him how you would trim him if he was a horse on your route, he deserves no less than your A game. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! Its your ship, if you are gonna sink, sink by your own Judgement!
Just my opininated opinion,
Jason

[Dave Whitaker]

I agree with Jason! Though my methods and beliefs are constantly evolving, I have to approach every situation with what I consider to be in THAT horse's best intrest at THAT moment. I just recently walked on a client that wanted to try the "trainer's way" because I knew what they wanted to do was dead wrong for the COMFORT and long term soundness of the horse. Well, two days after the trainer's farrier,(western pleasure, by the way), reshod the horse, the owner called me crying. I am now back with the Vet trying to get the mare back to where we were. They were trying to "slow her down". I asked them if your car is going too fast, do you jump out and flatten all four tires or learn to use the throttle? Learn what you can, listen to many things, formulate your beliefs, stick to them and continue to learn. These horses teach and humble us everyday. Dave

[Phil Armitage]

George, once you touch those feet you owne them. Hopefully this is not a chronic founder, thin sole and pedal ostietis. You will find out after you trim the horse and hopefully the owner trusts you. It is those one time favors that get you into the most trouble.

[Red Amor]

I cant help wondering why youve been asked to do the job

Is the sheila a slacker and doesent get Farrier to horse ofen enough or a good sort that cant get them in
is the farrier a slacker who does'nt give a rats or isnt he able to because of the owners faults

are they both slackers
poor bloody horse :) give em the sorbent treatment
Phil and the others have rung a few other alarm bells , consider these thoughts , are you up to the job
are you not going to get the job full time once youve explained it to the lady
DO YOU WANT THE JOB
is it going to cost you to help your wifes friend ? mate ay ?

If she's a good sort being let down then talk to her about your thoughts and what you'd like to see happen for the horse's future wellfare

dont bag the others work , just politely explain things , IF then you still have reservations about doing the job just come out of it

[calshoer]

If it is going to be barefoot all winter anyway, whatever trim you do now will be gone by spring, or be changed anyway when the other guy retrims it. If I pull and trim for the winter from someone else's shoeing work, I don't say much but just do the trim I always do. I am always conservative when pulling shoes fo the winter anyway, leaving a but more foot than I would do on those that have been barefoot on dry ground awhile.
Patty

[Rick Burten]

I agree with Patty and everyone else. I also think you are in a no win situation. Just be careful when you trim the feet, and don't hesitate to inform the owner about the problems as you see them and the possibility that this horse may get ouchy after the shoes are removed, regardless of how you trim or how much hoof you do or do not remove.

Personally, I run as quickly as I can from these situations, especially when I know I am not going to be asked back. Just remember: "No good deed goes unpunished".

Rick