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Helen Newton
Gold Member
England
692 Posts |
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Deboniks
Platinum Member
England
3776 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 11:55:39 AM
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Helen I totally agree But it is so hared for some people to come out of their comfort zones. There is no progression and that's the worst thing for the horse Only the owner knows or should know what their own horses need Hopefully they have reasearched all of the best opptions first |
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Azara
Bronze Member
England
203 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 12:00:06 PM
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I have four barefoot horses.
The two Spanish mares are trimmed by a regular farrier, neither are ridden, both have exceptionally hard feet. They are trimmed by a regular but very experienced farrier who keeps himself professionally updated and is open-minded.
My retired mare was barefoot for 10 years - farrier trimmed, ridden regularly including lots of roadwork. She also has exemplary feet.
New boy is in the recovery stages of laminitis. He is barefoot trimmed by an Equine Podiatrist as this, on looking at the current research, seems to be the best way of managing his condition. His hooves had previously been absolutely butchered by a regular (but not UK based) farrier)
In short I will do whatever is the best method for managing my horse's feet to keep them healthy and functioning correctly. I am not rabidly pro or anti any method as long as it suits my horses.
On reflection I am anti-Strasser for the many reasons discussed elsewhere and in light of high profile prosecutions on behalf of the ILPH. |
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zahlina
Bronze Member
Netherlands
70 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 12:27:43 PM
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Being the partner of a farrier I can only say that i would never use a not schooled person to do the feed of my horses.
In the netherlands a farrier go's to school for a min of 2 year and needs to work for 350 day with a farrier before getting the papers.
The most importent thing that a farrier needs to do is to listen to the owner and to look at the horse to make sure that the best thing happents with the horse.
Some times that will be a shoe (my partner works with 15 different shoes) but most of the time the horses are best of without a shoe.
The reson I only will deal with a schooled farrier is that I can do the best for the horse.
Without knowing how a hoof shoot be trimmed you can never shoe a horse and that is the resson that overhere there is alot of time going to the trimming of hoofs on school.
I do not believe that a person can learn how to trim the hoofs in a few days, my partner is now 4 year a farrier and stil is learning every day.
He workes with 2 different farriers, one a old teacher how go's al around the world to give clinnics in trimming and shoeing and a very good farriers that is also the trainer of my partner when he went to school. |
Emma Stuive.
Quest Arabians.
The Netherlands.
www.questarabians.nl |
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loosefur
Gold Member
584 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 5:27:17 PM
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This has to be one of the most controversial topics around!
Both my horses are shod - and have been all their working lives - and I've got a great farrier who knows his stuff. I've got no plans to take either of them bare foot but not because I'm anti the concept it's just not suitable for my current situation. I compete endurance with my two and I'm not prepared to wait out the interim period of adjustment - which could be a matter of days but could easily be 6 months or a year - where I can't ride or do what I want with my horses. Being on a livery yard I'm also not in charge of the amount and type of turnout my horses get. Barefooted horses need lots of turnout but also turnout that isn't deep mud, otherwise the hooves get too soft and then you struggle when riding on harder or stony ground. Horses' hooves evolved in very dry (low humidity) environments, with hard rocky surfaces and very poor vegetation. Hooves are definitely not designed for muddy English fields with lush grass.
So barefooted isn't for me or my horses right now. However if I got a youngster I would definitely think about starting it barefooted and seeing how it coped. And the day I get my own land I'll definitely set things up so the horses have a more natural environment than they do at the moment.
Just on the subject of farriers v trimmers and the relative amount of training - yes farriers have their 4 year apprenticeship, have to pass the college exams etc but once they're qualified there is no requirement for them to be reassessed or undergo any continuing training. That doesn't matter if you have a farrier that is progressive, keeps up to date with new thoughts and methods and reeducates himself throughout his career. But I know farriers who've been going for 25 years and they still shoe long toe low heel because that's how they were trained and they're not going to do anything different now. I think every farrier should be reassessed every few years to make sure they are still shoeing up to an acceptable standard. |
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SEZ
Gold Member
England
1101 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 8:11:01 PM
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| Hey loosefur - am I still allowed to come and live in a caravan and muck out your hundereds of horses when you get your own land? |
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emmalouise
Bronze Member
71 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 9:08:07 PM
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I can only speak as I fine. Ernie wore shoes all his life but then was turned away from racing barefoot for five months then he came to me and it seemed logical to try him barefoot in work.
My trimmer Jane has been wonderful and I have complete faith in her -she is in her final stages of training with UKNHCP. I would never let an unqualified or underqualified person near any horses feet. Ernie has not had one days lameness and had never worn boots-though if I start endurance he may.
