for those in thr know - is this bad farriery?

asommerville

asommerville

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Horse had wedges and silicon pads on and haa been very lame and getting worse. Vet took shoes off for x rays and found that under the pads was a large amount of dirt that had got in, along with a corn that was a result of the shoenputting pressure on the horsea foot.

There are a number if other problems with her feet, but ive not been happy with the farrier lately, didnt think he was doing as good a job aa before and was not as interested.

This horse has had these pads on before and ive never seen that amount of dirt come out when the shoe came over before. Asked the farrier about it yesterday and he said that was ehat happened when they are out in the mud?

Can anyone advise?
 
When my horse had wedges and pads the farrier put dental impression material against the sole then applied pad and shoe, never had any dirt under, but as a side note never got sounder or improved his feet in 18 months and when I wised up and got the shoes taken off I now have a horse I can ride and who is much happier without the 'farriers attention'.

If you farrier is not using impression material then sack him, he is making it up as he goes along!
 
Regardless of whether it is good or bad, you said that you haven't been happy with the farrier.
This is reason enough to change imo.
 
Hard to say with the ground so wet ATM. My mad had heel wedges to take the pressure of a check ligament injury, once we had started we couldnt just take them off as it would then overload the weak ligaments. It wasn't great in a horse with collapsed heels but he stayed sound with them for the whole summer then was rehabbed with a heart bar. Generally had dental impression moulded to his feet apart from once where the farrier thought it may trap more dirt than it prevented. As for corns, my lad picks them up waiting to be shod after an abscess, its taken several years to improve his feet to the point they are at.
 
If you aren't happy with what your farrier is doing you should ask him why it happened, ask the vet if its normal practice and, if you want to keep shoes on, ask your vet who they recommend.

Something else to consider may be if he isn't sound in shoes, then it may be worthwhile taking them off and seeing if that helps?

Good luck.
 
a friend had the pads on her horse and never had dirt under them when taken off, as someone said above he should be using dental sealer stuff.

my horse was very lame, alot of the time on 3 legs. the vet came out and said that reduce his paddock size, bute him etc etc. i figured i was only going to have a short period of time left with him before making the decision so took his shoes off, within the hour he was more comfortable on his feet and after that he kept improving. i kept shoes off him for nearly 18 months and he was so much better, even the vet was amazed.

he's now back in shoes using a different farrier and so far not had any problems. the shoes that were removed looked a mess, vet/different farrier/liveries were all shocked at how badly shod my horse was, couldn't see properly when on his feet though.
 
My farrier uses a product called Magic Cushion between pads and sole of hoof. If I understand rightly this is an analgesic and helps to prevent thrush etc. Also - no dirt. Ever!
 
The corect way of making custom made foot pads is to have a hard high impact plastic or metal plate riveted on to the shoe and sandwiched between the shoe and the silicon hoof cushion material. The hard high impact plastic or metal plate will keep the hoof cushion material in place and prevent it from distorting and allowing debris from entering between the hoof cushion and sole of the foot.
 
He used to use a plastic/foam.material.and would put that between the shoe.and the ground and then fill it with the silicon, i havent seen this happening for a while and when i queried it was told that he didnt need to use it anymore. thanks for your comments folks
 
Leg_end said:
If you aren't happy with what your farrier is doing you should ask him why it happened, ask the vet if its normal practice and, if you want to keep shoes on, ask your vet who they recommend.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Agree with this. Is your farrier a 'one man band' or does he work for a firm - if the latter you could ask the boss to come out and check the work. I have done this a couple of times with my farriers (same area of the country as you by the way) when I have been a bit unsure of something the lads have done - have to say though that once the boss had explained what the lad had done it all made sense. My horse was in pads for a while - her problem was that she got thrush, and the farrier and I agreed she was better without them. My vet has horses and uses same farriers as I do, so think I would take that as a recommendation :)
 
I had a horse that used to have silicon pads on his feet. Unfortunately they're not always successful in winter, because dirt can get underneath them. The corn was most likely as a result of the dirt under the silicon.

So can't say really whether your farrier has got it wrong or not under the circumstances.

Have you actually spoken to your farrier about your concerns?
 
Yes I have asked him, he didn't say anything about the corn but did say that in the winter that's what happens with those shoes. Have spoke to a different blacksmith who will have a look, it's a shame as he had her feet looking great before, when I last spoke to him his advice was to chuck her in a field and forget about her, so clearly not interested in trying to get her sound....not the answer I was after!!
 
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