can a farrier trim better than a barefoot trimmer ?

[amandap]

It's only recently that I've started to question shoeing horses. I've bought the Jaime Jackson & Pete Ramey books, Feet First and a few other texts. I've also re-read other books I have with "barefoot" in mind and taken different things from them than I had originally because of the new information I have taken on board. I'm hopeful to learn a lot more during Nick's visits.

When I got back into horses about 10years ago and was searching the net, Jaime Jackson was the first horseperson I came across that made total sense to me. Over the years since I have wavered trying to justify other approaches but I always come back to his work.

 

[JVB]

Having had good farriers for a long time, I have now changed to a good barefoot trimmer and I am more impressed with the trim than I have ever been with a farriers trim.

I was fed up with 5 minute trims from the farrier, barefoot trimmer spends 40 mins with each horse and is interested in their feed, routine and history so much more so than the farrier.

Very pleased I made the change.

 

[Cadfael&Coffee]

Theres a lot of conflicting info on this thread about the amount of time and what exact training barefoot trimmers actually go through before they're regarded as fully qualified?

 

[amandap]

Taken from a 'Professional Barefoot Trimmers' website.

20th December 2009 - I graduated successfully from the AANHCP foundation course in Natural Hoof Care

5th December 2009 - In Texas attending the AANHCP Foundation course in Natural Hoof Care, being trained by founder of the AANHCP Jaime Jackson.

Just to go back to this point about training in 19 days. The quote states they graduated from the foundation course. They have not completed their training by a long shot, only the first part.

 

[amandap]

Theres a lot of conflicting info on this thread about the amount of time and what exact training barefoot trimmers actually go through before they're regarded as fully qualified?

I think one reason is because the training for barefoot isn't standardized across all organizations who run training programmes. In the UK the UKNHCP (born of the AANHCP) and the EPA (Born of Equine Podiatry) have been working together for a few years now to draw up a standard.
If you google all the abbreviations you will come up with link to training. Here's the American Association for the Advancement of Natural Horse care Practices page. http://isnhcp.net/NHC-Training.html The ISNHCP is the Training and research arm of the AANHCP.

 

[TPO]

Finally read all the posts!

I can see both sides; you don't have to look far back on my previous posts to see I did not believe every horse (with correct management) could go barefoot and the trimmer I used reinforced that idea.

I had the trimmer out to a QH that was bought unvetted and had navicular. I'd tried everything and some of the posts I'd read on here lead me to barefoot so I called out an EP and it was a disaster. I changed the mare's diet (was advised to feed Hi-Fi lite, mag ox and seaweed), walked in hand, bought the boots and pads yet my mare was still uncomfortable. I changed vet practice and they said to remedially shoe her with wedged eggbars. Straight away she was more comfortable and field sound. This just confirmed to me that barefoot was nonsense.

At the end of June 2010 I lost my horse of a lifetime, my everything revolved around her, because she had advanced navicular (TB this time). Again you can read my previous posts if interested. She'd only ever been shod in front since July 2007 when I got her and had been shod from x-rays. I'd taken her to Dick Vet Hospital in March as I'd moved yards (after losing QH Nov 2009) and new YO insisted that TB mare had Kissing Spine and her vet (mine didn't cover that region) also said KS and a spavin so referred her. The Vet Hospital passed her as sound, definitely not kissing spine or underlying lameness issues (like a spavin).

At that point I moved back to my rented place and got a companion. The hard ground arrived in the May/June and she began to step slightly short so I box rested/cold hosed (there was no heat or swelling). When she didn't improve I called my equine vets who nerve blocked on the Friday and confirmed palmar foot pain. I took her to their clinic on the following Tuesday for full work up and it was "advanced navicular" which the vet rated as 8/10 and it was his opinion that it would have been delevoping for at least 9mths (so vet hospital should have picked up on it?).

I made the unbelievably painful decision to have her pts there and then as I didn't want her to suffer for a second longer. I'd been through it all with the QH and believed myself to be fairly clued up on navicular having read everything I could find on it, mainly vet texts and papers, and spoken with my vets extensively on numerous occassions. I did ask the vet about options (denerving, injecting the tendon or buting her up and leaving things to degenerate without her feeling it were the only ones I was offered). I specifically asked about barefoot and was told barefoot would not help, her feet were balanced so it wasn't a case of a bad farrier/shoeing and going barefoot would not alter/help/make any positive difference.

