Comments on: The wrong barefoot trim?

By: KATE

KATE — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 05:32:46 +0000

In reply to Candice.

Candice that sounds awful and I sincerely hope that by now the horse is on the road to recovery- as the old saying goes, “no hoof-no horse”. First, I have to tell you about a wonderful and rather inexpensive supplement for hooves called ” Vit A Biotin Crumbles”. I didn’t notice where you were from, but this is widely available in Louisiana for around $15.00 a tub. I get so many compliments from ferriers and friends. You feed one scoop for a 1100 lb horse once a day. Strong, healthy elastic hooves. Now about your horse pawing the ground with that sore foot…I agree with you-it sounds as though she’s lacking so much in her diet, and you can turn her around slowly in a month with good quality feed-maybe even a senoir formula so there’s less chance of colic and founder than feeding the high octane stuff. But meanwhile, use lots of shavings or straw or whatever bedding you have, and if she must stay outside maybe you can protect those front feet with some rubber boots for now. Good luck to you and you will be in my prayers, and your horses! Kate Pinion

By: Larry B

Larry B — Thu, 23 Jan 2014 03:30:17 +0000

The farrier should never be allowed to rasp the front surface of the hoof as part of a normal shoeing. If they have to rasp around the foot where the shoe & hoof come together just to have a smooth joint, that is ok. Rasping any more of the front of the hoof will cause the hoof to dry out, removes the protective membrane, is a bad idea and totally unnecessary. If you see them doing it, question them and state that you would rather they did not do that. If they try to sell you on the idea, tell them you would like not to do it until you have a chance to research it. I do not think you will ever find any information that supports their doing that.

By: Frederick Booth

Frederick Booth — Wed, 29 May 2013 21:28:53 +0000

We learned the hard way, through experience, not to trim any of the bars on a horses foot to much. Our first farrier would trim the bars right down to the sole of the foot. This always caused quarter cracks to form on the feet after 3 or 4 weeks new hoof growth. This is when we began to learn how to trim horses hoofs for ourselves. We wanted to stop this aggravating problem. When we started trimming hoofs we always made sure we did not take off too much sole or bars. We of necessity had to leave enough protection on the hoof as we had to travel many rough trails and rock roads with lots of paved roads in between. Fred and Joan.

By: Candice

Candice — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 20:26:36 +0000

When I brought my colt to his new home hissister came with him for company, She had been out in the pasture for a year & a half and I really question weather it was a good idea since I worked with the colt but the filly was not handled at all and alot bigger then the colt was when I started handleing him. The filly hooves are split all the way up on the front and when I fed her, she paws the ground then holds her hoof up. I have a farrier coming to look at her & when I introduced a mineral block she licked it for hours. Any advice on feed, minerals or what to ask the farrier before he starts to work. Please share with me. We will be having snow and frozen ground here soon and I just want to help her. Thanks, Candice

By: Lori Byrnes

Lori Byrnes — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:11:04 +0000

When I moved to my new farm, I had a horrible time finding a farrier. My horse had an avulsed ligament on the right leg, and had been in front shoes since last March. The farrier I found came out and did a REALLY crappy job, spent very little time, and within 2 weeks the hooves were cracking where the nail holes were and some nails were sticking up through the wall of the hoof. I went to a feed store and got advertising cards from the local certified farriers. The one I picked spent 3 hours with me, telling me why he thought my horse would be better off barefoot that with the shoes on-reasoning that the constant shoeing was putting nail holes in his hooves, causing them to crack even more and now that the avulsion was healed he saw no reason to keep them on. It’s been two weeks and my horse’s hooves have never looked better. He also told me that if I noticed any type of problem, to call him and he would come right over to evaluate it. The difference in a certified farrier and one who isn’t is HUGE, and using one who isn’t certified can cause your horse untold problems with his hooves.

By: lesa

lesa — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 01:21:50 +0000

In reply to Diana. i have had the saame thing happen to me. and it took 3 weeks and over 2k to fix my babies hooves

By: Diana

Diana — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:56:30 +0000

My farrier told me that the person who was trimming my horses feet were doing it wrong. He said that having an American Farriers Association certified farrier makes a huge difference since the certification testing requires them to know the difference between hot, cold and barefoot triming. This is not a guarantee that your farrier will do the right trim, but it should help.

By: marian gerlach

marian gerlach — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 11:56:48 +0000

love what you are doing. great information! thanks