Difficult situation- Farrier

[amydav]

I am a regular user posting under a new name (for obvious reasons)

Here's the scenario:
My gelding is lame on both front feet. The vet thinks that it is due to poor foot balance, and basically my farrier doing a rubbish job. I of course did not realise he was doing such a poor job. My boy is going in for xrays next week. If this is the case, what would you recommend me doing? Obviously the farrier is not coming near my horses feet again, and I will be very angry if this is the problem! Do I just drop the farrier without telling him why? Or should I tell him? My boy is definately going to need remedial work done anyway.

What do you think?

 

[MrsMozartletoe]

If he's done a cr*p job, and your vet can prove this, then you need to claim some redress from the farrier. Contact the farriers professional body (can't think of their name!), to get theire advice.

 

[AandK]

have you booked in for the next shoeing?
personally, i would drop farrier a line to say something along the lines of - horse is lame and vet wants it to be shod by a remidial farrier for forseeable future to get it sound again.
if he is not booked in you could just not contact him again but then if he is that bad a farrier, something should be said/done to stop him ruining other horses too!

 

[glitterfuzz]

after you have had the x rays done ask the vet to speak to the farrier and explain the issue. Our vets regularly speak with farriers to make sure the horse gets the best care/treatment. If the vet can recommend someone else then that may help

 

[Nailed]

Firstly, before you sack your farrier, make sure that this is the issue.

the next step is to inform your farrier that there services are no-longer required, and the reason why.

Then you need to consider weather or not you take the matter to the Farriers Registration Council. Bearing in mind this may put a person out of practise, when sometimes, client telling them they have done a rubbish job (obviously backed up by evidence) is sometimes enough..

Lou x

 

[Lippyx]

I would contact the Farrier Registry (or who ever they are) make sure the vet can prove the lameness is down to poor farriery, and go from there. The Farrier Registry may be able to give you good advice!

 

[Nailed]

AandK thats the wrong approach.. just swanning off and not letting the farrier know is both very annoying, a waste and time and help NO ONE!

Oh and in respect the remedial farriery, every farrier is trained to some extent in remedial farriery on the DipWCF.. it would be impossible to work if they were not.

The difference is that on the AWCF, the remedial experience is more 'indepth' both acadimically and practically!!

Lou x

 

[AandK]

i did say that not contacting him would not be a good idea as if he has shod the horse badly then it should be investigated.
perhaps i worded my post badly but then english is not my strong point. your reply to me was a little unfair..

 

[Nailed]

I dont think it was unfair at all. You were encourage something that I disagreed with sorry!

Lou x

 

[AandK]

no need to be sorry. i have to point out that i did not encourge OP to do nothing!!
will triple check replies before i post in future!!

 

[Guinness]

Wait for the x-ray results before jumping to conclusions. This happened to someone I know-horse went lame vet blamed farrier but it turned out to be something completely different. Remember farriers probably know more about feet than vets do (hence why good vets/farriers always work together when there are problems). Good luck and let us know the outcome

 

[TheFarrier]

1) how long has the horse been lame for
2) your vet THINKS its the farrier, right now there is no actual diagnosis - for a farrier to lame a horse through unbalance you would have seen signs before now hence question one!
3) Some hoof conditions cause abnormal growth and imbalance
4) you are too vague and have no details for us no pictures nothing. your horse may have poor conformation. perhaps the horse is toed in or out which you may not notice because of GOOD farriery!
5) their may be tendon or ligament issues here
6) navicular
7)side bone causes unbalance as does ring bone
8) what does the horse do, how old is it, how heavy is it (all pertaining to the above possble diagnosis.)

You need to look at causes before coming on a public forum and just blaming your farrier without proof. If it is the farrier and you have proof there is a reporting process thorugh the FRC and he will be investigated.

You would risk someones career on what a vet THINKS. not knows, not proven. THINKS]

Now i am not saying it isnt your farrier but you are jumping to conclussions you have not even said why the VET thinks its caused by the farrier

 

[AmyMay]

Did your vet actually say that the farrier was doing a poor job.

 

[Donkeymad]

I often wonder why people are always so quick to blame their farrier?

 

[Nailed]

I think alot of peeps have inbuilt farrier hating genes!

Lou x

 

[Clodagh]

Not me...I looove my farrier. Gave him the last slice of choccie cake today, my OH was furious, but you know who you have to keep happier, don't you!

sorry, totally off topic.

 

[TheFarrier]

[ QUOTE ]
I often wonder why people are always so quick to blame their farrier?

