Showing posts with label farrier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label farrier. Show all posts

June 22, 2016

Goodbye NGs

I miss the good old barefoot days I had with Gem. Well, actually not really. I liked the ease of care, but I was always a little timid about going fast over rocks. Having her in the NGs up front/steel in the back gave me a boost of confidence to move out over the flat and rocky access roads that litter the trail systems around here.

The NGs had a lot going for them. They provided a nice wide base of protection for the hoof while still allowing the natural flexion of the heel bulbs. Gem seemed to move out really well in them and never slipped or missed a beat in all types of terrain (except for water since we never managed to find a water crossing while wearing them).

Pete looking handsome
They held up really well too. After 100 miles of gravel at Biltmore, they were still able to be reset and she hadn't lost any in the two cycles of use.

There was one glaring issue that played heavily on my mind from the start though. My farrier charged $260 to put them on with 4 nails, a small amount of glue on the sides and packing.

Even had things worked out differently, it was highly unlikely that I could afford to keep her in a set long term. After the mini heart attack I had when he finished putting them on and told me the price, I told Dusty that I would most likely reset these ones and have to switch to steel. Only when I reset the ones I had with nails only because the side clips that he glues gets ruined after one time, he still charged me $190 and that was pulling her hinds and going barefoot in the back for the summer. Ouch. A reset wasn't really in the budget either apparently.

I was still plotting and planning a way to try to make it all work out financially when I went to the barn on Sunday and saw this

The grand canyon does not belong in my horse's hoof. Ugh. Thankfully it was dry and no signs of thrush. The squeegee of packing out the back isn't too pretty either.  

It actually didn't surprise me which is kind of sad. I had a bad feeling during the last farrier visit. I know I am not a farrier and I do not proclaim to know more than a professional, but I do know my mare's hooves inside and out. I like to inspect the soles to make sure that the heels are taken down far enough each time and this became even more important to do when they were hidden under a shoe. This last time, he slapped the shoe on so fast that I didn't even realize it and when I asked about the heel he shrugged me off. I did manage to inspect the left foot and noted the extra heel and made him take it down.

When he was gone and I was sweeping up the aisle way, I noticed that while there was a decent sized pile of clipped and shaved hoof by her left front, there wasn't much of anything by the front right. I was worried that her heel had been left really high and that is not good.

I'm not going to fully blame the NG shoe for the above atrocity. I mostly blame the bad trim job although I think had she been in steel it wouldn't have propagated so badly. Since the NG allows for the natural flexion I believe that the high heel coupled with the flexion and the frog plate created a lot of friction between the heel bulbs thus causes a crevice to form.

Regardless, the shoe needed pulled and the hoof addressed. I shot a text with picture to farrier Sunday morning asking if this was a problem that needed to be addressed. The shoe had just been put on June 2nd. He never responded.

Gem staring me down as I arrived at the barn

I then texted my BO asking when her farrier would be out next. As luck would have it, he was due out the next day and I added her to the schedule to pull the shoe, look for issues, trim and put on a steel set. I didn't think I would make it out there in time, but work was a mess and I escaped early to head up. I got there after the shoes were pulled and the foot trimmed, but was able to inspect the feet really thoroughly. After the trim the crevasse was much, much shallower and he took off a crap ton of heel to get it even with the sole. It was almost embarrassing.

Would I try the NGs again? Yeah. I still love the theory and she moved well in them. I don't like the NGs paired with a bad trim and I don't like the price tag that came with them. I think the NGs are not as forgiving as steel and they weren't as easily shaped to the foot like a pair of hot shod steel shoes are. The summer will show if she does equally as well in steel as she did in the synthetic shoes or not. It cost me $80 to shoe the front and trim the back in comparison.

The farrier deals mostly with event horses although he at least knew what endurance was. He also put up with my million questions and even took a marker out to draw on the hoof to show me all the important lines he looks at. It was an interesting 2 hours.

August 3, 2015

Gemmie Update: Dancing Shoes

I wrote this last Monday, but for some reason blogger never posted it. Gem had another vet appointment today, but I want to chronicle the entire experience, so you get last week's update first. 

