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Helpful Hints for Hassle Free Horseshoeing
by David Farmilo
Accredited Master Farrier, Oakbank SA
PH 0418 835 186
www.horsefarrier.com.au
Provide a dedicated shoeing bay area which is horse friendly
and safe for the farrier and is protected from all adverse weather
conditions.
The sole aim of the hoof care exercise is to enhance the horse’s
natural athletic ability and not to inhibit it, whether shod
or unshod.
It is your duty of care to be honest with the farrier and
provide him with all the recent working history and behavioural
history.
Teach your horse to be cross tied so you don’t have
to stand there and hold it, then you will be able move around
each leg and see what the farrier is doing. You are paying for
it and you need to see what the farrier is seeing.
It is only polite to have the horse ready and waiting for
the farrier – you are paying him to shoe it, not to catch
it.
If it is winter and wet and muddy, be thoughtful enough to
wash the legs down before the farrier begins, it will win you
major brownie points.
If the horse is shedding its coat, be thoughtful enough to
brush the horse before the farrier begins, it will win you more
major brownie points. Please don’t groom while the horse
is being shod.
Please don’t feed the horse while it is being shod –
reward him for good behaviour when finished.
Be certain that you and your farrier are working towards the
same goal for your horse of care and performance, before the
job begins.
About 90% of the art of shoeing the horse correctly is in
trimming and balancing the hoof before the appropriate shoes
are selected. The finished hoof should be a mirror image of
the coronary band.
Not all horses are comfortable with their leg held in the
normal workable position. If your horse is of the mature variety
and becomes agitated during the trimming or shoeing procedure,
understand that he is finding it hard to flex his legs up that
high any more, so lower the leg down to where he is happy and
he will relax and then you may continue. I regularly shoe some
older horses with their hoof no higher than 300 mm (1 foot)
off the ground, because they are stiff in the shoulders and
hips, yet they lead an active working life.
Learn to stand in a balanced posture when working under the
horse. If you push, he has to push. But if you are both balanced,
you will both be able to relax and enjoy the company.
Pay particular attention when nailing a shoe on to use the
correct size nails. As a guide, if the nail head sits with just
a slight protrusion above the shoe surface then the nail shank
is the correct thickness to go through the hoof wall without
causing pain to the horse.
It is an historical fact that at least
90% of all lameness in the horse is directly hoof related, and
I consider bad attitude to be hoof related as well.
If your horse is shod regularly for the purposes
of work or competition, be mindful of the need to allow time off
without shoes each year; the hooves need to be able to get back
to nature and re-learn how to toughen up without shoes.
We have all had the horse who seems to
just invent a fly to swish with his tail, just as you are bending
to pick up the leg. To stop this, place a stiff clothes peg or
plastic butterfly clip into a bunch of tail hair (not skin) about
six inches down from the dock. It really works.
To the horse owner who may feel intimidated
at asking questions of the farrier - dont be shy, just remember
that YOU are the expert when it comes to recogising a difference
in the way the horse is working, or travelling, or the way it
feels. The farrier only visits once every 6 weeks or so, making
it difficult for them to assess these minor changes that you observe
daily. It is your right to query these changes in the horse's
behaviour or in its working.
Founder is life-changing for the horse forever
after; the damaged laminae will never return to normal once it
has been stretched. Owners need to be extremely vigilant and to
monitor the horse’s condition to avoid the onset of this
problem at all costs.
A heavy hand clinching a heavy nail is
likely to cause pain to the horse – if the horse is tucking
his toes back after shoeing, he is already feeling the pinch and
that means being in pain.
Keep a large magnet in the tool box, flick
the discarded clinches into the box and they are out of harms
way. Anyone who discards nails onto the ground should not be around
horses.
There is absolutely no reason for a horse
to become nervous or jittery when the shoes are being nailed if
it is being nailed with the correct selection of nails into the
correct shoe for that size hoof after the hoof has been correctly
balanced
When you pick up a horse’s front
leg, he has what I call a ‘Happy Spot’. This is an
area of about one foot square that when you hold the foot up off
the ground at the fetlock joint, there is no tension on that leg
at all, and the horse is standing on his other 3 legs perfectly
balanced and comfortable. That is the spot to work on the hoof.
