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Success Through Soundness

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Every horse I work on is unique... of course.  Consideration must be given for the rider's intentions with the horse.  The horse's conformation and way of going are two additional subjects to ponder.  A horse's and the rider's environment and lifestyle are still more things to put into the equation. 

A good farrier must be able to master the art and science of dynamic and static hoof and limb balance.  It seems to me, a master in anything must always work to be skilled in the art of balancing whatever they face.  In my profession, technical aspects like forging, anatomy & pathology can be practiced, learned, and taught.  Balance must be experienced.  The correct horse with good hooves is simple enough.  Any deviation, however, must be taught by experience itself.  Just when I start thinking I have a few things "in the bag" reality shows me that there is a lot more to come. 

Balance does not stop at a flat foot landing with that glorious solid ring against the ground; although, I hear that and all is well in my world for the moment. 

Its all about balance.

Downtime is the ultimate enemy for any rider.  If your income or your passion is your ability to consistently work horses then you rely on your farrier probably above all to pay attention to this. 

I have seen enumerable times large veterinary diagnostic bills that could have been fixed by simple good shoeing.  I have also seen stables take losses because their lesson horses or a client's show horse goes down due to lost shoes not given prompt attention or poor shoeing renders true potential unrealized. 

Performance and lameness hoof care are often closely related in my practice.  In the realm of English performance horses, cross country and jumpers are the most technically difficult and also have the most frequent soundness issues.  There are many specific considerations for each of the disciplines.  For example: An FEI level dressage horse needs to be able to accelerate powerfully like a jumper but must also slide to a smooth halt and perform the rotational movements of a pirouette. An eventer or fox hunter must do all aspects of high performance English disciplines and try to keep its shoes on while running and jumping through the muck and tree roots at a gallop.  In another direction, hunt seat horses must move flat and forward in there own style which is very difficult to master for many farriers.

A trip to Rood & Riddle w/ a laminitis case and a fractured coffin bone case.