The Farrier’s Follies
In this, the third of a series of three promised articles – about no topic in particular! –, I shall be looking at the follies of the farrier. What do I mean by that? Farriers consider themselves charged with treating ailments of the legs and feet – indeed, may jurisdictions consider that to be the […]
Further Hoof Care
Following up on last week’s post about Simple Hoof Care, this week a short film on further hoof care. The method shown here is still relatively simple but this time we look at the use of conventional trimming tools and techniques. The video lasts just over six minutes. https://youtu.be/yt13VlOxgOw
Simple Hoof Care
A film guide to caring simply for your horses’ hoofs in the absence of your farrier of hoof care specialist.
Veterinary Madness
A while ago, my attention was once again drawn to a typically poor article on theHorse.com. Not unusually, this is an article about feet and, also not unusual, it is written by a vet and contains citations by other vets. Many people will obviously start to say that ‘the vet will know…’ so why criticise […]
Got Healthy Hoofs?
Recently, The Horse published an article entitled Got Healthy Hooves? Here’s How to Keep Them That Way. As is often the case with articles in The Horse a fair degree of nonsense is peddled and this one was no exception. Being completely hoof oriented, it warrants analysis and counter-argument. In order to present a clear […]
Deshoeing and is it necessary to boot?
Yesterday, I spoke to the owner of a twelve year-old horse, shod for at least the past six years. She asked me particularly about the transition to barefoot (the conviction is there but the uncertainties about how and when remain…). I won’t go into all the implications of transition here – suffice to say that […]
Cushing Candidate?
As my followers (and detractors) will undoubtedly confirm, I am often dismissive of traces of blood in the white line. Such traces are often the result of a trauma at some indeterminate time in the past and now, often between three and eight months later, neither owner, nor horse, nor hoof have any recollection of anything untoward and at the next trim, the traces will probably have disappeared all by themselves.
Curing the Incurable – the reality of Navicular Syndrome
About this article. Navicular syndrome or navicular disease is a condition that has affected horses throughout the ages. For this reason, numerous studies have been carried out on the subject and it would appear that the conclusions are more or less cut and dried; the experts seem to be of more or less unanimous opinion […]
Safety Shoes and the Toilet
I regularly get asked what is so bad about horseshoes. And why horses are shod, if horseshoes are really so bad. To answer the first question, the easiest comparison we can make is that of safety shoes. Imagine that, day in, day out, twenty-four hours a day, you were to wear a pair of safety […]
The Sting
The Setup Society has always known those that can and those that cannot. And among those that cannot, are also those that think they can! Because of this, “trades” were developed with training and official recognition as a way of guaranteeing a level of competence and to protect practitioners from unscrupulous amateurs. Many trades gained […]