Dublin Forge

Dublin Forge David Kelly MFIMFA, Registered Farrier with over nineteen years experience. Hot, Cold and remedial s
(9)

15/07/2024

Regular farrier appointments aren't a luxury, they are a necessity for your equine companion's lifelong welfare.

❔Did you know❔
Every extra 1cm of toe length results in -
🔹an extra 50KG of force acting on the tendons
🔹a -1° drop in sole angle where the DDFT inserts into the coffin bone can lead to a 4% increase in the pressure exerted by the DDFT on the navicular bone

(Credit Dr Renate Weller)

12/07/2024

Here are a few reasons why it’s important you should find your horse's lost shoes -

✅ Prevent injury
- nails & clips can puncture hooves & skin, which can lead to abscesses, cuts or even worse

✅ Finding how the shoes are being lost can help prevent future shoe loss
- always at the end of big skid marks? Ensure your horse is settled whilst turned out or perhaps limit the size of their field
- always by the fence? Consider which type of fencing you have. If changing the fencing isn’t an option, cordon off the problem area
- always near your horse's favourite scratching spot? Consider having them checked for mites or sweet itch and treat accordingly
- Is your horse particularly bothered or sensitive to flies at this time of year? This can cause them to be unsettled - ensuring adequate fly spray is applied and using a well fitted fly rug can help to easy their frustration.

✅ Save money & time
- replacement shoe appointments are often harder to fit into farriers' busy schedules
- paying for a new shoe plus call out is more expensive!

✅Regular shoe loss can sometimes indicate underlying issues
- stiffness or pain can be a cause of shoe loss. Make sure you seek veterinary advice to detect any underlying issues early
- don't forget correctly fitted over reach boots!

20/03/2024

Knowledge sharing post No.1.

Digital/Phalangeal Alignment in a wet environment.
Pollitt and Hampson did a study at University of Queensland a couple of years ago.
They concluded the hoof wall has a constant moisture content. The sole however is like a sponge, soaking up all available moisture .
When hydrated to capacity, it loses it's tensile strength and the ability to support the hoof capsule as intended.
The back third of the hoof, which is also the shock absorbing section, drops or prolapses as a result. Counter rotation of the coffin bone occurs.
This is now known as negative palmer/planter angle. That is the angle the bottom of P3 makes in relation to the ground.
As a farrier, the best results to help this are to engage the back third in a load sharing package. Traditionally a heartbar shoe or wide bar was used. More recently dental impression material or pour in material is added to load share with frogs and commisures.
Plastic frog support pads are available most recently, as skills to fit a heartbar correctly are highest level. Protecting the internal structure are paramount whilst load sharing.

Horse's hooves are not designed to be constantly wet. Best results are to remove the cause.
A dry bedding of pine sawdust draws moisture and helps kill bacterial invasion of the whiteline and/frog's.
Overloading of the over hydrated hoof is exacerbated by the weight of the horse. To many horse's are overweight for the tensile strength of the hoof capsule.
If your horse gets to the situation where it needs this specific shoeing package, it's your responsibility as an owner to change the management or husbandry process.
Horse's shod with a load sharing package should be in a confined environment where they can't gallop about with the possibility of overreaching causing premature shoe loss. They should not be in a herd environment where other horse's can stand on the shoe's at play causing premature shoe loss.
Your farrier sees your horse at a cyclic time to reshoe, trimming the hoof to keep in balance perimeters.
The management between visits falls squarely on the owner.
Unfortunately to often expectations of correct digital alignment are overshadowed by owner mismanagement. I'm older and get grumpy when "buck passing " ends up in my lap.
At the end of the day as a professional tradesperson, it's me who decides if I continue to be trying my best for your horse's welfare 🙏

Not so sunny last day    ,    ,  ,    ,
23/02/2024

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26/01/2024

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Using all the tools at our disposal trying to help this laminitic pony.    ,  ,  ,    ,  ,  ,  ,  ,
18/01/2024

Using all the tools at our disposal trying to help this laminitic pony.
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29/11/2023
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03/08/2023

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The future is looking bright for Farriery in Ireland. Some great young lads coming through a fantastic college system.
27/07/2023

The future is looking bright for Farriery in Ireland. Some great young lads coming through a fantastic college system.

17/07/2023
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27/05/2023

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25/05/2023

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09/04/2023

An Eventer with some balance issues , , , , , , , , ,

An eventer with some balance issues.                                        ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  ,    ,
09/04/2023

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22/01/2023

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Great post, Thanks Gareth!
12/01/2023

Great post, Thanks Gareth!

Why do ‘cresty’ necks suddenly go rock hard?

This information is relevant and useful to people who own horses with Equine Metabolic Syndrome and are in danger of laminitis or whose horses are intermittently ‘footy’. Understanding this will help with rehabilitation.

