Barefoot trimmers vs farriers?

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chotty

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Sorry this may have been done to death, but I'm too lazy to look through old threads.

What would you say are better? Barefoot trimmers or farriers? Who do you trust to make a good job?

From what I've heard, barefoot trimming is just a fairly short course (no idea if this is true or not?) where as obviously farriers have trained for much longer.

My boy is barefoot and hasn't had a trim in ages as he has really good feet which keep themselves neat. However he is probably due a trim in the next couple of weeks as his backs are getting slightly long.

A friend recommended a barefoot trimmer she uses and says she's really good, but I've always used the local farrier for trimming mine?

I've always been happy with the farriers work, but now I'm wondering if it's just because I don't really know exactly what needs done to his feet, and that maybe the barefoot trimmer would be better as its all she does?

:) x
 
That's a mighty big can of worms to open!
I think it depends on the trimmer and the farrier - sorry that's not particularly helpful but it's probably true.

I have a trimmer who kept my old cushings mare sound for three years after everyone else failed. One of the partners at my soon to be ex-vets actually hates him! Of course they have their own farrier who does all their (very expensive) remedial shoeing. Then again there's another trimmer locally who is rubbish and ruins feet, so I am told.

Have had good and bad farriers over the years but as we don't shoe any more we don't use them now.
 
If your horse is sound & happy, then if it ain't broke don't fix it.
I'll also sum up the conclusions usually reached on this topic, pick the one you agree with.
1) all trimmers are angle grinder wielding charlatans with no training who will cripple your horse.
2) all farriers just want to shoe everything, which of course they do badly & cripple it as a result. And their long training is spent learning how to hammer metal into pretty shapes & making the hoof fit into it.
Or, 3) there's good & bad in every walk of life.
 
Littlelegs said:
If your horse is sound & happy, then if it ain't broke don't fix it.
I'll also sum up the conclusions usually reached on this topic, pick the one you agree with.
1) all trimmers are angle grinder wielding charlatans with no training who will cripple your horse.
2) all farriers just want to shoe everything, which of course they do badly & cripple it as a result. And their long training is spent learning how to hammer metal into pretty shapes & making the hoof fit into it.
Or, 3) there's good & bad in every walk of life.
Click to expand...

You have probably just saved about 20 pages of discussion! Although people will now vote a,b or c. Perhaps you could have done a poll?

OP - if your farrier trims your horse and he is sound and happy then stick with your farrier. (IMO!)
 
There are some good farriers and some bad ones, same applies to barefoot trimmers! Our two cobs are shod on the fronts but are having them removed Friday, we are fortunate to have an excellent farrier and will continue to use him for trims. I would say carry on with who you know and trust!:)
 
chotty said:
From what I've heard, barefoot trimming is just a fairly short course (no idea if this is true or not?) where as obviously farriers have trained for much longer.
Click to expand...

No this is not true, despite the persistent rumours of such :rolleyes:.

There are some people who run day courses for OWNERS to learn more about hooves and possibly learn to smooth a rasp over THEIR OWN horse if they are confident.

There are no professional courses that are less than at least 18 months.

chotty said:
My boy is barefoot and hasn't had a trim in ages as he has really good feet which keep themselves neat. However he is probably due a trim in the next couple of weeks as his backs are getting slightly long.
Click to expand...

Up the road work ;)

chotty said:
A friend recommended a barefoot trimmer she uses and says she's really good, but I've always used the local farrier for trimming mine?

I've always been happy with the farriers work, but now I'm wondering if it's just because I don't really know exactly what needs done to his feet, and that maybe the barefoot trimmer would be better as its all she does?

:) x
Click to expand...

If you have a farrier who does the job - continue with the farrier.

I use a barefoot trimmer but that is because I was unhappy with the work the local farriers were doing (it really isn't necessary to make healthy hooves bleed with a routine trim :eek:). But really, whoever does the best job in your area is the one to use, regardless of title.
 
If your horse is sound and happy then stick to who you use now!
If you are struggling to keep horse sound unshod then start to explore alternatives.

