Decker,
First off I say bless you for dealing with brood stock.. Those mares can be some of the worst ones to deal with. Agressive trim sounds like your takeing the hoofs down till they are tender. You may very well not be, but thats just how it sounds. Keeping the foot in propper shape (removeing flaring ect) is good propper care. Sounds like you had a hell of a time testing. Presistance pays off. Sorry if some of come off sounding like jerks. It happens a lot here. Most farriers are sarchastic as hell, and I'd say two thirds are cocky as hell. =] Keep the first thing in mind when reading replys, try to ignor the ladder.

best of luck,
Josh

e decker wrote:
I'll a*sume that this was directed at me (my sincere apologies if I am wrong) since I was the first to respond with a comment that questioned your "agressive trim"..... it's like agressive driving, works sometimes but puts a lot of folks at risk

Surely you have thicker skin than that if you shoe horses :confused:

after reading more posts on this subject from you, it appears that you somehow blame the AFA standards of testing for your failure to complete them........this shouldn't discourage you as much as make you re-examine what you are doing incorrectly......like Josh said, persistance pays off and I'd encourage you to keep trying

you can't do much about poor management of the horses you work on.... just have to play the cards you are dealt..... I'm in Central VA and see a lot of the same environmental obstacles that you do

hope that helps clarify things for you

Derin ( occasionally sarcastic, rarely cocky, but always calling a spade a spade)

Didn't Manning in the referenced article say that the AFA has no official trimming protocol but that if it did it would be much like the trim used during the shoeing practicals? Or was that said in a different article?

For the record, I rather doubt that I would apply to a barefoot horse, the trim as presented in the certification guidelines for shoeing.

I'm with Tom et. al. here on what type of trim those broodmares would be getting from me.

Another thing I do when using any of the iodine based products is to wear, at a minimum, safety glasses and opreferably, when I remember to take it with me, a full, clear, face shield.

In spite of my precaustions, I generally get to find out exactly where all the little nicks, cuts and abrasions on my hands and arms are located