Every horse owner should be able to check
the digital pulse - to do this place thumb and forefinger either
side of and above the fetlock joint just behind the tendon. Note
the pulse then compare it with the opposite leg. If the pulse
appears to be accelerated or stronger you can be fairly sure there
is an abscess forming somewhere in that hoof.
The horse’s hoof is the horse’s
barometer, a bit like his eyes – lightly holding the hoof
you can feel his mood, his temperament and what he thinks about
you as a farrier
Corns occur back in the heel area at the
junction where the bars meet the hoof wall – this is called
the buttress of the heel. That V-shaped pocket is called the seat
of the corn area and if the horse has corns there will be a reddening
of the sole tissue that looks like bruising. Corns are the direct
result of an unbalanced hoof and poorly executed trimming methods.
In a white hoof you will often see a bruise,
and people assume the horse has been kicking the wall. In actual
fact, there is a flare in the hoof capsule, and the laminae is
trying to tear away from the coffin bone, and is actually sub
surface bleeding. If you push hard down on your finger nail, and
it starts to stretch you will get a red line under the nail. If
you keep on, it hurts. Then with a horse, you add a saddle and
a rider and expect it to work. That horse is in pain, and you
need to understand what that red mark is telling you.
Little horses and miniature horses have
all the same working parts as their big cousins, including their
hooves. Their tiny hooves are just as important to them as a working
horse’s hoof, and it is equally important to shape and balance
them correctly when trimming to avoid stress problems.
Most bent leg problems in foals can be
corrected by careful attention of the farrier from as early as
three weeks after birth; at this age the foals are very easy to
hold (close to mum of course) and should then be trimmed regularly
to establish a pattern. Because these foals are handled regularly
from an early age, shoeing is generally not a problem.
Treatment of Seedy Toe requires the hoof
wall to be pared away to expose the affected areas to the air,
thus causing the infection to die. Care should be taken to remove
all the unhealthy material back to good, clean hoof wall laminae.
Shoeing is not about banging on a pair
of shoes. Shoeing is about enhancing the horse’s athletic
ability, and, through that gentle touch, learning what the horse
is telling you about what you are doing to him so you had better
be mindful that he is monitoring your own performance also
Stringhalt is a nervous reaction of the
hind legs – the horse involuntarily snaps them up, almost
to the belly, when the leg is lifted. Stringhalt is triggered
by a neurological disorder in the brain which acts on the nervous
system, seeming to act only on the back legs.
It is much easier to learn to change hands
with the rasp or the hammer than to move to the inside position
of both front and hind legs, when there is no logical reason to
do so.
Most horses gallop so that the front
legs pass between the inside of the hind legs. An occasional horse
gallops inside out, in other words the front legs pass the back
legs on the outside.
Founder or Laminitis is one of the most
damaging ailments for the horse’s hoof. The causes are varied
but the effects are always the same with varying degrees of severity.
The two main causes are either an over-enriched
diet coupled with a lack of exercise, or trauma to the horse through
injury or sickness or stress.
Always use a hoof knife or loop knife
by cutting from the frog down to the toe or from the frog out
to the sides; that way you will not cut the frog and most importantly
you will not risk cutting the veins and arteries in your arm if
the horse moves.
The leg bone structure of the donkey is very
light and they tend to have a very upright hoof pastern angle,
this means that they always grow more heel than toe, which means
that regular hoof trimming is a must to avoid the contracted frog
or contracted heel syndrome.
The golden rule for shoe selection is that a shoe should
be as light as possible to allow the horse to perform his task.
Not as heavy as possible.
I have found that that a horse cannot
‘decode’ whistling, and cannot detect any unease in
the handler. Whistling has probably preserved my life when shoeing
many difficult or dangerous horses.
A triple clipped shoe is made from a standard
factory shoe heated in a forge or using an oxy torch; the clip
is then drawn out of the hot metal using the edge of the hammer
over the square edge of the anvil or similar. These clips can
be put anywhere on the shoe to suit any hoof problem.
In my opinion the single most common cause
of lameness in our equine industry is the presence of flares anywhere
in the hoof. The truly qualified tradesman farrier applying the
simple basic principles of hoof balance does not encourage flares
in the hoof wall so he will always end up fitting a symmetrical
shoe that mirrors the shape of the coronary band.
