Owner
and Hoofcare provider Obligation:
After trimming a hoof that
has been long for quite sometime, your
horse has been in an
unbalanced state, your horse is not using
his/her muscles as they were
designed to do and that is carry his
weight properly. When your
horse is walked out he will be “feeling”
the ground for maybe
the first time in many months. However, it
shouldn’t last long IF
there are not long standing pathologies of the
hoof.
Here is the key: if the hooves
have little damage, the horse will not be
sore, because there is no reason
to be sore. If the hooves have great
damage, he will now feel this
damage. It is as simple as that.
Muscles will be moving
differently, ligaments and tendons will have
been strained and are
also moving differently that to which the horse
is accustomed. Horses that have gone for an extreme period of time
without trim care will
be more tender and sensitive than ones who
have had regular
“farrier” care because more than likely than not,
they will be experiencing
not only the changes in movement and
“feel” with
their new hoof form but also discomfort or downright
pain from stretched white
lines, thrush, forming abscesses or other
painful situations that
arise from lack of care.
There also may be a need
for chiropractic work and massage work to
be done on your horse
that may have suffered chronic imbalances of
the hooves over the years
that have been subsequently misaligned the
spinal processes
and or strained muscles, ligaments and tendons.
These all surely affect
the horse’s way of going and his comfort level
both at work and at rest.
You as the owner have
an obligation to the horse to make him/her
comfortable after the
trim due to very long hoof walls. The best thing
you can do for your horse
is to get him some boots and pads to ensure
the most movement
as possible on firm, hard ground. Walks in hand,
down smooth roads. Stay
off gravel and stoney areas until the hooves
have had a chance to
callous and grow at least 4 months or more. The
more movement,
the better. If possible, ride your horse in boots as
much as you can. You
will be amazed at the difference in just a couple
of months
You as the owner promise
not to run you horse hard over rocky terrain
until your horse
is in shape. You further promise to build your horse
up slow. If your
horse has flat feet and is run over rocky terrain I can
guarantee that your horse
will come up sore and possibly lame. This is
not fair to your
horse or your trimmer.
Flares and Founder is
the same thing, when your hoof wall has been
used as the bearing
surface to walk on for many months, your horse is
tearing his /her
hoof wall away from the lamina. His muscles in his
body are also compensating
for this as well. This tearing causes a
great deal of pain.
Each horse is different and some will tolerate more
pain then others. Think
of yourself when you have torn your finger
nail back. This
is the same as what a horse experiences, you as a
human can fix it by clipping
the nail or by a band aid and the horse
depends on you to do
right. I try very hard to be conservative in the
first trim so you and
your horse can pretty much go on with your life
as usual. But again,
I can’t promise you that your horse won’t be sore
either after his or her
initial trim. If your horse has not been balanced
and leveled for a long
time then it may be awhile before your horse
will be comfortable in
his new hooves. If your previous hoofcare
person/farrier
has continually pared into the live sole then,
unfortunately, I can
tell you that your horse will most likely be pretty
tender footed for awhile. I will NEVER “carve out concavity”; the
hoof is perfectly
and adequately equipped to form its own concavity as
it should be when
the hooves are functioning correctly as the new
hoof is growing down
to ground level. Boots will help with this and
all the walking
on hard firm surfaces will increase the speed of
recovery almost exponentially.
Much of your horse’s recovery is in
YOUR hands. I merely
set it up so healing can occur.
Flares can be rectified,
(flairs are indications /symptoms of stretched
and separated white line-that
connectivity between hoof and bone)
when adequate time is
allowed for recuperation and transitional stage
as discussed with
the hoofcare provider. "Flare" and "stretched white
line" are the same
thing. The lamina is what holds the hoof capsule
onto the inner foot/bone.
When that lamina is damaged the inner
structure of the
hoof is also compromised. Stretched and/or separated
white line tells us that
the lamina has been torn.
It is up to the owner to see that the horse has proper scheduled trims
to help in the
removal of the flairs. The owner’s obligation is to have
2 to 4 week trims
depending on the severity of the flair(s), on healthy
hooves no longer
then 4 weeks. Your hoofcare provider will discuss
this with you.
In the winter months since the hoof grows at a slower
rate then 5 to 6 weeks
is allowable. This of course is all dependent on
how fast the hoof grows.
Some hooves may never
be fully “recovered” from a chronic or acute
hoof condition depending
on the type and severity of the condition.
Irreparable damage may
have occurred in the bones and joints due to
previous hoof
care or injuries that are beyond the natural restoration
realm. This sometimes
is not a foreseeable state and is only determined
after a healthy full
hoof-growth cycle of up to a year.
Before beginning the
trim, I will do an assessment on your horse, I’ll
watch how your horse
moves, and I’ll see how he looks while standing
square. I’ll take
photos and make comments along the way.
Horseowner's feedback
and constant communication are crucial
throughout the transition
to hoof health.
My prime objective is
to the horse of course, tend to the hooves but at
the same time see to
it that all attending, including the horse remain
safe.
The hoofcare provider’s
policy is, If the owner refuses to schedule trims
then please call a professional
farrier for the normal 8 to 9 week trims.
My first obligation is
to the horse!
You also agree that I
may use the pictures on my web site for
educational purposes.
I reserve the right to
add a “difficult handling” charge on top of the
regular fee.
Initial set up trim 55.00
4 week trims 45.00
Suggested Reading
No Hoof No Horse –Excellent
book on Balance, muscles and hooves
