[JBandRio]

Things are MUCH better than what this trimmer started with. Progress IS being made. But, IMHO, too slowly, as mentioned. The toe flaring IS there, but it's clear that it's moving down - you can't eliminate what's already grown in, you just make things such that they grow in correctly.

I am not happy either with the continued quarter flaring, and especially not with the amount that's still there. If this is just 5 days post trim, it's painfully clear that the quarter flaring was hardly addressed, if at all

It looks like Lacy's heels are ok, though it does concern me that there is no heel/bar triangle I can see the bars, they just look almost non-existent. The only time I've seen this is when a Strasser trimmer de-barred the feet and the bars were in the process of growing back. Classy is the same way, though her heels are too tall.


I don't really understand the trimmer's thought process in dealing with these feet Classy's in particular look worse for only being 5 days post trim.

Progress IS being made, that much is clear, but it's taking much much tooooo long. And, at this rate, the quarter flares will never, ever be dealt with.

[denraydar]

My mares had some problems with chipping and cracking, flaring this spring due to unusually dry weather. I whined about it to my farrier as I was continually rasping off chips between trims and was afraid I would make their hooves unbalanced. So he beveled the front and sides of their hooves with a beautiful mustang roll and told me to use rainmaker hoof moisturizer every day.
Now I have to confess I didn't use rainmaker everyday. But a few times a week for a couple weeks. The mustang roll is still very nice and smooth on the hooves after three weeks. I quit the rainmaker cause we got some real rain.
I don't know how Jason does the mustang roll but I have never seen hooves go from cracking and chpping daily to smooth and strong so fast.
I love my farrier, not like that you know, just how he is with the hooves, LOL.
He volunteers at Habitat for Horses and works on alot of rank, wild ponays!
ACC is your farrier familiar with the mustang roll? It can help with flaring as well.

[JBandRio]

denraydar, most likely the improvements you saw were purely from the roll/bevel. Was he not doing that before? If not, that was the cause of the cracking and chipping, as the hoof was working on self-trimming. The outer hoof wall is not meant to bear weight, so if it moves on a hard enough surface for long enough, the outer will will start chipping. A bare foot SHOULD have a good roll/bevel on it

Habitat for Horses? How cool, I've never heard of that! What's the deal?

[denraydar]

http://www.habitatforhorses.org/

Here is the link to the webpage. This Equine rescue center is the biggest in Texas as it has combined several smaller rescues to become a statewide entity. It is based near my home south of Houston. Willie Nelson fosters large amounts of rescues on his ranch for them. Actually they have fosters all over the state.
They do rehabilitate the rescues regarding training in addition to just feeding them as they want them to have the best chance of a good life when they are adopted out. They are proactive in abuse prevention as they know that many horses are abused due to behavioral and/or training issues and are not just starved and neglected.

The best way to prevent horse abuse is to adopt out horses that behave appropriatly and provide service in one way or another to their owner. Should a horse be abused if it does not provide any service to it's owner? No, but you know people.....My vet also serves habitat for horses. It is a fantastic place that does so much for horses.

[IIIBarsV]

Give me ten minutes and I will be back with "perfect" hoof pictures.

More the point, The roll DOES need to be bigger. With flaring like that, it should be easy to distinguish from the pictures, and it's not.

Granted flaring will look more visibly "obvious" once it starts growing down- kind of an optical illusion as you see more and more of the flat hoofwall up top. But the roll itself on both horses is too small to grow them out as quickly as they should be growing out. Progress is being made.... albeit more slowly than necessary.

[denraydar]

Oh forgot to answer your question about the mustang roll. Yes he always does a great mustang roll but...We had to use a different farrier for a few months as ours was busy with work/night school/family and lives a good piece down the road from us.
We will never do that again, even if it means we have to take our girls to him.
Some farriers do not bevel the hoof...I do not know why. There are alot of schools of thought when it comes to hooves, shoes, natural whatever everybody feels their way is best. For me Jason is the best. Roll those hooves I say! It works for us.

[ccd]

The quarter flaring can be improved upon. However there maybe corformational issues which keep exacerbating this problem. I wonder about the bars. I have a young horse. Bars never been touched and he keeps them worn down as if they had been trimmed. ???

[JBandRio]

Ah, do the Habitat is like the USERL and other larger rescues, cool Some have the ability to put some decent training into horses, others don't. USERL is able to do some.

Yes, roll those bare feet!

[IIIBarsV]

My farrier admitted last night that he mustang rolls every bare hoof he trims. But he's the only one I've ever seen do it (he did it on two of my barefoot horses last year when we first started with him), out of probably 6 farriers, all certified, three of which went to the same school. He's only 23 and went to school when he was 20. A little too hoofknife-happy for my liking, but he did do a nice job resetting the shoes on my sister's horse.

[accphotography]

Guys... I just don't know what else to do. I have YET to see a farrier/trimmer in my area that can come even CLOSE to the one I am using. Her schedule just has her booked up so tight. IMO they were doing far better when they were getting trimmed every 3 (4 at most) weeks... and she just can't manage that schedule. They're what? Two weeks out of a trim now? Lacy is LONG. I can NOT see her waiting another 3 weeks... she's gonna be a mess. I honestly don't know what to do. I have watched and used different people for a long while now and have NOT found anyone I like any better. I am truly concerned about them going this long, Lacy especially because she grows much faster.

Sigh. I just don't know what to do.

Also... curious. Lacy is tender over large gravel. What might that indicate? She is sound over everything else (including pavement, etc.), just the large (maybe 1-1.5") gravel/rocks.

ACC