You've no idea how much I wish I didn't make that call and had just taken her home that day. If I did no doubt I would have posted on here and just maybe one of the "barefoot taliban/vultures" would have replied and given Tanith an option and a chance.

As much as I enjoy reading and learning it's devastating reading books by the like of Jaime Jackson and Pete Ramey because they state in black and white that "navicular" can be "cured"/managed and they have never yet had a horse with navic disease/syndrome not come sound. That could have been Tanith but I can't go back in time and have the small comfort of making the decision for T's welfare, not wishing her to suffer at all, and putting that above the huge gaping hole losing her has left.

You can see in my previous posts that I put CPTrayes on "User Ignore" as I was fed up with what I perceived to be self righteous ranting and using barefoot as a cure all for every problem posted about. When I was looking for yet another whip to flog myself with over losing T I posted in Veterinary asking of barefoot really was a cure for navic (CPTrayes off UI by then!). This lead to me buying the books and reading the websites so that I could make an informed decision.

The more I read the more I got why CPTrayes and the "Barefoot Taliban" get so frustrated and are so insistant. Having read the nonveterinary books I can see a whole different side to how anatomy works, the effects of shoeing and horse management. I get where the passion (for want of a better word) to promote barefoot, when it's managed correctly, comes from. Now, to me, it makes no sense to shoe for reasons others have posted about more eloquently than I could. I would also like to take this opportunity to publically apologise to CPTrayes.

Those who are as vehemently against barefoot/trimmers as I was will no doubt dismiss this post as being overly emotive and not from an objective viewpoint which is fair enough but if just one person reads JJ/PR's books off the back of this and perhaps gives their horse the chance I didn't manage to give mine then that's enough. I'm really not into this baring of the soul on a public forum; you never know who is reading (although in my case I know a few RL people who read everything I write) but I just wouldn't wish the feeling I have over losing T on my worst enemy so if my ramblings help just one person/horse then I'm willing to take the back lash from it.

 

[Jesstickle]

Tbh I'm not concerned with what's got your back up. If Brucea upset you then it's between you and him. Please don't call the rest of us names because of it. Being marginalised gets my back up.

but you said you hadn't seen anything said which was rude or aggressive so I pointed you to something which was. If you read what I've said I've been perfectly nice. I have asked questions, which some very helpful people have answered and I've said that I'm open minded about both approaches on multiple occasions. I have my doubts about dry lotting a horse for the whole of its life but that is just my opinion.

You implied it was somehow my fault that there was any bad feeling. I merely pointed you to a post that showed it wasn't started by me. And if you don't want to be marginalised don't refer to yourself as the barefoot taliban.

 

[LucyPriory]

TPO

Big hugs.

You seem to be on the journey which most of us 'barefoot taliban' have been on.

Good luck and best wishes and don't hesitate to question question question.

 

[cptrayes]

Finally read all the posts!

You've no idea how much I wish I didn't make that call and had just taken her home that day. If I did no doubt I would have posted on here and just maybe one of the "barefoot taliban/vultures" would have replied and given Tanith an option and a chance.

I do. And it's why I continue to post in spite of people who can sometimes be a bit hostile I really, really appreciate your post. I am only sorry that you had the wrong advice from people who didn't understand how your horse could have been helped.

You deserve congratulations for opening your mind to new ideas, respect for having done your research, and sympathy for having to live with the regrets of acting on bad advice given by experts you paid to be right.

Welcome to the club !

 

[cptrayes]

Diagrams like this do make me laugh! Showing the shod foot on a hard surface, yet the unshod foot on a soft giving surface. It is not exactly comparing like with like, is it!

You are quite correct, the diagram is flawed and I am sure Bruce will change it. But if you look at hoofprints of shod versus barefoot horses in snow or firm mud, you will easily see how much more weight, in general, is distributed across the sole by a barefoot horse than a shod one. And if you stand a barefoot horse on tarmac or concrete, it will be usually standing on its leg bones, connected directly through to the floor via its frog and digital cushion. A shod horse is, unless it has a prolapsed frog, suspended from the laminae of the foot, a purpose for which they were not genetically designed.

There is some debate about whether there needs to be frog contact 100% of the time but let us not get confused by that. There is a total consensus of opinion that the frog should be weight bearing a substantial part of the time when the horse is in movement.

