On 1/16/07, Storme Lee~Fire Island Farms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Does your farrier walk out the horses before during and after?
Yes, my farrier does. > If so what are they watching? Just the hoof? I doubt it. He's watching if they move proper (for that horse, one of our paddles and we don't 'fix' it at his age), if they're trackign well, etc... > We have shoers out here who don't even understand the anatomy of the > hoof....I am sure where you live Karen it is much different, we are > dealing with a tiny island in the middle of the pacific, where new > knowlege is looked at with what is called stink eye. I believe that Karen (and I, to an extent, I'm more in teh boonies than Karen) are both lucky to be in the area. We have tons of excellent farriers. I can count off 10 or 15 that won't come out for my little barn, but are wonderful, excellent farriers with a good understanding of the hoof. Karen lives in a more horsey area than I, even though we're within probably an hour with the new interstate. > Interesting because it is in reverse here. Sally has saved the life > of 4 horses that the vets said were incurable and should be put down. Karen's 100% right on. The 'Strasser Practitioner' kept coming after I told him not to, I finally had to threaten to charge him for trespassing. My horse ended up with torn tendons, almost severed the suspensory high cannon and tore the deep, superficial, and suspesensory mid cannon because of that Strasser trim. The barefoot only trimmers in our area are a strange bunch. My farrier is a HUGE barefoot advocate and has pulled Star's founder shoes and pulled Shogun's corrective shoes, but he won't leave my ASB barefoot because he doesn't have the hoof to support his weight. > We get all the Farrier literature, talk to farriers on the > mainland...you can not get your certificates unless you do the metal > forge work PERIOD. And there is a lot of it. http://www.americanfarriers.org/horse_owners/brochures/certification_study_guide.pdf Here's the forge work required for CF - clips - at least one toe clip and a pair of side clips square toe rolled toe rocker toe hind shoe with extended heels straight bar shoe shoe to raise the hoof angle shoe with pad finished as if on foot two types of traction devices trailer punched nail hole B. All modifications shall have been manufactured by the candidate. C. The candidate will answer questions concerning the modifications. D. The candidate will be asked to demonstrate at the test site one modification and fit it to a pattern or foot. Journeyman Farrier has to completely make a set of 4 shoes and shoe the horse. In the last year my horses have worn 3 sets of heavily forged/handmade shoes. When Star got laminitis the shoes we wanted to go with didn't go small enough, so my farrier forged her shoes and built them with Equi-Build. Right now the ASB has on side clips. The TWH had rockered shoes with rolled toes that were wedges. They started out flat, regular shoes. Forge work is important to the horse. There is no way that our ASB can be shod with a shoe to fit his foot cold, his feet have a very distinctive shape and he really needs to be hot shod to get the shoe to fit him right. > Of course I could say it is interesting you telling me about Farrier > Certification, when my partner works in the field. I think we all need to understand the certification. I didn't think Sally shod horses, that all y'all did was barefoot? > What I am suggesting is that farrier schools should move out of the > Dark Ages of focusing on metal and mfg shoes....mabye more emphasis > on the horses, hooves, and balancing a foot.... I had the curriculum requirements for Casey and Sons, and they have some indepth anatomy and shoe requirements. Steph -- "Brutality begins where skill ends." "Correctly understood, work at the lunge line is indispensable for rider and horse from the very beginning through the highest levels." Von Niendorff