In most horses I get to see, all they
ever needed was to be trimmed correctly or shod with normal shoes.
Ask the horse too - if it doesn’t look right the chances
are it certainly doesn’t feel right either.
There is absolutely no need for any ropes,
hobbles, straps or restraints of any kind, no matter how difficult
that horse may be or has been in the past. With kindness and understanding
all of these horses will come good, they will allow themselves
to be shod in a relaxed manner without using violence.
If your horse gets a sole puncture or
bleeds from the hoof for whatever reason, dirt going into the
puncture will immediately result in infection and possible abscessing.
Wash the hoof, spray with purple spray or iodine, then apply an
animal lintex poultice.
It is your responsibility if you own or
ride or care for a horse, to seek the how-to knowledge about hoof
care and maintenance. Far too many horses suffer needlessly after
simple mishaps such as springing a shoe or losing the odd nails
while waiting for the farrier to arrive.
When training foals to be trimmed, I do
not condone the use of twitches or leg ropes, especially ear twitches,
instead just take a little more time, allow him to learn to balance
on three legs, which will give him confidence. They respond so
quickly to kindness.
One cause of hoof-related back strain
in horses is incorrect hoof/pastern angle in the front feet, resulting
from either long toes and low heels, or from high heels and short
toes.
Regardless of whether the hoof is to be
shod or unshod, it must be trimmed to be balanced.
Many well meaning horse lovers come prepared
with a bag of carrots, and then each time the horse nips me or
pulls away, he is rewarded with a lovely carrot, which encourages
him to nip again as soon as the carrot is gone.
Every horse must be allowed to go barefoot
at regular intervals, especially young horses, so it is little
wonder horses ended up unsound after having been shod constantly
for years.
The low-heeled hoof is usually accompanied
by a long and concaved hoof capsule at the toe due to the tubules
bending under the pressure of their excessive length.
Horse owners should all learn to pick
up and hold the leg of the horse anyhow, so why not practise holding
it as the farrier does, then you will have the freedom to use
both hands and with a set of basic tools you will be able to perform
emergency care when your horse really needs it.
As a farrier I can recall many occasions
over the years when long term hoof problems could have been avoided
if the horse owner had just been able to stabilise the shoe until
I arrived.
Heavy nails on a light hoof displace too
much laminae under the hoof wall, causing much damage and often
cracking the hoof wall.
Teaching the foal good habits for shoeing
is important. Make sure you reward for good behaviour and not
for poor behaviour.
Seedy Toe should never get to the extreme stage.
If it does, it has either been ignored or not noticed in the first
place – neither of these is any excuse. If a horse is shod
or trimmed every six weeks, that should be the maximum amount
of time that elapses between inspections.
Communication is vital between owner or
rider and the farrier, as the farrier needs to know what the horse
is being used for; it is also a big help to know what ground surfaces
he will encounter.
By the time many of our young horses are
old enough to do anything with, they have had little or no attention
by way of corrective hoof trimming, so we begin their education
already way behind the eight ball.
Probably the most common error in hoof
preparation is simply not trimming out the sole enough. This leads
to what we know as the low heel/long toe type of hoof.
It is not always easy to remove the sometimes
rock hard overgrowth of six week old sole, but unless you do,
the hoof will end up too long in the toes and his action will
change for the worse.
The horse’s hoof is really the same
as it always was – do you realise that the shape of the
hoof capsule at the coronary band should be the same shape at
the ground surface.
Horses in competition need the advantage
of light shoes to enable them to move lightly and increase agility.
Unfortunately, only about 1% of owners
can remove a shoe yet it should be a requirement of being an owner.
A twisted shoe can result in a nasty hoof injury, and nails can
puncture the hoof.
The hoof growth rate of a donkey is the
same as a horse which is about half an inch every six to eight
weeks, so to leave his feet unattended for months causes great
discomfort and reduces his mobility dramatically.
Heavy shoes create greater concussion to
joints and are usually fitted with heavier nails which destroy
that delicate hoof wall capsule.
Let common sense prevail - could you as a ballet dancer perform
your best in heavy working boots? Fitting the correct weight shoes
will lift your horse’s athletic ability dramatically, and
will also reduce downtime from lameness and injury.
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