Someone else criticized the diagram on the basis of it not showing what happens when a horse stands on stones. I would answer that by asking how you think half an inch of shoe protects the sole from a one inch big stone? I'm probably not alone in having a shod horse stand so hard on a stone that it punched a hole right through its sole. Barefoot horses can manage stones with no trouble at all because of their thick, healthy soles. My hunter is regularly required to gallop through gateways lined with stone and canter for lengthy stretches up farm tracks made of broken up brick and concrete.

Horses that can't be given the optimum conditions to produce sole that good can usually be found suitable boots which can be taken off when the horse is not being ridden on stones.

The diagram is flawed, yes, but the story it tells is correct. Horses were not designed to hang their weight off their laminae. We get away with it with most of them, but heaven only knows how. The mystery to me is not why some horses are lamed by shoes, but how it is that the majority are not!

 

[mrdarcy]

Theres a lot of conflicting info on this thread about the amount of time and what exact training barefoot trimmers actually go through before they're regarded as fully qualified?

I trained and qualified with the AANHCP. My initial training was with Jaime Jackson in the US. Over the following 12 months I travelled to four different countries, trained with many different people, three of whom are ex-farriers of many years experience. I then had to pass a very exacting field exam and a detailed written exam before being recommended for Certification by Jaime Jackson himself. Even though I am now a Certified Practitioner to remain as such I have to do CPD for the next two years and beyond.

The AANHCP, UKNHCP and EPAUK all worked with LANTRA to come up with approved National Occupational Standards to which all three training programmes now adhere to and in most cases exceed.

Yes there are poor trimmers out there and poor farriers. When choosing a barefoot trimmer always go with one that is a member of the one the big organisations - that way you can find out exactly what training they have done and if anything did go wrong you have an organisation to turn to for resolution.

 

[pines of rome]

Well, i have a DAEP for my horse, which has navicular and when he was shod it was painful for him the only response i got from the farrier was he is a T.B they have crap feet.
I asked about going barefoot and he said you havn,t got a chance with that horse, so i researched for myself and found a trimmer, it wasn,t easy to start with he had to have wraps on for 12 weeks, he had a usability score of 2.5.
We now have a score of 5 and his feet are strong and totally different in appearance to the weak feet we started with and i have to say they look a lot better than any farrier trimmed horses at our yard.
As my horse has navicular i still have a way to go but he is improving my trimmer is passionate about his work always on time, always answers texts e mails etc, which i have yet to find in farriers.

 

[Jesstickle]

TPO I'm really sorry to hear about your story.

Please don't beat yourself up as you made a very brave and difficult decision based on what you knew at the time. Your girl didn't suffer and you should be proud of that.

The fact that you have learned a vast amount since making that choice is wonderful but please don't dwell on the course of action you took. We are all human and have to make our choices using the information which is in front of us. Hindsight is a marvellous thing isn't it? I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to make that decision but I think that your heart was in completely the right place and you did nothing wrong.

Big hugs

 

[Cadfael&Coffee]

I trained and qualified with the AANHCP. My initial training was with Jaime Jackson in the US. Over the following 12 months I travelled to four different countries, trained with many different people, three of whom are ex-farriers of many years experience. I then had to pass a very exacting field exam and a detailed written exam before being recommended for Certification by Jaime Jackson himself. Even though I am now a Certified Practitioner to remain as such I have to do CPD for the next two years and beyond.

The AANHCP, UKNHCP and EPAUK all worked with LANTRA to come up with approved National Occupational Standards to which all three training programmes now adhere to and in most cases exceed.

Yes there are poor trimmers out there and poor farriers. When choosing a barefoot trimmer always go with one that is a member of the one the big organisations - that way you can find out exactly what training they have done and if anything did go wrong you have an organisation to turn to for resolution.

Thanks!! Makes much more sense.

I'm happy with my farrier ATM, and intend to keep him til he retires cause I've just left an awful one, but if something happens to him (god forbid) I'll keep an open mind lol!!

 

[quirky]

Just to go back to this point about training in 19 days. The quote states they graduated from the foundation course. They have not completed their training by a long shot, only the first part.

Ok, so if they haven't completed their training, how have they managed to set themselves up as a 'Professional'?
Surely they should make their clients aware of the fact that they have followed a 15 day course and are now doing on the job training.

