Another farrier 😬

P

poiuytrewq

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 April 2008
Messages
21,502
Location
Cotswolds
Visit site
I am on the hunt for a new farrier. However I have two horses with missing shoes and so have kept my current appointment which is today, I hope as I’ve not been able to contact him since the lost shoes on Friday but this is pre booked so I figured at least it buys me time to get things sorted and gets us over the Christmas period. I can’t see anyone taking on new clients between now and NY
Got them both in out of the mud and gave legs a good wash so they are clean and dry this afternoon.
Took the opportunity to take a couple of photos while clean and to use as comparisons in the future.
Of course she is due, 5 weeks today and is missing one so not the best time to photograph.

However, I noticed this. wtf! It hasn’t been there the whole time, like this. I do pick her feet out (!) and although my eyesight leaves a bit to be desired I’d not have missed this. Also it’s sharp on your hand even if I’d been totally blind!
I don’t wash her legs usually, just for the farrier or on occasion if I want a good look at something.
Assume it’s been hidden and I’ve blasted it out with the hose making it more visible.
Acceptable or just careless?
IMG_4936.jpegIMG_4937.jpegIMG_4938.jpeg
 
Yes I think you're both right. It looked much finer to me initially but more wire like in the photo zoomed in (as do my poor hands, yay for winter!)
I don't own pliers but farrier will be here after lunch and she is stood on so should be fine.
 
I've just had a really nasty thought. Mr P put chicken wire round an area of fencing- The other side of the electric to prevent a small naugty pony escaping. It was pulled up the other day as if somethig had been messing round with it, I'd assumed from the outside rather than field side but I wonder now if she's the one trying to break out. Almost a bit scared to go see what state its all in.
They are not supposed to be out there until the fence is properly done and secured but I have to walk them over a very stony area to get to the other field so with missing shoes I'd decided they would be ok for a few days... aarrrghhh
 
I hope that today's farrier visit goes as well as possible, and that if the wire is from that she has messed with some netting outside the fence, that it can be easily fixed. Is it perhaps possible that she rolled too close to the fence, and with maximal bad luck, somehow managed to hook the end of that shoe to the net?

Alternatively, if you have badgers living nearby, maybe they messed with the netting first, afterwards came your horse, and somehow got that piece stuck between shoe and hoof. I've had trouble for several years at my Summer cabin, with badgers messing with my fence netting, so that they can go in and out of my garden whenever, wherever they like.
 
I've been and poo picked and they have indeed broken the main inner fence, breaking wooden posts out of the ground and so were able to get to the chicken wire behind and I can see where she had caught herself on it. Luckily with shoes they can go back in the proper field this evening until we can re-do the other fencing properly.

I find this kind of situ so stressful and difficult to deal with. Aside from the problems today is the first time we are going to try her weaned off the sedation and If I'm to be finding someone new she really needs to be vastly inproved on the first time she was shod (the only time without seds since I've had her)
I'm hopeful, I have no problem picking feet out etc now wheras It was hard work to put it mildly at first.

So I'm quietly worryig about both/all factors and could do with a glass of red already.

FinnishLapphund, I'm pretty sure they just tried to force through the first and she probably pawed into the mesh. I'd love to have badgers nearby!
 
Are the heels underrun as well? They look like they are going forward at a sharper angle than toes and pasterns but I'm not very good with feet (trying to learn).
 
poiuytrewq said:
I've been and poo picked and they have indeed broken the main inner fence, breaking wooden posts out of the ground and so were able to get to the chicken wire behind and I can see where she had caught herself on it. Luckily with shoes they can go back in the proper field this evening until we can re-do the other fencing properly.

I find this kind of situ so stressful and difficult to deal with. Aside from the problems today is the first time we are going to try her weaned off the sedation and If I'm to be finding someone new she really needs to be vastly inproved on the first time she was shod (the only time without seds since I've had her)
I'm hopeful, I have no problem picking feet out etc now wheras It was hard work to put it mildly at first.

So I'm quietly worryig about both/all factors and could do with a glass of red already.

