With the new season’s foals growing fast, now is an opportune time to get our minds around the subject of training the young horse to be shod. As the breeding and competition standards have become higher over the years, so too has the need to handle our young horses from an earlier age become more important. There is plenty of evidence to show us that most bent leg problems in foals can be corrected by careful attention of the farrier from as early as three weeks after birth; at this age the foals are very easy to hold (close to mum of course) and should then be trimmed regularly to establish a pattern. Because these foals are handled regularly from an early age, shoeing is generally not a problem.
But what happens to the foal which has perfect legs from birth? The tendency is often to do nothing with this group, until they are weaned at about six months of age and are much stronger and then need to be halter broken, taught to lead, tie up (using a breeching rope) then have the legs handled and hooves trimmed. To avoid … Continue Reading ››
This is without doubt the most important time for a reminder about hoof care in respect to mares and foals, and the old saying that prevention is better than cure comes to the fore.
As they approach foaling, mares carry a lot of extra weight and can suffer from hoof abscesses; the greatest majority of these are totally preventable if we just know what to look for. Abscesses occur in predictable places in the hoof, either in the front part of the sole, or the bar area near the heel. Often we make the mistake of just paddock trimming the mares during the year, whereas we should realise that it is extremely important to trim the hoof for soundness whenever it’s done.
An understanding of hoof anatomy and function shows that the horse requires a concave sole, no bar pressure on the ground, no flares in the outer hoof wall and an even weight-bearing hoof wall on the ground with slightly bevelled outer edges. Invariably we tend to leave too much thickness in the … Continue Reading ››
Natural athletic ability is born into all horses: true or false? By the time we get to start training the young horse either on the ground or under saddle, we are sometimes quite convinced that this has to be the clumsiest animal ever bred, while the next one may appear to be totally the opposite.
The simple fact is that sadly, by the time many of our young horses are old enough to do anything with, they have had little or no attention by way of corrective hoof trimming, so we begin their education already way behind the eight ball.
To avoid this dilemma is really quite simple; we need to start looking at their legs and hooves as early as possible and be able to recognise any irregularities in the alignment of bone structures or crooked feet. We then need to begin to put in place a programme of preventative maintenance to be sure the young horse ends up with straight legs … Continue Reading ››
The more I travel to assist horse owners from one end of this country to the other, the more convinced I become that there is a huge gap in the system of our horse owner education, in relation to the horse’s hoof.
Children attending pony clubs are given tuition in hoof inspection and basic care and attention of the hoof, and one would assume they carry this knowledge onto adulthood, but what about the adults who venture into the horse world for the first time?
It is your responsibility if you own or ride or care for a horse, to seek the how-to knowledge about hoof care and maintenance. Far too many horses suffer needlessly after simple mishaps such as springing a shoe or losing the odd nails while waiting for the farrier to arrive.
This situation can easily be helped if the owner just has a basic set of hoof care hand tools, and if they learn to take off a bent … Continue Reading ››
Participants on my courses arrive very confused about what tools they should use, and also arrive with an amazing variety of tools. Claw hammers are carpenters tools and are not suitable for shoeing horses. Farriers’ tools are available in a huge range of prices. The old adage that you get what you pay for is very true, but perspective on how much use that tool will receive needs to be kept in mind. If you are only ever intending to trim, then buy the best quality rasp available, and buy a handle with it. A lot of people don’t realise that rasps can be sharpened up to 10 or 12 times; you can even do it yourself. To sharpen your own rasps, make a 100mm PVC cylinder the same length as the rasp with a PVC cap screwed onto the bottom. Place blunt rasps in the cylinder with handle end upwards, then fill the tube with neat hydrochloric acid, leave uncovered in a well ventilated space for four to six hours, remove and wash in bicarbonate of soda and water solution to neutralise the acid, dry the rasps … Continue Reading ››
The sole and the hoof wall react differently in a dry climate to protect itself from the prolonged dry conditions. In extended dry periods, Mother Nature hedges her bets as to when the ground surfaces are ever going to be soft again, and so she does not allow the old sole to come away, giving the hoof more protection from underneath. This has the resultant effect (Pic 1) of also allowing the hoof wall to become longer and in some cases more flared at the toe and the sides and as a result the horse’s mobility becomes very unstable. This is where we need to intervene in order to restore the natural flexibility of the hoof. The barefoot trimmers maintain that the horse needs sole callous and they won’t remove it. However, sole callous builds up for the reasons already explained, and when it has gone too far it results in big ugly hooves and lack of mobility. A sharp sole knife is a farrier’s necessity in all climates. The Speedy Sharpener is the perfect tool for sharpening sole knives and ideal for sharpening loop knives and is available on my … Continue Reading ››