It is funny how the mind works. With so many bigger problems with Gem's injury, I've been hung up on the fact that she will end up in shoes for some undetermined length of time. I know it is silly. I know its not the end of the world. I know there are bigger issues that can come from all of this, but still. I have always been so proud of her barefoot, rock hard, awesome hooves. Throwing nails through them just seems wrong.

Regardless, I found myself Monday evening awaiting an unknown farrier to do just that. The BO had set the whole thing up. I had asked him the week prior for a recommendation (BO is a retired farrier and extremely picky. If he recommends someone, you know they are darn good at what they do) and he went ahead and made the call. I didn't even know the farrier's name.

Monday was day 32 in the cast. As good as it felt for me to remove it and throw it aside, it had to feel amazing to Gem. Right away I noticed something very interesting. Hooves grow continuously. I had last trimmed her the day before the injury and so she was due for a trim anyway. What caught my eye was how different the two front hooves looked. They looked like they belonged to two different horses.
Look at the difference between her front hooves. I find this fascinating.

With the cast in place, the front right had only one option: grow vertically. The fiberglass was unforgiving and so the hoof grew up and narrow. Now to be honest Gem has the tendency to do this anyway when not kept up, but seeing the difference was eye opening.

With bated breath I then looked closely at the injury site. The body is an amazing thing and can heal the worst wounds. This is about as good as could be right now.
The blood is from a small spot of proud flesh. This is where the stent was left in and grew over. 

Lots of things to be happy with

Wire sutures still in place along the hoof wall

When the hair grows back the scars should hopefully be pretty well concealed

At 6 pm sharp, a pick up pulling a large trailer came into the barn drive. Out popped a very young looking man with a smile and a large belt buckle. Mr Farrier had arrived right smack on time. The cross ties are at the far end of the barn and he walked over to meet her and inquire about our needs and the situation with her front right hoof. Along the way he asked who had been trimming her. When I told him I do I saw him take a deep breath and try to hide rolling his eyes.

He then went back to his truck and trailer and pulled it around back so we didn't have to move Gem. I was already impressed with him and the fact that he had only just graduated farrier school in April only gave me a brief pause.

When he got everything situated he took a close look at her feet. He broke into a relieved smile and let out a sigh. With a chuckle he told me that he was really worried about her feet with me trimming them myself. He has seen some pretty horrific self trim jobs. Instead of having to fix my mistakes he actually complimented my trimming and said she looked perfect. Great angles and nicely even. Yay!! Go me :)

After patting myself on the back a good bit, we got down to the business at hand. She was to be put in a bar shoe front right, regular shoe front left and trim the hinds. He got to work trimming and did his best to lower the front right again without going too over board. We then talked shoes.

He likes two different types and honestly the entire conversation was over my head. European versus American, wide web, rolled edges. I had no clue and told him she wasn't going to be competing in them so do what he thought was best.

He went with the European shoe due to the wider base and we went with it. When he pulled it out and measured it against her I remarked that it needed to be a bar shoe. This one was not. He chuckled but not in a condescending way. More in a "just wait and see" way and then he disappeared into his trailer.

I heard banging. I heard rasping. I heard a welder? Gemmie did too and it completely freaked her out. I think she nearly jumped out of her skin and then began to tremble. Poor girl. I asked what on earth he was doing in there. "Making you a bar shoe"
Fitting the shoe to her hoof shape

Inside his trailer welding and banging away on the shoe

Gem was pretty patient throughout

He was hand welding it. Amazing.

When he finally emerged from the depths of his trailer he had a face splitting grin. It was hard not to return it. He was obviously very proud of his handiwork and the fact that I was surprised by it. I took a close look while he explained to me that a pre made bar shoe is extremely unforgiving. Gem has pretty straight hood walls from toe to heel and he had to do a lot of re shaping of the stock shoe. If it had already had the bar on it, there would have been no ability to do so and it would have been an awkward fit. If I hadn't already liked him, I sure did now.

The finished product


I'll admit that I cringed openly as he pounded the nails into her pristine hoof wall. Gemmie wasn't so thrilled either. Having been barefoot for over five years, she wasn't too sure what on earth he was doing to her. She let him know she wasn't happy but otherwise was very good for it all.

