r/Farriers

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Does anyone have thoughts on these rads? My vet and farrier seem to have differing opinions. For context, this is a six year ottb, he's been shod all around since I've owned him. And since I've owned him, he's had a tripping issue.

My farrier (who I've used for a while, even prior to getting this guy) looked at these and said they seemed perfect and wouldn't change anything.

My vet said thin soles, some tightening of the coffin joint in the front feet and would recommend leather pads all around and a small wedge. She also said she saw a deformity in the front right pedal bone that she guesses could've been caused by heavy work on hard ground during his racing time.

I'm useless and clueless. I know sometimes professionals disagree on things, but it's turning into a back and forth argument and I'm the middle man, and I don't want to ignore my vet, but I also don't want to force my farrier to do something he seems to genuinely think is pointless.

Just took on a client whose pony has plenty of issues on her front end. The vet said she is going to need a 2 degree wedge on both fronts. I don’t have experience shoeing mini’s and don’t know what supplies would be best for them/where to buy the supplies. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Brought back concavity to a horses sole? Just got an OTTB gelding. He has low soles. Pretty common horses them. I'd like to get a plan in place for his next trim.

This has been an issue of mine for quite a while. Scheduling is, in my opinion, is the most stressful part in my career. Horses are easy, people are harder.

I work hard on keeping everyone on a 6 week schedule, I have a few I do on 4. I write out my dates, I verbally tell my clients the date + send a follow up text with their return date before the day is over, and message a confirmation of appointment a week before. I spend so much time in my book trying to make it work well for both the horses and I.

Even with the work I put into my book, I still have clients regularly cancel. I completely understand last minute things pop up and needing to cancel, but I have a handful that repeatedly reschedule. I can’t count on many of my clients, therefore making monthly budgeting incredibly hard. I’ve got multiple that only want to do Saturday’s or Sunday’s because that’s their day off. Farriers need off days as well, and I’m running in circles 7 days a week trying to get horses done on time.

It’s especially frustrating when clients get aggravated with me over scheduling issues when they agreed to the date I provided 6 weeks prior. I want the horses I do to be healthy, happy, and comfortable, and its hard to do that with clients who cancel the day before and then get frustrated when you can’t do them at 10pm on Sunday.

I feel as if there are many people out there that forget farriers have bills, personal appointments, lives to live, and bodies that need to recover. Keeping horses on a consistent schedule helps me provide the best care possible and keeps my business running smoothly.

I don’t know how to resolve this issue, and am hoping someone else who has experienced and resolved this issue could give me some advice.

Hello!

I am a full-time farrier of about 4 years, hoping to get some advice on a reining horse I have been shoeing for about six months now.

Horse is very big for a reiner and wears size 13 kerkhaert plates + Mustad 4.5 slider nails... The owner says everything is great, horse moves well, slides well, no complaints but my confidence is getting the better of me here...

The problem is by the 4 week mark, consistently, the plates are falling off. All the nails are still in the feet, clinches still tight. I trim this horse SHORT - there is truly nothing left to take - and he will still have 1/2" to come off when I see him next.

I do feel if he's going to grow that much 4 weeks is appropriate to keep the feet looking good, but I'd prefer if my plates would stay on...

Just hoping someone more experienced might have something to add. Thank you in advance!

I have a pair of hoof knives for my two personal horses and I cannot for the life of me get them sharp! I feel like I’m sharpening then unsharpening them. I’ve tried files, chainsaw files, kitchen knife rods… nothing. Better that when I started but not sharp by any stretch of the imagination

Any hints, tips, tricks, tools?

I find it hard to locate the problem when I go to fit a shoe, and it doesn't sit flush. I can't for the life of me see where the uneven spot is, and when I try to test it out with a shoe, it doesn't make any more sense. If I go and rasp where the shoe seems to be "see-sawing" from (don't really know how to explain it), it's a 50/50 chance for it to make it better or so much worse. Help???

As the title says, my new guy has some white line that my current farrier has been working on for the better part of six months now. This horse is relatively new to me (had him going on two months now) so a lot of this process has been new for me. The meat of the issue is he absolutely will NOT keep a shoe on his "good" foot. My last big guy would throw a shoe here or there, and we've fortunately been able to transition him barefoot, but this guy has half his opposite foot made of glue, so I can't just shoe one hoof.

What are some recommendations here? He needs the shoes to add integrity to the hoof with glue/white line so we can grow out and encourage healthy hoof growth, but he is destroying his good front by tearing off shoes so often. He tore the last one off in less than 12 hours. I'm just at a loss for what to do here. I've had friends recommend scoot boots, but he is outside 24/7 on pasture, so I'm worried a $300 investment will get destroyed in a week and I'm not sure they would be good enough support for the glued hoof.

Any and all suggestions welcome.

Signed, a broke and exhausted horse owner x