13/02/2023
Hoofcare and Maintenance - rainy day thoughts
This is my thoughts only - I'm not professing to be the authority or anything, I am more Jotting down some ideas while sitting in a Cafe looking at the s***e weather out the window
Lots of people, my own clients sometimes among them, comment on 'he's got bad feet', ' he's a shoe puller' 'he's got thin walls/soles etc, and accept this as their fate
Often, two things happen - either the Farrier/trimmer is ' blamed' for doing an average job and sometimes replaced, or the horses 'naturally bad feet' are accredited and it is accepted that that's the way it is
My opinion, take it for what it is, is that there are a number of factors that influence the horses foot, and some are often overlooked
Theres obviously the trim - whether the foot is dressed in such a way that the horse has sufficient good wall to walk on, that the flare which would add leverage and encourage chipping etc throughout the cycle, is taken off, and that the foot is kept underneath the horse, protecting those all too important soft tissues
Then there's the shoe fit - encompassing all sorts of factors, the general shape, how tight it is fitted, how much heel support Is offered, the choice of shoe, the height of the nails, the tightness of the clench. One could talk for years about the shoeing
Theres the environment - little brownie living in a bare paddock who leans over the wire fence to get the grass on the other side, and hooks his shoes in the fence at least once a week.
Or Sally who lives in a bog, whos feet are always wet and therfore soft, and whose front feet getting stuck in mud and therfore delayed in takeoff and getting out of the way before the back foot tracks up and grabs that show off (though when she rings the Farrier, she'll tell him the mud 'Sucked" the shoe off)
And don't get me started on Pablo, who lives on hills, and hoons down each night to get his feed, only to slide on the brakes at the bottom, and clash front and hind feet
What we sometimes don't consider, is diet. I am a firm believer that" quality in means quality out"
Horses processing minimal feed, minimal hay/baleage and just not enough grass, lack the nutrients to support good foot growth. It Is easy to say that a horse can't have grass, or we don't have lots of grass, but then an owners expectations of the growth and foot quality that they will see, needs to be reset. As a grazing animal designed to have access to forage full time, simply feeding once, or even twice a day, even with all the supplements in the world, is unlikely to see good growth and hoof quality. A notable example of this, is the difference in growth we are seeing in our extended spring season we are experiencing in Wellington right now, where grass growth has been constant - quality in means quality out.
Horse management is a huge factor. Maintaining a regular cycle (nah, they look good right now, they'll last another few weeks) , limiting soaking/wet exposure (where possible, let's face it, not everyone has stables in winter) and managing the diet, are all factors that are out of the humble farriers control, but can make a huge difference to the health of the horses foot.
I'm not a vet, or a dietician, but I do know that careful management of my own horses diets over the years, even before I was a Farrier, has meant that I have been fortunate to have had horses, shod and barefoot, with good quality hoof growth. Billy and Bert both Tbs were ridden barefoot, Johnny the TB also had great foot growth rate, Casper had beautiful strong Feet, Blueberry grew foot like nobody's business, and the current horse, Bella, is ready for shoeing 5 weekly due to her growth (keyboard warriors, no she doesn't have A metabolic issue 😜 thanks for the concern)
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