Rand Horsemanship

12/12/2022

Hello everyone,

I regretfully have to inform you that due to some personal circumstances I will be pausing my services for the time being. I do not know how long this break will be, but I will keep everyone updated here on this page when I do open back up to hoofcare. I encourage all to look for another farrier to fill in or take over completely for me in the meantime. I apologize to anyone I have not personally let know as this is is a sensitive subject and not an easy decision for me. I love hoofcare and providing your equine friends with the trims and shoe jobs I have held a lot of pride in over the last 2 years. I thank all of you for using me for my services, and I hope that someday when I reopen to hoofcare I might find you on my route again.

Thank you for your understanding, RFS.

11/29/2021

Trim Balance is Key!

This illustrates that the hoof grows forward every trim cycle, and must be trimmed BACK, not FLAT.
The toe, heels and bar need to be trimmed back, and put into alignment with the limb every month or the horse will risk lameness issues and mobility restrictions.

To learn how to trim for balance, and soundness, please visit www.successwithhorses.com or see our online tutorial video’s at https://successwithhorses.uscreen.io/

11/23/2021

I have to give a huge thank you to Kendra every time she lets me ride and work with her horse Chrome! He is a fantastic boy with so much potential to do anything. Just a few days ago we were working on lateral work. I like to use this cone exercise for bending work, but also lateral movement. This is the last time I took him through the cones in this session. We worked on staying fluid and relaxed, not speeding up and running away from leg when pressure is added, and engaging the withers when we halt.

Kendra, I have so much fun working with him and I can’t wait to see what you guys are able to do in the show ring next year 😁🙌🏻 thank you for letting me ride and work on myself, as well as Chromey!

10/02/2021

These hooves belong to an awesome horse named P-man, due to some owner conflicts he had gone approx 2-4 cycles past due for a trim!

P grows a lot of toe, and with having an overly long toe, a lot of leverage is placed upon it. This leverage has caused a lot of distortion to the hoof capsule, and had caused a lot of separation within his white line.

During his trim I worked on getting his excessive toe length back to a healthy point that allows him to easily break over and get his front feet up and out of the way to prevent his hind hooves from coming in contact with them. I also started taking a small degree away from his toe plane, to assist his joints back to where he should be conformationally. I hope he enjoys being able to run around in his field again!

If you have a horse that has missed a cycle (or a few) don’t hesitate to reach out, I’d love to assist in making your equine partner comfortable again!

08/24/2021

Do you have a Miniature Horse, Donkey, or riding horse, are you unsatisfied with the current condition of their hooves? Are they not where you would like them to be in their training? Have you just gotten a rescue that you don’t have time to work with?

Well, look no further! I have openings on my books for trims and training!

Let’s see what we can do to make your horses more comfortable, and their hooves function more efficiently!

(Training spots are currently limited but, I do have some open!)

08/05/2021

In case anyone was wondering:

**both are hard on the horses GI!
**both are not a cure but often a bandaid for the issue!

Do you know the difference between Bute and Banamine?

For more information on the two NSAIDs ➡️ https://bit.ly/ButevBanamine

07/12/2021

The first trim on Hazel, she has been in captive training a little over 4-5 weeks, but this 4 year old wild spirit is coming along so quickly! Huge thank you to Jess and the Flaherty girls for giving me the opportunity to be involved with her, I can’t wait to see where you take her!

06/04/2021

This isn’t my picture, but it’s an important one. This shows the margin for error when shoeing a horse! Not a lot really!

If you do the maths on a set of shoes using 5 nails a shoe on a 5 week cycle, (roughly 10 shoeings a year), that’s 20 nails a shoeing so over the course of the years that 200 nails per year on one horse. If you work that on 5 horses a day on 48 weeks of the year that 24000 nails! That’s a lot of time to get it right and yet farriers do over and over again. Some times however it goes wrong (we don’t have x-ray vision!)

The best way to stop your farrier from stabbing or binding your horse to to make sure that they (the horse) are well trained and stand still for the shoeing period. If they have bad shelly feet and your farrier advises glue on shoes, casts etc then their not ‘trying to rob you blind’, their trying to help your horse. If they ask for sedation then they are trying to help your horse (and also trying to stay alive in the process!)

To my knowledge I haven’t lost any work recently but this is just an in-site into how easy it is for things to go wrong when you are dealing with a live animal that can’t talk! Know one starts the day wanting to lame a horse, but sadly sometimes it can happen.

05/04/2021

Amazing keratoma removal! (Video at the end if you don’t have a weak stomach! 🤩)

05/25/2020

Wonderful picture of Ms. Stella(r) and I out on the trails! Stella is a 9/10 year old Percheron cross who is gaining trail miles! We continue to push through our training work and continue seeing RESULTS out on the trails.

04/26/2020

I continue to see nothing but progress in building this little mares muscle mass back up! Two weeks and maybe six good schooling type rides and she’s back to bending, responding laterally to your leg, coming back to you after you push some impulsion into her, and even at the walk she is calm and quiet. It’s amazing what a good meal and supplements can do to a horse!

04/17/2020

Pearl was excellent for our ride today.

We worked on a lot of trot to halt, and walk to halt transitions while working on waiting calmly at the halt before being asked to move on. At the canter, she has one of the most powerful ones I have ridden in a long time!

04/16/2020

This is Pearl, she is a wonderful mare who you will start to see more of as the weather warms up and arena conditions allow it! My goal with Pearl is to continue to redevelop the right muscles so she can use her body in the best way for her ability!

04/15/2020

It was a beautiful day for a ground driving tune-up! A handsome little Shetland gelding taking his cool out stroll up the drive.

03/29/2020

Here’s a video from a while back of a groundwork and pressure point therapy session I had with Maci!

03/29/2020

Maci, a kill-pen rescue hackney pony. In this video we are working on ground driving, as soon she will be a cart horse!

Maci is a very timid little mare. She wants to see the best in people, but doesn’t have the best past to make her people skills comfortable for her. We continue to work on general ground manners, and growing upon her skills.

03/29/2020

First outside stroll! Exercising Montana is my favorite!