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Post by juliab on Sept 16, 2008 16:29:24 GMT -5
and he doesn't think she had laminitis after all. He thinks (and he said he hated having to say it) she had a really bad trim  He showed me that the walls were trimmed higher than the soles and he showed me all the bruising. This makes me sad because I thought I had found a really good trimmer. Now I have to tell her that I can't have a trimmer that disagrees completely with my vet and try and find another one. Sigh. The problem is I don't want shoes. I don't ride enough and I don't want to deal with the expense of shoes and the fact that they come off and take a ton of hoof with them. I was only shoeing Lola until recently ... she is doing well barefoot but my vet looked at her feet too and she is bruised as well. I guess she is able to cope better or her feet are shaped differently or something. I just wish I could learn to do my own horses, but I want a short course locally and can't find one. I've had the same vet since 1999 and I've lost count of the farriers and trimmers I've tried. Why is it so hard to find a good one |
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Post by Pam on Sept 16, 2008 17:00:40 GMT -5
Hey Julia, Why don't you ask your vet who he recommends? I'm sure he deals with lots of different farriers in his travels.
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Post by TeachU2Ride on Sept 16, 2008 17:05:25 GMT -5
Certified NBS farrier Patty Stiller (CO) does 2-day clinics all over the country to teach horse owners how to trim their own barefoot horses. Maybe you could host one for the folks in your area. Limited to six paid participants and one sponsor (no auditors allowed). Cost is $395.
Email pstiller@bresnan.net
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Post by Dawn on Sept 16, 2008 22:12:00 GMT -5
Wow that's sad. Tim has always done his own and trims my kids too. Doesn't do anyone elses though. That is up tll this summer when we wanted to have someone "different" work with MP's feet so we would know we were getting somewhere with his retraining and we have been so busy. Checked around and found an excellent farrier and he does a great job and actually shows up which was my complaint with my last farrier. Dearly loved him and his work but he was always cancelling because one of his "bigger" clients was calling.
It is sooo much work and hard on the back/arms I am happier that Tim isn't doing them all anymore. We only schedule every 8 wks in the summer and will go to 10 or so in the winter since he is able to maintain then in between but we stick the farrier with the heavy stuff like Jackson tough feet and Bella's huge ones, LOL. He doesn't mind though since he does it all the time he is in so much better shape to handle it.
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Post by juliab on Sept 17, 2008 9:04:40 GMT -5
I know it is really hard work, but I'm hoping that I could just do one horse at a time and not try to get the whole herd done in one afternoon. I could even break it down between doing front feet and then back feet, especially for the ones that are not being ridden. Jasper is due for a trim right now, so I'm going to start with him. He has great feet that never seem to break up or flare and he's good about having his feet handled. I just stick his nose in his feed bucket and he couldn't care less what I am doing  I did Minx's back feet the other day and she seems fine so hopefully I didn't mess it up too badly. |
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Post by animaldoc on Sept 17, 2008 9:27:02 GMT -5
You may want to consider putting shoes on them temporarily until their bruises get better....
My OTTB has really sensitive feet and he has to have shoes in front all the time or he's really sore (and I have a great farrier). I would rather have him barefoot-especially since I'm not riding right now (38 weeks pregnant), but it just doesn't work for him.
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Post by coyote on Sept 17, 2008 9:27:51 GMT -5
Oh that is great news! I know it's a problem to find another farrier, but the fact that she didn't have another laminitis expisode is such good news that it overshadows the bad.
JuliaB, I had a couple of thoughts in reading your post. The first is, do you think it's really necessary to fire the farrier. Perhaps you could discuss the issue with him/her and see if it can be resolved with a two (you and the farrier) or three-way (you, farrier, vet) conversation about the best way to trim Poppy.
The other thought is that if you do decide to trim your horses or some of your horses yourself, it doesn't ahve to be a very strenuous thing. You can just trim more often and then it's not as physical.
