Shoeing

Shoeing and hoof care, hmmm now this is one subject where I could probably go on for a very long time! As you begin reading today’s entry you will probably wonder, “What’s this got to do with shoeing?” but don’t worry, we’ll get to that.

Today's riding session on the Big Red Horse started out a bit rough. For some unknown reason there was a booger man in every corner, behind every wall and peaking out behind every crack in the wall. My previous plans of taking her outside for a ride quickly because a distant memory as I spent a good 20 or more minutes just trotting the extra piss and vinegar out of her. Most people are lazy and spend this time standing on the ground holding a lounge line and whip but NOT ME! I like to use this time like any other, teaching the horse while riding, besides, riding the extended trot is good exercise for the horse AND the rider. By the time I had her convinced that the little teeny black kitty wasn’t going to kill her and that spec of dust on the gate didn’t have a bear hiding behind it, I was plumb tired and so was she. GOOD, now we can get something done **insert deep sigh and eyes rolling**. After all of the bending, flexing, disengaging the hip, lifting the shoulder, blah blah blah blah I decided it was time to do the, “We have to try something new with this ride.” thing. Today it was working the arena gate and I have to say, she didn’t do too badly. I was hoping for more then she gave me but was quite pleased that I was able to open and close the gate and ride her through it and we both stayed in one piece. Bravo to the Big Red Horse!

After our ride I of course just HAVE to work with her feet. I mean really, what kind of trainer would I be if I didn’t train the horse to also stand nicely for the farrier. Well, I’ve mentioned before that this particular horse isn’t very fond of having her back feet worked with but I’ve managed to make quite a bit of progress with her over the past couple of weeks. I can now pick up all of her feet and cradle them with my legs with pounding on them with the shoeing implement of my choice. TODAY I managed to convince her to let me place both of her front feet up on the stand and let me file the flare off the side walls. Bravo AGAIN to the Big Red Horse!

Now, on to the subject line. I have never considered myself a professional farrier but I’ve been told by a few very good farriers that I shoe better then most of the self proclaimed professionals in the area. I take a lot of pride in my shoeing and have learned this difficult, back breaking work from a couple of excellent masters of the trade Steve Schmidt and Ben Fry. Steve is the one who initially talked me into shoeing my own horses and taught me a lot of what I now know. Sadly, he died of a heart attack a few years ago and I still miss the snot out of that old fart. Ben Fry took his place with my teachings and thanks to the both of them I can slap a shoe on just about anything.

Okay, okay how about some pictures of my work.

This is Elvis. He had a terrible run in with a fence as a youngster that cause permanent damage to his foot. Here are the before and afters.









And then Mooney, he was just way overdue, not real problems other than his an
gles sucked







And then, the proof is in the pudding, it's really me shoeing those horses, that's my tattoo!


In conclusion, have you ever noticed that when you have to start searching for a new farrier and you call around one of the first questions that they ask you is, "Is the horse good?" Well, he's not asking is it a GOOD HORSE, he's asking, does it stand and behave itself for the farrier!!!! Please people, take the time to train your horse to ride well but also do your farrier a favor and train it to allow it's feet to picked up, cradled between your legs and pounded on.