18 September 2010
I have lamented the fact that that every horse that has been presented to me with a suspensory issue, that was wearing barshoes, have all gotten sounder once I have been allowed to take the barshoes off. This was triggered by yet another horse that came to me with a hind limb suspensory issue that was "treated" with barshoes. The horse was so sore behind that he was a fight from the word go to the point where we had to lip chain the poor bugger to get him to stand. We reset him yesterday and he stood like a broke horse should. Amazing how good they can be when they don't hurt. Yet farriers, veterinarians and trainers still hold to the theory that the best thing for a suspensory issue is a stinking barshoe.
While I'll admit it's a stupid looking shoe and not the prettiest one I have ever made, sadly it's the only picture I have of what Big Roy Proctor called a "run down shoe." I call it a suspensory shoe. I have no idea what the French call it but thanks to Greg Gilchrist, I know that they manufacture such thing for the same purpose, so I know I'm not completely crazy. Further, for all I know, I have a 100% success rate with the thing. That is to say every horse that I have put this type of shoe on to help with a suspensory issue has gotten "better." Keeping in mind that nothing is perfect or is going to work and that part of the success of this shoe depends on proper hoof prep.
The theory behind it is that the broad toe and the tapered heels create a lower capsular angel when the hoof is loaded, thus taking the strain off of the suspesory ligaments of the lower limb. One thing Greg Gilchrist did note in our conversation about this shoe that you had the potential of irritating the coffin joint on the effected limb. I can't say that I have had that problem, but I have only applied it to two horses that have remained in work, both were horses with hind suspensory issues. Of the ones that had front suspensory issues, they were all on extended lay up, so I can't really comment to that.
While I'll admit it's a stupid looking shoe and not the prettiest one I have ever made, sadly it's the only picture I have of what Big Roy Proctor called a "run down shoe." I call it a suspensory shoe. I have no idea what the French call it but thanks to Greg Gilchrist, I know that they manufacture such thing for the same purpose, so I know I'm not completely crazy. Further, for all I know, I have a 100% success rate with the thing. That is to say every horse that I have put this type of shoe on to help with a suspensory issue has gotten "better." Keeping in mind that nothing is perfect or is going to work and that part of the success of this shoe depends on proper hoof prep. The theory behind it is that the broad toe and the tapered heels create a lower capsular angel when the hoof is loaded, thus taking the strain off of the suspesory ligaments of the lower limb. One thing Greg Gilchrist did note in our conversation about this shoe that you had the potential of irritating the coffin joint on the effected limb. I can't say that I have had that problem, but I have only applied it to two horses that have remained in work, both were horses with hind suspensory issues. Of the ones that had front suspensory issues, they were all on extended lay up, so I can't really comment to that.
Labels: shoes for issues
A few words about your rasp
If you want to know what a new hoof rasp is good for, the answer is, well, hooves. Yep, that's about it. Dead hoof rasps, that is to say ones that aren't useful for trimming feet are good for several hand grinding applications, but a new rasp, much like horse nails, are a specific use item, so again we should be thankful that someone is willing to make them.
The hoof rasp has evolved so much over the last 15 years since Simmonds first came out with the "Big Hoof" rasp. When I started twenty something years ago, you had a choice of manufacturers, but the length was a standard 14 inches and a cutting width of about 2 inches. Now you have Save-Edge Beasts that are 17 inches long and around an inch wider. But much like everything else in this business the cost of a rasp has increased quite a bit since when I started.
A lot about your rasp's life depends on how you use it. The more you have to rasp, the fewer horses you are going to get out of each rasp. So suffice to say the better you are at nipping a foot, the more humid your climate, and your personal views on hot fitting feet, you can lengthen the life of your rasp. Me personally, I'll get 15 to 20 horses out of a "good" rasp. At around $28.00 (tax included) I have about a buck and a half invested per horse So going with our formula that a person shoes six horses a day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year, your annual rasp cost is going to run between $2,800 and $3,000 a year. Keeping in mind that the more horses you do the more it costs you.
