Nickles1973
Well-Known Member
For anyone that hasn't read any of my recent posts, my horse George has some issues!
He is a 9 y/o ex racer and has this year been diagnosed with an imbalance of his n/s fore which has caused chronic bruising to the heel area.(More recently he has also been found to have athritis of the n/s hind fetlock and pastern.) Nothing too unusual for an ottb.
I have been guilty in the past of just doing what is expected where G is concerned. I used the vet advised by my y/o. I used the farrier recommended by my y/o and followed everyones advice without actually thinking about what might be best for my horse. The vet recommended that to correct the imbalance G needed to be shod in bar shoes. The farrier agreed with the vet and since the farrier also shoes for the vet I had no reason to question either of them.
Then I followed a couple of threads on here. These opened my eyes to the fact that there could be another way to improve G's hooves. I posted some photo's on my profile of his hooves after his recent shoeing and two hhoer's opened my eyes to what deep down I already knew.
He has poor m/l balance, his heels are weak and colapsed and his frogs are almost non existent. And tbh the shoes which are meant to be helping are most likely contributing to his problems.
I contacted another farrier. One recommended by a couple of friends who has a reputation for thinking outside of the box and for being pro active about increasing his knowledge.
His first words when looking at G's hooves. "oh dear"
He measured the visual imbalance in G's n/s hoof at 6mm. The vet was telephoned and consulted. The imbalance in his pedal bone was only 2mm. So the previous farrier had acheived nothing.
So a plan has been formed to build my horse better hooves. I have tweaked his diet. It wasn't bad before but now it should be better.
And now for the exciting part.
George has today been kitted out with Vettec shoes. The beauty of these are that they have not been nailed to his hooves. They will support his hoof but will allow a degree of flexing that cannot be acheived with metal shoes. His frogs and heels should be able to develop more naturally as the hoof should hopefully behave more like an unshod hoof.
They are not perfect. They will wear down and I will probably have to put boots on to ride on the road so they do not wear down too fast.
As the photo's show his feet are no where near fixed. There is a long way to go and the new farrier could only do so much with the look of his hooves in just one visit. I am not a barefoot convert just yet, but if the way G was standing (straight from shoulder to hoof) after his new shoes is anything to go by I am at least half way there.....
He is a 9 y/o ex racer and has this year been diagnosed with an imbalance of his n/s fore which has caused chronic bruising to the heel area.(More recently he has also been found to have athritis of the n/s hind fetlock and pastern.) Nothing too unusual for an ottb.
I have been guilty in the past of just doing what is expected where G is concerned. I used the vet advised by my y/o. I used the farrier recommended by my y/o and followed everyones advice without actually thinking about what might be best for my horse. The vet recommended that to correct the imbalance G needed to be shod in bar shoes. The farrier agreed with the vet and since the farrier also shoes for the vet I had no reason to question either of them.
Then I followed a couple of threads on here. These opened my eyes to the fact that there could be another way to improve G's hooves. I posted some photo's on my profile of his hooves after his recent shoeing and two hhoer's opened my eyes to what deep down I already knew.
He has poor m/l balance, his heels are weak and colapsed and his frogs are almost non existent. And tbh the shoes which are meant to be helping are most likely contributing to his problems.
I contacted another farrier. One recommended by a couple of friends who has a reputation for thinking outside of the box and for being pro active about increasing his knowledge.
His first words when looking at G's hooves. "oh dear"
He measured the visual imbalance in G's n/s hoof at 6mm. The vet was telephoned and consulted. The imbalance in his pedal bone was only 2mm. So the previous farrier had acheived nothing.
So a plan has been formed to build my horse better hooves. I have tweaked his diet. It wasn't bad before but now it should be better.
And now for the exciting part.
George has today been kitted out with Vettec shoes. The beauty of these are that they have not been nailed to his hooves. They will support his hoof but will allow a degree of flexing that cannot be acheived with metal shoes. His frogs and heels should be able to develop more naturally as the hoof should hopefully behave more like an unshod hoof.
They are not perfect. They will wear down and I will probably have to put boots on to ride on the road so they do not wear down too fast.
As the photo's show his feet are no where near fixed. There is a long way to go and the new farrier could only do so much with the look of his hooves in just one visit. I am not a barefoot convert just yet, but if the way G was standing (straight from shoulder to hoof) after his new shoes is anything to go by I am at least half way there.....
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