Dr Deb Bennett PhD (who has conducted many dissections), that “the horse's "crest" is made of fibro-fatty sub-cutaneous (adipose) tissue similar in texture to high-density foam”.

Have you ever wondered how it is that the ‘crest’ of the neck can harden so rapidly? Sometimes overnight?

The actual reason is because it goes ‘turgid’ (it fills with fluid). Like foam, the crest tissue can take up water like a sponge; so it swells and hardens because fluid ‘leaks’ into it, filling the interstitial spaces until it is hard as a rock, and ‘softens’ when electrolyte balances are corrected thereby allowing fluid to be resorbed.

When the crest swells with edema, other parts of the horse's body like the abdomen and the hooves (significantly the digital cushion is made of similar material, it is a thick wedge of fibro-fatty subcutaneous tissue) -- are liable to be in trouble, too.

Hardening of the ‘crest’ coincides with not only spring and autumn growth spurts but also potassium and nitrogen spikes in autumn and winter grasses. It coincides with early signs of laminitis which are ‘stiffening’ of gait and being ‘footy’.

It is a sure indication that one cause of ‘pasture related laminitis’ is as much to do with mineral imbalances, (particularly potassium and nitrogen excesses concurrent with salt deficit) as sugars and starches. It explains why short Autumn grass can cause laminitis when analysis shows soluble sugars + starch content is only 7.5% while potassium is 3.4%, sodium only 0.154%, nitrogen 5.8%, nitrates 2290mgs/kg (far too high, in mature grass/hay they are undetectable).
It is one of the many reasons clover is such a ‘no-no’ for EMS/laminitis equines and a likely explanation why there are some insulin resistant/elevated insulin horses that can't tolerate Lucerne (alfalfa) and is why Lucerne can perpetuate laminitis when everything else is being done ‘right’.

People who own horses with EMS are aware they need to pay attention to this vital sign: that just before a horse has a bout of laminitis, the normally soft and spongy crest stands up firm and hard. Then they can immediately reduce potassium/nitrogen intake by eliminating short, green grass replacing it with soaked hay and make sure they add salt to feeds and not rely on a salt lick. If action is taken quickly enough in these early stages, laminitis can be averted, you can ‘dodge a bullet’.

Soaking hay for about an hour not only reduces sugars but also reduces potassium levels by 50%.

Therefore a very important aspect of EMS and laminitis is that identifying and addressing mineral imbalances (particularly high potassium/nitrogen & low salt) are equally as important as sugar and starch content when rehabilitating individuals and assessing suitability of forage for these compromised equines.

07/12/2021

How a horse should be handled before a farrier is called in

Great explanation on the effects of lack of frog contact. Thanks Yogi!
19/11/2021

Great explanation on the effects of lack of frog contact. Thanks Yogi!

For the want of frog contact…

We have all heard the old saying “for want of a horseshoe nail the war was lost”

But I have my own version..

“For want of frog contact the haemodynamic system was compromised.
Because of a compromised haemodynamic system, natural viscoelastic deformation was affected.
Because of reduced natural viscoelastic deformation, and hydraulic dampening, shock absorption was inefficient.
Because of inefficient shock absorption, negative morphology ensued.
Because of negative morphology increased flexor strain was created.
Because of increased flexor strain a predisposition to pathology began.”

Ok so it doesn’t have the same ring to it but the point remains consistent.
The frog and palmar/plantar hoof structures are a vital part of whole horse health and biomechanics. It can be the beat of the butterfly wing that creates a hurricane somewhere else in the horses body completely!
Seemingly little things that have become normality, contracted, thrushy, deformed, under-utilised or bypassed frogs are having potentially deadly repercussions.

The image below is my representation of an optimal haemodynamic system. Utilising all 3 of Bowkers haemodynamic theories.
To do this it needs to have the structures making up the haemodynamic system working in unity.

Watch the recent webinar where we have an anatomy lesson, dissect and discuss in depth the importance of this system and compare and contrast strong and weak systems..

https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/product-page/haemodynamic-webinar

18/05/2021
04/08/2019

Interesting fact

Every 1cm of extra toe length results in an extra 50 kg of force acting on a horses tendons.

-1 degree drop in the sole angle where the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon inserts into the coffin bone can lead to a 4% increase in strain exerted by the DDFT on the Navicular bone

This just highlights how important it is to keep your horses regularly shod and also how important it is for your farriers, and physios to work together.

19/05/2019
22/01/2019

We would like to announce our dates and judge for the 2019 Newbridge Horseshoeing Championship. The competition will take place on 21st & 22nd June, 2019 and will be judged by Ryan McDonald Dip WCF (Wales). We hope to see you all there, please spread the word!!!!!

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