So if we back track to our $80.00 horse shod with 4 keg shoes, I think we were up to around $10.00 give or take, so with the rasp we are now around $11.00 or $12. bucks just in basic consumables needed to shoe a horse. We still haven't figured in everything else.
The hoof rasp has evolved so much over the last 15 years since Simmonds first came out with the "Big Hoof" rasp. When I started twenty something years ago, you had a choice of manufacturers, but the length was a standard 14 inches and a cutting width of about 2 inches. Now you have Save-Edge Beasts that are 17 inches long and around an inch wider. But much like everything else in this business the cost of a rasp has increased quite a bit since when I started.
A lot about your rasp's life depends on how you use it. The more you have to rasp, the fewer horses you are going to get out of each rasp. So suffice to say the better you are at nipping a foot, the more humid your climate, and your personal views on hot fitting feet, you can lengthen the life of your rasp. Me personally, I'll get 15 to 20 horses out of a "good" rasp. At around $28.00 (tax included) I have about a buck and a half invested per horse So going with our formula that a person shoes six horses a day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year, your annual rasp cost is going to run between $2,800 and $3,000 a year. Keeping in mind that the more horses you do the more it costs you.
So if we back track to our $80.00 horse shod with 4 keg shoes, I think we were up to around $10.00 give or take, so with the rasp we are now around $11.00 or $12. bucks just in basic consumables needed to shoe a horse. We still haven't figured in everything else.
Labels: costs of shoeing a horse
01 September 2010
Off the curent topic
When speaking of new farriers, I say the last three things a person right out of shoeing school needs is a fancy truck, an acrylic gun, and a book of horses to shoe. The only thing that drives me crazier than seeing somebody fresh out of shoeing school with a fancy new shoeing rig is the fact that I won't have the cash to buy it when that person quits, and they do.
It's funny, back in the day when I was still trying to figure out who I was, I worked for this employment agency and they sent me out on this job where they were stripping the inside of a warehouse. The guy who was the foreman on the job, asked me what I was doing there, because I was no "demo man." I told him I needed the job. He said I wasn't any good at it and told me I should go find work with someone who shoes horses until I could get my own work together. The way he said it was way cruder than that, but I wasn't offended when he got his point across in that I was in his way and demolition wasn't my calling. But try dropping that on a 30 year old who just got done paying tuition, etc., on a shoeing school. They don't take it as well.
I have a lot of stories like that. People knew for whatever reason I was going to make it in this business, by the same token I now can tell a person if they are going to be a farrier a year from today after working with them once. There is something about people who are going to make it as farriers. Whether it's attitude or stubbornness, I don't know. But to use a term Arabian people use concerning horses for various disciplines, we have 'it." The "it" being the right mentality, attitude, hunger, whatever the "it" is we have it, and we know those who don't.
It's funny, back in the day when I was still trying to figure out who I was, I worked for this employment agency and they sent me out on this job where they were stripping the inside of a warehouse. The guy who was the foreman on the job, asked me what I was doing there, because I was no "demo man." I told him I needed the job. He said I wasn't any good at it and told me I should go find work with someone who shoes horses until I could get my own work together. The way he said it was way cruder than that, but I wasn't offended when he got his point across in that I was in his way and demolition wasn't my calling. But try dropping that on a 30 year old who just got done paying tuition, etc., on a shoeing school. They don't take it as well.
I have a lot of stories like that. People knew for whatever reason I was going to make it in this business, by the same token I now can tell a person if they are going to be a farrier a year from today after working with them once. There is something about people who are going to make it as farriers. Whether it's attitude or stubbornness, I don't know. But to use a term Arabian people use concerning horses for various disciplines, we have 'it." The "it" being the right mentality, attitude, hunger, whatever the "it" is we have it, and we know those who don't.
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