It's like a farriers apprentice, they are going round supervised, so you know they haven't qualified. I believe it is only their 3rd year that they are allowed to shoe unsupervised, but I am sure I will stand corrected.

A BP can rock up and you wouldn't have the slightest idea that they'd just landed from a 15 day course unless you specifically asked them.

 

[brucea]

TPO - big hug and thanks for opening up like that.

I knew one day I would regret coming up with the phrase "Barefoot Taliban"

jestickle - if you go back and read that firs paragraph from the point of view of someone who has spent the last 4 years transitioning thier horses from shoes, and seeing the tremendous changes that shoes wrought and their removal brought....yes, the wording is clumsy and could have been better and I apologise for that - but the overall message is the same. Shoes cause long term harm, and I can't apologise for that message.

I personally think we're at a very interesting phase of the whole horse world where we are questioning many things that we just accepted years ago - and folks are just no longer prepared to believe the "experts"

Look for instance at the tremendous work being done by Nic Barker at Rockley - how many horses go through her rehab yard that have been written off as "can't be repaired" and they have all had the full vet and farrier approach to addressing navicular before they arrived there!

What Nic does is not rocket science - it's diet right, shoes off, trim right, movement and support. And it works. A major drawback for owners I guess is that it is not really accepted as an approach that insurers will fully pay up for - despite the mounting evidence that "this works and really that traditional approach doesn't work that well"

Yes - the diagram is misleading to a point. It's there to make the point about loading - on a solid concrete surface there will be solely peripheral loading on a shod hoof, and in a barefoot hoof the load will be shared between the frog and the walls. On a yielding surface the effects of shoes are more around the prevention of the hoof's abilty to fully expand and contract, and the lifting of the frog out of load bearing ground contact.

It's hard to do diagramatically. Sadly I am about as artistically talented as your average railway sleeper - so it takes me a time to sort these diagrams! I will do though.

P.S. I'll just post this picture again. 6 months after shoes off, shoe correctly aligned with where it would be. This is almost 4 years old now.

 

[Andalucian]

TPO, thanks for you frank and painful story. I am a DAEP, barefoot trimmer. I became one after losing my first horse of a lifetime through similar circumstances.

I won't enter this debate because I've done it so many times before. When they need to customers find me and I help them with their horses, for me its a healing process in the name of the horse I lost after many shoeing packages failed miserably.

We all have a journey, those who never suffer lameness issues with their horses are very lucky, those who do, just keep asking questions and using your instincts on behalf of your horse's welfare. Never just hand over their care totally to others, you are the one responsible for them in the end, and they need you to be on their side.

 

[Tinypony]

Ok, so if they haven't completed their training, how have they managed to set themselves up as a 'Professional'?
Surely they should make their clients aware of the fact that they have followed a 15 day course and are now doing on the job training.

It's like a farriers apprentice, they are going round supervised, so you know they haven't qualified. I believe it is only their 3rd year that they are allowed to shoe unsupervised, but I am sure I will stand corrected.

A BP can rock up and you wouldn't have the slightest idea that they'd just landed from a 15 day course unless you specifically asked them.

Anybody can mislead the public about their qualifications and accreditation. There was a "farrier" in operation near me a while back who had never completed his apprenticeship. (It was all dealt with). And wasn't there a vet some time ago who had never qualified either? Oh, and I belive a local Bowen therapist turned out to not be as well. Mr Darcy has given excellent advice above for anyone who wants to check the qualifications of a barefoot trimmer before using them.

 

[LucyPriory]

Re qualifications

I agree and get references

and um um - what about all the qualified professional (in any trade) who practice poorly?

In a previous decade I was 'blessed' to work exclusively with graduates in a specific high end profession. Never again. Put me off for life.

 

[quirky]

Just to go back to this point about training in 19 days. The quote states they graduated from the foundation course. They have not completed their training by a long shot, only the first part.

Re qualifications

I agree and get references

and um um - what about all the qualified professional (in any trade) who practice poorly?

In a previous decade I was 'blessed' to work exclusively with graduates in a specific high end profession. Never again. Put me off for life.

This is constructive criticism and I think any of you BP's on here need to suggest a change is made.

Firstly, google 'Qualified Farrier' and top of the pile is The Farriers Registration Council

Secondly, google qualified barefoot practitioners and you get the UKNHCP link , no mention of the other one .

