Im looking for general opinion. I have come across some horses that have been through "the back to barefoot method" Im finding that a lot of these horses, bars have been allowed to grow out to the point of breaking or rolling under, and have grown all the way to the tip of the frog,causing discomfort. I have been Told that the "barefoot specialist" does not believe in trimming the bars. I have also found that the heels are being left long and also tend to be rolling under, and Splitting. My question is , Do you prefer to trim a bar on a barefoot horse or leave it? I prefer to trim it back a little. Thank you
Once the bars protrude below the level of the sole they usually either fold, crack, break or some combination of the three. Folded over bars or cracked bars are a common place for an abscess to start. When one uses a trim process or method that appears to be detrimental over time a thinking person would try something different. People should learn from their mistakes. However, some "believers" will continue using a method that proves detrimental to the horse because they are all about PRESERVING THEIR BELIEFS and not much about doing what works. A short heel is a strong heel. Generally the heels should not be so long that the frog cannot engage the ground. In fact most trimming protocols, whether modern or ancient in origin, encourage trimming the heels to the same level as the frog. Science changes its views based on evidence. Dogma denies evidence in order to preserve a belief.
Every things barefoot hear in the winter so like it or not im a hoofer half the year.the number one cause of problems i see are over grown bars. I genraly leave as mutch sole as i can but the bars got to go.
That saying , my signiture comes from (now i will bucher a few names) polauski the head rider spanish school of riding WW2. who barowed it from xzaphan first auther of a book on horsemanship greek i beleave around 500 ad if memery serves who was quoting simon 300bc .it still applys well today as well as the old sailer addige ."if it dont look rite it probobaly aint.
I had a friend come to me and said , she has had a Natural Barefoot Specialist trimming her horse. She has Noticed that she seems off, and sore. This is a 17 yro Morgan ,she does not have great confirmation, but when I looked at her feet , both front feet are completely bruised, She is high on her toe, very very low on heel,and filed down all the way to her white line , the hoof wall is angled so it dosen't touch the ground, on the edge, so she is walking strictly on the point of her toe, and heels ,I was asked if I could put shoes on her, I told her not right now, there's nothing left to attach a shoe to ! This trim is 2 weeks old, and she uses this mare for Barrel Racing. these pics are of her front feet .I told her no more trims for 8 - 12 weeks!! I have known this mare for years and I have never seen her feet so short or her heel so low. when I pushed on her sole with my thumb this poor mare about came out of her skin.
Please extend my condolences to her... Go figure...... Thats "confOrmation" and how could you tell just by looking that the soles are "completely bruised"? What does that mean? Has she been standing in a field of marijuana? Its not so much that her heels are low, rather that they are long and run forward. Stupid is as stupid does..... Not always a bad thing.... Sure there is. A competent mechanic could either nail that horse up or uses a glue-on application(of which there are several options) It could be worse. A 17 year old Morgan barrel racer What level is she racing and does she win much? Or is she what many refer to as "added money"? I don't much care how long you wait but this horse needs help right now. It seems to me that you are in over your head and it is time to call in someone with more experience. All the more reason to do something now. You could start by having the owner purchase Durasole and start using it as soon as it arrives. 'Till then and then after it arrives, perhaps instituting the Styrofoam Protocol would be a good idea. The horse needs hoof protection so you or someone needs to get that job done.
Got it covered Rick. I'm meeting Shannon in the morning. I'll show her how to make ugly shoes like I did with Tejun.
Bill, I couldn't care less if the shoes are FUGLY so long as they help the horse. More importantly, the horse doesn't care if the shoes are FUGLY so long as they improve its condition.
Bill you asked what people thought of your job in the other thread if i thought you were going to be childish i woudent of bothered commenting.
Not at all like that John. I really am going to meet Shannon (in about an hour) and she's going to watch for a while today. Keep giving input John. I gota run as I don't want to be late meeting a new Forum member.
John .the western US 's sence of humer can be a little off sometimes and however hard your critacisems are to take some times dont ever feel there not welcome or needed you have fed me and others humble pie in the past and it has made me better at what i do.thanks. Shanon as Rick so delicately put it.put somee thing under that poor things feet.
John and Ray , I completely agree with you that she needs something done NOW! . thing is , its not my horse ,not my client. Owner is my friend , but has a tendency to consistently complain about "what someone else did to her horse" . I do not have the Confidence in myself nor the want to be her blame of the week , to try to put shoes on this horse.My other concern is her foot is now a size smaller then it used to be. I did Talk to bill about her feet he said he could do it easy . I believe him . As for the bruising on her feet , we were at a Gymkhana I had hauled the horse up for her, we were standing in the wet grass , she started cleaning her feet , and asked me to come look because her horses feet were red. when I looked it was dark red on a black foot, heels toe white line , so I figured it was pretty bruised . I could be wrong . its happened before . but I didnt do this to the horse .I would never do this to a horse . thank u for the information , its tough to be new. Thank You Bill I learned so much more today , and I will recommend what u told me for my friends horse. But someone else can put shoes on her. I will however figure something out to ease her feet , maybe some cardboard pads and duct tape
Some times we luck out and get to learn from someone else's mistakes .hears your opertunity go with who ever dose it and learn looks to me that nailing wouldent be a probolem ,hard to tell from the pick and easy to say over the net .as rick said theres always glue if your afrade to nail. Dont take it to hart learn from it. And btw dont ever take a trusty roll of ducktape for granted it works (pad with sharmin tp it worked for me )
Oh yes , When my QH was having thin sole/stone bruise issues. i found that round table pizza boxes cut to shape and gorilla tape did wonders for her . I was relieved when she got shoes but it was a great until then aid, btw I told my friend to do this for her horse as well , lol I forgot to answer the barrel question , yes she does win on occasion. After watching Bill Adams today , and getting an enormous amount of new and some known knowledge I could slap shoes on the mare, its more that I dont want the trouble of the owner , , but i love to further my education
Well we have another one of these crazy women who want to be a Farrier. This one seems to have the fire like Kimie and Alicia. Now she needs to get into the fire. It's kinda hard to know what she's thinking, but I'll try to draw her out and see if I can get her to talk. If she calls me tomorrow when I'm in Ferndale, I've got a hammer and tongs for her.
better to be a crazy women who really wants to be a FARRIER; and ""NOT"" some Barefoot Trimmer!!!!!!! there's the WCB and AFA for clinics and contests to involved with the anvil and forge oh and Bill don't draw her out..........Bring her out!!!...................ps all women talk
A professional does not 'slap' shoes on the horse. If that's how you approach the situation, then you should confine your activities to providing services to the carousel horses at the carnival.
At Harverd they teach a young man to wash the palm of there hands first then the back after using the lavitory. At Yale they teach a young gentelman to wash the back of ther hands first then the palm after useing the facilitys . In the west they teach a boy not to pee on his hands. All do respect Rick but if your useing glue or ducktape slap sounds corect and proper to me