From my very limited knowledge, the bulk of what I have been told is that farriers can tend to trim away too much frog & sole for a working unshod horse.

Personally I'd stick with a farrier in the first instance and just ask them to be conservative in their trimming.
 
I can only answer this question based on my own experiance of one farrier and one trimmer.
I came to BF through curiosity after reading all threads on here and in particular one by cptrayes where she said she had a BF hunter I thought how can that be it challenged all I thought I knew about horses feet and added to real worrys about some ofthe things I saw going on with my own horses feet I started doing some research reading all the old threads on here looking online buying books etc .
I also of course asked my farrier his view was clear he knew nothing about The BF way of thinking and two he was clear ' proper 'horses like mine need shoes.
At this time I horse turned away as he had splints he was to be BF project test horse I started leading him around watching his walking and how he put his feet on the ground I lead over every different surface about the place twice every day I quickly saw changes my curiosity grew as did my need to need to learn .
I then faced a choice did I get a farrier who had been clear in his view that horses need shoes to trim or did I go with a trimmer I decided to get a trimmer so I could use him as a coach I asked around researched more and found my trimmer through recommendation .
For me it was the right choice I have someone to answer my questions I have learnt loads from the forum but nothing beats having the horse and the trimmer and asking questions. So for me it easy to say trimmer,
I have never regretted my desision to go with the trimmer.
Although I do tell him that he needs to call himself something other than a trimmer he does very very little trimming as far as I see.
 
cptrayes said:
Yes it's been done to death, but I'm too lazy to answer this question a-gain if you are too lazy to look it up.
Click to expand...

With more and more people coming to barefoot(and this forum!) and more and more stuff being learned about hooves, both farrier and trimmer training and CPD are growing and evolving.
Re-asking old questions allows new opinions and findings to come to light.
 
Thankyou everyone for your replies! His feet are good, and like I said I personally am happy with the job the farrier has done before, even though I haven't had him long so haven't had many trims.

The reason I asked about barefoot trimmers was because my friend said something about my horse putting more pressure on his heel on one front and that her barefoot trimmer could sort that? To be honest I know absolutely nothing about feet and have never noticed what she said about his (I wouldnt know what I was looking at). My farrier has never said anything about it either, and takes hardly any time at all to trim him.

The barefoot trimmer who I was recommended seems pretty popular and comes up to Scotland every few weeks to do a big bunch of horses.

Think I'll probably stick with my farrier just now and ask him about his opinion on his fronts?

He's in very light work right now and doesn't seem uncomfortable at all.

:) x
 
Welly said:
What training do trimmers have to do?
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None.

There is no regulation in this area and there is no requirement for someone to do any particular training before setting themselves up as a trimmer.

However - there are some training schools who have good training and produce some fine trimmers.

Such as

UKNHCP
http://www.uknhcp.org.uk/

AANHCP
http://www.isnhcp.net/

EPA
http://www.unshod.co.uk/services.php

ESA
http://www.equinesciencesacademy.com/esa_00006b.htm

Swiss School
http://www.barehoof.com/Barehoof_Home.html

And there are some brilliant trimmers who have done extensive training with an official school but have then chosen to be independent for one reason or another.

The very best trimmers I've found have looked at each methodology and adapted their trim to the individual horse's needs.
 
I have been wondering this too :confused:

We alway used a good farrier for shoes.....

but Ive been led to believe that a good barefoot trimmer is better than a farrier doing a foot trim as they balance the feet...

But then Ive been told a farrier is always better thana foot trimmer.....

I too am so undecided... at the minute she gets just a foot trim from farrier as she is turned away nbeing a baby but when she comes into work to break I want to end up with the right decsion for her for her working life

:)
 
Springy said:
I have been wondering this too :confused:

We alway used a good farrier for shoes.....

but Ive been led to believe that a good barefoot trimmer is better than a farrier doing a foot trim as they balance the feet...

But then Ive been told a farrier is always better thana foot trimmer.....