[/ QUOTE ]

You got me there! I know i do my best but i am only human at the end of the day.

I am inclined to think that if it was te farrier at fault there would have been warning signs before a sudden lameness.

 

[Donkeymad]

I would too, but I am not a farrier, so could not sensibly say so. I just hate the way so many people rant about their farriers.

Maybe we should start an 'anti farrier-bashing clique'

 

[Jane_Lou]

I had this problem a while back, I knew myself that his feet were not looking good, he was long in the toe and his heels were collapsing. I should have spoken to the farrier/changed farrier as most on the yard did but stuck with him out of misguided loyalty (he was elderly and heading for retirement) Horse eventually went lame and xrays confirmed the problem. I told the old farrier that I was having remedial farriery directed by the vet (which I in fact did for 3 sets) and then changed to a new farrier. I know this is a cop out but I do blame myself for not addressing my concerns with the old farrier earlier as I never gave him a chance to recover the situation.

 

[TheFarrier]

[ QUOTE ]
I would too, but I am not a farrier, so could not sensibly say so. I just hate the way so many people rant about their farriers.

Maybe we should start an 'anti farrier-bashing clique'

[/ QUOTE ]

Just tell me where to sign

 

[AmyMay]

Why has the original poster vanished??

 

[Nailed]

Ill sign!!!!!!!!

Lou xx

 

[amydav]

QR
Right, I will try to answer some of the questions!!
I said IF it is the farrier, what should I do.
I do NOT want to get the farrier sacked, far from it, I was simply asking what I should do IF this is the case. Even if it is his fault, I will not be taking action against him, simply changing farriers. I won't be removing any buisness from him but my own.

I trust the vet's provisional diagnosis, but will wait until the xray results come through first, before blaming the farrier!! The horses feet are too long, end of really. He is stumbling, and I should have picked this up earlier as a sign, but I didn't. (and am now hitting myself for it) Whether that is causing the lameness, who knows. When he has had xrays, we will know, but he is likely to need remedial farriery anyway.

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
The vet thinks that it is due to poor foot balance, and basically my farrier doing a rubbish job.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seems the farrier may allready be blamed.

I can only speak for my experience of this type of situation arrising. Which is that the farrier and vet worked together using the x-rays to improve the balance of the foot, which had become misaligned as the horse matured. Consulting in person, with the horse and x-rays in front of them - over a period of time.

 

[amydav]

[ QUOTE ]
1) how long has the horse been lame for
2) your vet THINKS its the farrier, right now there is no actual diagnosis - for a farrier to lame a horse through unbalance you would have seen signs before now hence question one!
3) Some hoof conditions cause abnormal growth and imbalance
4) you are too vague and have no details for us no pictures nothing. your horse may have poor conformation. perhaps the horse is toed in or out which you may not notice because of GOOD farriery!
5) their may be tendon or ligament issues here
6) navicular
7)side bone causes unbalance as does ring bone
8) what does the horse do, how old is it, how heavy is it (all pertaining to the above possble diagnosis.)

You need to look at causes before coming on a public forum and just blaming your farrier without proof. If it is the farrier and you have proof there is a reporting process thorugh the FRC and he will be investigated.

You would risk someones career on what a vet THINKS. not knows, not proven. THINKS]

Now i am not saying it isnt your farrier but you are jumping to conclussions you have not even said why the VET thinks its caused by the farrier

[/ QUOTE ]

I am not jumping to conclusions- I said IF - this is a conditional word!!!!!!! I am not blaming the farrier, though it is a distinct possibility. I am not doing him any harm, as nobody knows which horse or farrier I am talking about.

1) I couldn't tell you exactly

With it being both feet I didn't realise he was lame, and I am ashamed of myself for that.
2)Horse has been stumbling, and could have been lame for longer than the past 2 weeks (when first picked up)
3) perhaps.
4) I can tell you he does not have bad foot confo.
5-7) Again, perhaps.
8) He is 10, does low level RC stuff, hacking etc and weighs about 455kg.

 

[amydav]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The vet thinks that it is due to poor foot balance, and basically my farrier doing a rubbish job.

[/ QUOTE ]

Seems the farrier may allready be blamed.

I can only speak for my experience of this type of situation arrising. Which is that the farrier and vet worked together using the x-rays to improve the balance of the foot, which had become misaligned as the horse matured. Consulting in person, with the horse and x-rays in front of them - over a period of time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hence why xrays are being done. No the farrier is not already blamed. His feet are too long, that is a fact, perhaps he has a reason for doing this he didn't meantion?

AmyMay- If is a conditional, as I'm sure you know.