From: Jack
Dear Jessica:
First let me thank you for all the wonderful advice you have given through your newsletter. My horses and I really appreciate it. My question concerns a 1 day farrier clinic I recently attended, hosted by the horse organization I belong to. The instructor (also a member of the same organization) is a well qualified individual with 50 years experience who taught farriery at a local college for several years and has now retired. I learned a lot that day, but there were several things I saw that troubled me. Most of them were minor, such as a complete dressing-down of two students who had respectfully asked questions (apparently the answers had already been explained and they should have got it the first time), lots of swearing (there were ladies present), and several unexplained contradictions.
There was one thing I saw, however, that I have to know more about. The instructor was working on a live horse who had hooves with a wall angle to the ground of maybe 30 degrees instead of the usual 45 degrees or so, a very common problem. He showed us where he thought the tip of the coffin bone probably was, much farther back than normal, but said that he could not be sure without an X-ray. He then drove a no. 4 or 5 horseshoe nail into the sole of the foot just in front of where he thought the tip of the coffin bone normally was. This was about 1 inch behind the white line and he drove it full depth until it came out the wall about 1/3 the way up. This astounded everyone present, especially the horse's owner. The instructor then stated that since the horse had felt no pain from this nail, the nail had only penetrated insensitive tissue so the tip of the coffin bone must lie somewhere behind it. What are your thoughts about this incident, Jessica?
A little background about me: I am 48 years old and my interest in horses started late (age 40). I have been trimming my own horses for 7 years and I want to learn enough to shoe them properly. I read books,watch and question every farrier I see working, and practice fitting shoes without actually nailing them on. I have two horses at home, a 16 year old QH gelding and a QHxPercheron mare who will be 4 this spring. They are extremely friendly and go over to anyone who comes within sight, even though they seldom get treats. It is impossible to NOT catch them in the pasture. These two animals are among my best friends and I am hesitant to allow this farrier near them or follow any of his advice until I think he is competent. I have also purchased a QHxPercheron weanling filly who I can't wait to bring home next spring. I use these horses for pack trips and local trail riding and have trained them both to pack as well as ride. I started my mare last April and training is going well. She went on many day rides and 3 overnight trips last fall, the longest being 11 days. I do not work her very hard or load her heavily yet because of her age. I am only a student of horses now, but hope to be a horseman before I die.
P.S. - I have just learned that another horse that was at the farrier clinic is lame. This horse is 14 and has never been lame. The instructor took a very large amount off the toe of the front left foot and 2 days later the horse won't put full weight on that foot. This is probably because he has nothing to stand on but sole and heel. Please help!!
Jack
Hi Jack! Thanks for the kind words; I'm glad you're enjoying HORSE-SENSE.
You raise some very interesting questions, and I don't have any definitive answers for you. I've been lucky enough to know a series of truly excellent farriers, all of whom have been entirely willing to answer any number of questions. I can give you my impressions, though. ;-)
Impatience with students and swearing aren't unheard of even in good farriers of a certain age, although I'd walk warily around the impatient ones. Swearing would bother me more if it seemed to be accompanied by anger; with some people (including, I suppose, some farriers), swearing is like breathing, they just do it automatically, and there's no particular malice or evil intent or anger or even annoyance being expressed. Some people just have extremely limited vocabularies -- long ago, in Wales, my family and I were put into hysterical giggles by a young mechanic who couldn't figure out why our car wouldn't go, and who, after trying this, that, and the other thing, pushed his cap back on his head and said, disgustedly, "F**kin' f**k won't f**k!" It wasn't so much horrifying as it was funny -- and creative, in a way. He managed to make a single word function as adjective, noun, and verb! ;-) I personally don't think that swearing is necessary, but so many people do it that there's a very good chance that the ladies who were present knew all the words that were used. :-(
HOWEVER, having said that, I must also say that I would be very frustrated to witness impatience and unwillingness to explain at a CLINIC, which is not just a matter of a farrier shoeing a horse, but matter of a farrier demonstrating and explaining and teaching the how and why of various techniques of horse-shoeing. In a clinic, all questions should be taken seriously and answered seriously -- that's how people learn, and the more elementary the question, the more the questioner needs to learn, and the more careful and clear the teacher's answer should be.
The demonstration you described is actually one I've seen before -- it's a very dramatic way of making a point. Horses are so often trimmed and shod incorrectly,`because owners or trainers demand that the farriers remove the heel and leave as much toe as possible. This is terribly bad for the horse's overall soundness and balance, and it's one of the main reasons for all of the breakdowns we see in racehorses.
Someone, at some point, got the (wrong) idea that creating a long toe and a low heel would lengthen the stride of the horse. It doesn't -- it shortens the using life of the horse, and increases the chance ofsomething going wrong with every single unbalanced footfall.
But this is still quiet prevalent in some areas, and sometimes a good farrier, at a demonstration such as the one you attended, will drive a nail through a huge expanse of extra toe just to wake people up to the fact that their horses are being trimmed and shod WRONG.
But.... unless the person doing this dramatic demonstration explains what he is doing why he is doing it, it probably won't help anyone understand why it is bad to have all that extra toe, or how the farrier could tell, just by looking at the horse, that the functional FOOT of the horse was so far behind the toe. I think that a really good farrier can indeed do this, but I don't see the point of doing it without explaining precisely what this illustrates and what owners and farriers can and should do about the management of their horses' feet.
Another point is that any time a nail is driven into a foot, it leaves a hole that can be filled by any number of things including some that can lead to infection later -- so I would hesitate to allow this particular demonstration if I had any control over the situation. It can be explained clearly enough without a physical demonstration, and if necessary, a preserved horse-leg and foot can be used to show the positions of the various structures. Most people find this absolutely fascinating, and learn a great deal from looking at the actual bones and ligaments. And of course, then there's no worry about any possibility of current or future injury to a live horse.
As for the horse that is now lame, I would hope that the farrier didn't just remove a lot of toe from ONE foot and leave the other one long and the horse unbalanced! Horses that have nothing else wrong with them can become temporarily a little sore when dramatically too-long toes are corrected in one session (most farriers prefer to do this over two or three sessions a few weeks apart). Imagine the discomfort of a woman who is accustomed to wearing high heels all day every day, and who suddenly walks barefoot on the beach. Her feet themselves may feel better, but her legs will not. Her calves will hurt quite a lot, because the Achilles tendons that have become shortened through her low-toe, high-heel position will be expected to lengthen suddenly. She'll limp for a few days, and if she overdoes the beach-walking that first day, she may be lame for a week or two. ;-)
If the horse had a drastic change made to its angles, or had a drastic change made AND was worked the day after the change, it could easily go lame for a day or two. Without being there to see what happened, I really can't guess why this particular horse was lame -- but the above may help you to figure it out.
I can't really advise you on whether to use this farrier for your own horses. You know enough to ask good questions; why not talk to this farrier and find out WHY he did what he did, and what he would recommend for YOUR horses? You can also talk to some of the other farriers you know and respect, and see whether they can't help you to round out the picture you got at that clinic. It seems to me that your own good sense is in fine working order, and will continue to protect your horses.
Your horses sound lovely, and your program sounds very sensible. Take it slowly with your mare, just as you're doing, and you'll be taking her into the mountains for many years to come. You're a student of the horse who is well on his way to becoming a horseman, IMO. ;-)
Jessica
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