A shoeing bay offers the best in hoof care facilities.While many shoers work on horses in cross-ties, David Farmilo prefers a simple shoeing bay. Of course that means you’ve got to convince horse owners to invest in an inexpensive shoeing facility.A farrier from Oakbank, Australia, Farmilo is convinced that using a shoeing bay can make your hoof care work much easier. The simple setup also pays off for owners and trainers by providing a place to handle health care, dentistry, washing and grooming chores.A speaker at the recent International Hoof-Care Summit, Farmilo’s shoeing bay is easy to construct either outside or in a barn and makes working with any size horse or pony easier and safer.All an owner needs is a concrete slab, two 18 foot lengths of 2.5” diameter galvanised pipe, four base plates and four dynabolts. The 2.5” … Continue Reading ››
In a previous article I praised the advantages of a shoeing bay, and offered plans for the construction of the same. The overwhelming requests for plans that I have received has been amazing - it gladdens the cockles of this old farrier’s heart to think of shoeing bays springing up all around Australia, making the workload of the farrier so much easier and safer.It was when one such request also included the question ‘what if I just make a rail on one side, and use the wall on the other’ that I decided to clarify just why the dimensions of the shoeing bay and its construction are so important.It is so easy to accept the method of carrying out any simple task without questioning exactly why the task is carried out in that manner, and I thank him for asking that simple question.I remember the story of the young bride who always cooked a leg of lamb after cutting off the knuckle and discarding it. Her young husband queried why she did this, after all it was his favourite piece, and she said in some surprise that she … Continue Reading ››
There is only one way to tie up a horse while you are trimming or shoeing it and that is loosely. No matter how much you molly coddle that horse, pamper it or talk to it, your horse is a wild animal and there is just no predicting when an Afghanistan Climbing Camel is going to walk around the corner of the stall and frighten the heck out of your horse.
If you don’t want him to break his neck trying to escape from that camel, then make sure he is loosely tied. If he is serious about breaking free, he should be able to pull back and be free of the rope without taking the fence, gate or stall with him.
On one of my outback courses last year, I missed seeing that one of the participants had securely tied her horse to the rails despite my previous safety warning never to do this. Not only did he try to break free and fail, but he came down hard on my foot.During another recent course, the horses were tied to the rails while we … Continue Reading ››
I invite feedback from all my course participants and a recent feedback email gave me a jolt. It read “Changing from a participant to a viewer this time was lucky for me in a way as it allowed me to be in the right place at the right time (ie not under my horse) to pick up a great piece of knowledge from David that has enabled me to solve ongoing mystery injuries with my horses. David mentioned that if a horse won’t stand still when a farrier is doing the front feet to look at where the farrier is standing. He said that quite a few farriers pick up the horse’s leg then drag it out to the side to work on it; an unnatural and often painful position for the horse which means they will often try to ‘escape’ the situation. Well, the chiropractor has been telling me for ages that my horses have torn/scarred pectorals (which I found odd since they are very quiet, not in work and we have no slippery areas). My farrier came on Friday and I noticed, yes, he drags the leg out to the side and … Continue Reading ››
The front of the pedal bone must be parallel with the front of the hoof wall.
The soles must be concave and the bars dressed to be non weight bearing.
The active tip/sole junction of the frog must be clearly identified.
In the normal hoof, the tip of P3 can be identified and marked at 25mm forward of the active tip of the frog.
The frog must be cleaned along its sides in a straight line back to its widest points and junction with the heel of the hoof. My reference is called the Critical Junction of the Heel.
The cleaned sole should be concave in profile from the bottom of the sides of the frog, radiating outwards to meet the inside wall of the hoof.
This clean sole/hoof wall junction is called the Road Map of the Hoof.
This road map in the bottom of the hoof is the mirror image of the pedal bone within the hoof capsule and also the same profile as the normal coronary band.
This question was thrust upon me the other day when I was asked to define the difference. Any farrier will tell you that he learns very quickly to identify these two categories of equine handlers, because the smooth transition of the day’s work and everyone’s safety depends on his instant assessment of not just the horse but also the horse owner or handler.
You may think he is just a farrier; however the need to survive has taught him to be a part-time psychologist who often resembles a contortionist with a quick mind and a good sense of humour, and with a very high pain tolerance.
A horseman is usually a competitive person or stockman who has experienced the value of training his horses to be confident and obedient, and they in return have developed a high degree of empathy and respect. The farrier can usually relax around these horses and expect not to be confronted with any sudden disasters, and thereby do … Continue Reading ››
