This may be the most important post I have ever written here. You may need to get a coffee; it is long but very important! :) It has been brought to my attention that no matter how many accolades farriers have after their name; it truly means Jack shit if they can’t actually do the correct job on your horse! I am tired of hearing so called high standard of farriers blowing their own trumpet; even convincing naïve people – like I was - that they know best; while ignoring the real & very important issue at hand; lose touch with reality & even being kings of their own castle. Mechanically caused laminitis is a very serious condition that is caused by leaving the toes too long, cutting the heel too short, & basically leaving all the feet uneven over many years. This happens very slowly over the years; & unaware, uneducated people - like myself at the time - don’t actually notice it because you trust the so called “Master farrier” you employ on a 4 weekly basis & expect him to be doing the correct job. It can even deform the pedal bone & cause it to develop an exaggerated tip called a “ski jump effect” as happened to my horse (see x-ray). If any of you have followed my devastating story back in April 2014; you may remember my darling horse & best friend in the world “Sr. William” fell victim to this condition. After literally going all around the world for help when I could NOT make sense of the treatment that my so called Master Farrier was doing to my horse to fix this problem; I discovered he was actually about 90% the cause of it because the toes had been left too long & all feet trimmed uneven over many years. (See pic taken 2 days after a “trim” notice bulge on the toe area & wall chipping). I have written this post to warn people to be very careful of whom you allow to touch your horse, especially if your horse is suffering from laminitis. Please do a lot of homework as I have now done; & if anyone tries to treat your horse by putting this heel type of shoe (see pic) on the front feet to “help” & “fix” laminitis; please get a lot more opinions! Finally my gut feeling kept telling me that this was not correct; so I contacted every professional I could find, including all over Australia, Canada, UK, USA. This “heel shoe” can do more damage to the already rotating pedal bone! All said NO to this; yet it had been used on my horse as the “treatment” for laminitis. I am grateful to the man that came to my rescue 2 days later & traveled over 200 kms to remove this shoe & help my horse. Finally the correct treatment for my horse was a Hart-bar shoe (see pic) that was especially made to fit him by my new most learned; extremely well educated on-the-job & in studies; having a most accurate eye for detail & straightness; brilliant & patient with horses, Master farrier! & if I had found this wonderful farrier 1st; none of this would have had to happen to my poor darling horse! He would simply be getting a proper trim, not even needing the shoes he now has to wear until he grows a total new hoof. Not to mention Sr. William can spend a lot more time - from ½ hour that he used to get, to 2 hours now - in the paddock & he doesn’t have a “diet problem” as the old so called farrier kept telling me! He is very good at putting blame on everyone & everything while beating his own drum! But thank God many people know me; & know all I want is the wellbeing of The Horse at ALL times! & I rest easy to know that “word-of-mouth” is the best recommendation! Especially in a small town! My current farrier does not need to advertize! He just goes around doing a fantastic job! People know by the work you do! Not by how many pieces of paper you shake around in peoples’ faces! Most of us are not stupid! Just ignorant till we wake up to these croaking roosters! & Please for the love of your horse; be aware! Study their feet, by the time the horse is suffering from this type of laminitis it is too late; the damage has already happened! Don’t accept near-enough- is-good-enough! & it’s a long process to recovery! Your horse thanks you for reading this & so do I. :) & remember the old saying; no foot – no horse!
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 02:31:19 +0000
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