Comment

Comment by Ward Edwards on May 17, 2010 at 8:44am

It sounds like you have a farrier who has his head screwed on right. I would ask him to help you make a decision, as having not seen Zuckie's feet in person, I can only guess on their condition.

I agree that a lot of the problems stem from the feet being left too long between trimming. If they are barefoot, they can at least wear them down a bit, but if they are shod, they just continue to grow and any inbalance will just get worse. A horse's foot is a lot more dynamic than a lot of people think and leaving a shoe on too long between trims can lead to problems.

Comment by John Freeman on May 17, 2010 at 5:12am

Oh no. I was cutting myself off from commenting further on the whole men in tights/tight breeches thread.
We've been fortunate in a lot of helpful referrals from other boarders at the farm, so Zuckie and I use a totally different vet than the one I expected to use and an excellent farrier, who is also not the one I was planning on. We do group bookings and save on travel costs by having several horses looked at the same day. Our farrier is a natural hoof specialist, but shoes as well. As an educator, I like the way he and his wife (also a farrier) attend regular training sessions and workshops to keep up with the latest developments. I prefer that scenario to the old guy who learned everything from his father and never progressed beyond good old dad's not necessarily ideal ways.

Comment by Jackie Cochran on May 16, 2010 at 6:14pm

This is just a personal observation as I have never shod horses (though I've trimmed for decades.) I think that heels are more likely to contract if there is 6-8 weeks between shoeings rather than 4 weeks. If the shoeing is done frequently enough by a good farrier the hoof can improve.

Comment by Geoffrey Pannell on May 16, 2010 at 5:50pm

comment away John, I think Ward and I are grown up enough to not be taking our conversation about horses feet personally!! After all we are agreeing on most points. After 30 years of shoeing horses and watching others shoe horses it is my experience that the only time the horses foot is adversely affected is when a poor job has been done. Perhaps Ward what you have seen with contracted hoofs has been a result of poor craftmanship. We have been putting shoes on horses for , oh I dont know ,2000 years ,it cant be all bad lol. Cheers Geoffrey

Comment by John Freeman on May 16, 2010 at 3:51pm

Oh, do I dare comment on this?
Back to shoes vs boots, the farrier is coming this week and if we do get shoes, they will definitely be pulled for the winter.
But, I don't want to think about winter right now. It's a spectacular sunny, warm day here. I'm glad I struggled out of bed and rode really early.

Comment by Jackie Cochran on May 16, 2010 at 1:48pm

Ah, yes, I would watch it. Men look better in tights than most women, at least where legs are concerned.
I REALLY miss the old whipcord cotton breeches and jods!!!!

Comment by John Freeman on May 16, 2010 at 1:34pm

Maybe this should be our theme song. After all breeches are not that different from tights.
I'm forbidden to wear mine in public outside of an equestrian context - like hopping into Tim Hortons on the road, no,no,no.
I'm so glad you guys have a sense of humour.

Comment by John Freeman on May 16, 2010 at 1:29pm

Only if we were wearing tights as well. Thanks, Michael. I don't think I've seen that before.
There was a time when I looked good in tights (don't ask), now - not so much!

Comment by Michael Matson on May 16, 2010 at 1:14pm

Okay guys, do you think if we did a quadrille to this music, the ladies would come to watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lUjhEHlh7s

Comment by Ward Edwards on May 16, 2010 at 10:30am

John, you might be best to shoe Zuckie during the summer when you are riding on the trails, but take the shoes off for the winter to give him some time to relax his foot.

As for shoes not affecting the condition of the foot, my wife's old horse was shod most of his life, but when he was retired due to an injury, he was left barefoot. During this time his foot went from mildly contracted to nice and wide with a big frog. I find that a lot of horses that wear shoes show contraction of the foot, likely due to insufficient frog pressure and the front of the foot not being allowed to flex. I have recently come across a product that seems to have the advantages of both shoes are barefoot. You can take a look at http://www.appliedequinepodiatry.org/perfecthoofwear/index.html. I haven't used it myself, but it looks promising.

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