Then looking at the 2 websites I've mentioned, go to the 'find a xxx' section.

On the farriers website, it tells you when they joined the register.
The UKNHCP site gives you no such information.

I think it is useful to know when somebody has qualified, especially as it appears after a 15 day course you can call yourself qualified.

What about the other BP website, are they a lesser talent because they don't come up on a Google search?

 

[Jesstickle]

I knew one day I would regret coming up with the phrase "Barefoot Taliban"


P.S. I'll just post this picture again. 6 months after shoes off, shoe correctly aligned with where it would be. This is almost 4 years old now.

I actually think the Barefoot Taliban is quite funny but when people are trying to be open minded, which I think most of us with shod horses were (or in my case unshod horses), it isn't terribly diplomatic to say we're causing suffering. However, water under the bridge.

I am intrigued by your picture Is that the shoe which came off before you went unshod? You really can see how the heels have spread from that. I think that's the most compelling piece of evidence for not shoeing I have seen so far on this thread in honesty.

 

[amandap]

Glad you posted the correct and current situation about organizations working together to establish giuidelines MrDarcy. I'm way behind the times.

I think the peer reviews that barefoot organizations mentioned use is a really important aspect of keeping standards up.

One only has to think of the Harold Shipman etc. cases to know that a recognized quallification, professional or not is no guarantee of the ethics or capability of the person offering a service.
This is a reason that I think owners should learn more, do their research so they can make more informed choices.

Hugs from me too TPO. A very moving post.

 

[brucea]

Yes - that is the last shoe that came off that hoof 6 months before the picture was taken - the underside has black marker pen on it so I don't mix them up.

One of the reasons I took the shoes off were that his feet were terribly contracted and he had constant central sulcus infections - we needed to clean them out every couple of days with gauze and povidone.

What shocked me was how quickly, and by how much, they decontracted. And how much development there was at the back of the foot. Odly enough it was while all that decontraction was going on that he had several abscesses - only having had one before on the previous 6 years and that was the result of a bruise from a trapped stone!

He too had some navicular changes, but there were so many other issues in those fronts that the navicular changes were not the biggest contributor to his to his discomfort.

I'm glad I thought to keep and mark the shoes - it has been interesting watching the changes.

He was "well shod" by a really good farrier who bred TB's of his own and could handle a nervous horse well- and the farrier kept a close eye on the hoof development in the first year, even though I had moved to a trimmer. He was surprised at the decontraction too.

This horse is now self maintaining - I only clean up the roll every couple of months really. He's is rock stomping now, but at certain times of the year I have had to use boots - but the rest of the time he has the benefit of bare feet in contact with the ground.

But the biggest surprise for me in the whole "let's go barefoot experiment" has been the temperament changes in the horse - he was always spooky and defensive, over reacting, he always seemed to be uncomfortable behind the saddle (would buck if you put your hand there), and always had an ears-back-teeth-bared attitude to life - very quickly he calmed, became much happier overall and all the varied aches and pains he had seemed to get better.

How much of that was the shoes being off and allowing the changes to the hoof to take place, and how much was the whole change of diet that came along with the change to barefoot I honestly really don't know.

 

[amandap]

Have you still got that shoe brucea? I for one would love to see that hoof now especially compared to the shoe.

How much of that was the shoes being off and allowing the changes to the hoof to take place, and how much was the whole change of diet that came along with the change to barefoot I honestly really don't know.

My gut feeling is both. I am also begining to believe that many reluctancies (if that's a word) in horses might be due in part to soreness in their hooves, especially when asked to change gait or on corners. This is just a feeling, I don't have experience of many horses.

 

[brucea]

I still have it - I'll get another pic.

 

[Hippona]

Now show a pic on stoney ground with stones digging into their soles and not so picture perfect

....but as nature and evolution intended

I'm not barefoot preacher.....but out of 3 horses only one of them has a front set, and I'm considering having those taken off too. My FARRIER advises me- and he says if a horse is happy without shoes- then don't shoe. He will advise on weight/feeding etc and he has quite happily explained laminitis and its causes/outcomes to my novice husband. He is a highly respected remedial farrier- and a lovely person to boot. He cares about the horses and as far as he is concerned- it whats best for the horse, not his pocket.

