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 […]
How to become a Barefoot Trimmer…
I hope this article remains coherent in the reading – I have reread it and understand it, but then I wrote it! Some – no, a lot – of what I have to say will probably offend quite a lot of barefoot trimmers out there, certainly those claiming qualifications. Those who make their living by […]
W(h)ither the Peripheral Cushion?
There are giant misunderstandings surrounding horse’s hoofs – even among barefoot practitioners. Vast numbers of trimmers are daily trying to balance off hooves, applying magical mapping templates, doing their best to ensure the heels are at the right height and allowing just the right length of hoof wall to protrude below the sole. They all […]
Warning Shot
Unbelievable how a bit of sharp criticism can change things even when the criticism isn’t believed! I recently pointed out to a horse owner that his farrier was doing a very bad job of looking after the horse’s hoofs – and explained exactly why. The upshot was an owner that told me I was talking […]
New v. Old?
It is a funny game this, nature conscious hoof care. Not that there is anything to laugh about when you see some of the hoofs out there. Ruinous neglect that can, with relatively little effort, be kept at least in check. Only yesterday I came across four horses together, three of which had reasonable fairly […]
Regular Neglect
The title might seem an oxymoron but all will become clear in a moment. This photo is of a pony that was shod about three weeks earlier. Sadly his owners are of the opinion that they are getting good service from their farrier – he visits once every eight weeks to tend all ten ponies/horses […]
The Other Approach…
It is interesting at times to take a look at how ones “colleagues” go about their profession. It has a couple of benefits: you can pick up tips and tricks – particularly in those activities that you only carry out once in a while; you see someone else’s technique – again to compare with and […]
A Heated Discussion
I had a rather heated discussion yesterday with one of my horse-riding students (as opposed to a student of horse-riding). She was very much of the opinion that a horse needed to be shod to stop the hoofs wearing down too quickly. I didn’t actually ask what she did with her horse that would make […]
“Bad Hoofs”
Oh my ears and whiskers! A recent meeting of horse riding instructors was given the following information about one of the riding school’s horses “the farrier has said that he has bad hooves”. And additionally, mention was made about how good the farrier actually is… Of course, Sabots Libres wouldn’t be Sabots Libres without questioning […]
The Half-shod Horse
I paid a visit to a riding school yesterday evening and was shocked at the state of the hoofs of the horses there. The horses themselves are in fairly good condition, but those hoofs 🙁 All the horses had recently been reshod but, as is the case with many riding-school horses, in most cases only […]