When I now see horses in shoes I find it rather odd to be honest! His feet look healthy and neat - thanks to having time invested in them by someone who takes a more cognitive approach to their work. I did find when I had farriers that many did not take time to ask questions about the horse - they just banged the shoes on amidst a furore of steam,smoke and fire, took their sixty quid and left-all as quickly as possible so as to be on to the next client. I am not saying all farriers are like that - I have met lovely ones- but they don't compare to the gentle,educated approach of my current trimmer. Here's to well qualified barefoot trimmers- I believe that they have made the world a better place for many horses! |
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Mrs DJ
Gold Member
632 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2008 : 10:06:20 PM
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If your horses are sound and happy, I would stick with the farrier, but from personal experience I know that they are not all good, no matter how qualified.
I bought my mare as a two year old, and backed her at four. At the time I had no complaint with the farrier I was using. Even then I wanted to keep her without shoes, being all for the natural approach to horsecare (she's bitless & treeless as well as barefoot). On speaking to the farrier, his response was "if you want to ride it, it'll need shoes".
Since, initially, her feet did start developing cracks after being lightly ridden, I reluctantly took his advice & had her shod.
For a couple of years I had no problems, then, for some reason, my normally surefooted mare started tripping. She even fell to her knees a couple of times, once on the road (luckily no serious damage!!). As her feet had started looking 'different'-sort of too elongated-I spoke to the farrier and asked if her feet were possibly too long. His response was (and I quote)-'take a big stick to it'. She doesn't even know what a riding whip is!!! as I've never used one on her, ever-not needed to.
Then, horror, she developed laminitis. Admittedly, she was carrying too much weight (gets fat on fresh air), but to this day I'm not convinced that it wasn't caused partially by her feet being so out of proper shape & totally unbalanced. I asked the farrier to take off the shoes & trim her feet back (he wanted to know why ??????). Eventually he did as I asked, but very grudgingly (turns out he's of the 'I'm the qualified farrier, don't tell me my job brigade).
I still wasn't happy with the look of her feet, so, three weeks after, a different farrier was on the yard. I asked him if he'd mind looking at my mare. He pointed out straight away that one of her front feet was a good 1/2in longer than the other!!
He agreed to trim her feet for me, and trimmed them back more after that three weeks than the other farrier had done when he removed the shoes! Four years on I'm still using the second farrier, and she has good hard feet. I ride her over stoney/gritty/tarmaced ground with no problems - I just make sure I have a sharp nail handy to remove any grit from her feet after a ride, and she copes really well on any terrain-I don't use any oils or lotions & potions on her feet either. Having said that, my friend tried to go barefoot, but her horse did not cope well, so she ended up having him shod again, but everyone has to go with what their horse is telling them, imo.
If your horses are sound, and you're happy with your current farrier, I would stick with him.
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carole ferguson
Silver Member
United Kingdom
457 Posts |
Posted - 07 Apr 2008 : 1:04:51 PM
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I had a friend from work who is a Barefoot Trimmer come to do 4 of my girls an Saturday afternoon. My farrier has had to retire.
she was really good in every respect - and took her time with each one - and I must say I have never seen such good work - and my three ponies and PBA mare's feet all look much better than when my farrier did them.
One pony is about 36 years old - with badly shaped feet from a previous loan home and farrier - she looks much better now - My 26 year old Dartmoor also looks good - the young Dartmoor mare who turned one foot out probably due to the previous farrier - she looks as though she may become a lot straighter with this kind of trim - And my Part-arab mare's feet look better than I have ever seen them.
I will now get this lady to trim my Palomino show filly - and hopefully get my 20 year old Saddlebed mare to go without shoes after 16 years. |
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Farrah
New Member
3 Posts |
Posted - 12 Apr 2008 : 07:32:29 AM
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 Hi everyone,this is a very interesting thread because i think at the moment,more and more people are turning barefoot!!We had the same farrier for 15 years and i couldn't praise him enough,however,6 years ago we had 8 horses,(4 of which were bought as 2 yr olds so never had shoes on),and we decided all the horses should be barefoot.We stuck this out for 4 years and it was a nightmare,endless lameness,foot punctures etc,our farrier tried really hard to get them right,there was only one horse who never had a problem.So we went back to shoes for a couple of years until i bought my arabian mare that i have now,her feet just crumbled in bits every time she was shod and she was pulling shoes off left right and centre,so i turned to a bare foot trimmer,who i have to say,didn't seem experienced enough as they were newly qualified--thats when i found Abbi Hogg (based in west yorks).She turned my mares feet around literally within weeks and now they are fantastic!! So,i guess what i'm trying to say is check what training AND experience your trimmer has had because it makes all the difference!! |
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Topic Locked 
Or should I say progress 
