Foot balance experts - your thoughts (pics)

The thing is we rely (sp?) on our farrier to know their jobs and we expect them to know what they are doing. It is such a shame that there seem to be so many out there that are not doing their job correctly.
I work on a livery yard owned by a international rider who has their horses shod by Kelvin Lyner and he is fab but you have to pay a fortune for that service and this shouldnt be the case.
We have several farriers that come to the livery yard and I wouldnt let one of them shoe my horse...feet are long in the toe, incorrectly balanced, no heals...
We shouldnt have to be telling our farrier what to do, how many of you have farriers that watch your horse walk and trot up in hand before and after shoeing? I know none of the farriers who come to the livery yard do this!
It really frustrates me because as horse owners some of us don't know enough about foot balance/correct shoeing to recognise the early signs of bad shoeing.
And farriers who let their apprentices go off shoeing alone...I could go on.
Oh and lastly one rode nail in each foot...?there should be two in each shoe so to correctly balance the foot.
Its terrible that we have to pay a fortune for an excellent service...
Anyway your horses feet look so much better and well done for getting a new farrier.
 
We shouldnt have to be telling our farrier what to do, how many of you have farriers that watch your horse walk and trot up in hand before and after shoeing? I know none of the farriers who come to the livery yard do this!


Totally agree with the above comment. I lost my old horse to navicular due to bad foot balance and the 'new' farrier is the only one I know who walks and trots up before and after shoeing. He's not cheap compared to others in the area but I won't put a price on my horses care if it means the difference between life and sorry to sound dramatic but death as euthanasia was an option with my old horse.

When I voiced my concerns to the old farrier he didn't seem to think there was a problem so asked if he minded the guy who trained him looking at the horse (with him there). As I unloaded him and walked towards the trainer I saw his face fall and he just said that my horse was 6 months away from being lame for life. Sadly he was right.
 
Yikes, you've been through the mill haven't you? Lovely job by the new farrier, buy him some whisky every Christmas!! I think the previous farrier should be invited to come and see the difference, it HAS to be lack of knowledge/skill to get it that wrong.

I hope the pony is enjoying his new hind end movement.
 
Are you absolutely sure your original farrier is qualified and on the register?? If so then YES you need to report him. If not qualified then you STILL need to report him. Dont feel bad about doing it either.
 
Don't think twice about reporting this, and I would also let the RSPCA know as well. That degree of bad work is likely to cause unnecessary suffering - God only knows what could be found if his tracks were followed.
 
i have just read your thread with interest and having practiced farriery for 20 years im still shocked by how a lot of newbies seem to soon regress into 'im qualified what do you know' state of mind, so soon really after they have passed the diploma. We all can make a mistake, it does happen to even the best of us, but i am troubled by the continuing lack of observation that seems to be redundant in the modern farrier. I personally take a lot of pride in my profession and if it doesn't look right on the floor its not right. There does seem to be a certain arrogance around and we just cant afford to be like that now. horse owners are much more knowleged than they used to be and thats why some in the farriery profession need to realise this and improve on what they do. reporting him wont do any good as the frc just dont have the powers to do anything. at best he might get a slap on the wrist. the only outcome you could really hope from this is that he 'ups his game' and starts looking at the feet as a farrier again and not just as a way of earning a living.
I am yas' OH by the way!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top