Comments for Ask the Farrier

Comment on Dealing with Club Foot in Horses by ashley

ashley — Thu, 05 May 2011 03:04:27 +0000

I was wondering if anyone could help me out. Ive never dealt with a club foot in my life and have recently been given a very nice bred qh 3 yr old gelding that has a slight one. He seems to be fine with it but previous owner did not keep up with trimming. he really does seem to be slightly club footed, you can see it, its noticable. but i get such bad reviews from friends saying to not keep him because of it. is it harder to sell a club foot horse? do people see or read that and turn away? and really how expensive is it to have it taken care of? i mean he picks up his lead on it in the round pen (he is currently not broke) but he doesnt seem to stumble on it that i can tell. several people have looked at it and said just break him and use him. but i think that alot of people see or hear of one and think the worst. is it purely because of the extra money you have to put towards it sometimes?? he is a real sweetheart and i would love to give him a fighting chance on being something great in life since he is so young, but i am worried due to mixed reviews on if i should even take the chance.

Comment on Dealing with Horses that Bite by Laura

Laura — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:04:22 +0000

@ Rebekah Thompson …….. I know what you mean about the biting. Our experience with horses has always been with adult horses. In fact the mother of our “biter” is so gentle and loving. She only ever bit me once, and I know it was by total accident since I was holding carrots. I turned to brush her son away since he was trying to bite me and she went to get a carrot and accidentally got my finger instead. She let go when she realized she had my finger tho. Her colt is a whole nother story. He is so loveable, but the orneriest cuss you ever did see. I wouldn’t let this ruin you on horses or even this particular horse, and I wouldn’t get rid of her, but if possible I would try to get help in training her. We are going to have to get help with ours. We have tried every trick in the book. Absolutely nothing has worked on him. I do believe his is definitely a dominance thing. He also as soon as he got taller than me, I am only 5′3″, got more aggressive towards me. So we need the help of a good trainer too. We just can’t afford it right now.

Comment on Wobbler Syndrome in Horses by Laura

Laura — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:45:54 +0000

Hey ya’ll. I have noticed that we all have some similarities in what our horses are doing. The difference with mine is that he is only 7 months old. He has always been an ornery and very exuberant fellow, but what a great personality and we really love him. The problem is that if there is trouble to be found, he is going to find it. We have dealt with full grown horses for a long time, but this is our first experience with our own baby. We went over everything babyproofing, just like you would for a child. Well lately we noticed that he had been having a little clumsy stumble quite regularly to his walk. Then the other day he got himself stuck really good. It was quite the affair to get him unstuck. His walk has got progressively worse. He walks like a drunk who had 5 gallons of moonshine. The vet said possibly that he damaged something while struggling to get up. Then when we remembered that he was stumbling a little before he got “stuck”, she said it might be wobblers syndrome, and struggling could have exacerbated the problem and brought it out early. I don’t know what to do from here. We are not going to have the money for mylegrams and things like that, But I dont want to give up on him. She said he is probably NOT in any pain, however I have nerve problems in my back and they are EXTREMELY painful. I don’t care if we ever ride him, I just love him. His mama is ridden, we have her too. She has always been “clumsy”. Now I wonder if this is just a very mild form of Wobblers. Can anybody give me any advice. I am very heartsick.

Comment on Dealing with Club Foot in Horses by Kim

Kim — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:10:12 +0000

I have a horse with a club foot, just got him. His thrush got out of control down to the sensitive portion of his frog. I clean it everyday and he has a hospital plate on it. I pack under the hospital plate. A month before the thrush truly appeared, he started becoming very bad when I tried to mount to ride. Also very touchy on his withers. Could this be related to the deep thrush?