With the hard side done he moved to placing a normal shoe to the front left and trimming the back. Gem was fairly patient through it all but was decidedly hesitant to place full weight on the front right when he shod the left. He hurried as best as he could and was extremely patient with her. Either he always acts that way or he was on best behavior by the BO. Either way he won himself a new fan and a new client if we need to continue with shoes.
Gem was not amused with the application 

What are you doing to me?!

One shoe in place

Shoe on. Nails in place. Ick.

Afterward we wrapped Gem back up and placed her bell boots. They fit kinda odd and I worried they were too small but after I took the pics I adjusted them and they looked much more normal. Gemmie got put back in her stall and I went to settle up with him. I was envisioning a bill in the $200 range given other local farriers bills and all his hard work. He actively worked on her for 2 hours and it wasn't because he was dawdling. The bill came to $80. Holy crap.

To say I was pleased with him is an understatement.
Back into the wrap

Bell boots on. They got re adjusted after the picture

Gem walked stiffly and unhappily back to her stall. When I checked on her late Tuesday night she was not a happy mare. Her back right was stocked up and she was not loading the front right as well as in the past. Was she painful? Was the shoe causing an issue?

I went home in tears. It had been a long day at work and was close to 10 pm before I walked in the door having left that morning at 7:30 am. Did I mention it had been a long day? I broke down a bit and Dusty offered to go look at her. He redressed the leg and put no bows and a standing wrap on her back right.

His report was that she was unhappy with the shoes but would adjust. He took her out and walked her the 5 stall length of the cement barn aisle. The first pass she was stiff, short striding on the right front, and hesitant. The second pass she was game for it and walked out nicely. The third go round she trotted and almost pulled his arm out as she tried to break for her freedom.

He text said along the lines of "she thinks she is healed, shod for a race and ready to go do a 50 this weekend". Oh how I wish that were true :)

He was much happier with her by the time he left and thinks that a) she was bored of stall rest and got stiff and b) she really doesn't like the heavy shoes.

This morning he went back or while I took Wyatt to school and she was doing really well. He removed the wraps from the hind leg and all the swelling was gone. He took her out to graze for a bit and she once again tried to make a flying break for freedom. She did stumble on both fronts but I'm chalking that up to not being used to the shoes.

Her next follow up is Monday which is cutting our weekend trip short a day but there isn't anything to do about it. I'm hoping she gets the clear for hand walks and honestly even if she doesn't I may do it anyway.






June 17, 2015

Its Not You...No..Wait...It Is You

It is probably all my fault. I jinxed it by pre writing a lovely blog post about how awesome Gem's feet now fit the Gloves and yada...yada..yada. Never do that.

(WARNING: This post has a ton of probably boring hoof pictures. I put them all at the end so you can avoid them if you wish, but I will still have the ability to look back through them for comparison in the future)

Let's back up.

Lady Farrier had been out two weeks prior and I had no interest in having her out ever again. Thanks to Liz over at In Omnia Paratus  I felt empowered to do the rasping every other week myself. This past Saturday saw me hunched over rasping away at her while cursing the heat and humidity. Thankfully I took Liz's advice and had on work gloves. Unlike some man in my life who told me "If I hit my hand instead of his hoof I deserve to get hurt" Well, wouldn't you know it he had big bloody abrasions all over his thumbs when he did Pete. Sometimes a man just has to learn the hard way. I was actually very proud of the job I did and felt confident enough to work on her for the foreseeable future.

By the time I was finished I had zero tolerance to mess with boots, so I put it off until Sunday after our ride. Well, then Sunday was hot and I was tired and had a headache and still had zero tolerance for messing with boots and I put it off until Tuesday night. Come Tuesday, I was ready to go.

I got to the barn and pulled Gem out to see this:




Can we just take a moment to look past the massive wound and focus on her big, shiny, bay butt? That is some serious shine pre grooming and after standing in the heat all day.  Gem is looking fantastic this year.

Ok...I panicked a bit. I mean seriously, that thing is big.  I called Dusty and had him come to the barn with Wyatt to take a look. She was standing evenly and there was no heat or swelling to the leg, but it was obviously tender to the touch. There is no barbed wire on property, so my best guess is that she cut it on the run in shelter in the pasture. Or a nail on a fence post. Or a broken off tree branch. Or any number of things horses find amusing to nearly kill themselves on. Hopefully it will heal quickly and without issue and for now she is still sound.

