Q: My horse’s feet seem to splay outwards at the bottom, then chip. What’s going on and what can the farrier do about it? He is a barefoot horse now and mostly gets ridden over the farm and a bit at the beach. Kim, Henderson A: Hi Kim. What you’re describing may be what we …
Horse riding on the roads
Q: Can you please give me your opinion about the risks and benefits of road work for horses? I have recently moved, and where I now live there are not a lot of grass verges so I will be forced to do a lot of hacking on the roads (mostly unsealed, but some sealed surfaces). …
Why do horses go lame after shoeing?
I'd like to make a list of the reasons why horses go lame after shoeing I would appreciated if you can think of any (the obvious or even the more obscure ones are all needed) please post in the comments section. Thanks 🙂
Stud holes in horseshoes
Q: I am looking for some advice about stud holes. My farrier has always put two stud holes in my horses’ shoes, fairly near the heel. But my friend’s farrier puts her stud holes much further around the shoe, about halfway up the sides. And a friend in the US tells me she puts three …
How high should the farrier put the nails?
Q: Hi David. My friend's farrier says that nails should always be put in 'as high as possible', but my farrier says this is completely incorrect. What is your view on this? Nellie, Manawatu Answer: Thanks for your question. “As high as necessary” might be a better approach. That is, only as high as necessary …
Continue reading "How high should the farrier put the nails?"
Laminitis
Q: My pony has come down with a bad case of laminitis for the first time and the farrier has asked me to get some xrays of the feet before he trims her. Is it usual for farriers to ask for xrays and can you tell me what use they will be to him? I …
Smarter farrier business
I've blogged before about the importance of farriers maintaining (and raising) the standard of work when things are financially tight. It doesn't always seem the most obvious approach but increasing the overall quality rather than cutting corners and defaulting to inferior shoes and tools will often pay dividends in the long run. But there are …
Horses that dish Q&A
Q: I'm looking at purchasing a staionbred/standardbred cross which dishes its front legs. In the future I would like to do some showing and dressage - would corrective shoeing help? What can I do to fix, help or disguise this fault? Angela, Kaiapoi Answer: Angela. Dishing, where very simply, either one or both of the front …
Farrier excuses (5)
Farrier excuses: "The dog ate my diary"
Farrier excuses (4)
Farrier excuses: "There was something stuck in the foot so I'm just letting out the nasty juices"
Farrier Blog 