Barefoot trimmer/ podiatrist Vs farrier

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peanutsmumma

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I have always had my farrier trim my barefoot boys but I have been reading more and more about barefoot trimmers and podiatrists.

Can anyone give me and insight into the difference and whether having one has made any benefits to your horse?
 
As above, whichever works best for your horse. There are good and bad in both.

Do not buy into the hype that a trimmer or a podiatrist must automatically be better than a farrier, because there are some really poor fully qualified and registered ones out there harming feet. So much so that a vet I use can spot which horses have had a barefoot trimmer to them by the poor long toe/low heel foot balance that is their trademark.

That said, sadly there are plenty of rubbish farriers out there too. So if you are happy with your current farrier's work, stick with them.

ETA I did use a (still registered) EPA podiatrist to trim my horses' feet for over a year, and whilst the person was very pleasant, their lack of knowledge and their insistence that they knew better than my vet about foot balance was shocking 😳.
 
I struggled to get a farrier when I moved as they were all booked. The one I managed to get was unreliable hence I changed to a trimmer.
If you're happy with your farrier and the job they're doing keep them. No point fixing what's not broken.
 
Our lovely trimmer has recently semi retired and stopped travelling to our area. I've tried a new qualified trimmer (and a friend did the same with a different trimmer) both of us didn't have great experiences.
I'm now back to trying the farrier.

The new trimmer took more than an hour per horse, videos, photos of all angles weird way of handling the horses - (two of whom are young unbroken and really ran out of patients with the whole thing). Not much in the way of feedback (as they already have a barefoot friendly diet, thrush mgmt. and nice feet). Then the trimmer hacked off tonnes of frog on one of them and he was lame for a week (to the point I gave him bute).

The farrier more recently did five trims in 50 minutes - wham - done, no frills or fuss all five sound after the trims.

I think trimmers can give wider holistic advice (feeding, spotting other higher up issues through noticing changes in flair etc.) but if your horse has nice feet and is happy - not sure you need all of that.
 
Barefoot trimming is the Wild West. Some farriers do a terrible trim. Others do a wonderful trim. Some equine podiatrists are very good, while others are useless. It would be amazing if you could get a farrier/trimmer and feel confident that they are competent and won't make your horse lame, but that's now how the world works.

I'm currently using a farrier. He can trim a horse in 15/20 minutes, and no one is sore afterwards. There are quite a few barefoot horses at the yard that he does, and all seem sound and comfortable.

I tried out a podiatrist. The appointment took over an hour, with trot ups and photos and the whole nine yards. At first, I liked how holistic everything felt but then, when you have two horses, you start questioning your life choices because that's a lot of time that you could be doing something else. And when my two horses and a friend's horse (all with completely different feet and no prior issues) were sore after a trim, I decided I had to grovel to the farrier to take us back and felt a bit stupid. Luckily the farrier is a very nice guy and did!
 
If your farrier is willing to discuss, just ask him not to trim the frog, apart from flappy bits and just basically tidy the edges of the hoof. It kind of depends whether you want to ride barefoot or ride in boots.
If you ride on varying surfaces the hoof will get trimmed by that, if you always wear boots then the hoof growth will need trimming
 
I use a barefoot trimmer personally but would use a farrier if I had a good local one that had availability and turned up when they said they would.

My trimmer does my pony in 20-30 minutes, so a reasonable appointment time.

Pony's always sound - we do lots of hacking and long rides over some tough ground without boots most of the year (we only boot in summer to reduce concussion in middle-aged pony).
 
I use a trimmer who hunts her horse barefoot. I reckon she must know her job! Charges £45 per pony and takes 30 to 40 minutes per pony.
 
Whichever works best for you. My farrier is absolutely amazing with our barefoot ponies and was equally amazing when we had the pony shod in front so we keep him because he can do either. If he were terrible I might consider a podiatrist (or would at least look at whichever was the cheaper option) but to be honest pony is sometimes shod as when she's hacking frequently she can become slightly foot sore. We like the flexibility of a good farrier.

I imagine in another life farrier would have liked to be a podiatrist - we bought second horse from a livery yard we were on and he said he'd been waiting for the chance to fix her feet. One year later and they looked marvellous and she was much happier :)
 
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I've used both. I will be forever grateful to the first trimmer I used who willingly took on a mare who wouldn't tolerate nippers and couldn't bring her back legs forward to be trimmed - had to be as you pick the hoof out. I'd had to sedate for over 12 months just for a trim and she did a cracking job of showing her there was nothing to worry about.

I only really changed because the trimmer had problems with her back and I had two heavy horses. They'd come on a long way in their hoof handling but neither were particularly helpful in terms of taking their own weight and because of her back she used to need to take a lot of breaks. My mare in particular has zero patience with that and just got tetchy. The next trimmer I tried was 'ok' but when she didn't want to do them during the first covid lockdown a local farrier came out and I realised quite how unbalanced they'd got.

The podiatrists are encouraged to make it a longer session than just a hoof trim and to discuss diet etc with you. I'm pretty clued up on that and given I had one with PSSM who I'd had professional advice for there really wasn't much they could add. I can remember one or other of them telling me my field was full of rye grass when it absolutely wasn't so that was a bit of an eye roll moment. I also had one telling me the mare had bounding pulses. The vet was out for another livery an hour later and found me feeling legs and asked if I was OK - she couldn't find a pulse in any leg. So I was a bit underwhelmed at times by the 'added services'.