As I waited for the hubby to arrive, I figured I might as well try on the boots. I had thought ahead and just ordered two Fit Kits to give me every size from 00 to 1.5.

All the pretty boots
To avoid dragging this out ad nauseum, I will fast forward through all the fitting attempts, curse words and sweat dripping into my eyes and get to the point:

GLOVES DON'T WORK

At least not for us and not for right now.

The only hoof that left me with confidence was her front right which nicely fit into the size 0.5 with the right amount of torque/mallet work to get it on and the right amount of torque/hoof pick use to get it off. It looked beautiful on her hoof: perfect splaying of the front central V, tight hoof wall match and nicely cupped heel bulbs.

The others just didn't work out. They were all between sizes: the size up fit perfect for length, but was way too easy to get on and off and the size down wouldn't go on right even with all the mallet pounding and twisting I was capable of. When the toe would eventually seat into the boot, it was obvious that the length was just too short for her hoof.

I've read enough articles/blogs/FB posts on Gloves to know my options. I could get the size up and get power straps to tighten the width. I could try the wide sizes. I could mummify her hoof in Mueller tape then apply the larger size boot. Yes, I could do any or all of those things. But you know what? I don't want to.

It goes against my #1 rule when it comes to Gem and horses in general: Keep it Simple.

All those things above add a layer of complexity and annoyance that I have no interest in doing. If it takes me an hour to tack up my horse, I'm doing it wrong.

Gem's hoof shape is vastly improved from the first time I tried the Gloves, but they still aren't perfect and the Gloves require damn near perfection to work. Easy Care is perfectly upfront about that too. They either fit or they don't. Maybe in a year when she has a brand new hoof capsule grown out they will work. But not now.

If I didn't have WV or TN coming up I would just wait and keep riding and trimming until her hoof was the perfect shape for the Gloves and try again. But I have WV and TN coming up and have no time for that. So...plan B it is.

Renegades.

I've always loved the Renegades although that is mostly due to the pretty colors they come in. The reason they were not my plan A is that there are too many parts to them. The Glove is a simple shell. No moving parts. No cables. No wires. Simple. See, I really do like to follow my #1 rule.

The Renegades have the shell, then a heel captivator that is attached with cables and screws and Velcro. All parts that can break. The Renegades, however, also have wiggle room. Yes, they need to fit and perhaps they won't right now either, but they don't need to fit quite so perfectly.

Of course this means measuring again. Which I suck at. So I decided to avoid that and take a picture of the hoof with the tape measurer applied. I'll let Renegade help. I am waiting to call them and speak with them personally about boot fit and where to send my pictures to for help. Hopefully they will have some positive words for me and I can get these things ordered in time to condition in them before WV. 

Photo Dump Time:

Front Right:








Left Front:







Right Hind:







Left Hind:






June 3, 2015

Lady Farrier Take 2

Please step inside my world for a minute. Many people don't understand how important it is to be on time. How running late can mess a lot of things up. It is not just about being rude keeping others waiting. Sometimes a time is scheduled because it really needs to occur at that very time.

Lady Farrier and I had agreed to meet at 6:30 am today to do both Gem and Pete.  A farrier appointment used to be a simple matter, but nothing is simple these days. There were a lot of factors to take into consideration:

1) Pete only fully trusts Dusty. Whenever he meets someone knew he gets extremely nervous and really relies on Dusty to help him through it. Dusty has to be present.

2) While I don't start until 11:30 Wed, Dusty still starts at 8 and that means Wyatt needs to go to school by 7:30. Thankfully school is a 5 minute drive from the barn.

3) I haven't fixed the trailer yet, so there is only 1 tie spot. There are no lights in the cross tie area of the barn and it is too dark to work in there before 7:30.

4) It is next to impossible to work around the horses solo with Wyatt.

We had it planned out the best we could. Dusty would get up at 5:30 and leave for the barn by 6 to get Pete ready. I would get myself and Wyatt around and head out to be there by 7 when she should be finishing up with Pete. Dusty would play with Wyatt while I got Gem and put her in the crossties and then he could return Pete to the pasture and leave to take Wyatt to school while I worked with Gem and Lady Farrier. A little complicated, yes, but it would work.

