Apart from the fact I can’t believe someone presented a horse for sale with feet like this, I can’t swallow the owner’s insistence that the horse is sound. Do you think there is any chance these feet can be rehabbed by a decent farrier? Are they just a bit neglected or do you think we should steer well clear?

Name withheld, North Island

A: Thanks for your question. I agree, it’s disappointing that the horse has been presented for sale with a foot like this. I’m sure you would have preferred to have been shown a horse with this problem already addressed and the feet trimmed. If I were viewing this horse, my concern would be if the seller allowed the hooves to get in such an obvious state then what else had the horse been subject to or what other problems had been allowed to develop that were not as clearly visible as the feet?

The crack at the toe and the hole in the middle are quite probably infected with white line disease (commonly known in New Zealand as “seedy toe”). Seedy toe is a bacterial/fungal infection which initially affects the white line between the outer hoof wall and sole but can travel up if left untreated.

I note from the photo supplied that the hoof wall is flared – that is, has been allowed to deviate from the angle of the hoof wall further up. This is particularly noticeable on the right hand side of the photo. Allowing the hoof to flare will force the hoof wall to pull away and stretch underneath (at the white line area for example).

I suspect the stretching of the white line caused by the flare has allowed dirt and debris to penetrate the white line underneath and the seedy toe to get started.

To answer your questions, yes I think it is possible for a farrier to make improvements to these feet. Seedy toe and cracks of this size don’t always cause initial lameness so it’s not uncommon for a horse to be sound in the short term. But it’s quite possible that he’ll become lame if the problem is left to deteriorate further.

After your vet/farrier has confirmed the diagnosis, they might choose to address the flares to start with by carefully rasping the outer wall and re-aligning the angles. As this is a possible cause of the crack/seedy toe, it should be one of the first things to tackle before clearing up the other problems the hoof may have.

The treatment of seedy toe needs to be carefully planned as each case can require an individual approach. This may include removing the affected area with a knife or dremel tool, the application of an appropriate effective solution and corrective shoeing and trimming at the time of treatment and on an ongoing basis until the hoof has regrown to a healthy state. This should always be performed with veterinary advice and assistance and when removing larger areas of hoof, consideration should be given to providing the hoof capsule adequate support as there can be knock-on consequences from removal of hoof wall or other structures.

The prognosis should likely be positive if the removal of the suspected seedy toe, the management of the crack and realignment of the hoof wall angles is managed correctly.

David Hankin Dip.WCF

this question and answer first appeared in NZ Horse & Pony magazine, September 2010

A. Great question Sally. Speed isn’t usually the main objective in farrier competitions although for most classes, there is usually a time limit to complete the task.

There are some variation in classes at different competitions throughout New Zealand and the world but generally certain skill-sets are being tested and judged.

These often include forging skills (including shoe making, tool making and so on), foot dressing (trimming for example) and shoeing.

In many classes, the competing farrier will be required to make a particular shoe, prepare the foot and then shoe the foot within a certain time limit. The judge will mark each part of the process and compare the scores with other competitors to ascertain the winner. Other classes include just shoe making, forging and so on. The shoemaking generally involves making a horseshoe from a straight steel bar. In some classes where extra strength is required, the competitor will be allowed a “striker” who uses a sledge hammer to help shape the steel.

Some competitions have a mail-in class where competitors who don’t necessarily attend the competition can make something and send it in for judging.

Other classes are sometimes team events – a three man heavy horse shoeing for example.  This can be particularly enjoyable to watch and a real crowd pleaser.

New Zealand has produced some exceptional talent when it comes to farriers. We are regularly represented in some of the toughest farrier competitions in the world – sometimes by NZ based farriers who travel overseas to compete and other times by NZ’ers who live offshore.

Farriers who compete often do so to improve their skills (a certain amount of practice is required), to learn from their fellow competitor and to stay in touch with other farriers.

Sally, I think your farrier has earned himself the right to pass on the opportunity to enter competitions if he so wishes. If he’s still shoeing Clydesdales in his advancing years then he deserves the time off!

David Hankin Dip.WCF

This question and answer first appeared in NZ Horse & Pony in December 2009

Phrases like “shoeing is abusive” or “horses are barefoot in the wild” can easily sway inexperienced horse owners to keep their unsound horses trimmed instead of reaping the benefits of shoeing. Anybody that is any good at anything knows there is never “only 1 way” to do something! Trimming and shoeing horses are no exception.