My previous horse had odd shaped feet and would go long in the toe if not in NB shoes. His feet were in a mess until my farrier sorted him out. This horse was unable to go shoeless - so shod he was. As long as whoever is looking after your horses feet is qualified to do so and you are happy with the work carried out....fine. I'm happy for you......theres not a 'one for all' solution.
My friends horses are clipped, rugged, shod and have hard feed. Mine are all hairy ( even the arab) unshod and live off hay and chaff.....horses for courses, as it were.

 

[Jesstickle]

....but as nature and evolution intended

CurriousYellow, I am not picking on you particularly, many others have said this too but....

why does everyone think evolution is such a perfect designer? The absolute point of evolution is that the results are often far from perfect and are not 'designed' at all. Just because something has evolved one way does not mean that it is the ideal. Merely that it does well enough to allow survival, it is the best out there. There is nothing to say that what has evolved can not be improved, sometimes maybe even by human intervention. I am not particularly saying this is the case for the unshod horse but it is absolutely something we should all bear in mind when using this argument to justify our thinking.

Sorry, it's been bugging me for a while so thought I'd just put it out there

 

[amandap]

Oh brucea, thankyou so very much. I'm excited, lol, what a freak I am!

Jesstickle evolution has weeded out those 'designs' not fit for their current environments so the designs out there now are the result of adaption to changes in the environment amongst other things.
This process happens slowly in the main but humans have come along, changed many environments on this planet in a very short space of time. We have changed or destroyed habitat and we have plucked animals from their environments and moulded them for our own use. We may have changed some animals characteristics but as far as horses are concerned we haven't changed any evolutionary adaptions such as what they are built for, how they are wired, what they need to remain fit and healthy etc.

So for me to ignore how horses are designed to live is to be constantly fighting against their bodies and natures and the horses are the ones having to make most of the compromises in my view. At least we can try and meet them half way.

We know better than Nature at our and the worlds cost.

 

[Jesstickle]

Well you are not 'designed' to live past 40 or so but you will. Your horse will outlive it's wild relatives as will your dog if you have one. We meddle for good and for bad. I am not 'designed' to wear shoes or clothing but I'm glad I do. If you are going to say it is wrong to shoe horses, it is also wrong to medicate them when they are ill.

Anyway, I really wasn't talking about horses. Just about peoples misconceptions of evolution
in general

 

[criso]

I wasn't going to post as these discussions do have a habit of going round in circles but this comment from TPO struck a chord.

....ramblings help just one person/horse then I'm willing to take the back lash from it.

I don't remember who first mentioned barefoot on the post where I asked about other experiences of soft tissue damage in the feet; but it planted a seed.
At the time I dismissed it because my farrier and vet had explained that while they were not anti barefoot, TBs esp ex racers like Frankie couldn't go barefoot, their breeding and foot conformation would not allow it.

However I didn't kept coming back to the barefoot debate sometimes getting very frustrated when threads degenerated into name calling and feeling like I didn't want to let either side near my horse.

Jan last year he went downhill to the point he wouldn't stay field sound and I was not prepared to keep him in for 23 hours so I could ride him for one so as a last chance he went off down to Rockley.
This is him.

http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-difference.html

So if just one person reads this and it helps just one horse then maybe these discussion are useful.

Getting back to the original debate my position is that I don't like the idea of unregulated, unqualified people setting themselves up as professionals (who would) but would use a trimmer once I had satisfied myself they knew what they were doing probably by getting recommendations and going and seeing their work. But paper qualifications wouldn't necessarily be the issue.

I have had appalling experiences with farriers and none of the ones I have used (4) or seen shoeing on the yards I have been on, have watched the horse move. I've dragged horses up and down in front of them to their evident exasperation. Not one has wanted to talk about diet even when I asked though I think they have shares in Keratex and Kevin Bacon.

I have also seen what happens when the owners are not around, on busy yards it is quite common for horses to be taken down (often 2 at a time)to be shod by the farrier and are unsupervised.

My old farrier trims my horse but that's all he does, I take responsibility for diet and exercise having seen what worked for him at Rockley. I watch him move and sometimes film him to check his landing and take pictures of his feet to compare month to month.

I think whoever it was that said farriers are missing a trick was right and if people are moving to trimmers from farriers maybe the question to ask is "what's going wrong that people feel the need to turn elsewhere?".