Comment on Dealing with Club Foot in Horses by Megan

Megan — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 10:39:41 +0000

I have a 2 year old with a EXTREME case of “stilt hoof” both front, Here has had the operation on his tendon,for a small improvement but he is exceptional long legged with a lot of problems. due to bad conformation,(we saved him) please show me any more solutions I can try or I will have to get him put down,
Thank you

Comment on Wobbler Syndrome in Horses by jackie

jackie — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 20:22:09 +0000

Hi Louise
My horse was the same as yours, vet gave painkillers and anti inflamitary was ok but still bit odd walking although my horses did lie down and was unable to get up by herself…vet had no idea what was wrong and took bloods they came back as normal my horse is 30yr old and a week later she was in paddock and went to roll she fell down with a bump rolled about and then tried to get up but was unable to so i flicked her several times with lead rope and she did eventually get up this happend today so i shall keep an eye on heri think she is arthritic? vet has no idea what it was….her initial problem was same as yours back legs not following the front and swaying to walk sideways almost like she had a broken back, or broken joint. I will keep an eye on her for now but i feel the time has come for the inevitable my girl has never had a days illness in her life and and has been my best friend so time for me to repay her, i onlynhope it does not come to that…please let me know what was wrong with your horse and if you found a solution

Comment on Dealing with Horses that Bite by Rebekah Thompson

Rebekah Thompson — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:54:03 +0000

my horse is a yearling that my grandma rscued from the auction. she tries to bite like she thinks she is dominant. i have never had a horse before and i have always loved horses. But i don’t want my horse raising experience ruined because of a young agresive horse could somone please help because i have only had her since January 12 2011 and today when i put this on here is January 14 2011.i love her and i don’t want to have to get rid of her. please help

Comment on Dealing with Club Foot in Horses by sue

sue — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 07:19:10 +0000

I had, and still have a TB mare that is club footed.She won races,and I never had any trouble with her feet.She never went lame,and never stumbled,she was the best horse to ride,and had such a smooth canter.My farrier used a full wedge pad with a frog support..My mare is now a broodmare,and has had 2 foals,that did not have clubbed feet.I traced her history back as far as I could,and her mother,grand mother,and great grand mother did not have clubbed feet.
To people that say they can’t be fixed…and don’t breed from them !! I am so lucky I didn’t listen to them !! and so is my horse !!

Comment on Cold Shoeing vs. Hot Shoeing by Ron Marshall

Ron Marshall — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 00:32:46 +0000

I rthink our profession has put so much emphasis on contest shoing that young farriers are intimedated and shy away from hot shoeing. All farriers should learn to hand make shoes. As a theapeutic horse shoer, I cannot keep in sock every shoe size and design that is available. I make many of my own shoes from all kinds of materials ( steel, aluminum, wood, etc. ). My work may not be competition quality but is functional. As far as hot fitting , I totally agree with Brian Jones.

My mentor, Jack Miller told me years ago, when we were taught to make shoes, ” The only reason you make shoes is that there is not a better shoe on the shelf. When the day comes the better shoe is on the shelf, that’s the one to use. ” Jack was a great mentor and a great blacksmith and farrier. Jack is gone and with today’s technology the better shoe is on the shelf. If you can afford to stock every shoe or can afford to walk away from a job until the shoe you ordered comes in, then why do you need to shoe horses for a living ?

Comment on Therapeutic Horseshoeing by Ron Marshall

Ron Marshall — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 00:08:21 +0000

I am a fifty year veteran farrier and certified member of the American Farriers Association #4959. I specialize in Therapeutic horse shoeing and I am a follower and student of Dr. Rick Redden ( The International Equine Podiatry Center located in Versailles, Kentucky ) and Dr. Stephen O’Grady.

Not all horses need shoes and not all horses need therapeutic shoeing. For those that do, there are many designs and many different materials used. In therapeutic work, shoes are used to help a correct healing environment for the affected horse. The shoe itself does not ” correct ” the problem. Many shoes are condemed because they made a problem worse or made the horse lame. Shoes are only a tool and the correct application with a good understanding of the biomechanics required allow the hoof to stabalize. Often, the desired mechanics can be acheived with proper trimming.