Except Lady Farrier showed up a half an hour late. Again. She was 20 minutes late last time, but had some excuse or another and I let it go. She didn't even apologize for being late when she showed up. Unfortunately, being this late screwed everything completely up. I was irritated. Add to it the fact that she opened her car and laughed when her dog ran out saying "I'm breaking the rules..hahahah" and I just about lost it.

** Our barn has a no dogs on property rule. I don't know the history behind the rule, but it was plainly stated when we moved in. I am fine with it and actually prefer it having had some bad experiences with dogs on boarding property in the past. At our first meeting I explained that her dog was not allowed out of the car and especially not running amock as it was. She was angry about it, but it isn't my rule. I told her she could talk to the BO but that was all I could do.**

She set to work on Pete and he was fidgety, but being a good guy. I don't know why she refuses to use a nipper, but she takes all the stuff off with the knife and then rasps until the cows come home. I get it when there is little growth, but Pete had a ton of hoof wall to come off and it took her forever. Eventually we just plumb ran out of time. Dusty had to go and I had to get Gem, so before he left I got her and put her in the cross ties in the barn. I didn't like not being able to keep an eye on her though, so I went back and asked if we could just move Pete to the barn aisle and I would hold him while she worked.

Lady Farrier did not like Pete one bit which is odd. Yes he is a bit fidgety but no other farrier has had trouble with him. I think she just took too long for him, plus Dusty had to leave which made him unhappy. He didn't do anything bad, but did keep taking his foot off the stand. She made some comment about it and I shot back that had she shown up on time Dusty could have been with him the entire time and things would have been easier. She mumbled an apology.

Poor Pete had to pee too. She had been working for about an hour already and still wasn't done. He had his right hind leg on the stand and just let loose. I have never seen a horse pee with one leg off the ground before! It was impressive.

After about  an hour and fifteen minutes she finished with Pete. I have to admit his feet looked amazing. She does good work. I took him out to his pasture while she started with Gem.

Gem was a good girl as usual and stood there although when it came to the immense rasping she does on the toe and hoof wall even Gem pulled off the stand. She never does that. I am wondering if the rasp was heating up or pulling too hard?

She had grown a lot of toe on the hinds and her fronts were creeping up tall a bit again, but overall the shape was very good. She remarked at how amazing the hoof was as she worked. She took the heels down a little more this time and recommended that I rasp them in 2 weeks. It took her no time at all with Gem.

She was there about 2 hours when it was all said and done. I asked her to take measurements for boots for Gem and she said no. Huh? You are a barefoot trimmer. She said she doesn't know anything about boots and to do it myself. Strike 3 Lady Farrier. Strike 3.



.

May 6, 2015

Lady Farrier

Funder's comment on my Fit Kit post was like a 2x4 to the head. It was much needed. After reading that I made a plan: find a new farrier, make appointment in near future, order fit kit again to try on during the appointment. Perfect, right?

Well, last night I went out to *gasp* ride my horse and was not happy with her hoofsies at all. They were long, tall and the left front had some separation on the lateral hoof wall from the pressure. I admit to mild panic and a frantic call to my friend's barefoot trimmer.

I left a message and hoped to be able to get in with her soon. She called me back within a half hour and was easy to talk to. Apparently she comes from 2 hours away and informed me that she would be over my way Wednesday morning for a barn of draft horses and then not again until the 23rd. Well, the 23rd would be too long to wait and so she agreed to meet me at 0630 prior to her other appointment. A+ for flexibility!!

Of course this meant my second Fit Kit trial plan was dead. No way could I get a set in 10 hours time.  Oh well.