FinnishLapphund, I'm pretty sure they just tried to force through the first and she probably pawed into the mesh. I'd love to have badgers nearby!
Click to expand...

Isn't there some saying about Luck and Unluck evens out overall? Anyway, sounds as if even though you were unlucky with them breaking down the fence, you where also lucky with them not getting injured, and having the farrier already booked for today, so that they newly shod can go back into other field.

I also loved having badgers nearby at first. It didn't bother me that they dug up the lawn a bit, the problem was that if the badgers messed up my fence enough for themselves to get in/out, it also meant they left gaps big enough for my late dogs to get out, and run up onto the road... None of them got run over, but the thought of the risk it put them in, still gives me a knot in my stomach. I'm afraid I don't quite love living close to badgers as much as I used to.
 
FinnishLapphund said:
Isn't there some saying about Luck and Unluck evens out overall? Anyway, sounds as if even though you were unlucky with them breaking down the fence, you where also lucky with them not getting injured, and having the farrier already booked for today, so that they newly shod can go back into other field.

I also loved having badgers nearby at first. It didn't bother me that they dug up the lawn a bit, the problem was that if the badgers messed up my fence enough for themselves to get in/out, it also meant they left gaps big enough for my late dogs to get out, and run up onto the road... None of them got run over, but the thought of the risk it put them in, still gives me a knot in my stomach. I'm afraid I don't quite love living close to badgers as much as I used to.
Click to expand...
No that’s very true, I hear they are quite destructive. I’m not sure I have ever even seen a live badger sadly.
 
These are freshly shod. Would appreciate opinions.
She wasn’t totally the easiest to do but very much improving each time. We used no sedation at all this session.
IMG_4948.jpegIMG_4947.jpegIMG_4953.jpegIMG_4951.jpeg
 
Ohhh and the other one came in minus another shoe so that’s both fronts lost in the space of a week 2/3 weeks after being done on a horse I’ve had 5/6 years and I don’t remember him ever pulling a shoe before. He has OR boots on.
His toes are no where near as long, but they still don’t look as they used too.
 
It’s certainly a better shoeing job than they did last time, and there’s been an effort to improve the breakover. Did you mention what the vet had said re the long toes?

They have put a decent length of heels on shoes for heel support, the flip side of which it’s easier for the horses to pull the shoes off. It’s often not great if a certain farrier fits shoes that *never* get pulled off, as they might well be using shoes which are too short and lack heel support.
 
Thanks Tiddlypom!
I actually didn’t no, simply because when the vet said that the horse was overdue shoeing.
I’m not sure if I’ve said or not but she came in slightly lame in front one day and was due to be shod. I cancelled the appointment because I didn’t want her leg yanked around and she wasn’t keen on standing on the sore side. The last thing I wanted was for being done to cause pain and confirm that being shod was bad to her so just postponed.
The vet said that at about 7 weeks and at that point just said toes are too long get her done asap which we did. I’d just figured we’d see how she looked after being done.
I have it up my sleeve to bring up if need be though.
I thought had I said it at that point farrier would have maybe not taken it as seriously and just thought yeah well she was over due.
 
Maybe you just need to reduce your shoeing cycles then? They don’t look bad now they have been reshod. Mine are on five weekly cycles, I like to keep them as balanced as possible and leaving them to get too long puts unnecessary strain on the tendons.
 
IrishMilo said:
Sorry if I’ve missed but what’s her diet like? I wouldn’t shorten the cycles any more than absolutely necessary at the moment, any time you put fresh nails in you are going to weaken the integrity of the wall and they already look really poor in front. It’s a fine line!
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. It was 6 weeks and farrier has said 5 so the last one was supposed to be 5 but due to the above lameness was longer. I have booked her In again at 5
She has hifi lite and linseed to carry her supplements of aviform joint supplement, gut supplement and salt
 
I kept her feed the same at first which was hifi and spillers lay off cubes.
I’ve cut them out over time. She was racing fit at first so I felt she needed the cubes but is a good doer and looking fab without them.
Looking to switch the chaff but didn’t want to do it all too fast.
 