I too am so undecided... at the minute she gets just a foot trim from farrier as she is turned away nbeing a baby but when she comes into work to break I want to end up with the right decsion for her for her working life

:)
Click to expand...

With barefoot and trimming - less is more.

So it's whomever nearby who can provide a sympathetic trim.

I have seen some horrible work by both farriers and trimmers.

I have seen some fantastic work by both farriers and trimmers.
 
I use my farrier but I have learned a lot from threads on here so I am pretty proactive and tell him things I want (dont take too much off, a wee roll on the toe and only take off any really raggy bits of frog). My horse more or less self trims so its not a major issue but I do like to have someone else check things every few months.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say that the only experience I've had with a barefoot trimmer didnt leave me very impressed. Luckily, he wasnt doing my horses but I felt it was a rushed job, no trotting up or even walking out. He managed to miss a whole foot on one horse and after a full 20 minutes work to do the 2 horses he charged a considerable amount of money. He is a very respected and well known trimmer but I'll stick with my trusty farrier :)
 
abitodd said:
With more and more people coming to barefoot(and this forum!) and more and more stuff being learned about hooves, both farrier and trimmer training and CPD are growing and evolving.
Re-asking old questions allows new opinions and findings to come to light.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the little lecture Abi :D but can you point me to one new piece of information that this thread has uncovered? I can't see one. I'm not sure why you bothered to counter my post, nor why I have bothered to answer it :rolleyes:
 
chotty said:
The reason I asked about barefoot trimmers was because my friend said something about my horse putting more pressure on his heel on one front and that her barefoot trimmer could sort that? To be honest I know absolutely nothing about feet and have never noticed what she said about his (I wouldnt know what I was looking at). My farrier has never said anything about it either, and takes hardly any time at all to trim him.
Click to expand...

Chotty this is a question I can help a bit with. First, if your horse is sound then he likes his feet the way they are. If you do plenty of roadwork with him as he gets fitter then hopefully you can avoid anyone having to do much of a trim and he can choose the feet he wants.

Second, if you are happy with your farrier and your horse is sound and never less sound after a trim, stick with him, he sounds fine.

If you can work your horse on abrasive surfaces, and he still puts more weight on one heel than the other, then that's simply how he wants to move. A trimmer, or your farrier, might shorten one heel to try and stop him, but if that's how he wants it, it'll pop right up again :) I would mention it to your farrier to set your own mind at rest.

I have a horse who weights one heel more than the other when he is standing still. But when he is moving, his leg moves slightly wrong and the foot then hits the ground level in the heels. He has made himself a foot to compensate for the fact that he doesn't actually move straight.
 
I use a farrier but I am very lucky as he seems to have embraced barefoot and positively encourages and helps with maintaining and transitioning to barefoot.
He also looks at the whole horse, how it's standing etc and also is very aware of how comfortable the horse is. I have a very timid, spooky mare and as he was doing her back foot he very calmly placed it on the floor and stepped away from her for a few minutes to let her chill out a bit before he carried on. There is never a rush to 'get onto the next customer' and though sometimes he is running a little late I don't care because I know he is giving each horse the time and attention it needs. He gives tips on balancing minerals etc, a bit of a super hero really, if only there were more like him.............
 
I have used both for mine. Used a couple of farriers, one did trim a little shorter than I'd like and caused him to be foot sore for a week, others have done a great job and much cheaper. Barefoot trimmers are quite expensive but also did a good job. My horse is pretty simple so would be happy with either.
 
Prefer to use anyone who is qualified, sympathetic to horses needs as an individual, charge a fair price, turn up on the day and generally be pleasant.
All or most farriers I have dealt with have fair prices for trimming, do a good job but can be a little unreliable so I find I have to be really really accommodating and the horses should not put a foot wrong.

Trimmers - Overpriced, moany, talk for hours ( to justify the £50 fee) hand me bits of paper for the file, just rubbish. One of them left my horses feet in a terrible state, she just could not deal with anything out of the norm.

Horses for courses, if you have a good trimmer or farrier then stick with it, thats just my experience. Currently I have a young farrier that is flexible and in tune with changing times.
 
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