Poor Gemmie. She was so excited to see me at 0600. The only times I ever go to the barn at dawn are to drag her to an endurance ride and man was she ready to go. She came walking up to me from the back of her pasture and nearly pulled me to the trailer. Then, once tied to the trailer, she began her pre ride stretching routine: sticking her butt in the air and stretching out her front legs with a satisfied grunt. I felt so bad having to tell her we weren't going anywhere. She really isn't enjoying her vacation right now. I also noticed that she is looking extremely pudgy, borderline fat. A month ago I would have rated her a beautiful 5 on BCS and now she is looking like a 6.5. I ran into the BO on my way out and he laughed saying that he noticed it too. She isn't even getting any hay or grain right now. He pulled all the pasture horses off when the grass started growing. I need to ride more!!!

Lady Farrier showed up and was just as easy to talk to in person as on the phone. I have studied barefoot hooves as much as I could without being a professional and I could tell she was a) impressed with my knowledge base and ability to hold an intelligent conversation about hoof form and function and b) very curious as to why I don't trim her myself. I told her I was being a chicken about it and she laughed and promised to get me comfortable.

She looked Gem over and was happy with the health and strength of her feet. She really has awesome feet even when looking a little wonky. She did take quite a bit off and made them a shape I don't think I have ever seen on her before.

She did tell me a few things that I took home with me:
  • Her natural medial to lateral balance is very good

  • She does have high heels that will need to be kept up on. However this isn't as scary as I thought. She said that as long as you keep the heel and toe relationship the same (ie...you have to take as much toe off as heel) the overall weight bearing surface remains the same and therefore the tendons and ligaments will be used the same. If you take more heel off than toe then you effectively move the weight bearing surface. So....in the process of lowering Gem's heels we are going to be limited in how much toe we can bring back each time, but eventually it can be done safely and allow her to remain sound. She took them down quite a bit, but not to where she would be happy for them to stay permanently. This will take time.

  • She has a slight upward flare of the toe on both her fronts causing a mild dish to the hoof wool as it goes from hairline to toe. This is causing a very superficial (2mm in depth) central vertical line which I have been noticing lately. If left uncared for or let to get more severe this can develop a crack. Hers is nowhere near that, but was good to have explained.

  • She does not ever touch the plantar surface (is the bottom called that in horses like in people?) with a rasp. Ever. She states that it disrupts the hoof fibers and enhances the anterior dishing. She only uses a hoof knife there and uses the rasp on the toe (which man did she take a ton of toe) and to smooth the sides.
At the end I was happy with how they looked although I will admit they looked pretty different than I have ever seen on her. Much more like a normal hoof. Gem seemed to walk off in the pasture just fine. The true test will come on Saturday.

She recommended 4 weeks which wasn't a surprise at all, but also isn't something I plan to do forever. She is back out on May 23rd, but that is only 2 weeks and way too soon for me to fork over another $50. I mentioned this to her because it then pushes Gem to 6 weeks. She then gave me a rasp to use and told me to maintain her until then and she will come out and take a look. How awesome for her to give me a rasp?!

My plan is to keep using her until I get more comfortable with doing her myself. I need to get a handle for the rasp and maybe even a hoof stand to use as it looked much easier than holding the hoof myself. I'll have Lady Farrier out again in 6 weeks to check my work and perhaps order the Fit kit again for then. I need the boots for September and want to get some conditioning on them before the ride so need to order them by the end of July.

Here are some pics I grabbed afterward. One day I will need to walk her over to the driveway to get her on even ground, but for now these will have to work. Please chime in and let me know what you think of this trim!!!!!

Both fronts. You can kinda sorta see the superficial vertical lines I talked about. Nothing major, but present nonetheless.

Front right sole shot. Sorry for the dirt obscuring most of it. Her frog is looking better already and after this trim I know it will be loading weight.
Front left. Better view of those vertical lines she showed me.
Lateral view of front. You can see the slight dishing from hair line to toe. Heel still high, but a big improvement from pre trim.
Front right from behind. Lower heel height.
Hind foot, I think the right. Heels still high but improved. Toe much, much shorter than I've ever had her.



I'm getting myself confused, but I think this is her front right?




Right hind. Shorter toe, better heel.



Left hind sole view.. Very robust frog.

Left hind lateral view.



Front view of one of the hind hooves. Not sure which.


So....thoughts on this trim? Does it suck as bad as the last?? Continue moving forward? With the help of some great videos from Liz I am more confident in trimming her myself for the next 6 weeks and then having Lady Farrier out again unless something in this post is a major red flag to someone.