Hoof balance speaks for itself....
Hoof capsule sliding to the right.....
Heels badly sheered, no frog, small shoe placed at the end of the long toe....
I've gotten used to being humored. Deviant views like letting your horse tell you where it is you get to train that day, using treeless saddles and feeding bee pollen, among other "potions", raises more than a few eyebrows. So its never a surprise to me when asked about horse shoeing that I get the old eye roll since I am a huge proponent of the natural trim and Jaime Jackson. Ive had my horses living with the natural trim for several years now and it works for us. However, the first great, certified, corrective, shoer I asked about this told me my mare would never....NEVER.... be able to go with out front shoes. He said because of her breed, her foot quality, her foot conformation, I would ruin her. I respected this man and blindly went along for a few more years watching my mares feet slowly deteriorate. She pulled shoes, she lost hunks...huge hunks.... of hoof wall, she landed on the outside edge of one hoof and rolled to the inside edge as she traveled, her stride shortened and she began scuffling along so badly that she kicked cups of sand into my boots as I led her to and from the turn out . And yet, I did nothing. She wasn't lame per sea. I didn't want to chase away the only person who was willing to do draft feet, who showed up on time and who as a person, was a real sweet heart.
Eventually, though, as always happens it seems in the horse world, we parted ways and I was at square one with her feet again. After interviewing a few prospects who would dare face big, scary, draft horses(snort). I realized that I was going to have to take control of her hoof care myself. As with anything new, there where a few missteps along the way before I got it all worked out to our satisfaction. We haven't looked back. My horses are thriving shoeless. The point of this little tome is not to rub my success with this in any ones face, nor to bully anyone into following a path they do not wish. The point is that people make mistakes. People we pay good money too, whose opinion we trusted make mistakes. People with lots of fancy degrees on their walls, lots of schooling, lots of knowledge...make mistakes. The ones worth continuing to patronize and support with our hard earned dollars, can admit to these mistakes, apologize if necessary and help us right the wrong. The ones not worth it make us feel foolish. Don't hesitate to kick them to the curb. One of my clients recently experienced a similar tale and graciously shared pictures of her horses feet. The vet was called as this poor guy went very lame and had a bounding pulse on his cannon bone. I'll post updated pics as he recovers. WE are our horses voices! Let them be heard especially in the face of strong opposition.
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