FinnishLapphund said:
I hope that today's farrier visit goes as well as possible, and that if the wire is from that she has messed with some netting outside the fence, that it can be easily fixed. Is it perhaps possible that she rolled too close to the fence, and with maximal bad luck, somehow managed to hook the end of that shoe to the net?

Alternatively, if you have badgers living nearby, maybe they messed with the netting first, afterwards came your horse, and somehow got that piece stuck between shoe and hoof. I've had trouble for several years at my Summer cabin, with badgers messing with my fence netting, so that they can go in and out of my garden whenever, wherever they like.
Click to expand...
You can put in Badger flaps ( like big cat flaps) , they will use them if you put them exactly where their path goes. If they aren't in the right place, they'll just ignore them and go through the fence.
 
Tiddlypom said:
You can let your farrier off for the wire but not for the long toes that your vet has also remarked on.
Click to expand...
^^^ Would agree with this.

My pony got herself caught up in that awful squared sheep-wire stuff; she is kept at home with me, and I'd gone down to the paddock one day, and there she was in a really odd posture - when I got closer I could see that what she'd done was to get one of her front shoes caught up with the wire - her toe was pointing out and she was there, just stuck. Luckily she wasn't panicking or anything.

So I then had to figure out how to sort the problem out without everything going really badly wrong. Luckily I keep a set of wire-cutters in a visible place where everyone on the yard knows where they are, so I was able to cut the damn wire and get her out of it. I'd say this is what has happened in this particular case.

However.......... I wouldn't be at all happy with the way this horse is shod, end of. Toes too long, and the foot has patently been made to fit the shoe rather than the other way around. This was obviously a rush-job at the end of the day on the way to the pub, and I bet it was a cold-shod effort as well. I would certainly be looking for another farrier; and also I'd suggest researching some kind of supplement to help those hooves too.
 
poiuytrewq said:
Happy to switch anything/everything. Kept the feed the same at first as that’s what I always do with a new one.
Click to expand...

Id want to add a really good quality hoof supplement, progressive earth or forage plus are both good. Id be adding that all winter with a view to seeing how she goes, if theres improvement Id probably slowly switch over to one of the cheaper versions. But for now Id want to make sure those feet have everything they need.

If add oily herbs just because they seem to have some sort of magical effect on everything, a high spec hoof supplement which has vitamin e, and a big handful of linseed. The carrier doesnt really matter, but if shes ok with alfalfa its really good if you suspect stomach ulcer issues.
 
I have been looking at balancers. Ideally I'd have her on some form of chaff. I'd prefer not Hifi really but in the past its been one that everyone eats well and is easily available, then a balancer and linseed.
I've bought Pro Earth and Forage plus balancers in the past and really not had much luck with anyone eating them. I've always ended up giving them away. However this little mare does love her food so maybe she will eat it a bit easier. Any idea which is most paletable?

I never really use alfalfa. I had a TB years ago with laminitis and Debs from Hoof Geek went through my feed shed (literally) and threw everything out. I've been wary of it since, although probably needlessly as its a completely new horse. (and I know Hifi contains some)
I suppose I could try just a grass chaff.

In fairness to said farrier, no he wasn't in a hurry or on the way to the pub! He's not your average farrier (in person) He's incredibly kind and patient. He has all sorts of rescued animals at home, including things like pigs that are not for meat, they are just pets to live out their days. His life revolves around giving various animals a nice ending.
He doesn't drink and is vegetarian. I realise those things are totally irrelevant to how good a farrier is (sadly) but shows what he is as a person.
The reason I wanted him is that he really does take his time to get the horse happy and confident. He is also doing boot fitting training and getting hoof boot kits to help clients who want to go barefoot. He has a lot of interest in that side of things.
She is hot shod, However that is also a bit of a work in progress ATM. Obviously prior to him starting to shoe her she had never been hot shod, she had plates on when I got her, and wasn't at all keen on the smoke so he started with minimal and is building up slowly so does as much as she will tolerate without freaking out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top