Do you have Poppy on any hoof supplements? or have you used any of the joagualin (sp) to see if that will help strengthen the laminae?
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Post by juliab on Sept 17, 2008 10:11:09 GMT -5
I am going to email my farrier today and see if she will be willing to work with my vet. That is the only way it will work, but her opinions seem to run 100% contrary to my vet on a lot of issues. For instance, her reaction on hearing that Poppy was extremely sore and standing in that classic laminitis position (front feet out in front of her and moving with extreme reluctance and obvious pain) was to "make her move" and turn her out 24/7. My vet strongly advises to treat any suspected episode of laminitis conservatively. To put the horse on bute, off grass and grain and on stall rest. He feels Poppy was trimmed way too short and wants me to let the feet grow out by skipping the next trim cycle and she wants to trim Poppy more often! So I don't know how this will work out, but I'll try and email her with his comments as tactfully as possible.
Poppy is not on any hoof supplements right now. Ironically my vet said that Poppy actually has very healthy looking feet with thick soles and walls. She hasn't had shoes on for about 8 years.
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Post by juliab on Sept 17, 2008 10:13:55 GMT -5
I asked my vet about that and he didn't think it was necessary and that both horses would be fine as long as they were trimmed more conservatively.
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Post by coyote on Sept 17, 2008 10:32:38 GMT -5
It's a little shocking that she would trim her so closely, really. It's hard to get past that really.
It sounds like she probably doesn't need the standard nutritional support of a hoof supplement. So, that's good. Jiagoulin (sp) though is something that many people have used with good result to strengthen lamana so it is not the same thing as using a biotin-type supplement.
As a matter of practice, I'd give jiaguolin (sp) for any horse I had who had ever had a laminitis attack. You may want to look into that sometime if you haven't already.
I am just so happy to hear that it was bad trimming. It sounds lik some seriously poor trimming and coupled with the fact that she didn't recognize that the trim had caused the problem, may be too much to continue using her.
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Post by juliab on Sept 17, 2008 11:39:50 GMT -5
Well she emailed me back and said she thinks my vet is wrong and I should find another trimmer. It is what I expected. I think it is a bit sad though when someone thinks they know more than a vet with probably 30 years of experience and a wonderful reputation. Oh well - time to move on.
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Post by fancyhorse on Sept 17, 2008 13:48:47 GMT -5
I really consider this GREAT news!! The fact that is was only a bad trim is great! I know how hard it is to find a great trimmer/shoer, you will just have to keep searching and really really watch the next one that comes out for your horse.
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Post by Dawn on Sept 17, 2008 15:13:35 GMT -5
I'm sorta glad your farrier said it wouldn't work out, her attitude seems all wrong from what you described. Trimming really isn't all that bad or hard to figure out, I think we make it more of an issue than it is, not saying we would try any that needed corrective work, that's a bit different, but the regular stuff is just more physical than anything else. I bet you do a great job julia
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Post by animaldoc on Sept 17, 2008 15:55:53 GMT -5
I asked my vet about that and he didn't think it was necessary and that both horses would be fine as long as they were trimmed more conservatively. Oh good, if they're not that bad, they'll probably grow out enough to be more comfortable faster than you think! Does sound like you need a new farrier........ |
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He showed me that the walls were trimmed higher than the soles and he showed me all the bruising. This makes me sad because I thought I had found a really good trimmer. Now I have to tell her that I can't have a trimmer that disagrees completely with my vet and try and find another one. Sigh. The problem is I don't want shoes. I don't ride enough and I don't want to deal with the expense of shoes and the fact that they come off and take a ton of hoof with them. I was only shoeing Lola until recently ... she is doing well barefoot but my vet looked at her feet too and she is bruised as well. I guess she is able to cope better or her feet are shaped differently or something.
I did Minx's back feet the other day and she seems fine so hopefully I didn't mess it up too badly. 
