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Hoof Care

Why Your Farrier Can’t Sleep at Night - Part 1
    I want to attempt to shed light on some of the stresses and strains of the professional farrier.  I don’t think all horse owners understand how complex a field it really is and why exactly the cost of a set of shoes is so high. Fortunately for the horse owner, here in the UK, farriery is regulated and the standards for qualification are very high; requiring many years of financial and back- breaking effort. The average apprentice can expect to fork out  £10,000 and work long, hard and underpaid hours under the tutelage of a master farrier for 4 years.  As you can imagine it takes several years to financially recover, but hopefully it’s just the beginning of a long career. The job related injuries are a definite reality, and the chances of serious injury are a daily worry. One moment of inattention and one grouchy mare can equals a career out of commission for weeks, years or life. And that’s not to mention the probable fact that eventually a farrier’s back will have had enough. They say there are only so many horses in a farrier’s career. Most farriers have no choice but to retire early. Every farrier must prepare himself for this possibility. This is just the physical aspect of the job and some might argue the easy part. Most farriers become experts at ignoring the daily aches and pains, because there is still so much more to worry over, but more about that later.

Why Your Farrier Can’t Sleep at Night –Part 2

Many describe farriery as both an art and a science. Some things are a given fact. Most farriers can recognize without doubt a laminitic pony or a foot full of infection. Pretty straightforward stuff really, but any two given farriers might treat that condition differently. Very much of farrier science is theory. The most successful farriers in the world might argue over the best shoe for a club foot until blue in the face, and let’s not even get into the ones who argue against shoes altogether. Most horse owners have experienced a desperate time when they hired  (and paid) for the “miracle” farrier, only to be confronted with an even more lame horse. Oftentimes, a theory of one farrier, which has been fantastically successful with 100 other horses, fails utterly with your horse. Every farrier has a unique approach (except for that bit about being forever behind schedule) and every horse is an individual. It’s bliss when you’ve found a farrier whose style matches the needs of your horse. Yes, it is partly to do with style and this is where the art come in. We all see the world slightly differently. Not everyone can draw a straight line. A farrier needs to have a finely tuned artistic eye. Imagine the vision necessary when approached with a horse that might have posed for Picasso. It’s usually not a mathematical problem, but an instinctual and creative one. Most the time it’s a matter of trying different approaches, just as the artist constantly steps back to analyze and formulate any improvement, which can be made. In a nutshell, a good farrier must function adeptly on both the left and right side of the brain. It’s not an easy feat considering the majority of the population is considered one or the other.

Why Your Farrier Can’t Sleep at Night-Part 3
 A farrier is schooled to have a thorough understanding of horse anatomy, not as thorough as the vet, but especially thorough when pertaining to the horse’s limb. Sometimes, the farrier has more understanding of what’s going on in regard to lameness. No one can knock the vast amounts of knowledge and experience that a vet must acquire, but on the flip side, you can’t disregard the fact that farriers spend all day obsessing over the lower half of a horse and sometimes, specialized experience is just as important as the vets opinion. Ideally, both are best. A horse functions as a whole with interconnected parts. Those who know horses know, something may go wrong with the tip of it’s tail and it’s feet will know about it. It’s always best when farriers and vets work together and treat the horse as a whole. Unfortunately, not all vets and farriers are happy to put their heads together. Sometimes it’s merely just a lack of time for communication, or maybe two clashing egos and the inability to agree to disagree.  Oftentimes the farrier and vet relationship can be a bit like sibling rivalry and the horse owner is forced to consider how owning a horse is like acquiring another dysfunctional family. There’s one way to hone those diplomacy skills; join any horse-centered society/club known to man. It doesn’t much matter which, any will do, but if you’ve already experienced a livery yard, you should be a master.

Why Your Farrier Doesn’t Sleep at Night-Part4

            Sometimes one may think a set of shoes needed for training will suffice for lounging around in the stable, but you wouldn’t wear your ski boots to bed. Well maybe you do, but I’m not asking any questions. This particular dilemma is what farriers refer to as static vs. dynamic. There are some very successfully athletic horses out there with the absolute worst conformation and vice versa. What looks like a train wreck in the stable can sometimes achieve absolute grace in competition. Of course, it’s always better to ere on the side of caution when selecting a horse. Good conformation is almost always a wiser choice, but the fact is, you can’t judge how a horse will perform based on how he looks stood in front of you. As it goes…”you can’t judge a book by it’s cover” etc…

            The farrier needs to look at the cover and read the book, for there are a plethora of questions to be considered. How much time is the horse stabled, how much training, on what type of ground and very importantly, how can the horse be shod so that his particular conformation is supported as well as his movement. Sometimes the farrier is torn between what is right for the horse’s comfort and what the horse owner is expecting the horse to accomplish. For example, you cannot put a big chunky orthopedic shoe on any horse expected to train for an event, no matter how much he may need it.

            A good farrier will see how the horse stands in his conformation, how his limbs move at different gaits and very importantly how his feet land and breakover. The latter I might add is not an easy task as most are not equipped with internal slow motion cameras. Even just standing still, the horse is three-dimensional and all angles must be considered, i.e., side, front, back etc.

            So when ask your farrier to put on a particular style of shoe, you now know why he might take a little time in agreeing with you. Not everyone wears ski boots to bed.

Why Your Farrier Can’t Sleep at Night- Part 5

            There’s lots going on inside the head for a farrier to ponder, but it’s also a very physical job. Most horse owners know (hopefully) how difficult it is to pick up a horses foot for picking out. Some may have even thought how hard this might be to do for hours a day. It’s back breaking, quite literally for many. A bad day on the job usually entails getting up in the dark and cold, getting kicked and/or bitten by the horse, underappreciated by the horse, owner or vet, or all three. A bad day is usually ended by one final horse that’s in desperate need of a farrier…to lean on. To top it all off, those days usually come not one at a time and spaced evenly, but in measures of weeks. Life isn’t fair and when it rains it pours. Farriers are human with the same universal worries about work, it’s just that some days those worries weigh a couple thousand pounds and want to lean on someone’s shoulders for a while.

            To replicate how it might feel being a farrier for a few moments, try this; pick up a bag of feed, how about 50 pounds, and squat until your thighs burn. Now stay there for 5-10 minutes while formulating how you might improve upon Jamie Oliver’s recipe for Steak and Dumpling Stew and at the same time have a conversation with whoever is nearest. To make it even more authentic, have your conversationalist give you a little shove to check your balance.  Or, you could forgo this whole experiment and bake some cookies for your farrier.