Techniques used on one horse may not work on another horse. Trimming and shoeing guidelines are developed by professionals with decades of experience. Studies on angles, depth of sole, breakover, flight phase and landing phase are crucial in understanding hoof biomechanics.
Lack of finances could be a reason to pursue keeping a horse barefoot, but barefoot trimming may not be conducive to the horse’s performance. Novice riders that do not have the feel to detect lameness should be aware of the type of footing their barefoot horse is required to work in. Horses may respond differently to variances in footing and riders must become sensitive to the wear and tear they are causing the feet.

On the other hand, more experienced riders might be able to accurately evaluate soundness when the horse is being ridden. They may know what to look for in a quality trim and their horses may do quite well under the right circumstances.

The post goes on to list the pros and cons of barefoot trimming. It’s a well balanced blog post and I’d recommend it to any horse owners considering making the switch to barefoot.

The full post is on the farriersnotebook blog

We sell a wide range of horseshoes from our warehouse in Christchurch, New Zealand. I’ve   set up the farrier supplies business to cater for what farriers, vets, saddleries and horse owners need regardless of what brand the gear is. The benefit of being independent and not aligned to any particular large international manufacturer means we stock what our customers want and not just what we’re told to stock. It seems to be a popular approach according to our customers.

We supply many of the popular shoes made by Kerckhaert in Europe. The range includes Kerckhaert Classic horseshoes, Classic Rollers, Kings light steel shoes, Kings racing ali plates and a selection of the shoes for the harness racing industry – half round half swedge, half round trotting shoes, Kings degree graduated aluminium hinds and outer rim fronts to name just a few.

The Kerckhaert shoes are very good quality and whilst not our best selling shoe, have a loyal following. We send the Kerkchaert shoes to farriers in all four corners of New Zealand.

The name Kerckhaert is the surname of the manufacturers in Holland. There are some common mis-spellings of the name in farrier circles as you might expect:

• Kerkhaert
• Kerckheart
• Kerchaert
• Kercheart
• Kerckart
• Kerkhart

Have a look at a selection of Kerckhaert shoes in NZ

Five times world champion farrier Billy Crothers, manufacturer of HMS horseshoes discusses the merits of concave and shoemaking in this short, easy to watch video from Hoofwatch

Perhaps nothing in the shoeing process causes as much frustration (for those who use them) as stud holes. A vital component of traction for sport horses, they can be very problematic for competitors to deal with… and usually at the worst possible time, when you get to your event and need to screw in your studs.

Like everything, stud holes require proper maintenance to sidestep this infuriating occurrence.

A 5/16″ hole is punched to be tapped with a 3/8″ thread. All studs and stud holes in NZ use this standard.

They should anyway

The stud holes in your horses shoes are subject to interaction between the ground and your 600kg horse with every single step he takes, often on bitumen, gravel, mud, manure, urine etc. That is a pretty hostile environment for a precision fitting situation such as the threads of a stud hole, that are tapped to fit precisely with the thread of your stud.

Any damage to the thread of the stud hole and you will have problems screwing in the stud. Without some sort of protection for your stud holes, they become packed with the above, which is very difficult to remove from a possibly stressed and wriggling horse at a show. Worse still, the leading edge of the stud hole will be burred over and damaged, making it impossible to get the stud in without re-tapping the hole.

This is not stuff you want to fool around with at the show.

We’ve all seen it!

Some people stuff the holes with cotton wool or use rubber stoppers or some such method to keep dirt out. but this does not save from damage from the ground. and often you still have to re-tap to get the studs in.

Inserting the studs is much easier in a stud hole that has been protected with keepers I strongly recommend some sort of screw in stud keepers to protect the hole from damage. It then becomes an easy matter to remove the the keepers and screw in the studs to a preserved stud hole.

Even this is not foolproof and requires some periodic maintenance to avoid frustration at the horse show.

Fine dust particles work into the threads and along with moisture, they can rust tight, making them difficult or impossible to remove.

If using hex-head keepers, the head can wear down to the point where you cannot get your spanner on.

This is easily prevented by checking the keepers once a week to inspect for wear and to move the keeper, i.e. screw it out a few turns and screw it back in to prevent the rusting in problem.

