I am livid..farrier has burned horses feet!

H

henryhorn

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Devon UK
www.narramorehorses.blogspot.com
My daughter used the local farrier for the yard where she works yesterday and immediately the horse went lame. By this morning he was stood almost in a laminitic way so she got the vet, who said the farrier has burned the horse's feet too deep.
I am so angry if this is the case, and have never in all my years of horses heard of such a thing.
Has this happened to anyone else?
The horse was due to have a lesson with Adam Kemp on Monday and event early March, so how long does this take to get better?
He's on anti inflmmatories and pain killers but still terribly tender, the vet said leave the shoes on for now.
I am very tempted to contact the farriers' council if this is not a normal occurrance, the chap is advertising as bare foot specialist and remedial farrier, what a bloody joke. That horse has never been the slightest bit footsore since he was backed and he's 6 this year!
 
Never heard of burning before.
crazy.gif

Hope horse had a speedy recovery and there are no long-lasting effects x
 
id deff report him!! and dont use him again!! he's cost you vet bills, and loss of use of your horse!! he's hired to help maintain the welfare of your horse, not make it lame. thats terrible! ive never heard of that before!!
 
I hope the horse recovers, I've never heard of such a thing before, I didn't know it was possible to burn their feet whilst being shod. Did he hold the shoe in place for a really long time or something?
 
can i ask who it was? pm if prefured.

the farriers site recently done a list of farriers that were suspended, its on the site.. may be worth a check.. there was a few in the devon area.
 
contact the farriers council definately. Are you a BHS member? they have a legal help line, i'd ring them and ask to speak to lawyer too.
 
Yes, it's a new farrier to us as daughter is working 40 miles distant.
Our own farrier has said he will take over as soon as we get the horse home, but our box is currently having a new engine in so won't be back until the weekend.
I'm not sure yet what we will do re this, my daughter has gone to collect him to remove the shoes, perhaps when he realises what's happened he may agree he's made a mistake.
We will want the cost refunded, plus the vet, plus the entry fees which I think we will lose (it's an event horse). Provided there is no long term damage I'll talk with my daughter what course of action to take.
I wouldn't want to be the farrier faced with an angry CCJ, when someone drove head on into our box by going too fast the police had to lead her away before she floored him.!
 
Remember to take lots of photos, now and as horse progresses. I do know a farrier down here who regularly sets the hooves and feathers temporarily on fire, and he has done minor burns to hooves.
Good luck in all aspects of this.
 
As a farrier, if this ever happened to me (and it is fairly easy to do especially if the horse has thin soles, although i have never done it) i would admit it to the owner and not leave a horse in that state.

I would confront the farrier and probably also advise reporting him although this is a mistake that can (but should NOT happen)

Please get someone to take the shoes off as they are actually making the horse more uncomfortable because they ill be pressing into the burns (blisters)

horse should now be treated as a laminitic on deep bedding and also cold hosing will help if there is heat.

it could take a few days to a week for the feet to harden up again.

As a professional i am sorry this has happened to you!
 
Is there any chance that this is a newly qualified farrier who has made a mistake?

If i was the farrier i would appreciate the chance to fix the mistake

please give him the chance to know there was a mistake made, and to rectify the situation in anyway he can before reporting him.

If he is newly qualified perhaps seek out his old boss
 
Thanks Farrier, my daughter had to go and collect him because he couldn't drive, and he's removed the shoes, which instantly made the horse more comfortable.
He protested he hardly touched the horse so it wasn't his fault.
This was actually today he shod him not yesterday (my mistake) and as soon as my daughter got on she realised he was horribly lame.
The vet came within a short time and he said the soles were burnt.
I feel justified in caliming the £85 charge back, plus any vet's bill, plus loss of entries (he was entered in two BE's for which you lose money if you withdraw.
Had he said sorry, I am the sort who would have accepted it was a one off mistake, but because he didn't and denied blame, the Farriers' Council will get a letter on Monday.
Your advice is exactly the same as our own farrier and all we can do now is hope the recovery is quick. Our farrier did say the horse has really good feet without thin soles, and he's been shod on different event yards by three different farriers with never a trace of a problem, in fact he's been sound since the day he was born!
My own farrier is ex army and specialises in remedial farriery with the big equine hospitals, so we feel very happy with him getting him right. He doesn't want to put shoes back on for 10 days at least, so that means getting the horse home for that.
I've been a professional in the horse industry for over 40 years, and in all that time I've seen pricked nails, shoes binding a bit etc, but never a horse lame on all four feet like that..
It's a good job the bloke is 40 miles away is all I can say...
mad.gif
 
I've had similar problems with my very thin soled boy, who regularly was lame for 4/5 days after a farrier's visit. Last autumn I changed to cold shoeing, and since then I've had no problem, he's now ridden the next day, and he keeps his shoes on better.

Just a thought. Hope your boy is feeling better soon.
 
Couldn't drive tonight because he'd had a drink...
Not sure how badly the feet were affected but the stance was like laminitis, so I'm guessing the front feet were the worst.
He's walking round his box now ok and that will be removing the shoes plus the bute..
I'll get the horse home as soon as he can travel for our own farrier to assess him.
 
It sounds like you are going through all the right channels and i am so glad you have a good farrier to rectify the mistake (which is one like i said normally only made on horses with thin soles!) I had hoped this would be a young farrier who made a stupid mistake and owned up to it at least.

He should be compensating you for your shoeing bill (which is extortionate btw!) and for the loss of the use of the horse for the competitions etc.

again as a professional many appologies! I am livid that he denies responsibility, if you make that sort of mistake (unlike something like nail bind for example) its instant and you know you have done it.
 
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