Farriers Online

2016-08-05T11:05:00.005+12:00

What is the biggest challenge you face in your shoeing business:

pricing

scheduling

getting paid

stocking your truck

finding time to learn new things

dealing with irrational client behaviour

something else?

2016-08-05T11:05:00.003+12:00

The changes are coming slow, but they will happen eventually

2014-09-11T15:07:00.000+12:00

What is your favorite online farriery resource? Please comment with links.
What is your favorite offline farriery resource? Please comment with cover photo.

2014-04-10T07:40:00.000+12:00

Farriers Online is undergoing major changes. Watch this space!!

M/L Balance - the answers from captains of our industry - 2, Bill Poor

2013-01-01T22:49:00.000+13:00

Hi,
Would you mind to give some very brief answers to the questions below to be shared with others on Farriers Online? I will take special care that you being the author is clearly stated and copyright indicated.
1.How do you hold the leg and look at a front and a hind foot to asess medio-lateral balance?
2. Is your guideline for level the skeleton (e.g. X-rays) or the outside of the hoof capsule?
3.What is the most important thing to remember about medio-lateral balance?
Thanks
Balazs

Bill Poor:

Hold the leg loosely and let it relax with your weak hand and look at the foot with your dominant eye and check for level, medio-lateral balance.

Everything comes from the coffin bone; as far as level the hoof capsule: well move and shape to the weight of the horse and how he is landing flat or not or just ware.

Most important you can't fix every horse so try to make him sound the best you can and if it ain't broken don't fix it!

M/L Balance - the answers from captains of our industry - 1, Chris Gregory

2013-01-01T22:37:00.004+13:00

Chris Gregory

Hi Balazs. I guess you don't have my book. You can see it at www.heartlandhorseshoeing.com, and it answers those questions very in depth.

For #1, I evaluate mediolateral balance on the front foot by holding the cannon bone with my outside hand, my head against the ribs, and allow the foot to rest. I then compare the plane on the bottom of the foot with the axis of the cannon bone and pastern bones. What I do with the balance then depends on whether I am trimming to the long axis or the short axis. For the hind foot, I evaluate balance by looking at the foot on level ground from in front of the leg. The reciprocal apparatus prevents us from seeing the bottom of the hind foot in a weight bearing position, and the bending of the digit around the fetlock makes it impossible to evaluate mediolateral balance in the air.

For #2. The hoof capsule tells you a lot by looking at wear, distortion and flare, position of bulbs, frog, coronet, etc. However, x-rays often show that what we see on the hoof capsule is not always telling the truth about the position of the coffin bone. I tend to judge the foot from the outside more than anything since most of the time I am shoeing without x-rays.

For #3. The most important part of balance is to be able to put all of the pieces together and look at each foot as an individual. There are a lot of times where a foot must be trimmed to accommodate the way the limb loads, even when some of the landmarks on the bottom of the foot would have you trim it differently. Balance is a whole-horse issue when it comes to trimming, not just a hoof issue.

Hope this helps.
Chris

CUSTOM fit-outs for farrier rides.

2012-12-30T14:59:00.001+13:00

Medio-lateral balance - are we there yet?

2012-11-11T18:06:00.000+13:00

Most equine lameness experts agree on the importance of medio-lateral balance of the hoof. Unfortunately, that is about all they agree on. Many different schools of thought exist on the matter, with quite often rather contradicting ideas about what the right method should be to achieve and maintain a balanced horse and in particular M/L balance in the hooves.
Since this matter affects every farrier's day to day work practices, even if they do not specialize in remedial and corrective shoeing and even more so if they do. Farriers Online will attempt to shed more light on the matter in the following months. We will present you with articles from various experts and try to leave the conclusions to you, the working farrier.
Please support us with your questions and comments.
Keep them anvils ringing!

A Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

2011-12-24T20:01:00.001+13:00

Well, here are some ideas about cards you could send-- next Christmas :-)

Is Your Horse Balanced?

2011-11-30T14:20:00.001+13:00

Blue Mountain Centre's website offers you a guide to answer this question yourself.

Putting the Horses Back Into Horsesho...

2011-10-31T11:45:00.000+13:00

Valid point fom Dave Millwater, thanks to Facebook

Millwater Publishing: Cover Story: Putting the Horses Back Into Horsesho...: " A considerable segment of the horse owning public, especially the barefoot horse enthusiasts, seem to think farriers are preoccupied..."

Dave Millwater's writings are usually a good read, this one is no exception

Our very own Rodney King in Rood and Riddle video on youtube

2011-10-27T11:22:00.000+13:00

We continue to be proud of you Rodney.

Hoof abscesses - a New Zealand winter/spring evergreen

2011-10-21T07:04:00.000+13:00

For some reason hoof abscesses are one of the major causes of lameness in the New Zealand horse population. The variety of concepts in the public about this issue, some of them being quite misguided, is astonishing. People seem to forget, that if there is pus in a foot, it has to be dealt with effectively before the horse can expect healing.
One excellent reading on the subject is David Hankin's abscess article from Horse & Pony.

An evergreen question answered by David Hankin DipWCF

2011-10-14T18:29:00.000+13:00

It is often a hard call to decide to call the vet straight away if the horse goes lame and it happens to be after shoeing or trimming, which will result in a hefty bill, or try the farrier as first point of call.
Read about it in this article (originally appeared in Horse & Pony in 2007, but still completely up to date)

Great Advice From David Hankin

2011-10-10T15:15:00.000+13:00

Reading up on farriery can be a very time consuming project. Therefore I am always out for little gems of advice to share.
Well, this one from David Hankin is easy on the eye but has some valuable thoughts on how to manage horse-feet in lean times...

One must have tool...

2011-10-07T13:05:00.000+13:00

This toy is definitely on the top of my wishlist!
One handed Cottam nippers

The moment of truth...

2011-10-04T13:13:00.000+13:00

This is our first effort at creating a survey, please support our effort in creating relevant information for both farriers and clients.

Click here to take our survey Thank you!

The Big Farrier Survey

2011-09-30T15:54:00.000+13:00

I have started collecting material to run a big, FAIR survey on the performance of farriers around the world.
It is intended to provide help for farriers to improve their business and horse owners to find the most suitable farrier for their horses.

Please send me ideas about what YOU would like to see in a survey to farriersonline@gmail.com.

A sneak peak into old forges

2011-09-29T15:49:00.000+13:00

The "standard screw-in studded front shoe" was the prescribed front shoe in the Royal Hungarian Army. It's design was based on the Austro-Hungarian (K und K) design. The shoes were forged using the help of a striker in a bottom swedge, one branch at a time.

I am waiting for some replies from friends to provide you with exact bibliographic information on the textbook (Dr Mihaly Horvath: Horseshoeing science.) and also looking at finding more data on the development of the standardized shoeing prescriptions in the armies of the past. If you have any relevant data to this subject please email me so we can share it with everybody.

It is always interesting to see what our fore-bearers did. I will be following the tracks of the farriers of the last 300 hundred years in the next 12 months. I hope it will be interesting for many farriers and horse owners.

Any content suggestions are welcome at farriersonline@gmail.com.

Welcome to Farriers Online

2011-09-02T18:17:00.000+12:00

Farriers Online is dedicated to do research for farriers worldwide. In the next few months we will provide you with invaluable information about farriery, supplies, equine podiatry and many other related topics.