It is not a bad idea to brush the threads of your studs and your keepers to remove dirt and apply some grease or oil to lubricate and prevent rust when screwing them in and out.

Lastly, be very careful not to cross-thread when screwing in studs and keepers.

With these few steps, it should prevent any hassles when you need your studs in – at the horse show.

But Murphy and his Law are ever present. If anything can go wrong, it will; and at the worst possible moment. So be armed with the various paraphernalia to clean out and re-tap stud holes in an emergency. These are available from any decent saddlery.

All good advice  Original post by Anthony is here

Photo by Antonia Steeg

Some people argue that a twitch  might hurt the horse or are in others ways unkind. It’s my understanding that using a twitch correctly on the nose of a horse releases endorphins which are considered soothing to the horse and it’s these that (in theory) make the horse relax or stand still.

But in my experience, I’d rather have been under a horse that’s jumping around than one standing still with a twitch on.

There’s an element of danger getting the twitch on the nose in the first place. Most horses aren’t too keen for starters and a long wooden handle (if that’s the type of twitch you’re using) swinging around, a horse saying no thanks and a couple of people trying to get the twitch on can be a recipe for disaster. And then once the twitch is on, having somebody competent holding (and more importantly keeping hold of) the handle is a challenge in itself.

But none of these things are the main reasons I don’t like twitches and didn’t carry one in the truck when I was working in Farrierville.

Having a twitch on a horse can appear to work well for a while, get some horses to stand still and give the farrier enough time to get the job done quickly. In many cases – get the hind feet trimmed or that last shoe nailed on and clenched up before it all turns to custard.

But I’ve seen too many horses “snap” with a twitch on and I’d want to be nowhere close thanks very much when it happened! Here’s some of the usual stages we see the horse going through when using a twitch:

1. put the twitch on
2. horse licks his lips and chews – probably more from having something on his nose rather than the natural horsemanship theory of relaxing and accepting…
3. horse starts to partly close his eyes
4. horse sighs
5. horse tilts his head slightly
6. horse “calms down”
7. farrier works like a man possessed to get the job done quickly and get outta there ASAP

But sometime during the 7th stage is when a horse can snap. Some might argue that there’s a time limit on how long the twitch will work and I agree, there is a limit but those horses that snap can do so at any time from a few minutes or any time afterwards.

So you’ve got a horse calm and standing whilst you work quickly. But the “snap” involves a humongous burst of sudden energy when his head throws around violently or legs flys in any and all directions with little regard to any human being in the way. All this is without any warning which as farriers know, is a great way to get hurt. It could be the horses system fights the endorphins and for a moment, it’s the system that gains the upper hand.

I’ve seen quite a number of horses snap like this with a twitch on and I think there are much better ways to get difficult horses done. And if things are really that bad, it might be better to say no thanks rather than get under a horse with a twitch on and get hurt.

Mismatch, Taranaki

A: This may have been a better question to ask before making the purchase!

If the feet are particularly different as you describe then this is more likely to be a conformational issue than something as a result of how the feet have been trimmed.

On a perfectly put together horse, yes the feet should look the same after trimming or shoeing but we don’t ever see perfect horses and feet always require some level of corrective trimming at each farrier visit. After all, the need to trim any part of the hoof is done in an attempt to correct the hoof and angles and something farriers do all day. In this case from what you’ve told me, the extent and nature of the correction may require greater technical expertise.

In horses that have particularly different front feet, the amount of improvement that can be made with routine trimming and shoeing is limited. Unless the problem has been caused solely by poor trimming (and it would be difficult to get the job so wrong that this is likely) you might get some improvement with a strict and regular trimming/shoeing schedule (perhaps every 4-5 weeks) and, if your farrier thinks it would help, some specialist shoeing too.

Achieving Advanced/Grand Prix level may still be possible. After all, there are some horses competing at the highest levels with less than perfect conformation or feet. But having such odd feet is a problem that might cause issues in the future and it will be an on-going battle to keep on top of them so he can perform at the level you want to.

Your farrier may achieve some improvements but this isn’t a problem that can be completely fixed and will possibly deteriorate in the years to come.

David Hankin Dip.WCF

This question and answer first appeared in NZ Horse & Pony magazine July 2011