Foot balance experts - your thoughts (pics)

irish_only

irish_only

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 January 2009
Messages
1,063
Location
Somewhere snowy in winter, lovely in summer
Visit site
Pics attached of horses feet 1 week after being shod. Is shod religously every 6-7 weeks, never loses shoes. Is 'normally' as straight as a die. Doesn't dish, turn in/out, not close/cowhocked or any other hocked behind.
Your thoughts?
Hind feet
Hindsbefore1.jpg

Hind feet
Hindsbefore.jpg

Hind feet
Hindsbefore3.jpg

Hind feet
Hindsbefore2.jpg

Hind feet
Hindsbefore3.jpg

Fronts
Frontsbefore.jpg
 
looking at the hind feet I'd have said that horse is due to be shod (if not overdue). He is long in the toe.
 
Will have to get my OH to look at your pictures (he's training to be a farrier!)

In my opinion - from what i have picked up from my own horses - toes look long, the basic shape of the foot doesn't quite look right, and the heels look quite low?

I'd be shopping around for a new farrier if i were you:), so much can come from bad shoeing/trimming, not worth hesitating in the end!
 
I'd also be getting a new farrier, now! He doesn't have a lot of heals left and can't believe his toes are so long a week after being done, especially behind. Just out of interest does he get by hot or cold shoeing?

Jude
 
irish_only said:
I don't any more. The question is, does he want reporting?

And yes - he is hot shod.
Click to expand...

I don't know how that would work. There are a lot of very bad farriers out there. I wish I'd taken some photos of the disasters I've seen!! I think a lot of the problem is laziness and often not incompetance. Your horse is pretty bad, but by far not the worst I've seen. Where are you in the country?
 
What sort of age is your farrier? Its just that the older farriers tend to shoe longer than the new younger farriers, not sure why.
Would say the hinds are long, think you are meant to drop vertical line from centre of pastern, 50% of foot should be in front. 50% behind.
 
Not old then. The army trained farriers ie the older ones that i have met tended to shoe like that. I now have a very good but expensive remedial farrier to put right all my horses. He just laughed when i said that surely i should be able to ring up any farrier and expect a reasonably good level of shoeing. I have had a scary farrier who threatened me when i asked about what he was doing (cutting back the heels on a long toed horse! two years later the horse still has bar shoes, has heel issues, pulled a suspensory from bad foot balance etc). He only lasted 1 shoeing but caused a huge amount of damage from such agressive trimming there was little that could be done to improve it and the next highly recommended plonker wasnt much better. (he didnt last long either!).
 
Goodness knows how effective reporting would be, but if you could find a way to discuss with him why you are changing farriers, then you may save an awful lot of horses a lot of pain especially if he still has another 30 years of farriering!!!

Clearly, how you tackle it would depend on his temperament - and your bravery. But he may just not understand how sloppy he has become.

(Another thought, find out who trained him and chat to them if you feel it would be more effective - after all, its a pretty poor reflection on them?).
 
irish_only said:
Your thoughts?
Hind feet
Hindsbefore1.jpg
Click to expand...

Those are what I'd call seriously corkscrewed feet. Twisted and flared, I bet they look uneven if pic was taken from the sole. Also... how long do hinds need be ffs!!!! Poor you. Glad you are getting new farrier.
 
Last edited:
I think all bad farriery needs to be reported, otherwise the FRC just aren't going to be fully aware of the amount of 'shoddy' (!) work there is out there being done every day! Your farrier isn't going to be exactly struck off for that kind of work, but if people do actually send in photos like that to the FRC when they aren't happy about the standard of work then perhaps they will realise how big the problem is out there - because it is a big problem for sure unfortunately!

Unless they are told, nothing will change - it isn't just one or two farriers who do work like this unfortunately - I see awful farriery on almost a daily basis on a variety of yards and that just isn't acceptable!
 
The hind feet are too long (long toes, making horse on its heels), flared a bit at the outside, and fronts don't look quite as bad but looks like they could be shod much wider and longer at the heels. Hopefully you can find a very skilled, talented farrier to help you!- good luck.
 
Oh my! that is some seriously shocking work! I to would be reporting this! Im amazed your horses is still sound.
 
That is truely shocking, I cant believe how long those toes are and there is clearly flare to be taken off :eek:

OP - Did you get another farrier out can we see how they look now in comparison?
did you manage to report the original farrier, Id definately be finding out how to go about it! x
 
Wow.....

That is exactly what one horse I went to veiw in Derbyshire this weeks feet looked like and she said he had just been shod!! In fact the one i veiwed feet looked worse. I was so shocked and wasnt sure how farriers got away with it and it really put me off buying it! The owners had their own land and I think were fairly novicey so hadnt actually noticed. Im intrigued to know who the farrier is now! :)
 
Okay, bear with me as this will be long. Last year got fed up of farrier either not turning up or turning up 'sometime' on the day, so changed on recommendation to this one. At first all seemed to go well. However, I noticed that all the horses feet (I have qite a few, mostly trims, but two shod) were becoming slightly wider on the outsides, and they were not being trimmed as much as they should be. Both shod horses were starting to look far too flared on the outside and long. One of the trims was definitely starting to look turned out from behind and his fronts looked unbalanced too. As it happens he had to be x-rayed, and the fronts look like this:-
RightFore.jpg

Obviously unbalanced, right?
So, farrier booked, show him copy of x-rays to help explain what I am unhappy about. I then stand over him while he shoes first horse. Make him take more foot of and shorten toes, and get rid of the developing flare. Not perfect, but much better than previously done. I then leave him to shoe second horse while I get on with jobs. Pop my head round the corner to see how he is getting on. Two fronts on, and off hind on. I stop dead in my tracks, not believing what I am seeing. I fleetingly think tell him to take it off and leave him unshod behind, but don't. When he is finished, pay him and then start the search for new farrier. Here is what the new farrier did one week later:-
Hinds
Hindsafter1.jpg

Hindsafter.jpg

Fronts
Frontsafter2.jpg

Frontsafter1.jpg

The new farrier took nearly two inches off the back feet, all round the heels were unlevel thus feet completely unbalanced, because of the damage caused it will take months to get them back to how they were and grow more foot on the insides, the wall is VERY thin on the outside of the back feet where it has seperated due to the pressure from the flare.

Yes - I think I will be reporting him.
 
Snowysadude said:
Wow.....

That is exactly what one horse I went to veiw in Derbyshire this weeks feet looked like and she said he had just been shod!! In fact the one i veiwed feet looked worse. I was so shocked and wasnt sure how farriers got away with it and it really put me off buying it! The owners had their own land and I think were fairly novicey so hadnt actually noticed. Im intrigued to know who the farrier is now! :)
Click to expand...

Would love to know whereabouts in Derbyshire you were. I wouldn't let ANYONE look at a horse with feet like that 'til I'd got them sorted!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top