Babies and feet

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AMH

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For those people who have youngstock: what do you do about trimming?

I have a yearling on stud livery at the moment, barned over the winter and just turned out for the summer. Before she went out, I asked that she have her feet trimmed, since they weren't in great shape. The yard did it for me (at extra cost for handling etc) but in general they don't touch their youngsters' feet at all, and wouldn't have done hers had I not requested it.

Youngsters I've dealt with in years gone by have had (relatively) regular trims, and I wondered how many people have their babies done, especially those with a 'herd'...
 
Our herds naturally keep their own feet trimmed up. We have a stony track going through the field plus around the water troughs. 9 times out of 10, none will need trimming as they chip them back themselves and keep their feet as they should be. You'll get the occasional 1/10 which needs to be bought in for trimming if they've not quite got the best feet [,ie, drag their toes squaring off the fronts, slightly flat feet/etc...anything which doesn't make them wear correctly naturally.] Our farrier is brilliant with the babies, he's quite happy being left to a barnful of loose babies for a day and will just work his way through them quietly, he's never harsh with them, loses his patience or minds anything they may do. All are quiet and done by the end of it with no stress.


From a handling point of view, then yes, by all means get them done regularly if you have the time to just run a rasp over them/etc. But generally they shouldn't 'need' it. Our farrier is a firm believer of leaving them be till they're older unless they need the work doing to them. He always raves about the cobs feet. Nothing has ever needed shoes when they've been older [not just the cobs - had a few warmblood babies and more blood types thrown in the mix]....feet like concrete! :)



Edited - barn kept ones over winter, obviously are trimmed up more - due to not having anything to wear them down on.
 
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Mine is done every 12 weeks as that's how often he needs it, I suppose it gets him used to the whole process. I have noticed his feet have been self-trimming now he's out 24/7 though
 
Just to clarify - my yearling is a WB and the problem was that she'd worn her hinds unevenly so that they were flaring to the outside quite pronouncedly. Her mother didn't have the best hocks in the world (but was BWBS graded and had lots of other things to recommend her, before we get into a debate whether she was right to breed from!) and I'm trying to avoid too much 'cowishness', although I know there's only so much the farrier can do!

I've been advised that she'll straighten up once she's out 24/7 and building muscle. She had a pretty tough start in life and she's my next ridng horse in the making, so I'm keen to make sure she has every chance of growing up straight and sound!
 
We had one who we had to get trimmed every 2 weeks to straight him up. He did eventually after about 8 months trimming fortnightly. Just turning him out wouldn't have worked with him to get them sorted :) Though he can now be left out and only trimmed when needed now.

You and you're farrier will know what's best. If they need the work doing due to conformation or uneven wearing, then corrective work whilst they're young is the best option imo. :)
 
CS - you've kind of confirmed what I've been thinking. A little while ago I was persuaded out of something horse/conformation related against my better judgement and it's come back to bite me. I'm learning that I should trust my gut instincts...
 
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