The other advantage of having a farrier is if you need to have shoes on then they can just get on with it. Its very easy for trimmers to get so fixated on barefoot that they aren't necessarily thinking in the best interest of the horse.
 
These replies make me feel super grateful for my trimmer and her prices are on par with the local farriers.
The first appointment was watching them move, get photos etc but now my appointment takes around 20-30 minutes per pony (one if them can get uncomfortable so we work around her and another is a baby that gets bored but has only had 3 trims while with me and is better every time).
It also takes so long as we have a good natter about everything.
I can take my horse out the day after a trim and go on stony tracks etc without her being sore. I'd be unhappy if my pony was sore after a trim especially to the point of needing danilon.
 
I know what you mean by "Added services"! These tended to only happen in the first couple of visits though until we had both established that (a) I knew more than they had assumed and (b) they didn't feel the need to prove they were the expert. One suggestion was that I use rain water to fill the fields troughs, another that I should build a track system on the working farm I liveried at and the fields were not in my control, and finally that the close-cropped sheep-grazed fields would be better if the grass was allowed to grow to be at least 6 inches long!
There was no need to impart this knowledge when the ponies' hooves needed nothing more than a trim, and I didn't ask for it.
I do realise that in some cases there might be a need to point out that some changes in management may be needed.
 
You absolutely need to use whoever will do the best job. In some cases this may be a farrier. In other cases it may be a trimmer. Like others I've seen good and bad in both. I've switched to a trimmer and the difference over the last 6 months is insane but I switched because the trimmer came highly recommended and has a lot of experience in fixing NPA.
 
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@FFAQ could probably provide more insight as to what to look for when it comes to qualified and trained podiatrists/barefoot trimmers :)
 
I use a farrier. My TB is barefoot and has been since he came off the track and is jumping fox. His feet are absolutely fabulous. After watching a trimmer do another person’s horse (because that person knows better because Google), I will never touch one. The horse desperately needed shoes and because trimmer…whereas if it had been a farrier, the issue would have been sorted because he could have put shoes on.

BUT…that is just my experience. It all depends on what is best for you and your horses.
 
Nasicus I would say 'if it ain't broke don't fix it'! Loads of farriers, EPs and trimmers out there doing a great job, but everyone has cases where there may be a clash of personalities, and we all have that case that simply benefits from a fresh perspective!

In terms of training, it is true that EP's are training in a more holistic approach and that approach does take more time. However, most of us get the hint if you're not interested in the advice! I would say though that to us the diet, exercise, environment, etc is just as important as the trim and if we're struggling to get on top of something (white line disease, thrush and laminitis being the most common) and have seen these things improve with a tweak to the management in other cases, it can be frustrating if the owner isn't interested. Having said that, we are also taught that suggested changes need to work for the owner - it's no good suggesting a really ridiculous change that is impossible or just too overwhelming. I tend to think 'could I implement this if I was in this person's shoes?'.
 
Nasicus said:
@FFAQ could probably provide more insight as to what to look for when it comes to qualified and trained podiatrists/barefoot trimmers :)
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I don't think either the farriery training or the barefoot training will ensure anybody gets someone who actually knows what they are doing.

The best advice is to use someone who already has working barefoot horses, especially if they are breeds like TBs which are more difficult to get there, on their books.

And never ever to accept any excuse for your horse walking away from a routine trim less comfortable than they went into it.
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The gold standard for barefoot trimmers is to be a full member of the Equine Podiatry Association.

The podiatrist that I mentioned above was and still is listed as a full member of the EPA. Nothing to do with a clash of personalities - everything to do with sub standard work harming horses, and refusing to take on board what the vet said about the progressively deteriorating foot balance ☹️😳. ETA and when I suggested getting fresh x rays of the feet to help check foot balance, they told me not to bother, as no matter what the x rays showed they would not trim the feet any differently.

The lack of knowledge was shocking.

Our Members – The Equine Podiatry Association

www.epauk.org www.epauk.org
 
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Its personal choice ultimately. Im onto my 3rd trimmer (purely as the original ones have moved away) - all have been excellent and Ive always been happy with my horses hooves. They've helped improve things/issues caused by farriers Ive used. Ive had 2 farriers over the years who have been great. However Ive also experienced 3 farrier who were nasty as anything to the horse and honestly couldnt care less about the individual horse, they just wacked a shoe on the same way on every single horse. Personally I would always choose a trimmer over a farrier to trim (and to just be around my horses). If Im honest though, in your case, if you're perfectly happy with the trim your farrier is doing then why change.
 
I was looking for a barefoot trimmer, the only one that covers the area used to come to our previous livery yard. She made every horse very lame after trimming, and blamed it on the owners. For that reason I stuck to my farrier, but I'm sure there's plenty of decent trimmers out there.
 
Farriers have to train for years about horses feet and foot balance, how long do trimmers train?

I have a fairer who is very good with barefoot horses. That being said before i used a newly qualified farrier who was lovely and patient but nearly crippled my horse and had caused a few in the area to go lame. I think if they come recommended and know what that are doing that is your best bet :)
 
JCbruce said:
No but I would rather have a doctor who had trained for 5 years to stitch me up then someone for did a months online first aid course 😂

I think it depends on the person.
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I'd rather have someone who had trained at all to stitch me up than someone who had trained for years with a training syllabus that didn't include stitching up wounds.
 
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